I think TracyKarate has had some good posts here about various ideas behind martial arts but I would have to raise an eyebrow at the earlier statement. I think that you can determine about 25% of a fighters potential by his style, another 25% can be determined by motivation, and the other 50% is the teacher and training methods. Muay Thai has been show to be an effective martial art because of its devastating knees, elbows, and clinches. The training is also rather realistic and intense.
While I would agree that they could probably better spend their time doing other things instead of shin hardening I don't think most muay Thai artists spend all of their time hardening their shins.
I am kind of dancing around my point but its this: If I had to pick between fighting a muay Thai guy who has trained for a couple of years and a Karate guy who has trained a couple of years. I would know I could take the karate guy because most Karate guys don't do full contact and don't know what it feels like to get hit. Muay Thai is may be a sport but it makes the praticers hardened and quick while Karate almost always instills a false sense of confidence.
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No purifier equals knowledge,
and in time
the man of perfect discipline
discovers this in his own sprit.
The Bhagavad-Gita
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