Probably the two most popular martial arts in the world today (outside of MMA) are BJJ and muay thai.
In this post we look at muay thai vs BJJ as martial arts and fighting styles.
And why they have grown in popularity in recent years.
Also which is more effective in a self defense situation.
And which martial art would be better for you to learn and train depending on your goals and current situation and location.
Why muay thai and BJJ have become so popular?
The short answer is Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC.
Since the victory of Gracie Jiu Jitsu in UFC 1 and the realization of all martial arts that without a ground game, your style is useless in a real street fight with no rules, Jiu Jitsu has skyrocketed in popularity.
Many teachers and schools have opened up as black belts from Brazil journeyed to the United States and all over the world to satisfy the demand for high level Jiu Jitsu instruction.
Similarly, muay thai has seen an explosion in popularity with the surge in popularity of MMA.
This was also due to the realization that most striking styles were inferior to muay thai in many ways that are applicable to a real fight situation.
Thus both muay thai and BJJ are basically mainstream these days.
Whereas going back to the mid 90s they we re very much only practiced and trained by those in the know when it came to effective martial arts.
Which is Better for Self Defense?
Which style, muay thai vs bjj is more effective when it comes to street fights and self defense?
Given that BJJ started out as Gracie Jiu Jitsu with a focus on self defense and specifically self defense for a smaller and weaker person, my humble opinion would be that BJJ would be better for self defense.
However this comes with a caveat.
There is a difference between BJJ today and Gracie Jiu Jitsu (the style that Royce Gracie won his UFC’s with).
In short BJJ today is more focused on sport competition within set rules that do no include striking. Gracie Jiu Jitsu has a self defense focus with the inclusion of striking and how to protect yourself from strikes.
Muay thai definitely has valid techniqes that are fairly simple to learn and applicable in a self defense situation for sure.
However as muay thai is based on competition within set rules and regulations including weight categories. I would lean more toward BJJ as more effective for self defense.
In addition muay thai does not have any ground techniques and history has shown this is a big missing factor when it comes to effective fighting in the real world.
My overall opinion is that learning both muay thai and BJJ would be the best option – hands down, when it comes to self defense.
However an even better option for self defense would be Gracie Jiu Jitsu which you can learn more about here
I have written another post combining muay thai and BJJ you can read about below.
Which is better for you?
This depends on your goals.
If you are planning on competing in MMA then learning both would be highly recommended, though you will still need to put time into wrestling, boxing as well as MMA specialized cage techniques.
However Firas Zahabi from Tri Star gym and George St Pierre’s Main coach throughout his career strongly advocates for building a strong base in one martial art and make that art your foundation, whichever style you choose to learn first and make your foundation.
Based on your situation if there are no BJJ or muay thai gyms in your area, this can be tough and availability of instruction is a huge determining factor in choosing a martial art to learn and train.
However with readily available gyms and instruction that you can access, really either martial art is great to learn for whatever your goals may be in learning the martial arts.
Whether it be fitness, self discipline or self defense both of these arts have you covered. Though as discussed above, if you had to choose only one for self defense BJJ may be the better option.
But the best option for self defense would be Gracie Jiu Jitsu over the ‘sport’ BJJ that is used in BJJ tournaments and competitions today.
Muay Thai VS BJJ – Which is Harder to learn?
Based on the sheer number of techniques, movements and body mechanics, BJJ is harder to learn in my opinion.
It is generally accepted that 10 years is standard time to earn a black belt in BJJ.
Sport BJJ in particular has become more and more advanced with many new techniques and strategies coming into the sport in recent times that make use of the BJJ gi such as the ‘Worm guard’.
And in No-gi also techniques such as Eddie Bravo’s ‘Rubber Guard’ are highly developed systems that require many many hours of mat time and grappling in order to perfect.
Muay thai on the other hand is relatively simple to learn with simple techniques involving the 8 limbs of the body.
While techniques such as the roundhouse kick are simple to learn in principle it takes many hours of practice to perfect to be able to use effectively in a fight.
But basically muay thai techniques can be broken down into:
However aspects such as clinching (which is a huge part of muay thai) take many years and many hours of sparring to to get comfortable with.
Overall in terms of which is harder to learn, BJJ would definitely be the harder one to learn. However both martial arts are by no means easy and both take many many hours of dedicated practice to be able to execute well.
Which is Better to Learn and Train from Home?
One question you may ask, and which this website Fiji Muay Thai is highly focused in is, which is better to learn and train from home.
Muay thai would be the winner here as with a heavy bag you can make a lot of progress in your learning from home. Also you can supplement your gym training with your own home training with a heavy bag and some dedication.
This is the path I have taken due to the unavailability of muay thai in my country and below are some of the best online learning resources you can make use.
These are paid resources however there are many free instructional available as well that you can make use of.
BJJ on the other hand is a martial art that really requires training partners to make good progress.
However this doesn’t mean you cant make progress training from home. Gracie University is an online learning resource that many thousands of people utilize to learn Jiu Jitsu from home.
The program is based on getting together a group of training partners and helping each other learn and train together to practice and develop the necessary reflexes, mostly for self defense.
This is the Jiu Jitsu learning program I utilize from home myself and the instructional videos by Ryron and Rener Gracie are detailed and their teaching skills are top notch as you would expect from the Gracie family.
Muay Thai VS BJJ – Final Thoughts
I hope this post has been able to help you make a decision if you are contemplating which martial art to learn and train.
If you are looking for self defense then I have suggested BJJ may be better suited to you, though I would recommend Gracie Jiu Jitsu over the more common sport style BJJ.
Also there is no harm in learning both muay thai and Jiu Jitsu to be more well rounded as a martial artist.
If you are looking to complete in MMA, then I base my advice off Firas Zahabi who says that having one style as your base would be the best way to go, whether its BJJ or muay thai.
If you cannot access any muay thai or BJJ gyms in your area then I have also pointed out some great resources for learning online as well.
In short my opinion is why not learn both martial arts if you can as this can only be beneficial to you as a martial artist and for self defense as well.
