That being said, there is nothing like Muay Thai. In my opinion, it is the ultimate standup in America. Its as real as it gets for fighting (at least in america). The ultimate standup is probably Bokator or Muay Boran. But we don't have those in america (or at least very few).
I love muay thai kempo and brazilian Juijitsu. If I had to pick one, I do no which one I would pick (probably kempo, but my skills would greatly suffer). Luckily I don't have too. I am blessed with all three. So I will compare muay thai to all the arts I have taken:
Muay Thai: A very agressive great standup, teaches kicks, knees, elbows, punches, and standup grappling (clinch fighting). Everything you need for standup fighting in tournaments and in the street. The fantastic conditioning is a bonus.
Brazilian Juijitsu: Not a fair comparison, as they are seperate arts. BJJ is all grappling and mostly on your back. My teachers a blackbelt and he says he doesn't fight on his back in streetfights unless he gets taken down, but when he does its very important to know. Great art. But does not start you off in a fight (unless the fight starts by a takedown). Muay Thai can start a fight more often. Still, great art.
Taekwondo: A great style when its not a Mcdojo. Good taekwondo has emphasis on kicks, but is focused on self defense over tournaments. You can have tournaments. But its more important to be able to save your life than it is to win a tournament. Beware Mcdojos!: schools that capture your interest with board breaks and Chinese broadsword demos, only to surprise you with a 70 dollar fee for your first belt test (and by the time you get to black its $700). If I found a decent dojo in my area then I'm sure I would take it. Real TKD is great.
Freestyle Karate: I took this when I was 4 or 5-10. It was fun. But I was a young kid. It would not be fair to rank this art among the others because I do not remember a ton about it. 15-16 is a great time to start training, especially in MA or weightlifting. But I remember the school I went to was great. As for which is better, MT or Freestyle karate, I think karate takes longer to get good at.
Shotokan: During my brief time in the art, I learned its very rough, very strict, very traditional and very effective. Enough said. As for compared to Muay Thai, I think MT guys have the edge because shotokan is mainly concerned with long range fighting and keeping distance while MT guys fight out of any range. No offense to those of you who practice it, it is a great art. Kokoro could give you a much better opinion on it than I can.
Kempo: Finally, there is Kempo. A beautiful mixture of Karate, Kung Fu, and sometimes Juijitsu (my style has more hapkido influence than anything else as far as grappling is concerned, as one of the blackbelts practices hapkido). Karate is fierce and allows one to defense themself. Kung fu is a soft, beautiful but efficient style. Combined, you have a solid base, straight self defense. Throw in forms and Bunkai, reaction drills, sparring, and a heavy influence on kicks and the true power of karate (hand strikes) and you have the great art of Kempo. Beware, there are also many Kempo mcdojos. The only thing that I rank MT about Kempo on is Kempo (my style at least) does not allow knees and elbows in sparring, while MT does (part of the reason I started taking Muay Thai,
I hope this answered your question, and in short, YES! TAKE MUAY THAI!
the short answer is very well
the long answer is it depends on your club and its atmosphere ie how hard they train some clubs aim to produce professional fighters whereas some are like a light contact womans self defence class but its very good for fitness compared with grappling arts.
You should also note that 16 is a tricky age to start martial arts as someone has to decide whether you go into childrens or adults classes. In a childrens class you may be biggest and strongest so you will put in less effort but in an adults class it maybe the exact opposite .
Also be aware that you are probably just starting what will be a very long association with martial arts so if you end up in an adults class take care of yourself , injuries happen just make sure they arent serious
Yes.
All martial arts are different in the way the train and what they do also it depends on the school and teacher.
Most Muay Thai schools are not "child friendly" (or at least the so called "average american kid), though there are plenty of children that take it and even fight at a young age, and training is very physical and intense from the start. It develops very high levels of stamina and fitness from bag work, constant sparring, and fighting. Expect to do some sort of competition fighting, though you may or may not have to worry about that.
I have taken for MMA in the past and it is also used a-lot in the AKBAN. The art of eight limbs and it's great fun.
If you are more concerned about fun and fitness then just with with ever you enjoy the most, try a few out for a week or two and then make a decision.
I'm a bouncer and I've done a tiny bit of boxing but I train with weights religiously. I get lots of guys every weekend threatening me with their 5 years of MMA/Brazilian Ju Jitsu/ muay thai/Krav Manga or whatever... they all end up knocked out.
One thing I've noticed about Muay Thai is that unless you are very good at it, all people have to do is get in closer and throw some quick hard punches consistently and it stops the muay thai guy from getting space to launch kicks or knees, their elbows also don't count for much if they spend the fight with their hands covering their head.
The guys who want to wrestle are usually the most worst off because I have enough core strength to prevent them from picking me up. After that point most seriously just apologise and leave the club. I'm not saying it's a waste of time because in reality I don't really know because people can't get me on the ground in the first place. (you have to remember a fight is different to training, a person is going to be throwing punches or kicking you, as you try to dive down and tackle them)
This is what I've witnessed from my job, I'm sure the outcome would be different if i was up against professionals.
Whatever you choose try to focus on weight training as well.
It will certainly get you fit. But so will many other types of physical training.
Self-defence for many young men is often a euphemism for "ego enhancement." Anything that INCREASES the size and power of your physical self will serve that purpose. Martial arts are first of all in the west a BUSINESS. That means someone will take your hard earned money so they can tell you HOW TO TRAIN.
But go and do whatever tickles your fancy. You'll be paying for it.
Depends on the place. 9/10 times I would not recommend it. Too much pad work and cardio. Not enough focus on distancing and timing.
I'm a 16 year old boy and have never done a martial art/combat sport before. I want to do it for fitness and possible self defence. How does Muay Thai compare to other martial arts for these factors?
