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differences between Karate - KungFu - TaeKwonDo and
MUAY THAI TRAINING
Muay Thai are:
Arts in the World are Karate from Japan, KungFu from China and Tae Kwon Do from Korea.
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Feminine Humbleness:
M
M
T
– No forced joint movements and it focuses on Relaxation & Speed:
Basically each student learns the 5 areas of Muay Thai; Punches/Hands, Elbows, Knees, Kicks and Clinching/stand up Wrestling. Then they try to perfect their Natural Abilities and Body Type in each area and start to focus on their strengths. As they grow in Muay Thai, they try to turn their weaknesses into strengths. That is why many in the Muay Thai Family say “Muay Thai for Life”. So basically every person makes up their own Muay Thai style and it is ALL Muay Thai!
main Martial
In
Relaxed Natural Movements
ost Martial Arts have just 1 Style and it is taught by 1 Master and his students must learn just what the Master teaches. It is not like that with Muay Thai. There are 4 Regions in Thailand; North, Central, East and South and these areas are known for certain styles but it all is Muay Thai.
The 3
America, I first studied Boxing 40 years ago and as I am half Filipino, Boxing is in my blood! The first Martial Arts to come to the USA that I trained in were Judo and Karate because of the US military presence in Japan. Then the Chinese were always in the USA but it was not until Bruce Lee encouraged them to teach KungFu to all people and they started to do so. Then the US military went to Korea and then they brought TaeKwonDo back to the USA. Many Thai nationals are doing TaeKwonDo because some have won medals in the Olympics. Back in my history Karate was known for the Power Chop/ Hand Strike, KungFu was known for the Animal Styles like the Crane –
Open Book System:
Tiger – Praying Mantis and TaeKwonDo was known for their Flexible and Strong Kicks. I studied a little of all these Martial Arts and in 1993 I was a local Kickboxing Champ in California. In 1993 I met a Thai Muay Thai teacher in Los Angeles and I started to learn Muay Thai. Los Angeles has 60,000 plus Thai nationals and some joke to say it is a Province of Thailand since they have direct Airline flights from Bangkok to Los Angeles. Since I had experience in the 3 main Martial Arts plus Boxing I thought I could do Muay Thai very easily. Well, I was wrong! Muay Thai has nothing to do with
uay Thai mainly is about relaxation & speed. Most of the strikes and kicks in Muay Thai are relaxed and they try to use body mechanics and structure to strike with specific bones to a specific target. The best fighters in Thailand are 50 Kgs. and they are skin and bone. So they use the small body weight they have and totally put it behind the bone weapon to hit the pressure point for KO results. For example, the roundhouse style kick is like swinging a baseball bat. It is not snapping the leg out from the knee joint. In Muay Thai, the joint is relaxed and not forced to lock for its power. I know many American Masters in Martial Arts that have had knee surgery because of the forced joint kicks. This rarely happens in Muay Thai.
o me this is the secret behind Muay Thai and very few Foreigners have learned this secret or care to understand it. The #1 KO Strike that Thai fighters have against non-Thai fighters is the Elbow. Now the Elbow is known as the Knife of Muay Thai. If you have a Knife in combat you do not have to use a lot of force - the knife does the cutting if you cut smooth, soft and graceful. The classic example of this is when Japan fights Thailand. The Japanese are amazing warriors and very aggressive but with that attitude you cannot use elbows effectively and you can see the elbow strike coming a mile away. But the Thai fighters are very soft and sneaky in their elbow strike and they get the Japanese fighters almost every time. Muay Thai is known as “Hard as a Diamond but Soft as Silk.” One main character of a traditional Thai fighter is that he is soft, feminine and humble.
these Martial Arts and as Bruce Lee told his students … “You must Empty your glass before I can fill it”. So this old dog of 30 years had to learn some new tricks and it took me a while to empty my glass! I have been teaching Muay Thai to others for many years now and my best students are those who know nothing and are totally empty so Muay Thai can fill them up. Muay Thai as a Sport and as an old Martial Art is amazing and it was totally developed inside Thailand with very little influence from any other countries. Now some of the jumping and flying moves could be traced back to some KungFu, but Thailand has created an amazing Combat Sport.
Contact me if you want to try Muay Thai. I also take people to the Muay Thai fights and I will give you a tour of the Gym, the Stadium and show you how the fighters are getting ready to fight. Plus you can take as many pictures and videos as you want as long as you promise to share them with others. MUAY THAI TRAINING
MUAY THAI TRAINING
MUAY THAI TRAINING
About the Author: Daniel C Docto aka Khru “Doc” If you want to learn more about Muay Thai or even take a Lesson please feel free to contact Khru “Doc”. DocThailand@gmail.com – Cell 080-889-1779
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