Kickboxing vs. Muay Thai?

[Noob]

What exactly is the difference, apart from the "intense" training and grappling of Muay Thai, of Muay Thai compared to "regular" kickboxing?

 

Or is there different "classes" of kickboxing such as that in karate? (Karate being an example, I would doubt many things would be similar)

 

Any input would be appreciated as I am looking into kickboxing as a total self-defense tool and Muay Thai isn't offered here. I know BJJ is great for one on one grappling, however I feel with kickboxing or a Muay Thai style my chances of self defense would be greater if there were more than one attacker. Which there usually has been in my cases.

[Luckykboxer]

well from what experience i have had, i dont train in say american kickboxing, or just plain kickboxing as i have seen, I do Muay Thai.

 

But differences i have oticed watching fighters fight under different rules are the use of knees and elbows in muay thai compared to kickboxing that just seems to use feet and hands.

 

that was the main difference i saw, other thent he grappling and throws of muay thai

[cross]

Standard kickboxing usually uses kicks above the waist and the rules dont allow leg kicks, which can be a disadvantage to people training in it.

[Northren Ogre]

Look for a San Shou style of Kickboxing. It is very similar to Muay Thai in the fact that it teaches knees, elbows, leg keeps and throws. The main difference between San Shou and Muay Thai(In my opinion) is tsimply that San Shou does away with the clinch.

[kbgirl]

I train in kickboxing and generally in my experience, our style allows low kicks and sweeps (as well as kicks above the waist, obviously) but we don't use knees & elbows. That's in the ring. In tournaments, low kicks are usually not permitted unless you're in the 'full contact' categories.

[SevenStar]

Look for a San Shou style of Kickboxing. It is very similar to Muay Thai in the fact that it teaches knees, elbows, leg keeps and throws. The main difference between San Shou and Muay Thai(In my opinion) is tsimply that San Shou does away with the clinch.

 

there are more subtle diferences than those. kicks, for example - SS guys tend to prefer sidekicks, whereas MT guys prefer roundhouse kicks - it's purely tactical as to why.

[SevenStar]

muay thai vs kickboxing

 

MT allows knees. Not all sanctions allow elbows. And of those that do, they are usually to the body and not to the head. These are called modified thai rules. in thailand, elbows are allowed fully.

 

kickboxing will allow leg kicks if you fight under international rules. If you fight american rules, it must be above the waist.

 

in international and american, clinching is not allowed and will result in a break.

 

kick catches are allowed in MT and in international, but, with international if you catch the leg, you must drop it immediately. In modified thai, you can take three steps forward (in an attempt to trip him) before you must release the leg. In thailand, there is no limit - you can push him all the way across the ring if you want to.

 

you generally see a wider variety of kicks in kickboxing. thai fighters tend to stick with the teep and roundhouse. The next most used is probably the back kick.

 

real thai punching involves angling the punches downward upon impact, adding a triangulation effect. This isn't seen in all gyms, however.

 

thaiboxers don't bob and weave as much as kickboxers or boxers - they don't want to mistakenly run into a knee.

[Drunken Monkey]

..interesting.

 

y'know, in the u.k, they tend to allow everything with the exception of spinning backfists and elbows.

 

that's the general set of rules (can't remember the official title...)

 

also, a lot of the fights tend to use full muay thai rules more and more now, especially with master sken's organised world championships.

[valetudoisbest]

What exactly is the difference, apart from the "intense" training and grappling of Muay Thai, of Muay Thai compared to "regular" kickboxing?

 

Or is there different "classes" of kickboxing such as that in karate? (Karate being an example, I would doubt many things would be similar)

 

Any input would be appreciated as I am looking into kickboxing as a total self-defense tool and Muay Thai isn't offered here. I know BJJ is great for one on one grappling, however I feel with kickboxing or a Muay Thai style my chances of self defense would be greater if there were more than one attacker. Which there usually has been in my cases.

 

two things, american freestyle kickboxing is all about point scoring, they use instep kicks... karate punches even sometimes, muai thai is all about hurting ppl, lol. shin kicks (the flyswatter vs. baseball bat analogy) elbows, and especially clinching w/ knees.

 

and u said ur looking for that for total self defense

 

no no no no no no no no, lol

 

stick w/ bjj, learn some decent blocks, and focus on throwing punches in fights, if u have room for one kick, u were lucky, the only time i could ever see the need for a kick in a fight is if it was a group fight and u needed space b/c u were against a wall, anything else can be done w/ footwork on the ground

 

the statistic is like... 80 or 90 percent of fights end up on the ground, now a days ppl like to fight in groups, so learn 1 or 2 short, sweet combinations (if u like to kick then a jab, straight, low kick) then get the * outta there, if ur lookin to fight, box, but ne way, learn to fight on the ground, i've found it only takes about 2 months to become EXCEPTIONALLY BETTER than any street punk with fairly focused training

 

as far as mulitple attacker... u know how to fight that fight a lot better than u think, kick knees, punch to the chest, claw eyes, dont' * around w/ multiple ppl, u'll get stabbed in the back

 

....i'm outta breath

[SevenStar]

I wouldn't say it was about point scoring, otherwise you would not see knockouts. It's more about safety - more padding, less dangerous strikes... point sparring is non-contact. american kickboxing definitely involves good contact, but the safety level is higher.