As this site is dedicated to helping those who want to learn and train muay thai mainly through self study then I would have to say yes this is very possible.
It is possible to learn muay thai or just about anything from home these days.
With the availability of video learning and online resources and print resources that have been around for decades now, I would say that yes, you can learn muay thai from home.
Why learn muay thai from home?
I think home learning is really the only option for people who are in a similar situation as me which is being in a country or area where there are no gyms or instructors.
In this case I have to travel overseas to train in person and this is not cheap.
So for me there is really no other option other than home based self study.
Learning from home is also valid for people who just want to learn some muay thai and kickboxing striking out of interest.
And want to develop a workout perhaps maybe with a heavy bag at home that they can use to keep fit and for stress relief.
There are many other situations where home learning of muay thai is a valid option for people.
But for me its because of my location and availability of gyms and live instruction as well as cost of travelling to seek live instruction.
Why learning from home is not so good
There are definitely many criticisms from reputable muay thai teachers and practitioners who say this cannot be done and that learning muay thai from home is not a good option.
Many of those who say this are justified in their criticisms of self learning of muay thai.
But I would argue that it depends on your personal situation and how much time and effort you are willing to put in to learn muay thai on your own.
In learning muay thai mostly solo from home over the last 10 years I have found there are two main arguments from those who say that learning muay thai at home is not a good option..
1. You wont be able to get feedback from an experienced instructor
Therefore the argument is that you will be practicing bad technique over and over again and this bad technique will become ingrained in your movement which is really not good.
Some argue that without someone to give you feedback on your technique you really cant learn muay thai through self study.
2. You need a partner or opponent to be able to test and apply the techniques.
This argument against learning from home brings up the valid point that you cannot really master techniques unless you practice and apply through sparring and drilling with a live partner.
The argument also is that you cannot really practice defense without a partner throwing attacks at you whether in sparring or drilling .
I have found these two main arguments to be valid but I do not think these two areas should stop someone who wants to learn from home to not begin practicing and learning muay thai on their own.
How to overcome these two main difficulties when learning from home
1.The first reason against learning from home stated above is the lack of feedback.
I would suggest that when training from home your feedback on your training can be gained in a couple ways.
One is to video yourself or watch yourself in the mirror and try to see where your execution does not follow what the instructor you are watching on video is teaching.
The second is that you can join a community of online practitioners and if you dont mind, why not send in videos of yourself training and get some feedback from more experienced people there.
The first reason against home learning from above is that you need feedback from a qualified instructor.
This is definitely valid and applies very much to a normal muay thai training session or class. In this case the instructor shows you a technique, demonstrates with a partner.
Maybe there will be time for questions from the class but mostly from there you would go into partner work and drills and applying the technique just learned.
The instructor will come around and check your technique and give you pointers and tips where you may be executing the technique incorrectly.
But in a group class it’s difficult for the instructor to spend a lot of time repeating instructions and working with you one to one.
When learning from home and using detailed video instruction you have a number of advantages.
You can rewind the video and watch it as many times as you want. With a live instructor this is not possible. You can break it down and study each aspect at your own pace.
For some people this is a better way to learn.
When training at home you have as much time as you want to spend on that technique.
In a live class you only have limited time before the instructor moves onto the next technique or some other drills.
So you really need to be your own critic and study yourself in the mirror or make videos of yourself training on the bag and shadowboxing to make sure you are executing techniques properly.
But with high quality video instruction from the likes of Duke Roufus, Sean Fagan or Duane Ludwig the instruction on a technique is so good that all the major points are covered in the execution and their demonstration, I don’t see why you cant learn from these great resources.
Again in terms of feedback you really have to be your own critic and if what you see yourself doing doesnt match the video instruction you can correct yourself.
2.The second reason against self learning is that you don’t have a live partner to practice your techniques against or to help you develop your defensive techniques.
In terms of practicing your techniques, the heavy bag really is an important tool that you can use to develop your techniques and mimic your opponents movements through swinging the bag as well as working your footwork in all aspects around the heavy bag to get work your strikes.
In terms of defensive techniques its true that this is difficult to develop without partner work.
To help with this I would suggest getting a group of friends together and teach them what you have learned.
And work easy beginner drills together to get the feel for the distance and timing of strikes with a live partner.
One option I like to use if you dont have people you can work with or that you can use in addition to training with partners is from precision striking.com and his virtual sparring videos.
His videos are boxing focused but I think they are still a great way to hone your defensive techniques against punches. Check out the video below as an example of virtual sparring and give it a go!
Another great resource for virtual sparring is
http://www.virtualboxer.com which is also focused on boxing but is really great for practicing defense against punches when you have no partners.
Final Thoughts
So overall as this site is focused on self study and home learning of muay thai and martial arts I would say again, yes you can learn from home and I have been doing this for a few years now.
Whether there are no gyms in your country or region or you cant afford to pay for gym membership fees and other costs, self learning is a great option and for someone like me, my only option.
I have discussed the two main reasons I have come across that people will say self learning of muay thai is no good and should not be done.
I have also discussed how to overcome these difficulties as best as possible.
So again I would say yes it is possible, however if you have access to live training and can afford it, I would also advise that you take up the live instruction if you think the teacher is good and qualified.
In fact if you have gyms and teachers in your area and you can afford the time and money to attend and sign up, then I would say you are very fortunate.
If these are not available, dont let that stop you from learning muay thai if you really are keen and interested.
If your’e interested in tips for getting started in learning muay thai from home check out my 8 tips post here.
