Muay Thai and TKD guys (and gals).. preferrable someone with experience in both?

Question

Please without saying anything negative about either style.. The Muay Thai round kick, is a devestating kick, which Muay Thai fighters have trained to defend very well (because it hurts like hell if you don't)... Equally devestating when landed is the TKD front kick and side kick, which TKD guys train to defend very well for the same reasons (although TKD sparring is not as intense as MT sparring)... I am a TKD guy moved to MT just long enough to react well enough to rarely get hit with the Round Kick .. (I like to turn me knee into the kick to protect my leg, and drop my elbow to protect my ribs, and the cut kick is beutiful against the high kick), having said that any of the guys there that have been there 5+ years still beat the crap out of me (hopefully not for much longer :)... but against a front kick or side kick, even the 5+ year guys get the deer in the headlights look... one guy likes to turn his elbow in to protect his midsection, I havent really thrown the kicks hard..

but should I try to land them harder... and see if they need to react differently.. or should I just go there to do Muay Thai (My main goal by going there is to learn MT, but I really dont think the kick can be absorbed...) also I dont want to start a satyle vs style argument with them.. because they rarely are healthy arguments

to anyone who thinks youtube proves tkd sucks.. I can find vids of good tkd guys beating bad mt guys and vice versa... it is not the style that makes MT very good, at ring fighting.... it is the fact that they train at ring fighting.... and they do it very well... unfortunately if you are a ring fighting fan, and you see a TKD guy who learned what i would call "soft sparring".... of course the ring guy is going to win in a ring, put the MT guy in a TKD tournement and he will not have a chance.... I am more concerned about the strengths of each, not their weaknessess

Answer 1

I'm a retired muay thai fiighter. Alot of muay thai guys have little respect for other arts, but the truth is there are kicks you should steal from other arts. Those guys should not have a problem with you mixing it up. It's healthy to learn counters for every kick. They might get upset if they get the wind knocked out of them from a tkd kick, but next time they will know to tuck their elbows wont they? Hard style defense, and it broke my foot once. They should already know that from footjabs/pushkicks. If anything you're helping them out. If you sparred in my gym throwing tkd kicks it would be welcomed. I'm strictly muay thai, it's my passion, but I have learned kicks from other arts to help out in m.m.a. I love the sidekick to spinning back kick combo followed up by a m.t roundkick to the ribs. It looks really cool , but I've never tried it in the ring. I've also seen Thai fighters in Thailand using axe kicks, crescent kicks, and side kicks. I would just ask the guys if they mind? Everyone is really friendly at my gym and we've had some crazy stuff going down in that ring. I say learn it all and use what your strongest at. They will never know what you're going to throw next.

p.s. look low kick high. If you're ever in Fort Worth Tx, send me a message and we'll get some rounds in

Answer 2

Your'e right, don't argue or try to kick them harder, just do Muay Thai. I went into a kenpo class having Kuk Sool Won & Hapkido behind me, and figured I do some moves they never saw. Well it soon became some heavy duty sparring as we both tried to outdo each other. The kick, punches, etc started to be thrown harder (And landed harder) it wasn't good for anyone. I ended up showing some of the senior guys, the kicks and asked them how would they defend against it, and it seem as though the class was more friendlier as we learned from each other.

Answer 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ETJ71sPuw

Oh look... someone that does TKD and Muay Thai doing well in MMA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG8QgiiEVPU
TKD vs MMA in striking? OH EM GEE HOW IZ HE DOING WELL?!?!?! LOL? Training perhaps?

(SIGH) I hate style bigots.

You've got a lot of experience in Tae Kwon Do, as do I, but we've both taken Muay Thai as well (Probably to about the same degree: I did a mild stint with it while I had it available).
I agree with the former fighter (Whose answer I dearly respect), in that you have to take certain parts from Tae Kwon Do, to add to your own way of fighting. What you call it will never be an issue, but you'd be surprised what kind of strategies you can come up with mixing the two around. They complement each other well.

Continue with Muay Thai, and get a feel for it. See those piece and parts from Tae Kwon Do that you can take, and add them to your arsenal. Crosstraining is never a bad thing, and learning how to add to your ability by doing math (Add TKD here, subtract it there, Add Muay Thai here.. .et cetera...) is as well.

I'm in an art that has Tae Kwon Do as a component (In addition to Hapkido), but I do want to take Muay Thai again, in addition to other styles, because I know they all have their perks and flaws.

That guy had the right ideas I think as well: Throwing those feints in for example.
Good luck.

Answer 4

As opposed to going on in a long winded monologue. Ill just give you a link to study between the two styles. And you will see what will happen using those kicks against a skilled Muay Thai fighter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEGE7tvgd3o

The TKD will be effective against low level guys but when you step in level it probably will come back to haunt you.
Hope this helps

Answer 5

This is from another style's view. In karate one way to handle the rh kick is to close in during the kick and trap the kicking leg so the kicker is stopped in mid-track plus the kicker's balance is messed up at this point, then just take him down for a pin. There are many ways to handle the rh kick I'm sure.

Answer 6

yeah, good point in avoiding a 'style-vs-style' argument. i've seen perfectly good threads degenerate into a flame war over which style is better...

well IMHO, it's a good idea to mix in a couple of TKD elements, like feints, footwork, and speed, so as to throw your sparring partners off guard. like you mentioned, there are a couple of kicks not commonly used in MT (my personal favorite: jumping-turning back), therby eliciting a 'deer-in-headlights' look. i'd advice you to put a bit more force into the kicks, and a few more follow-up kicks when they're dumbstruck. so yeah, mix up your rhythm in the middle of the match to be unpredictable. best of luck in your training, man. tell me how it works out.