Does Muay Thai tend to be “watered down” in the USA

[SpicyMayo]

Just a curious observation.
There seems to be a lot of differences between the sparring culture between Muay Thai done at MMA gyms on one hand and boxing at pure boxing gyms on the other hand.

I had a friend who did Muay Thai at big mma gym near me. He always bragged about not using headgear. I thought this was strange. When I saw the sparring they did I realized why they didn’t need it.
They just kicked each other in the legs with the occasional jab cross to the head.


You go to a Philly or Baltimore boxing gym. They are wearing headgear. But they’re actually going at each other. Hard.

Is Muay Thai sparring like this usually?

Cause I think a boxer from the hood would give these guys a rude awakening.

 

[tekkenfan]

a styles only gonna be as big as its competitions theres tons of bjj tournaments and there for tons of bjj schools

there isnt alot of muay thai or kb tournaments in usa when i went to coach at a ireland mma gym in 2012 i saw how many kick boxing gyms were around i was surprised i said man usa needs to do this or we are gonna get beat eventually they also do semi pro mma ona bjj mat so guys dont get hurt but gain experience people need to come together to get things like this started

 

[Paradigm]

Just a curious observation.
There seems to be a lot of differences between the sparring culture between Muay Thai done at MMA gyms on one hand and boxing at pure boxing gyms on the other hand.

I had a friend who did Muay Thai at big mma gym near me. He always bragged about not using headgear. I thought this was strange. When I saw the sparring they did I realized why they didn’t need it.
They just kicked each other in the legs with the occasional jab cross to the head.


You go to a Philly or Baltimore boxing gym. They are wearing headgear. But they’re actually going at each other. Hard.

Is Muay Thai sparring like this usually?

Cause I think a boxer from the hood would give these guys a rude awakening.

So you're comparing Muay Thai from an MMA gym versus boxing done at a boxing gym? You ever compare the difference between rugby tackles on grass versus American football tackles on turf?



Also, I think these "boxers from the hood" would be surprised when they caught their first knee or elbow...even with headgear on. Maybe even a hard leg kick with shinguards on at the same intensity as punches are thrown in boxing sparring...

 

[William Huggins]

Just a curious observation.
There seems to be a lot of differences between the sparring culture between Muay Thai done at MMA gyms on one hand and boxing at pure boxing gyms on the other hand.

I had a friend who did Muay Thai at big mma gym near me. He always bragged about not using headgear. I thought this was strange. When I saw the sparring they did I realized why they didn’t need it.
They just kicked each other in the legs with the occasional jab cross to the head.


You go to a Philly or Baltimore boxing gym. They are wearing headgear. But they’re actually going at each other. Hard.

Is Muay Thai sparring like this usually?

Cause I think a boxer from the hood would give these guys a rude awakening.

If you go spar in Thailand, you will find they mostly all go very light..........does that mean it's watered down in Thailand.........<45>

 

[spacetime]

Also, I think these "boxers from the hood" would be surprised when they caught their first knee or elbow...even with headgear on. Maybe even a hard leg kick with shinguards on at the same intensity as punches are thrown in boxing sparring...

You don't think boxers from the hood have experienced knees and elbows? Boxers from the hood bite off ears in the clinch.

 

[William Huggins]

You don't think boxers from the hood have experienced knees and elbows? Boxers from the hood bite off ears in the clinch.

<45>You don't need to be from the "hood" to eat people (or dogs) do you Spacetime.......

 

[Paradigm]

You don't think boxers from the hood have experienced knees and elbows? Boxers from the hood bite off ears in the clinch.

Hood boxers have experienced knees and elbows? I'd say they possess rudimentary knees and elbows...competent, if I'm feeling generous.

Also, Thai boxers can head butt in the clinch...just gotta anticipate the bite coming.

 

[shincheckin]

boxing gyms tend to spar hard becuase of a few reasons

1) they typically wear headgear
2) all they are doing is punching

not saying you cant get hurt with punching, but if you have full face headgear or facebar head gear, theres not a high chance of injury from just punches to the face.

Regarding punching to the body, sure you can hurt guys and drop them with liver punches or knock the wind out of them but theres not a high chance of injury. Kneeing and kicking people very hard in the body can injury the ribs pretty easily compared to a punch, specifically the knee

as far as your boxer statement, your comparing apple to oranges, its a different sport. A top level guy like mayweather will get destroyed in MMA or MT, because they are different sports.

You cant compare how good a chess player is by the way he plays checkers.

Also if you are fighting monthly, theres no need for hard sparring and getting injured prior to a fight.


all that being said, muay thai is very watered down in america, however we are at the beginning of a revolution in the sport in America. We are starting to get alot of top level guys coming to the states, its popularity is growing, and we will start producing some top level guys in the next 10-20 years.

 

[Paradigm]

boxing gyms tend to spar hard becuase of a few reasons

1) they typically wear headgear
2) all they are doing is punching

not saying you cant get hurt with punching, but if you have full face headgear or facebar head gear, theres not a high chance of injury from just punches to the face.

Regarding punching to the body, sure you can hurt guys and drop them with liver punches or knock the wind out of them but theres not a high chance of injury. Kneeing and kicking people very hard in the body can injury the ribs pretty easily compared to a punch, specifically the knee

as far as your boxer statement, your comparing apple to oranges, its a different sport. A top level guy like mayweather will get destroyed in MMA or MT, because they are different sports.

You cant compare how good a chess player is by the way he plays checkers.

Also if you are fighting monthly, theres no need for hard sparring and getting injured prior to a fight.


all that being said, muay thai is very watered down in america, however we are at the beginning of a revolution in the sport in America. We are starting to get alot of top level guys coming to the states, its popularity is growing, and we will start producing some top level guys in the next 10-20 years.

 

[shincheckin]

i play chess daily, some mental aspects and techniques of fighting. pretty cool stuff.

 

[j123]

all that being said, muay thai is very watered down in america, however we are at the beginning of a revolution in the sport in America. We are starting to get alot of top level guys coming to the states, its popularity is growing, and we will start producing some top level guys in the next 10-20 years.

 

[shincheckin]

please get on board with me with this frickin MC Hammer USA song! if there was MURICA meme and it was turned into a song, this would be it.

 

[spacetime]

Hood boxers have experienced knees and elbows? I'd say they possess rudimentary knees and elbows...competent, if I'm feeling generous.
.

Experienced knees and elbows, not thrown them.

 

[dudeguyman]

please get on board with me with this frickin MC Hammer USA song! if there was MURICA meme and it was turned into a song, this would be it.

 

[spacetime]

I don't get why he compares Muay Thai at an MMA gym with boxing at a pure boxing gym? I'm sure boxing in MMA gym will look different as well.

 

[WarriorMonk7]

USA Muay Thai = too much pad work + not enough clinch drilling.

 

[j123]

USA Muay Thai = too much pad work + not enough clinch drilling.

I'd even wager there's too much "boxing" over clinching

 

[spacetime]

USA Muay Thai = too much pad work + not enough clinch drilling.

Ehm Muay Thai in Thailand is A LOT of mitts drills. A holder moving around the kicking shield and the other dude guy kicking it. I asked a dude who was over there. The Thais valued that over sparring, which was mainly soft.

 

[WarriorMonk7]

Ehm Muay Thai in Thailand is ALOT of mitts drills. A holder moving around the kicking shield and the other dude guy kicking it. I asked a dude who was over there. The Thais valued that over sparring, which was mainly soft.

Okay then.

But still - most MT in the USA I have trained at do very little clinch stuff though. I also think USA MT is too cardio heavy, which for me is not great because I want to gain mass (not burn it off).

 

[shincheckin]

USA Muay Thai = too much pad work + not enough clinch drilling.

add not enough padwork to that list as well, by padwork I mean one on one padwork with your coach, actually getting taught, rather than being taught by the guy in the "class" holding pads for you. If thats what you mean by too much padwork than yes thats all american muay thai is, partner up, coach shows a cool trick on the pads, you two do it while he walks around and says good job.

Check the way they train in thailand, lost of padwork, lots of bag work, lots of sparring, lots of clinching......thats the basic recipe for fighting.......What you will never see at any thai gym, is 2 guys in a class holding pads for eachother, you will see multiple thai coaches holding pads for their fighters, but never fighters holding pads/coaching themselves.

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