muay thai vs. boxing/pros and cons.

**hoodedmonk** · Posted On: 1/28/2008 9:34pm

Ok so I'm watching Elite XC tonight, and Frank Shamrock makes a comment about Muay Thai's lack of head movement/defense and It gets me thinking! He could have a point! until now, I have always thought as far as striking goes, Muay Thai was flawless! But maybe Kickboxing/with leg kicks may be the way to go. I know that Benny Urquidez had some success. maybe he on to something! Anyway this has probably been discussed a million times, but humar me! All opinions are welcome! but I would really like to hear from members who have trained in both Muay Thai and boxing/kickboxing. I have always thought that alot of the Thai fighters success was because of there tuffness, and no matter what! I think I will always regaurd them as the best strikers on the planet.

**DarkXacreD** · Posted On: 1/28/2008 9:49pm

Not that I'm an authority of either sport or that you should take my word for any of what I say, but:

I'm pretty sure the argument against head movement in muay thai is that if you duck under/around a punch, you could get hit with a knee or a kick. In boxing it's (relatively) okay because you're only fending off two hands.

**Emevas** · Posted On: 1/28/2008 10:23pm

You could do the same with any striking art.

The problem with boxing is the lack of kicks and kick defense.

The problem with kickboxing is the lack of knees/elbows and corresponding defense.

As the above poster said, MT is lacking in head movement because greatly exaggerated head movement would force you to eat a knee in MT. In MMA you can get away a little more with head movement as people are less prone to throw kicks/standing knees due to the added takedown element. The ruleset dictates the moveset/emphasis.

**TehDeadlyDimMak** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 1:52am

I think Emevas pretty much covered it.

Come to think of it though, I've rarely (if ever) seen a fighter get caught by a knee while slipping a punch. Maybe it's just my memory? Can someone provide an example?

**Kid Miracleman** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 2:58am

I wouldn't say all MT practitioners have less-than-stellar head movement.... Anderson Silva looked pretty good in his last fight with Rich Franklin.

**alex** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 3:24am

a good thai fighter will weave and dodge, but the way you dodge in MT is different than boxing- you move your upper body back, then come back in, you dont duck. watch some of anuwat kaewsamrits fights

mriko cro cop vs mark hunt if you want to see why moving your head like that is not a good idea. cro cop feints the jab, hunt moves, and eats the follow up kick. of course because this is hunt and not a normal person he lives, but still cost him the fight.

**bob** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 3:27am

Excessive head movement, the cons...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM0wr...eature=related

**PointyShinyBurn** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 8:17am

Originally Posted by TehDeadlyDimMak

Come to think of it though, I've rarely (if ever) seen a fighter get caught by a knee while slipping a punch. Maybe it's just my memory? Can someone provide an example?

Barnett-Nogueira II. Can't find video right now, but Nog repeatedly knees Josh in the face for going underneath his punches.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 12:42pm

I saw it in an amateur fight. A guy from my gym was fighting muay thai rules with a guy who had only done kickboxing. The Kickboxer had crazy low boxing-style bobbing and weaving. My buddy kneed him right in the face by accident and almost lost the fight because it was amateur rules. (no knees to the head)