Blog Posts

is muay thai good for self defense?

-By Gene Byard

In a perfect world, you will live your life without ever having to physically defend yourself, your family, or a stranger in danger. You’ll be able to avoid the worst case scenario of having to physically defend yourself in a “fight”. But as we all know, this world is far from perfect, so it pays to be prepared with some basic knowledge of self defense should you need to call on it. In the absence of using deadly force weaponry, martial arts can be a great foundation for a situation such as this.

So now we are faced with the question of , “Which martial art is the best for self defense?” No single martial art can prepare you for all self defense situations, and anyone telling you their one particular brand is better than all others is lying or simply ignorant. Some martial arts have great carryover when it comes to punching. Some are great when it comes to ground fighting. 
However, when it comes to a well rounded full contact martial art that is based on the feet, where almost all altercations start, training Muay Thai regularly can certainly go a long way towards keeping you safe. It’s basic techniques translate to real-world applications in four major ways.

Stance. Muay Thai employs a very basic, easy to understand stance, or foot positioning, that acts as a strong base. This stance can keep you from getting pushed around or tripping over your own feet. The ability to move with ease in any direction while maintaining a solid base and remaining standing is key to being able to defend yourself. 

Variety of Strikes. Muay Thai is also commonly called the “Art of Eight Limbs” for its use of punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. It’s wide range of strikes will give you the option of striking at long range with kicks, medium range with punches, and at short range with elbows and knees. A typical Muay Thai class will incorporate striking practice with multiple limbs and ranges of attack.

Clinch. If a self defense situation moves past the range of striking, as in too close to punch or kick, being familiar with the Muay Thai clinch could make all the difference.  Unlike western boxing or kickboxing, Muay Thai allows for competition to continue when the two opponents become entangled. From here, elbows, knees, trips, and sweeps can be used to cause damage. Often referred to as “grappling on the feet”, being able to control what happens within the clinch translates to the worst case self defense scenarios.

Confidence. Muay Thai training is known for it’s no-frills approach and full contact sparring. Training Muay Thai in a reputable gym is going to safely push you to your physical and mental limits, and will give you confidence over time. Sparring and drilling week after week against other experienced Muay Thai practitioners is going to sharpen your reaction times and train you to keep you calm under pressure. 

If you or your loved ones are looking for confidence and peace of mind, and you’re looking to learn in a safe welcoming environment, then we’d love to have you try us out here at 10 Kicks. We only do Muay Thai, and we have been helping people reach their particular goals for years.
Contact us at the email or phone number below and let’s get you on your way to meeting your goals!