Should i quit taekwondo and start muay thai?

[zerolimitii]

im a white belt in taekwondo and have been taking it for a couple months now, and i find it not very useful on the street. the fighting style and sparring is just too nerfed down for the street. (ie. no punches, kicking someone when ur at punching range etc)

 

i want to learn something that will actually help me on the street since ive been in those situations alot. im not gonna 720 hook kick someone on the street, it will look impressive, but tahts what taekwondo is - all show.

 

my friend that is MMA fighter has told me if im going to take muay thai or any sort of boxing, your gonna have to expect to get a bit beat up and be well in shape.

 

well im a little concerned. im 14 years old, 100-110 lbs, 5'4, skinny, and my athletic rate is below average. i admit kick boxing like muay thai will be very rough, but like they say no pain no gain.

 

so i was wondering if i should do this and if im fit enough to doing muay thai, i find very interested into muay thai so advice is appreciated.

 

thanks.

[Mart]

Ok ive been doing MT for 6 years or so now. You probably will find it hard going at first but it shouldnt be too painful.

 

Why not go and watch a class.

 

If you go, introduce yourself to the instructor. MT classes have no formality that is obvious. You can just turn up and train like at a gym.

 

Introducing your self is polite though.

 

Back to the main point. TKD isnt too bad. But it sounds to me as if it is not for you.

 

Dont be scared of MT. Please dont be scared of going to a class.

 

Most likely you wont get much attention paid to you until you become regular. Most people leave within two months because its so damned hard.

 

Stick at it.

 

The rewards will come.

 

And yes, it works well on the street:)

[Mart]

Hey what country you in?

 

If you in UK tell me what town and i might be aboe to recommend a good MT

 

gym.

[zerolimitii]

i live in US, hawaii and i doubt anyone would know a good gym here cuz im on an island

 

when i watch the class what are some good signs that it is a good gym?

[Mart]

I you have no MT experience this is a hard one. However, When they spar it should be aggressive but controlled, no flailing arms and legs.

 

Also gaurd should be fairly tight and chin tucked down NOT sticking out like some gyms do. Though as the chin is down it does come out a little.

 

people should be freindly not arrogant. But dont expect anyone to come up to you and speak to you.

 

Heres an important one. When they are kicking the pads look to see that their bodys are stayijng upright. The upper body should not be leaning back. This is a basic technique but some gyms cant get it right. Other than that there is one easy test. How many champiions have come from the gym. They should at least have produced some title holders. This way you know they can beat other gyms, the instruction is of a high standard.

[ninjanurse]

Don't mean to offend here but....you're only a white belt. Be careful in thinking that you should be able to defend yourself on the street in ANY style as a white belt. It takes many years of training to become proficient in just one technique. If you are truely unhappy with your chosen style, try another but don't get caught in the same trap or get sucked in by unscrupulous teachers that will teach you one or two advanced techniques and lead you to a false sense of confidence in a self-defense situation.

 

Good luck in your search.

 

[Mart]

I completely disagree. To use a technique should take a few weeks, no more. Anything that takes longer is useless. Learnt this one the hard way. WHo wants to study for years before they can use it? thats just dumb. Makes me laugh when so called battlefield systems take years to learn, imagine trying to trainan army.

 

If you do MT you will be able to use it fully effectively in one year. As long as you train hard and consistently. The techniques arent that hard. But something else is. When you go you will know wat i mean,

[CCDI]

Makes me laugh when so called battlefield systems take years to learn, imagine trying to trainan army.

True, you can learn to squeeze the trigger on an m-16 in a few seconds, however to become a first class sniper takes quite a bit of dedication and training. Mart, if I have to go to war against an army, I hope it is one that only has a few weeks of training. AMF.

[zerolimitii]

Don't mean to offend here but....you're only a white belt. Be careful in thinking that you should be able to defend yourself on the street in ANY style as a white belt. It takes many years of training to become proficient in just one technique. If you are truely unhappy with your chosen style, try another but don't get caught in the same trap or get sucked in by unscrupulous teachers that will teach you one or two advanced techniques and lead you to a false sense of confidence in a self-defense situation.

 

Good luck in your search.

 

 

i can understand what ur trying to say but here the thing. i practically learned all the kicks in taekwondo in a month, needless to say i was very excited to learning taekwondo.

 

after a couple months has passed ive been training with higher belt friends (red, black belts) and they have taught most of the kicks. the only kick i thought was useful was a hook kick since u could do some mass damage with taht, and its very quick, also the Z-kick. but the other kicks for example, ur not going to pull a 540 or 720 kick against someone on the street. cmon thats ridiculous, there are so many ways u can counter that. it may look impressive but thats what taekwondo is mainly used for, show and sport.

 

the gym i go to mainly trains u for the sport of taekwondo. not really for self defense. i want to use both my legs and feet to beat someone, not just my legs. going to punching range and having to kick them is stupid.

 

id rather just take a martial art that will actually give me self defense and can take as a sport also. i also seen a video of a muay thai fighter (tomi makkonen) fighting a taekwondo guy, and literally ripped him apart. the guy didnt even have a chance since he was so use to olympic sparring.

 

this is how i feel about it now, that is why i look at muay thai.

[Mart]

Zero, id give you a black belt. There are very few that realise as you have that, although they are made out to be dificult, Martial Arts are rather simple. The techniques are not hard. People do make them out to be though.

 

If I thought technique was hard i would have given up ages ago.

 

What is hard is learning timing and range and learning the ability to adapt to different fighters, changeing your fightin style etc. How to a be an agressive or counter striker, being elusive etc. Putting it all together into a real fight takes time. But not too long, you just get better as you go but like i said. One year and you will do well.

 

I used to do Kung Fu, ive done two styles. They used to spar full contact. They went on endlessly about mastering technique. Big deal. Left went to MT, came back 6 weeks later and beat the whole damn class.

 

This years of dedication to technique is ninsence. You only start learning to fight once you have the technique.

 

Go do it and see what you like.