Kickboxing vs Muay Thai

[JerseyTrash]

Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm a grappler, and this guy at my class told me that he's trained in both kickboxing and Muay Thai. He tried explaining how kickboxing and MT use different strategies, as far as ring generalship or whatever is concerned. He said that kickboxing is more about counterpunching or whatever. Could someone explain this to me?

 

[Vector_X]

hmm well I believe that elbows and the thai clinch are not seen in a general kickboxing format. Besides those differences I think the way the kicks are thrown might be different as well. I can tell you all you need to know about the muay thai side of it, but am ignorant on the kickboxing rule set.

 

[Hit-or-be-hit]

i think how they keep there hands is different
plus obviously MT has the Thai clinch
they also use more elbows and knees.
MT is basically just more violent
i still basically say it's kickboxing though
I call it Muay Thai Kickboxing when people ask what muay thai is

 

[fightingrabbit]

yeah i was always confused about KB and MT. I always thought Kickboxing was just a watered down, sport/point oriented version of Muay Thai.

 

[ambertch]

yeah i was always confused about KB and MT. I always thought Kickboxing was just a watered down, sport/point oriented version of Muay Thai.

Watered down? Tell that to the Dutch fighters! hehe

In my own opinion I usually attribute kickboxing with better orthodox boxing in terms of technique and movement.

 

[marks]

I have noticed that Kickboxers do tend to use punches more than Thai fighters. That might be what he meant. Plus most kickboxers dont train low kicks, knees and elbows, so aprt from there few kicks, they are limited in what they can counter with

MarksChat

 

[JerseyTrash]

ttt

 

[RJ Powell**]

Honestly, there is very little difference between Kickboxing and Muay thai, aside from the Elbow rule.

A couple decades back, kickboxing used to be it's own sport, with Karate/TKD guys & boxing thrown in. Nowadays there is a VERY heavy Muay Thai influence in kickboxing. Kickboxing also contributed to the punching techniques in modern Muay Thai.

It really is one big clusterfuck. Almost everyone that considers themselves a kickboxer uses Thai kicks nowadays, with a little Karate or whatver thrown in.

Most Pro kickboxing matches utilize leg kicks. Guess where they got them from? I would consider K-1 Kickboxing.

Dutch Kickboxers also consider themselves Muay Thai practicioners too. But they're style is different, it has strong Japanese influence with roots in Kyokushin Karate, Muay Thai, and Boxing. That's why if you go to a dutch gym, you will notice that some of them count in japanese. Or do traditional Japanese MA customs like kneeling and bowing.

For me, i just consider Muay Thai as a style with Lots of Clinching and Elbow practice. Everything else is Kickboxing. It's easier that way.

The lines are really blurred on this subject.

 

[RJ Powell**]

I have noticed that Kickboxers do tend to use punches more than Thai fighters. That might be what he meant. Plus most kickboxers dont train low kicks, knees and elbows, so aprt from there few kicks, they are limited in what they can counter with

MarksChat

Are we talking about american kickboxers here? If so, then yes, no low kicks, but almost everyone practices low kicks nowadays. Even knees, to a lesser extent.

One thing i know, is that the Thai roundhouse has pretty much become the gold standard when it comes to most kickboxing matches.

Currently, kickboxing is just kickboxing (muay thai included), what is more important are the rules you are training for, THAT is what determines your style of fighting more than anything.

a good example would be Lucien Carbin's Gym (the trainer of Alistair Overeem, and Tyrone Spong-ftw-), he just considers himself kickboxing, sometime Thai boxing even though there is clinching and knees. shit is interchangeable bro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgrDz1BSMbM

that being said. i don't think i'm gonna talk about this anymore because i keep mixing myself up. But seriously, modern day Kickboxing really resembles muay thai, just without the clinching and elbows, and with deeper boxing skill.

 

[Vector_X]

I have noticed that Kickboxers do tend to use punches more than Thai fighters. That might be what he meant. Plus most kickboxers dont train low kicks, knees and elbows, so aprt from there few kicks, they are limited in what they can counter with

MarksChat

I would say this is generally true if you look at your typical Thai Muay Thai fighter. When you go into different countries that practice Muay Thai this kind of statement really breaks down. An example is look at your Dutch Muay Thai fighters a lot of those guys typically mix kicks and punches a bit more than the thai's who don't usually have really heavy hands.

 

[silverstieNmma]

yeah muay thai figters hands are usually less lethal than KB

 

[Maroli]

kickboxing came from full contact karate. as such, the kicking style is snappier, more like a tkd kick. They're also a lot bouncier around the ring in terms of footwork, not having to be worried about being swept by a low kick. When an american kickboxer kicks with his back leg, he doesn't spin all the way around, he lands with his back leg in front (switch stance) and then punches or moves it back as necessary. They don't turn their hips around as much in the kicks basically. Of course, now its more of a melting pot, I was speaking tradiationally

 

[GrazZ]

as far as im aware, there are no elbows or knees allowed in regular kickboxing nor are you allowed to throw leg kicks apparently.

From Wikipedia "Kickboxing is often confused with Muay Thai, also known as Thai Boxing. The two sports are similar, however, in Thai Boxing, kicks below the belt are allowed, as are strikes with knees and elbows."

so thats pretty significant in the grand scheme of things imo

 

[vince89]

Depends on the rules. "Kickboxing" in this country at least is seen as:

Kicks only above the waist.
No knees/elbows.

But some places its seen as basically Muay Thai without elbows. It depends on the country and the rules used for competition.

 

[Tim Chan]

there are tons of kickboxing styles, with mt being one of them. and yes strategy changes and so does the rules.

in mt you go for a few rounds. so you see ppl pacing for the 1st 2 and feeling each other out for a long time. you are allowed to clinch for a long time and knees/elbows
pka, you have the 8 kick rule.
san shou has throws within the 2-5 second contact rule and sometimes a raised platform with no ropes.
wcl you have to keep throwing and get penalized for not continuous fighting and you cant clinch. you cant throw 1 kick and back off but try to follow with combos

so ofcourse you have to change your strategy to fit the different sport. just like going from a judo to bjj match, or tkd to karate match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iedxtg0N_KE

heres a nice full contact bareknuckle(no punches to the head) fight i found. tkd vs karate, you can see how you have to change strategies

 

[Kosh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of combinations are used in Kickboxing, whereas in Muay-Thai, more enphasis is given on sinlge moves...

 

[vu]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of combinations are used in Kickboxing, whereas in Muay-Thai, more enphasis is given on sinlge moves...

I concur...

 

[vu]

Here's how I'd break it down...b/c it's all a sorta categorical and semantics issue...

The main "category" is "kickboxing"...however, within this are different types of kickboxing...I will go from most "rule heavy" to least...and these are broad categories, so within each there will be a certain amount of variation as well, depending on organization and country of contest:

1) American-style - above the waist kicks, they wear those "booty" things, karate pants, boxing hands. No clinching, no knees, no elbows...oftentimes there are even kick "quotas" to be met each round...

2) "oriental/international rules" - basically your "Japanese-style" kickboxing...limited clinching, knees, low-kicks are allowed, heavy on combinatitons...something like K-1...

3) Muay Thai...we all know how this one works...

Then there are "weird" organizations like WCL...which I guess are kinda between category 1 and category 2...b/c they allow no clinching, knees to the head...

 

[ZGSON]

Kickboxers generally use more foot work and seem to use alot of spinning TKD'ish style kicks from what I've seen. I don't think they use elbows either.

 

[marks]

Are we talking about american kickboxers here? If so, then yes, no low kicks, but almost everyone practices low kicks nowadays. Even knees, to a lesser extent.

One thing i know, is that the Thai roundhouse has pretty much become the gold standard when it comes to most kickboxing matches.

Currently, kickboxing is just kickboxing (muay thai included), what is more important are the rules you are training for, THAT is what determines your style of fighting more than anything.

a good example would be Lucien Carbin's Gym (the trainer of Alistair Overeem, and Tyrone Spong-ftw-), he just considers himself kickboxing, sometime Thai boxing even though there is clinching and knees. shit is interchangeable bro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgrDz1BSMbM

that being said. i don't think i'm gonna talk about this anymore because i keep mixing myself up. But seriously, modern day Kickboxing really resembles muay thai, just without the clinching and elbows, and with deeper boxing skill.

Over here in the UK, my experience with with Kickboxing gyms are that they tend to still stick to kickboxing. Not many really mix it up. For Thai style, ive had to go to actual Thai schools.