Comparing Kickboxing vs. Muay Thai
THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO "SISTER SPORTS"
By Angela Chang
With both kickboxing (K1 rules) and Muay Thai growing simultaneously around the world, fans of one sport are often fans of the other.
With many Muay Thai fighters successfully making the transition over to kickboxing (such as Sitthichai, Petchpanomrung, Tiffany van Soest, and many more), it’s easy to think they are the same.
While there are many similarities between the two, there are a few things that set Muay Thai apart from kickboxing.
1. Kicks to Punches Ratio
When you watch a professional Muay Thai fight, punches are usually only used to set up kicks and knees. Less commonly, some Muay Thai fighters will have the Muay Maat style and attempt to knock out their opponents with punches instead fighting to win on points.
However, you will see much much more punches being thrown in a kickboxing fight, often in long combinations or with the “haymaker” style of...
Muay Thai Styles: The Boxer & The Puncher
TECHNICAL STYLES & STYLINGS OF THE FEROCIOUS FIST
From Muay Thai Guy
I’ve recently been spending a lot of time watching Youtube videos of old Roberto Duran fights.
I was quite surprised to see the similarities between Mr. Duran’s style and a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style. Duran was described as an inside fighter as well as a technical brawler which I feel is the perfect way to describe a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style.
Even though I’ve put the boxer and the puncher together, by no means are the puncher and boxer one in the same. This is something that I feel is up for interpretation.
Some fighters are not the most technically sound boxers, but they were born with the gift of natural punching power or hands made of stone. There are also those fighters who are technically sound or precise and use that to their advantage.
The Evolution Of Muay Thai
Like any other sport, Muay Thai has gone through it’s own evolution. Evolution is...
A Breakdown of Muay Thai Styles: Clinch Fighters
Muay Thai Styles – Clinchers and Knee Specialists
From Muay Thai Guy
An aspect of Muay Thai that is just as essential as being able to kick and punch is knowing how to clinch and knee.
Anyone who’s trained in a Muay Thai gym in Thailand will know that clinch practice is a daily part of training just like skipping rope or heavy bag work.
Two Muay Thai fighters of the past and present who dominate using the clinch are Dieselnoi and Yodwicha.
In this article I will try to give an explanation of what a clincher/knee specialist is in Muay Thai also known as Muay Kao or “knee fighter.”
What does it mean to be a “clinch” fighter?
Typically clinching and kneeing go hand and hand.
People with a boxing background tend to get confused when they’re introduced to Muay Thai clinching. In boxing, clinching tends to be a defensive position used to conserve energy rather than expend it. In Muay Thai it’s...
Breakdown of Muay Thai Styles: Samart vs. Saenchai
Muay Thai Styles: A Tale of Two Technical Fighters
From Muay Thai Guy
There is a saying in boxing “styles make fights.” This holds true for Muay Thai as well.
The recent boxing match of the century between Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was one of the most predictably boring fights of the century, when it comes down to it their styles just didn’t make for an exciting fight, technical fighter vs. brawler is rarely exciting if the technical fighter has anything to say about it.
In the Golden Era of Muay Thai back in the 80’s and 90’s when there was an abundance of top-level fighters they use to match up styles to take out the best.
For example Samart Payakaroon considered one the of greatest technical Muay Thai fighters of all time was only able to be defeated by Dieselnoi, the greatest Muay Kao or knee fighter of all time.
In this article I will be talking about Muay “Feemue” which is the technical fighter. Two examples of...
