Tae Kwon Do/Muay Thai at the same time??

[plat]

hey guys Im new here, just wanted to ask a question and hopefully get some feedback. Im going to sign up to this tae kwon do school near my house, the website says that it's traditional, and it's one hour a day five times a week. Im also going to be taking a Muay Thai and maybe a BJJ class. How long do you guys think it will be before I can defend myself? If that sounds bad, no I don't want to go around beating people up, it's just that I want to learn how to defend myself, and become a well rounded fighter. Do you think it's good to cross train like that? Thanks alot. (sorry for the long post)

[french fri25]

welcome to the forums first of all.

second of all, i dont think training in 3 styles is such a good idea for a beginner. i say take one and maybe when you start to feel comfortable with that style, you could start another style.

if you want to be able to defend yourself, muay thai or bjj would be smart choices. as for the tkd, it depends on how the instructor teaches it. i take moo duk kwan but my instructor was a green beret also, so our classes are brutal and we learn excellent self defense.

go check out the schools and see which one you like the most, but i definitly dont think you should train in all 3 at the same time.

[DWx]

Like French Fri said, when you're a complete novice, jumping straight into 3 different styles is gonna be tough. Your body will have a hard time adjusting to one way of moving let alone 3.

As far as self defense goes, it would depend on how well you are taught, how much you practice and whether you have the capacity to take the knowledge in and develop it. You wont see instant changes but your awareness should pick up pretty quick.

Welcome to the forums.

[bushido_man96]

There is some good advice here. However, if you are young and have LOTS of time on your hands, and really want to dive into all 3, then go for it.

With Thai Boxing you will get a lot of drilling and work on bags and rounds. I think it would be fun, and BJJ would as well. I think if you do a ground style and a stand-up style at the same time, then you will be ok with learning the two of them. You won't get them confused.

As for TKD, I am kind of partial to it, and if you want to have some technical work done while doing these other two, then you may enjoy it as well. While Thai boxing's techniques will be fairly numbered (which is a good thing), in TKD you will learn a plethora of techniques as you advance in rank.

Best of luck to you, and enjoy your journey! Just the fact that you can consider taking 3 styles makes me jealous!

[marie curie]

Hey, Welcome to the forums!

Like Fry said, starting out in 3 diff MA could be difficult (earlier on is more difficult to separate "we stand like this here, we stand like that there").

Speaking as someone with a bit of experience and in a similar training situation at the moment, I recommend that you keep it to one grappling and one striking art. What you learn will be different enough to keep everything separate and with two you should still have enough time time to really dedicate to them at home.

Good Luck

[wingedMonkey]

I think this too may be too strenuous on your body if you are just starting martial arts, although I'll agree with the whole take a ground and a standing martial art.

Also like others said on the defensive part, it's all about how much time you put into your training and how serious you take it. As a green belt myself in TKD, some black belts already have trouble sparring me but that is because I train extensively and very seriously.

Good luck to you though and if I had plenty of free time and nothing to worry about I would take all three too !!!

[The BB of C]

hey guys Im new here, just wanted to ask a question and hopefully get some feedback. Im going to sign up to this tae kwon do school near my house, the website says that it's traditional, and it's one hour a day five times a week. Im also going to be taking a Muay Thai and maybe a BJJ class. How long do you guys think it will be before I can defend myself? If that sounds bad, no I don't want to go around beating people up, it's just that I want to learn how to defend myself, and become a well rounded fighter. Do you think it's good to cross train like that? Thanks alot. (sorry for the long post)

A: This post is about 1/16 of most of the posts I read

B: I don't believe we have any way of telling you how long it will be before you can defend yourself. If I knew you personally for long enough, I might be able to give an estimate. But we would still have no way of knowing for sure.

C: Good luck with all of your classes.

[gzk]

hey guys Im new here, just wanted to ask a question and hopefully get some feedback. Im going to sign up to this tae kwon do school near my house, the website says that it's traditional, and it's one hour a day five times a week. Im also going to be taking a Muay Thai and maybe a BJJ class. How long do you guys think it will be before I can defend myself? If that sounds bad, no I don't want to go around beating people up, it's just that I want to learn how to defend myself, and become a well rounded fighter. Do you think it's good to cross train like that? Thanks alot. (sorry for the long post)

I would definitely take BJJ and either TKD or MT; I wouldn't do both TKD and MT at the same time. There are a lot of similar-but-different techniques in those two styles that it would be too easy to get confused, especially if you're already taking one other style. You wouldn't want to get thrown out of the dojang for clinch knees or something If your priority is practical self defence I would probably recommend MT over TKD, but watch a class of each first (and if they don't let you do this, this is a huge red flag - don't sign up there!) and see what you think.

As for how long to be able to defend yourself, it depends how long you train, what your co-ordination, balance, etc is like naturally, how good your training and instruction is, your attitude, what self-defence scenarios you're likely to find yourself in in your area, etc. Most likely it will be a gradual, continual process.

I think if you have the time and money, cross training is a great idea. However, you'll want to cross train in styles that compliment each other. TKD and MT cover the same aspect of fighting, pretty much (standup striking and some limited standup grappling), which is why I recommended you definitely take BJJ as it will cover takedowns and ground grappling. If someone manages to take you down in the street, and worse still, mount you, TKD or MT aren't going to do a lot for you. If you need to hit and run, BJJ isn't going to be your best choice.

[RealWingChunKuen]

hey guys Im new here, just wanted to ask a question and hopefully get some feedback. Im going to sign up to this tae kwon do school near my house, the website says that it's traditional, and it's one hour a day five times a week. Im also going to be taking a Muay Thai and maybe a BJJ class. How long do you guys think it will be before I can defend myself? If that sounds bad, no I don't want to go around beating people up, it's just that I want to learn how to defend myself, and become a well rounded fighter. Do you think it's good to cross train like that? Thanks alot. (sorry for the long post)

Hello Plat,

First of all welcome to the forums. My advice is that you should start with one art and get good at it before you get into the other. If your priority is self defense and only self defense only, then I would suggest that you start with a stand up striking art which in your case would be Muay Thai as it should give you results quicker than TKD. It is also a stand up style, and that is where most fights start.

Once you have built up your fitness level and confidence, then you can start you BJJ classes.

Good luck.

[some0ne]

I've never studied TKD but have studied Muay Thai with a lot of people that were anywhere from 4th to 7th degree black belts in TKD, and it definitely helped their Muay Thai game. However, starting out, it would be a big mistake to train in both arts at 2 different shools simultaenously. I know in Thailand, there are some gyms that offer both, but, they basically teach you both styles together, not seperately.

It was a pain in my butt training in Muay Thai, Shito Ryu, and Kyokushin at the same time, especially at the shito ryu dojo. I would often by muscle memory start throwing a brazilian kick or a muay thai roundhouse whenever I kicked and get reprimanded for it.