Krav maga v Muay Thai
Hi guys,
I wanted your opinion on which you see as being more useful. I understand that Krav is not a martial art and is a self defence system, whilst Muay Thai is. I am wondering which is most useful for real life situations like when someone picks a fight with me
I wanted your opinion on which you see as being more useful. I understand that Krav is not a martial art and is a self defence system, whilst Muay Thai is. I am wondering which is most useful for real life situations like when someone picks a fight with me
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by burberry_butter
Hi guys,
I wanted your opinion on which you see as being more useful. I understand that Krav is not a martial art and is a self defence system, whilst Muay Thai is. I am wondering which is most useful for real life situations like when someone picks a fight with me
I wanted your opinion on which you see as being more useful. I understand that Krav is not a martial art and is a self defence system, whilst Muay Thai is. I am wondering which is most useful for real life situations like when someone picks a fight with me
This isn't the advice you want to hear, but unless you get so good you could compete at a national level it's neither.
Real life fights are not like movies. If it's not a tug of war kind of fight, they rarely last long. Somebody decides to bring a knife to a fist fight. Somebody is buzzing with adrenaline and hits the other over the head with a glass bottle or shoves him onto concrete/stairs/furniture etc. It's not hard to get yourself hurt or killed and it's not hard to get somebody else hurt or killed.
Majority of good fighters will tell you that the best advice regarding fights (bar fights, street fights, not sport fights) is to avoid them altogether.
If what you meant is more along the lines of "which one will give me more awareness and agility to avoid somebody kicking my head in" rather than "which one will make me into an alpha male so I can show off at the club with my broskis" then I'd say Muay Thai is probably the better option.
Original post by Mara1680
This isn't the advice you want to hear, but unless you get so good you could compete at a national level it's neither.
Real life fights are not like movies. If it's not a tug of war kind of fight, they rarely last long. Somebody decides to bring a knife to a fist fight. Somebody is buzzing with adrenaline and hits the other over the head with a glass bottle or shoves him onto concrete/stairs/furniture etc. It's not hard to get yourself hurt or killed and it's not hard to get somebody else hurt or killed.
Majority of good fighters will tell you that the best advice regarding fights (bar fights, street fights, not sport fights) is to avoid them altogether.
If what you meant is more along the lines of "which one will give me more awareness and agility to avoid somebody kicking my head in" rather than "which one will make me into an alpha male so I can show off at the club with my broskis" then I'd say Muay Thai is probably the better option.
Real life fights are not like movies. If it's not a tug of war kind of fight, they rarely last long. Somebody decides to bring a knife to a fist fight. Somebody is buzzing with adrenaline and hits the other over the head with a glass bottle or shoves him onto concrete/stairs/furniture etc. It's not hard to get yourself hurt or killed and it's not hard to get somebody else hurt or killed.
Majority of good fighters will tell you that the best advice regarding fights (bar fights, street fights, not sport fights) is to avoid them altogether.
If what you meant is more along the lines of "which one will give me more awareness and agility to avoid somebody kicking my head in" rather than "which one will make me into an alpha male so I can show off at the club with my broskis" then I'd say Muay Thai is probably the better option.
Yes, I am looking for the self-defence skills and have heard from countless people to always try to de-escalate the situation as much as possible. I am wondering why you choose Muay Thai? Being a female I am looking for something that doesn't disadvantage me with my stature.
Original post by burberry_butter
Yes, I am looking for the self-defence skills and have heard from countless people to always try to de-escalate the situation as much as possible. I am wondering why you choose Muay Thai? Being a female I am looking for something that doesn't disadvantage me with my stature.
Just my 2p, but I suspect kick boxing/Muay is quicker and more commonly accessible to pick up the basics of balance, blocking, sparring and striking in. I've never tried Krav, but most people I meet who bring it up are kinda jerks and just thought it sounded badass, but I can't blame the style for that.
Small stature would generally be a disadvantage in sports & styles that rely on reach, weight and power competitively, but potentially an advantage in wriggling free and legging it which you really want.
As Mara said, leaving the situation is generally always better and I've tried both many times, the longer you are in that situation the longer things have to go bad or others to jump in for better or worse. The idea of a Jackie Chan fight or whoever where multiple bad guys surround them then seem to randomly charge one at a time doesn't really happen, often you'd just get grabbed or flung to the ground and mobbed. Even in a face to face training and sparring with someone doing the same is so different to a lawless and genuinely malicious attack. Unless you're years drilled and sparred your instincts for the movements and reactions just won't be there above the panic and you'll keep v basic like most people.
Not saying don't give them a try or learn the basics, but don't underestimate the time and effort it takes to become even half competent in a real fight (assuming you aren't naturally violent and creating your own free XP). And don't overestimate what a few months sessions will accomplish.
Original post by burberry_butter
Yes, I am looking for the self-defence skills and have heard from countless people to always try to de-escalate the situation as much as possible. I am wondering why you choose Muay Thai? Being a female I am looking for something that doesn't disadvantage me with my stature.
I think the only benefit of Krav Maga is that it doesn't have rules like other sports so you're targeting sensitive areas like eyes, groin etc.
Krav Maga is more technique focused compared to Muay Thai if we're thinking about street fights. When adrenaline is pumping it's hard to think about "hmm what is the best technique to use" you have to have quick reaction time and Muay Thai prepares you for that with a range of kicks and punches including knees, elbows etc. So I feel like whatever situation you find yourself in, if you're semi-proficient at Muay Thai there will be a way you can instinctively react. I also feel like Muay Thai builds insane endurance. I've never met or seen a Muay Thai fighter with poor stamina. You do loads of sparring with Muay Thai and it's also great at building/improving balance and leg work which is quite important.
Krav Maga teaches a lot of fancy stuff like "how to disarm somebody with a knife" but in reality, thinking you can do that confidently is nearly certainly going to get you hurt. Like I said before, it's also full of targeting sensitive areas which sounds like exactly what you need in a fight, but there is a bit difference between "kick somebody in the nuts" and "literally gouge somebody's eyes out". Because chances are, you will get done for assault if you end up doing the latter. There is a reason Krav Maga is taught to the armed forces. It's made to severely injure if not kill your opponent.
And lastly I feel like it's probably much easier to find a good Muay Thai instructor than a good Krav Maga instructor.
Regarding what you said, I think it's difficult to find a specific martial art or technique that doesn't disadvantage you based on stature. As a female myself I'm all for the idea that men and women are equally capable. However, in real life scenarios it's often height, weight and arm reach that determine the outcome of a fight. I have heard of situations where smaller people were able to defeat bigger opponents, but that's not usually the case. Even between two men, often times the bigger one will win. Longer limbs mean they can reach their opponent sooner. Aka person A is within B's reach, but not vice versa.
I mean my favourite case study is probably Polyana Viana, a professional female UFC fighter who kicked butt when some ******** tried to rob her with a fake gun.
Either way, I'd say the most important thing in a fight - like any other emergency - is not to panic. Obviously, it's not something we can really control on the spot, but being able to think somewhat clearly is a great advantage.
Original post by Mara1680
I think the only benefit of Krav Maga is that it doesn't have rules like other sports so you're targeting sensitive areas like eyes, groin etc.
Krav Maga is more technique focused compared to Muay Thai if we're thinking about street fights. When adrenaline is pumping it's hard to think about "hmm what is the best technique to use" you have to have quick reaction time and Muay Thai prepares you for that with a range of kicks and punches including knees, elbows etc. So I feel like whatever situation you find yourself in, if you're semi-proficient at Muay Thai there will be a way you can instinctively react. I also feel like Muay Thai builds insane endurance. I've never met or seen a Muay Thai fighter with poor stamina. You do loads of sparring with Muay Thai and it's also great at building/improving balance and leg work which is quite important.
Krav Maga teaches a lot of fancy stuff like "how to disarm somebody with a knife" but in reality, thinking you can do that confidently is nearly certainly going to get you hurt. Like I said before, it's also full of targeting sensitive areas which sounds like exactly what you need in a fight, but there is a bit difference between "kick somebody in the nuts" and "literally gouge somebody's eyes out". Because chances are, you will get done for assault if you end up doing the latter. There is a reason Krav Maga is taught to the armed forces. It's made to severely injure if not kill your opponent.
And lastly I feel like it's probably much easier to find a good Muay Thai instructor than a good Krav Maga instructor.
Regarding what you said, I think it's difficult to find a specific martial art or technique that doesn't disadvantage you based on stature. As a female myself I'm all for the idea that men and women are equally capable. However, in real life scenarios it's often height, weight and arm reach that determine the outcome of a fight. I have heard of situations where smaller people were able to defeat bigger opponents, but that's not usually the case. Even between two men, often times the bigger one will win. Longer limbs mean they can reach their opponent sooner. Aka person A is within B's reach, but not vice versa.
I mean my favourite case study is probably Polyana Viana, a professional female UFC fighter who kicked butt when some ******** tried to rob her with a fake gun.
Either way, I'd say the most important thing in a fight - like any other emergency - is not to panic. Obviously, it's not something we can really control on the spot, but being able to think somewhat clearly is a great advantage.
Krav Maga is more technique focused compared to Muay Thai if we're thinking about street fights. When adrenaline is pumping it's hard to think about "hmm what is the best technique to use" you have to have quick reaction time and Muay Thai prepares you for that with a range of kicks and punches including knees, elbows etc. So I feel like whatever situation you find yourself in, if you're semi-proficient at Muay Thai there will be a way you can instinctively react. I also feel like Muay Thai builds insane endurance. I've never met or seen a Muay Thai fighter with poor stamina. You do loads of sparring with Muay Thai and it's also great at building/improving balance and leg work which is quite important.
Krav Maga teaches a lot of fancy stuff like "how to disarm somebody with a knife" but in reality, thinking you can do that confidently is nearly certainly going to get you hurt. Like I said before, it's also full of targeting sensitive areas which sounds like exactly what you need in a fight, but there is a bit difference between "kick somebody in the nuts" and "literally gouge somebody's eyes out". Because chances are, you will get done for assault if you end up doing the latter. There is a reason Krav Maga is taught to the armed forces. It's made to severely injure if not kill your opponent.
And lastly I feel like it's probably much easier to find a good Muay Thai instructor than a good Krav Maga instructor.
Regarding what you said, I think it's difficult to find a specific martial art or technique that doesn't disadvantage you based on stature. As a female myself I'm all for the idea that men and women are equally capable. However, in real life scenarios it's often height, weight and arm reach that determine the outcome of a fight. I have heard of situations where smaller people were able to defeat bigger opponents, but that's not usually the case. Even between two men, often times the bigger one will win. Longer limbs mean they can reach their opponent sooner. Aka person A is within B's reach, but not vice versa.
I mean my favourite case study is probably Polyana Viana, a professional female UFC fighter who kicked butt when some ******** tried to rob her with a fake gun.
Either way, I'd say the most important thing in a fight - like any other emergency - is not to panic. Obviously, it's not something we can really control on the spot, but being able to think somewhat clearly is a great advantage.
I understand where you're coming from but I think that after months or years of training our reaction time would increase and it would become second nature to act in a certain way, I definitely want to learn both at some point but start with one.
Krav Maga is intended and made for self defense, so I would tend to this martial arts. But I in general I think that the more martial arts people practice, the better they are as fighters because of versatility. Furthermore Muay Thai has some elbow and knee strikes they can be used for the defence.
Original post by Kallisto
Krav Maga is intended and made for self defense, so I would tend to this martial arts. But I in general I think that the more martial arts people practice, the better they are as fighters because of versatility. Furthermore Muay Thai has some elbow and knee strikes they can be used for the defence.
Yeah I'm leaning more towards krav
Krav Maga is nothing more than marketing and has genuine parallels with Crossfit. The entire content of KM can be found in the old Ju-jitsu budo scrolls from about 500 years ago. Literally all of it. What it does give you is a training context and Israeli flavouring. At its core however, it is a series of dirty tricks.
There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this - William Fairburn developed a very similar thing as a police officer in colonial Shanghai around the turn of the 20th century and was by all accounts very successful - he was simply teaching a method of dirty fighting. I would be very surprised if the entire content of KM wasn't to be found in Fairburn's work as well.
Muay Thai is a combat sport, and a rather rough one at that. Combat Sports like MT, Judo, Boxing, BJJ, wrestling - are always better than "martial arts". The reason is simply that they involve what is sometimes described as "aliveness" in training methods - full power training, sense of timing, sense of movement. Most martial arts miss out on at least one of these. Combat sports have full power sparring against an uncooperative opponent - which is the essential ingredient in learning to fight.
KM (and any other martial art) cannot involve full power training - it is simply too dangerous to practice, you would very quickly injure, maim or kill your training partner. The question, therefore is - how do you know a particular technique works, and that you can apply it in a live situation? A boxer knows full well that he/she can punch someone because they have done it thousands of times against an opponent who is trying not to be punched and is trying to punch them back. The same goes for a wrestler or judoka or BJJ person. They are trying to hold/throw/choke/armlock someone who is trying to resist them and also trying to beat them. With KM, you are by definition pretending to do a technique at low power on someone who is not actively resisting. The fact that you are screaming at them and swearing, really is neither here nor there.
There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this - William Fairburn developed a very similar thing as a police officer in colonial Shanghai around the turn of the 20th century and was by all accounts very successful - he was simply teaching a method of dirty fighting. I would be very surprised if the entire content of KM wasn't to be found in Fairburn's work as well.
Muay Thai is a combat sport, and a rather rough one at that. Combat Sports like MT, Judo, Boxing, BJJ, wrestling - are always better than "martial arts". The reason is simply that they involve what is sometimes described as "aliveness" in training methods - full power training, sense of timing, sense of movement. Most martial arts miss out on at least one of these. Combat sports have full power sparring against an uncooperative opponent - which is the essential ingredient in learning to fight.
KM (and any other martial art) cannot involve full power training - it is simply too dangerous to practice, you would very quickly injure, maim or kill your training partner. The question, therefore is - how do you know a particular technique works, and that you can apply it in a live situation? A boxer knows full well that he/she can punch someone because they have done it thousands of times against an opponent who is trying not to be punched and is trying to punch them back. The same goes for a wrestler or judoka or BJJ person. They are trying to hold/throw/choke/armlock someone who is trying to resist them and also trying to beat them. With KM, you are by definition pretending to do a technique at low power on someone who is not actively resisting. The fact that you are screaming at them and swearing, really is neither here nor there.
Krav is more practical. Teaches you what to do in actual assault situations and how to fight dirty.
Most 'combat sports' or 'martial arts' come with various rules and conditions attached. "no eyes", "no groin". Krav Maga on the other hand is no bullsh*t like that.
Issue with it is it doesn't usually follow a structured training regime. There are no belts or competitions for it. There are so many different variants by now, developed for different crowds, tailored to market it more effectively to certain types of people... it can get very watered down. But if you have a the right & professional instructor who teaches you the 'real' thing as it was developed for the military, and slightly adapted for civilian situations like being mugged in the street... I think it is very effective.
People who train combat sports will have much higher strength and stamina than Krav Maga. To turn yourself into a full onslaught, you're best off combining the two somehow.
Most 'combat sports' or 'martial arts' come with various rules and conditions attached. "no eyes", "no groin". Krav Maga on the other hand is no bullsh*t like that.
Issue with it is it doesn't usually follow a structured training regime. There are no belts or competitions for it. There are so many different variants by now, developed for different crowds, tailored to market it more effectively to certain types of people... it can get very watered down. But if you have a the right & professional instructor who teaches you the 'real' thing as it was developed for the military, and slightly adapted for civilian situations like being mugged in the street... I think it is very effective.
People who train combat sports will have much higher strength and stamina than Krav Maga. To turn yourself into a full onslaught, you're best off combining the two somehow.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by NonIndigenous
Krav is more practical. Teaches you what to do in actual assault situations and how to fight dirty.
Most 'combat sports' or 'martial arts' come with various rules and conditions attached. "no eyes", "no groin". Krav Maga on the other hand is no bullsh*t like that.
Issue with it is it doesn't usually follow a structured training regime. There are no belts or competitions for it. There are so many different variants by now, developed for different crowds, tailored to market it more effectively to certain types of people... it can get very watered down.
People who train combat sports will have much higher strength and stamina than Krav Maga. You're best off combining the two somehow.
Most 'combat sports' or 'martial arts' come with various rules and conditions attached. "no eyes", "no groin". Krav Maga on the other hand is no bullsh*t like that.
Issue with it is it doesn't usually follow a structured training regime. There are no belts or competitions for it. There are so many different variants by now, developed for different crowds, tailored to market it more effectively to certain types of people... it can get very watered down.
People who train combat sports will have much higher strength and stamina than Krav Maga. You're best off combining the two somehow.
Yep, definitely would like to try them both.
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