Hapkido or Muay Thai

[Singyean]

Alright for those of you that take hapkido , i dont know if u guys know this but the president of the world hapkido association is named tae jung. So i have the option of getting taught by him or doing muay thai by a guy named rex. I definately like Tae kwon do cuz i took it for 2 years awhile back and enjoy the kickign and stuff but my friends are taking muay thai, and they are convincing me that muay thai is more street practical than hapkido. so i need help deciding which one to take.

http://www.worldhapkido.com/

http://www.rexmuaythai.com/

[Zapatista]

Now my opinion may not matter because I haven't taken either of the two arts (I'm planning on starting Hapkido this spring and I planned to take Muay Thai but I had foot injuries and training would've been too much money for me now) but just knowing about the two arts I would say if you want a street effective art I would do Hapkido. The only reason I say this is because it teaches some ground work (if I'm not mistaken, any HKD people or just anybody can correct me on that) and while Hapkido doesn't offer as good as striking as Muay Thai does, like I said before, it offers ground work. You should be able to do battle standing and on the ground and Muay Thai doesn't offer any ground work training. Now if you were to do Muay Thai and Judo/Jujutsu/Sambo or just about any other grappling art, that would be the best choice, in my opinion.

[tufrthanu]

Well I can only say what I've seen of Muay Thai on television and in books...and it seems to be basically full contact kickboxing with knees and elbows. Hapkido is generally not full contact however...it focuses more directly on self defense. Most HKD schools teach extensive one steps...and usually mix it in with straight SD getting out of bear hugs wrist grabs chokes stuff like that. HKD also covers as Zapatista stated several zones. Striking, grappling, standing and on the ground. However most HKD dojangs dont teach ground stuff like BJJ its more like how to get an opponent off you while on the ground. Hope this helps.

[Superfoot]

Many HKD schools, as said above, now incorporate more open sparring in their training, such as that you would see in JJIF. In these competitions, Muay Thai style kicks are incorporated by many practitioners, so you may get the best of both worlds.

[h2whoa]

I study a pure form af Kido, I will say that any school that teaces HKD and spars is not the real deal. You see most pure forms teach you to break or kill! I wonder who would volunteer to go first in the sparring ring! If you have done TKD than doing HKD will be the go for you! HKD teaches effective knee and elbow strikes, as well as grappling, chokes, pressure point strikes etc. So HKD gets my vote!!

[viskous]

i cant believe that nobody has brought up the fact that you'd be training with an obviously very good teacher, you dont become the president of the WHA for nothing, i say always go with the best teacher when in doubt about which art, so in that spirit i'd strongly suggest laerning from Tae Jung aslong as money or schedules arent a huge factor

[Kill Jill]

MT and HKD are like comparing chalk and cheese!

The simplist comparison is that MT is like TKD without all the cushy padding of protectors!

For MT you need to be one of those who have absolutely no fear for consequences AT ALL! For HKD you need to have a good resistance to motion sickness for all the overhead flips you will have to do

Personally, I think Hapkido is one of the most rounded of all the martial arts - kicking, locking, throw-downs, multiple weapons training, stances, flashy somersaults, and fitness training. It provides a good balance of skills. Having said that, only yesterday, I saw Tony Ja appear on a Korean gameshow demonstrating his tricks. They were still far more impressive than anyone I have seen from any HKD class! But I know that he didn't get those from a regular MT gym in Thailand, however. He was trained as a stunt man, so probably had a basis in training related to HKD.

But, I'm also very alarmed whenever anyone talks about which MA is better for the 'street', yada yada. Please, don't learn any MA just cuz you'll think it'll come in handy for bashing up some yobbo some day. If your instructor is really a good enough one, you should learn this message from him (or her), as part of your training.

[b3n]

Id say hapkido beacuse of the high quality teaching you would be getting.

[White Warlock]

Aye, viskous pretty much nailed the issue here. You have an opportunity to learn hapkido from probably the best living source. If, after you train with him, the style doesn't cater to you... then at least you know it was not meant to be.

The other thing is that you've already studied tkd. Hapkido is also a Korean art, with strong Japanese and Chinese influences. Because of this link, i'm sure you'll find it a far easier transition as far as customs and some underlying kicking concepts are concerned. Muay thai, on the other hand, would be a further cry from the way in which you've been studying.

As to more street effective, i agree with Kill Jill in many respects. But, learning an art that cannot effectively teach you how to fight your way out of a paper bag is a waste of time and money, and can give you a false sense of security. So, i do understand your underlying concern. In this, i will state that the more commonly encountered muay thai is 'sport oriented,' while hapkido is not. A sport oriented muay thai practitioner practices under the rules of the ring, and thus do not necessarily develop a street-applicable approach.

On the other hand, muay thai practitioners are, on the average, far more conditioned and thus present themselves as far more formidable opponents than those that do not condition with such intensity.

Last, conditioning invariably lands on your lap. If you are self-motivated and can work to condition yourself then the style you practice is not such an important issue. If, however, you are not self-motivated and frequently require someone to 'encourage' you, like a coach or trainer, then a condition-intensive art like muay thai would be your better bet.

Then again, the instructor you presented for hapkido is likely not going to be a featherweight when it comes to instruction. I don't doubt he holds to very high standards and will push his students to greater hieghts... IF he is actually doing the teaching.

This last point is important. You need to find out if that instructor is actually going to be teaching the courses, or if he simply sits in his office, goes to meetings, or travels to his various schools and lets one of his assistant instructors manage the instruction. If the latter is the case, it would land onto the last option...

The last option would be to visit each school and watch the instruction. Both at the beginning level and the advanced level. See what they can offer and which one impresses/intrigues you more.