It’s a classic debate among martial art practitioners, “which of the disciplines is better”. Beginners often get confused about which martial art is best to learn. Well, the truth is, almost all of the martial arts are useful and this argument is silly. It’s like comparing apples with oranges.
In this article, we will compare Muay Thai vs boxing. Both of the martial arts disciplines are useful regarding striking & self-defense, & both are necessary to learn. The question we will address today is the difference between their punching techniques.
In the initial stage, boxing & Muay Thai might have a lot of techniques in common. As both of them are combat sports and focus on striking. Both are being fought in the rings in competition, distinguished in the form of timed rounds. Techniques applied in both supports have fundamental parts of MMA arsenals. There is crossover regarding Muay Thai & boxing equipment that you get to use while getting trained. However, when you begin to practice seriously you get to learn the difference between both of the sports. Both of them have long & storied histories & traditions in terms of respect & honor.
As you progress towards the advanced levels both of the arts start to distinguish themselves. The most obvious difference is the punching style in both of the arts. Muay Thai is commonly referred to as “the art of eight limbs” as this game involves a lot of punches, elbows, kicks & knees. Major difference asserts itself in the complex sport details ranging from the type of offense & defense.
A fighter’s Primary goal in both of the disciples is putting on the best possible defense to counter attacks by keeping their bodies for their offense. Ways of getting out of the situation to change significantly depending on the attacks the fighters are defending.
A boxing athlete must elude the precise jabs, hooks, crosses & uppercuts, by maintaining an adequate amount of balance that allows throwing the same strikes in return. All this translates to placing his feet wider than hip-distance apart, with whole-body weight distributed evenly among the two legs & at the fair deep flexion at his hips. And your rear foot is supposed to be curved outwardly with the lift of your heel for allowing pivot & throwing rear hooks, crosses & uppercuts.
Muay Thai athletes are supposed to keep their feet a little closer after getting in muay Thai shorts. While making a lower degree flexion at the hips that allows defense against kicks & knees & quickly setting up the kicks from the rear leg. Putting a bit more weight at the rear foot for allowing the front leg to quickly lift & check kicks.
These combat disciplines allow a certain variety when it narrows to holding the hands & boxing gloves. There is not a large amount of crossover in these sports’ regarding the position of the hands. While boxing your gloves must be held in a defensive position against the punches to your head & torso. Most classical choice boxers have their rear hand touching the lower section of their chin on a side & lead arm held higher with the slightest tuck to their chin. However, in Muay Thai’s sport, the muay Thai gloves are held close to the face & forearms slightly inclined toward their opponent, for accounting to treat their elbows & head kicks, which poses threat to temple and chin as well.
There’s a huge difference between a fighter’s position while they throw speedy strikes. Muay Thai sport is square with the opponents’ throwing strikes on the linear path. Athletes move forward and backward while deviating from the single ‘line’ often. However, boxing is more about throwing punches from different angles & non-linear positions.
There are angles in Muay Thai made possible by footwork, but usually (as an orthodox fighter facing an orthodox) this is limited to stepping back with the back foot and rotating in a counter-clockwise position to throw a rear kick or rear knee.
Boxing more about verified angles, boxers rotating clockwise and counterclockwise while throwing strikes on their opponents is a common sight. Good boxer knows about making an artform for utilizing all the verified angles for delivering effective strikes.
Uppercuts thrown by slightly inclining towards left and right for powerful and penetrating blows are the perfect example.
Both of the combat arts have different fighting rhythms. Boxing involves many bouncing moves, foot movements & machine gun bullet-like punches. It is common to see different punching combos in a single fight. However, Muay Thai involves a different beat, It engages fighters for the burst of impact-full one-two punching combos then retreating guard or moving further to the clinching position. The traditional version of Muay Thai has a slower pace. With a fine rhythm but it’s not liked the speedy striking of boxing. Punching combos in muay Thai are short and less complex yet more powerful.
The biggest difference you will notice in both of the sports is the defensive techniques. Muay Thai doesn’t have much variety when it comes to defense. This sport is way more offensive than benign defensive. With more than 6 limbs to deal the damage, you do not dodge the punches, but you block. Its defensive techniques consist of: stepping further from the opponent, inclining back for avoiding kicks and punches, blocking the kicks by using shins, & blocking the punches by using gloves. It’s not about avoiding damage but toughing it out & delivering it back to your opponent.
Boxing is more like a defense art. For instance slip, bob and weave, block punches, parry punches, duck, shoulder roll punches, lean away & step away from the strikes. Boxing is defensive in the core, it is more about avoiding than blocking the strikes entirely for delivering the counter punches.
Boxing & Muay Thai are different sports — yet have commonly modified techniques. The argument of which one is better is useless. Both have their pros and cons. You can cross-train to improve your skills for other sports. A solid foundation of boxing can improve your muay Thai skills and vice versa.
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