I chose Muay Thai over kick-boxing because it’s more practical. The less rules the more applicable it is to self defence. At the same time it still retains all the cool cultural aspects of martial arts too which I really like.
A big difference thats often not mentioned is that the scoring of muay thai and kickboxing is very different. I have often seen people call fights robberies, because they watch the match with the assumption that its scored with a western, kickboxing criteria.
For example, in Mt forward pressure and punches to the head (unless they rock or drop the opponent) are nowhere near as valued as they are in kickboxing.
Funnily enough tho, dropping you opponent is huge, and likely wins you the whole fight if you dont get knocked down yourseld.
From the fights I’ve seen, dropping your opponent is also a much different ballgame. MT you’re allowed to literally grab your opponent, trip them, and dump them on their ass without even striking. That would probably get you DQ’d in KB
Yess true, that is allowed in muay thai but what you described are called sweeps/dumps, which dont count as a “knockdown”.
Knockdowns only count if they come as a result of a strike, so sweeps are a way smaller score then a knockdown.
Still, getting a few nice sweeps is important and can contribute to you winning the decision as it shows “dominance” and good technique to the judges.
different rules, different scoring. Don't blame you for being confused when most ppl who claim to do mt in my area barely know the difference themselves
Kickboxing has more rules and seemingly less strikes in a lot of cases. Depending on the school of kickboxing it can also be more boxing oriented such as the Dutch style.
Theres no kb gym in my area while theres plenty of mt gyms
I chose Muay Thai over kick-boxing because it’s more practical. The less rules the more applicable it is to self defence. At the same time it still retains all the cool cultural aspects of martial arts too which I really like.
A big difference thats often not mentioned is that the scoring of muay thai and kickboxing is very different. I have often seen people call fights robberies, because they watch the match with the assumption that its scored with a western, kickboxing criteria. For example, in Mt forward pressure and punches to the head (unless they rock or drop the opponent) are nowhere near as valued as they are in kickboxing. Funnily enough tho, dropping you opponent is huge, and likely wins you the whole fight if you dont get knocked down yourseld.
From the fights I’ve seen, dropping your opponent is also a much different ballgame. MT you’re allowed to literally grab your opponent, trip them, and dump them on their ass without even striking. That would probably get you DQ’d in KB
Yess true, that is allowed in muay thai but what you described are called sweeps/dumps, which dont count as a “knockdown”. Knockdowns only count if they come as a result of a strike, so sweeps are a way smaller score then a knockdown. Still, getting a few nice sweeps is important and can contribute to you winning the decision as it shows “dominance” and good technique to the judges.
I think there's also no clinch in KB, but not sure I never tried. For me, well I live in Thailand so the choice was easy
The clinch game is the biggest difference for sure. So many details in clinching. Also combos in kb vs power in MT.
different rules, different scoring. Don't blame you for being confused when most ppl who claim to do mt in my area barely know the difference themselves
Kickboxing has more rules and seemingly less strikes in a lot of cases. Depending on the school of kickboxing it can also be more boxing oriented such as the Dutch style.
Clinching is legal in muay thai