Punching skills of MT?

[tkd_person89]

How do the punching skills of MT compare to that of boxers?

Are MT punching skills good?

[bigboywasim]

I have done Muay Thai with boxing to cross train in my striking. Let me tell you straight out how it is. Muay Thai boxing in my opinion is great. It is better than most other martial arts but not as good as boxing. That is why you should train in boxing as well. The Muay Thai and boxing power gap is huge. If you were to take a great boxer and Muay Thai fighter that are about same size. The boxer will be able to punch twice as hard. Now if you cross train. Let say you do an hour of boxing and two hours of Muay Thai for three days a week. You can make the power gap difference smaller. You will be able to punch with about 70% of a boxer's power. In my opinion this is good enough. See the advantage of Muay Thai is in the elbows, knees and kicks over a boxer. If you have a boxing background as well you will be set. For the ground I think BJJ and good old wrestling is great and good enough.

[twtguy]

I agree and disagree. I cross train in boxing and kickboxing at the moment. In a straight-up boxing match against any of the kickboxers I know...they would lose and vice versa with a kickboxing match against the boxers. In that part I agree, but I dont really think it has much to do with strength or even speed (thats only part). I think the important part is strategy with skills. A boxers hands are going to be better than a kickboxers or tai boxers.

I am not the best boxer in the world, but I can take my kickboxing instructor in a boxing match. If you give him his feet...I would be murdered. If I had his feet as well...He would be murdered. So like bigboywasim said:

If you have a boxing background as well you will be set.

[tkd_person89]

I take TKD. Is that good to mix with boxing?

[twtguy]

I would say that it is better than nothing. I too took tkd, and it has some powerful kicks. The only criticism is it seems to me that some of them are not too practical. Since you have boxing and tkd under your belt...If you ever move onto kickboxing or MT...You will be ahead of the game for sure.

[EmptyneSs]

i train in mt and boxing and they really compliment eachother well. the main difference in the punches is strategy. in mt, alot of the punches are just set ups for more powerful techniques, like a devastating rear leg roundhouse to the opponents leg tendon or to achieve clinch and start throwing knees and elbows. so they dont really have to be as powerful. kicking and knee power are stressed most cause those are the finishers.

being good in boxing alone is really good for practical self defense too in imop because in some situations u really wont be able to use kicks. mabye u are hanging out outside the nightclub and ground is wet and frozen in some parts, or u are fighting someone on uneven ground. or mabye u are in a room thats really cluttered, u never know. and also, boxings defensive skills and footwork are really awesome.

for tkd person, yeah boxing and tk is good. boxing alone is great, mixed with anything else its even better. just use your good hand skills to put pressure on your opponents, and when they are trying to deal with your punches, land hard kicks to their body body or legs. use your boxing to set up ur hard tkd kicks, or vice versa.

[Khun Kao]

I would have to say that it depends.....

In many cases, Thai boxers punching skills pale in comparison to fighters who train boxing exclusively.... but not all! There are many Thai boxing gyms that teach sound boxing skills to complement their MuayThai.

You have to remember that the sport of MuayThai is a blend of many styles of Thai martial arts. Some emphasized kicking, some emphasized grappling, some emphasized punching. There are still gyms that specialize in their punching skills that could probably be traced back to the bareknuckle roots of their art. Muangsurin Gym, originally in Northern Thailand, then in Bangkok, and now sadly defunct, was one such gym.

You only have to look as far as fighters such as Nanfah, Samson Easan, Samart Payakaroon, and Sumluk Kansing. Nanfan and Sumluk were both Olympic boxers (Sumluk won the Gold Medal!), and Samson and Samart were both professional boxing champs (I think both were WBC champs).

Many Thai's actually use MuayThai as a springboard for their International Boxing careers.

But back on point, more often than not, a MuayThai fighters boxing skills are inferior to an International Boxers, but the boxing skills taught in a MT gym are usually fundamentally sound.