How old were you ?

[Freedom Fighter]

I just finally started Muay Thai at the Rebellion JiuJitsu school here in Toronto. I'm almost 29 but I guess it's better late then never I thought I would enjoy it and I did. I look forward to taking part in the sport for years to come.

[Muay Thai Guy]

I started last summer when I was 15. My uncle (Duane 'BANG' Ludwig) was and still is my trainer and training with him makes up for all the years that I didn't train. I hope to fight in K-1 max but I am already 6'1 and my weight goes from 151 to 158 throught the week.

[THT]

I was 27 and had always been interested in M.A.s but growing up in a small town the only option was a tkd school. O.K., the real problem is that I was a FULL TIME partier and never that motivated. Anyway, about two years ago I was out of work and back in Tecumseh. I had heard of M.T. over the years by asking people what art uses elbows and allows you to grab people and knee them, since these seemed like pretty natural (and smart) things to do in a fight. I went online and found Coopers Gym in Detroit and started there the June before last. I am currently quit addicted.






To Muay Thai

[Wolverine]

Muay Thai found me when I was 22 year old college student. I had no previous martial arts or boxing experience and had only ever heard of Muay Thai one time in high school.
During the first week of fall semester there were booths set up for local businesses and organizations on campus, and I would walk through them on my way to class.
Because I’m a HUGE fan of boxing I was drawn to the guys hitting pads and giving exhibitions in front of the Muay Thai booth. One of the trainers spotted me watching and asked if I would like to put the gloves on and hit the pads.........I put on my first pair of old smelly gloves and I was in love!
5 years, 2 kids and 7 fights later there is still no other feeling like it in the world.....

[Derekwl]

I wish the story I had for getting into Muay Thai was as exciting as Wolverines, haha. My roommate did Muay Thai in Calgary and he got me into it. I love it though, it's so exciting and keeps you in excellent shape. Unfortunately I have yet to compete, but that is my longtime goal.

[seppuku]

my reason is fairly fitting for me. i got bored, wandered off and happened to turn down a lane that ended at a gym. with a thai boxing sign on it. having tried ju jitsu etc before, afte a few weeks of forgetting i turned up. was there age 16 with no dedication whatsoever.

this january i went back and started to care somewhat more about it. got this far, getting better all the time. mostly in it for the fitness atm cos my instructor doesnt have time for training fighters. he goes in for fight training somewhat obsessively. and goes mental if your not training. but if he finds the time, im game... id love to get in a ring and get pasted by some angry little man

maybe that makes me strange...

[Floss]

Hi, this is my first post
i started training Muay Thai when i was 16, im now 17 and have my first fight in november

i weight 61kgs (Lightweight)
and is 6'2

[Drag'n]

I got my first taste of MuayThai when I was around 15. I threw one of my TKD kicks at my friends uncle (who was an ex Thai boxer) and he blocked it with his shin. It hurt like hell! So I never tried that again.
Then when I was 19 I first got the opportunity to visit a Muay Thai gym. I was a TKD 2nd dan at the time. I remember thinking "Jesus! these guys would just beat the crap outa me!" So I joined straight away.
Unfortunately I was only able to train for 9 months before going abroad. I practised a number of arts after that but none of them really impressed me in their practicality as much as MT.
3 years ago I got back into MT again and I'm really lovin it.

[Rich_aka_Wig]

I've been interested in Muay Thai since I was about 17 but there was no camp near me (from what I could find) where I could train. I took a gap year after I finished 6th form before heading to uni at 19. Currently in my second year and found out over summer about the Muay Thai camp here, so am starting aged 20.

Only been doing it for a short while, but I'm (a) pissed that I don't have at least another years worth of training given I could've taken it up last year and (b) that after 3 years of interest I've only just found a place to train in something that I've really grown in interest and appreciated (-_-)

[jims]

I'm 30 and trained jiu jitsu for 2 years. I figured that i should train some type of standup art and muay thai would be the best. Took my first class this week at coopers gym in detroit and definately enjoyed it.

[kh_s]

Wow, this thread is about 2 years old!

[WildWest.]

I think my reason for training is different from most. As a teenager I did TKD. Our instructor also taught MT on alternate nights which didn't interest me that much. Once I reached BB in TKD, the clubs numbers dropped so the instructor said he would only be teaching MT from now on. He was a good instructor, and excellent teacher and an inspiration to me as a young adult, so I did MT with him purely because of the instructor. Naturally I came to love it and still do it.

[bigred389]

I got started in Muay Thai one hot, smoggy September afternoon in Claremont, California. Because it was hot that day I took notice of a guy wearing a down jacket. He was putting up flyers. I looked at the flyer and it said, "Class in Thai Kick Boxing taught by expert instructor." Expert had been underlined a couple of times.

I said, "Hey, do you know anything about that karate class?"

A deep voiced man with a thick Thai accent nodded and answered, "A little bit."

"So, what's it like?" I asked.

"It's great for getting in shape, it's great for fighting, and it's lots of fun." he explained cheerfully.

"I'll try it," I said. The man smiled and handed me a flyer for the class. Three nights a week from 7 to 9:30 PM just a few blocks away.

The man concluded as he waved, "Well, I'll see you there."

I had never studied martial arts before and had no idea about Thai Boxing or kickboxing. I also had no idea that I was talking to a young man by the name of Surachai "Chai" Sirisute that would become my mentor, a close family friend and inspiration. That was 25 years ago. I was 15.

Terry

P.S.: When I told this story to Guro Dan he patted me on the back and said, "God was watching you that day."

DAAAAAAAMN!!!!!

[chalambok]

I remember Terry Tippie telling me that story years ago. Back then it was really hard to find any muay Thai in the US, let alone meeting Master Chai. My story is similar, but different, the common thread being Ajarn Dan Inosanto. Here goes, my apologies to those who have heared it before.

In March of 1972 I was offered a week of Rest & Recreation from the jungles of Vietnam, where I had been since August of 1971. My platoon leader had two slots open, 1 for me and 1 for him. Choices were Taipei or Bangkok. I chose Bangkok, for no other reason than I had seen the movie The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr when I was a child. When I got a room at the Thai International Hotel in downtown Bangkok I met a girl named Bat Shum Paan (phonetically spelled, I lost her card somewhere a few years back), nickname Dang (which means Red, so called because she was very red when she was born) who hired a full-time driver for me, Pat. We hit all the tourist spots, from the Wats to the Palace. At that time there were still canals everywhere, and travel was not as hectic as now. For instance, the airport was about 20 minutes from any kind of urban area. We even went to the zoo, where I got to pet a Bengal tiger, whose purr was like the idling of a V8. Most times there were not even any other tourists. And, of course, dancing all night at the nightclubs on Petchburi, the Patpong of the early 70s. One afternoon I was watching television when the fights came on. I had seen boxing, of course, but this was totally amazing. Dang asked me if I wanted to see a fight that afternoon, she had a doctor's appointment anyway. So, Pat arranged front-row seats at Rajdamnern for us. It was really different, to say the least. The fights were fast and furious, and the music was incredible. Every time the fighters appeared to fatigue and slow, the conductor would jump up and increase the tempo, and they would start in on each other harder and faster. Finally, about the 6th or 7th fight, I could see enough to appreciate their skill level, although I still had no idea who was winning. Pat tried to explain the betting, how the odds were set and how the fingers of the hand were used by the touts, bent fingers signalling 1/2. After each bout the fighters would run through the crowd and people would put paper money into their mouth, sometimes the loser making more than the winner because he fought past where the odds put him. But during this fight there was a cut from a left elbow, and the doctor was called to look at it. The fighter was bleeding severely enough that it couldn't be stopped, so the doctor was forced to call the fight over. The crowd went berserk. People jumped into the ring, and fights broke out all over the place. The ref got into it, the doctor got into it, both fighters were having to fight their way out of the ring. It was totally manic. Suddenly, large doors at the side of the stadium opened and there was a deuce-and-a-half Army truck backed in. Soldiers got out with bayonets already attached to their rifles, herded everyone into the truck, shut the back, and drove off...WOW I was hooked. But after I returned to the states, where was I to find a Thai boxing teacher in a very small town in Washington? It is to laugh. So, in 1976 started attending jutsu class. Luckily enough my teacher was pretty open-minded, and when Dan Inosanto started coming to the Seattle area I was 'allowed' to attend his seminars. One seminar in October of 1982 he was talking about a friend of his who kind of stood straight and held his hands with the palms facing forward. It was Thai boxing he was talking about. As luck would have it, at dinner that night I was seated across the table from Ajarn Dan. So, I mentioned that I appreciated him talking about muay Thai that day, and related the story I wrote above. He just sat quietly, seemingly not really paying attention. Then, saying "Excuse me, I have to make a phone call," he got up and walked out. I could see him in the entranceway of the restaurant, talking on the pay phone. Oh well, I thought, he must have friends here. He talked for a few minutes, then came back to the table and sat. He looked across to me and said, "I just called my friend Chai, and he is coming here to do a seminar in March." Oh yes, I started training with Ajarn Chai when I was 32.

[ZeroAquaduct]

I started Muay Thai about a month ago and I'm 28. But I began TKD at age 14 and then Wing Chun at age 17.

I don't have to "unlearn" any TKD kicks during Muay Thai (hmm, I'm replying to a post that's posted 2-3 years ago, LOL). I noticed both styles emphasize different things, so it's not like TKD is "wrong" and Muay Thai is "right."

TKD goes for speed, while Muay Thai goes for power. But there's a cost for going for power: I noticed the recovery time for a missed Muay Thai roundhouse is much slower. Because you put all of your weight into the kick, you've committed to that kick almost 100%.

BTW, no debate needed here. I'm just starting out Muay Thai, so I could be wrong in my analysis. I'll wait until I have 5 years of training in Muay Thai before I compare the 2 styles. I think you need at least 5 years of experience in both styles before you can seriously compare, or else it'll just be a bunch of biased fan boy arguments. LOL :P