Which traditional martial art is closest to Muay Thai?

Question

Which traditional martial art is most similar to Muay Thai? Which traditional art would lead to the smoothest transition to Muay Thai?

Answer 1

Muay Thai, contrary to John's answer, did not originate with Okinawan karate. Bhurmese/Khmer warriors brought fighting to Siam (ancient Thailand) with war after war against the nation. Muay Boran and Krabi Krabong were developed at that time (created 1000 years ago, with Muay Boran peaking around 700 years ago) to protect Thailand from the invaders. Muay Boran split over time into about 6 different, regional forms, which devolved into the four forms that were used to create Muay Thai. Of those four forms, only Muay Chaiya and Muay Tha Sao remain. Chaiya is taught to many people in Thailand, but Tha Sao can only be taught to Thai natives.

As for a "traditional" art closest to Thai, Muay Thai is a traditional art. If you meant traditional Chinese or Japanese art, I'd say there is none. KyokushinKai is fairly new (created in 20th century) and, while being based off of Muay Thai and other, older forms of karate, that would make it slightly less than traditional. Okinawan karate/kempo forms are very rigid and use alot of hip strikes and lowered stances, so they do not correlate well to Muay Thai. The same can be said for Kung Fu, with it's lowered stances. All of these arts also employ toe and instep kicks, a no-no for Thai fighters.

I'd say Muay Thai is too different from the other mainstream traditional arts to really correlate to any. Now, if you have experience in the more eclectic, sidestream arts such as Bhurmese boxing, San Shou, San Da, Silat or other forms from the Phillipines, then those would correlate far better. And, if you meant "mainstream" arts, as opposed to "traditional", then yes, KyokushinKai is a good transition to Muay Thai. Oyama learned alot from Muay Thai and it shows in Kyokushin's fighting ability. Some of the best kicboxing matches are Muay Thai against KyokushinKai fighters. Ultimately, though, there are few arts that can compare to the sheer ferocity and perfection of striking technique shown in Muay Thai.

Answer 2

I am going to go with Kyokushin Karate. Mas Oyama trained in various martial arts styles, and one of those styles was Muay Thai. It is a very intense form of Karate, and the standup fighting is very good. You also get to do the XYZ number of people Kumite too. ^_^

Other than that: Other forms of Karate, Kung Fu, et cetera... Though some arts vary greatly from the way Muay Thai is, there's many that can give you a smooth transition.

Answer 3

Kyokushin fighters do well in Muay Thai, they really dont have far to go when they start doing it, most traditional arts are non-contact which means that the people who train in them need to make a giant leap into full contact, I think any traditional art which is a standup and has full contact, non stop/ not point sparing fighting will be good kyokushin is just the first one which comes to mind

Answer 4

Muay Thai is a traditional martial art.

Answer 5

The traditional style that evolved into muay thai was muay boran. Muay Boran is actually one of the most brutal styles ever invented that is why it is very hard to find a school that will teach it, you have to go to Thailand and even then lots of schools that say they teach muay boran actually jsut tech muay thai. Muay boran is too brutal that so many moves from muay boran are now illegal in the muay thai ring now. Muay boran was originally developed to help warriors defend themselves after they lost their weapons. The weapons training style that was used back then and in my opinion is one of the best weapon styles ever developed was Krabi Krabong. If u want to learn a weapons style i recommend this style and also wushu. If u want to learn a traditional style i would suggest muay boran because it is the predecessor to Muay thai but i would also recommend wushu because it is a Chinese style and many martial styles are influenced by Chinese styles that will also help u develop ur martial arts later.

Answer 6

Muay Boran

Answer 7

and the answer is??? Okinawan martial arts is the foundation for Muay Thai, because that's where it originated. and progressed into what we call Thai Kickboxing today. So I guess in short that Kyokushin is a pretty good answer, this ends todays history lesson.

Answer 8

Karate guys have seemed to do well in Kickboxing and Muay Thai.

Answer 9

philliino boxing is pretty similar but i would just jump into muay thai its a very simple form with great striking and you would be able to transition to a grappling slkill such as judo or bjj

Answer 10

wing chun looks like muay boran especiall muay chaya, san shou or sanda and kyokushin karate are the closest to muay thai.