Outside of Thailand, the growth in popularity of muay thai can largely be attributed to the surge in popularity of MMA.
This is due to the recognition of the superior striking within muay thai that makes muay thai an indispensable component of MMA stand up.
Muay thai is a complete martial art in its own right with a long history of development of techniques.
Many muay thai purists consider the striking ability of MMA guys to be sub par overall and no match for a pure muay thai striker (under muay thai/kickboxing rules).
Then as someone who is looking to get into martial arts or even to learn more from other styles, which is better to get into, muay thai vs MMA?
Here I hope to help you by giving some background of muay thai and the integration of muay thai into MMA
We also look at the main difference between muay thai and MMA.
And especially the difference between muay thai and MMA in terms of history and tradition.
Hopefully this post will help you make an appropriate decision for yourself on muay thai vs MMA which should I choose?
Muay Thai is a Major Part of MMA
The question of which martial art is the most effective, at least in a one vs one, street fight, no rules situation was basically answered in UFC 1 where Royce Gracie proved the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and the importance of ground fighting.
Over time the outcome of UFC 1 and the showcasing of Gracie Jiu Jitsu led to the development of the brand new sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Rather than a style vs style match up, the best MMA practitioners adopted an approach similar to Bruce Lee of taking the best elements from different styles of fighting to become a more complete and well rounded martial artist for MMA competition.
As such MMA athletes today are some of the most skilled martial artists, possessing a variety of weapons in the toolbox of fighting. The styles that most MMA schools teach and top MMA practitioners learn and train regularly are:
- Striking : Muay Thai, Boxing, Kickboxing
- Stand Up Grappling : Wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai
- Ground Grappling : BJJ, Wrestling
Today muay thai is considered an indispensable part of MMA and all MMA practitioners and schools learn and train muay thai as part of their stand up game.
As such muay thai has seen a rise in growth and popularity through the growth of MMA and muay thai coaches and trainers are becoming more and more in demand outside of Thailand as MMA schools seek to learn their skills and training methods.
Muay Thai VS MMA Stance & Footwork
The major differences in the striking styles between MMA and muay thai relate to rule set, culture and tradition and of course proficiency in techniques.
So lets look at the difference between muay thai and MMA beginning from the stance and foot work.
A key difference between muay thai and MMA begins in the stance. A full breakdown of the muay thai stance, I have discussed in the past and you can read about it here.
The stance of muay thai is very unique and just by looking at the stance on can quite easily identify a muay thai stylist. An MMA stance is definitely also quite unique and this relates to the rule sets in both arts.
Fighting Stance Differences
The typical muay thai stance is more upright with hips facing forward, square to the opponent.
An MMA stance tends to be a little lower to the ground in a more typical ‘athletic position’ with the knees more bent and posture lowered to allow for better take down defense as well as launching for take down offence.
However the MMA stance adopted by some striking specialist resemble more traditional Karate/Tae Kwan Do stances and are more turned bladed stances as opposed to the hips square stance of muay thai.
Footwork & Movement – Defensive and Offensive
Another major difference between muay thai and MMA is in the footwork.
The typical muay thai fighter adopts the traditional attitude of mostly (muay femur break this rule) not moving away or backing up from an oncoming attack to stand ground and block attacks.
This is also related to the culture of muay thai and the scoring system used in fights.
MMA guys are typically way more fluid in the footwork and movements, feinting, switching stance and moving in and out of range circling and angling.
A typical MMA defensive response to incoming attacks is to back up quickly and using retreating defensive footwork. This is also due to the smaller gloves which are more damaging so more evasive maneuvers are required and blocking with the forearms, arms and shoulders against punches are less effective.
Differences in Striking Styles
Basically all the widely used stand up strikes in MMA can be found in muay thai or originate from muay thai.
This includes the basic techniques of straight and round punches, knees, elbows and straight and roundhouse kicks.
There are certain techniques that come from other martial arts that are popular in MMA such as spinning kicks and the oblique kick but the majority of MMA strikes are based on muay thai and kickboxing/boxing.
As muay thai is a much more striking focused art than MMA, techniques such as knees and elbows are well developed with many different variations, angles and situations such as inside and outside of the clinch.
In MMA knees are more restricted to straight, up-knees with the double collar tie position and mainly horizontal elbows.
Muay thai has a focus on “beautiful” technique. In MMA the focus is on damage.
Style and beauty in technique execution are important parts of scoring muay thai fights along with damage caused. In MMA as long as a technique is effective in causing damage that’s really what matters most.
Stylish techniques in muay thai such as the reverse spinning elbow, effortless clinch throws and catching kicks and dumping opponents all score highly in muay thai but are of little use in MMA.
Traditional VS “Mixed” Martial Arts
MMA is actually a very young and new martial art style really only establishing itself in the mid to late 90s as ‘No Holds Barred’ and other names other than MMA.
Muay thai is a more traditional art but also is considered modern in that it has its origins in muay boran and as a sport came about after modern rules and regulations were formalized around the 1930s.
So while both muay thai and MMA can be considered modern variations, muay thai has held on to the more traditional aspects of Thai culture such as the wai khru ram muay (ritual dance performed before the fight), traditional Thai tattoos or sak yant and the mutual respect among fighters.
In MMA and especially the high levels of UFC it is more profitable to be arrogant and loud mouthed, calling out and degrading opponents in order to rile up the public and gain promotion for yourself and the fight. Such behavior is very much looked down upon in Thai culture and in the sport of muay thai.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to get into MMA in the future and become a competitive fighter then training at an MMA gym is probably the best way to go.
However successful coaches such as Firas Zahabi (GSP’s coach) highly recommend having a base in one style and cycling your learning time in other styles over time to become more well rounded.
Having a base in BJJ or muay thai is still a valid option for MMA these days and having a strong foundation in a traditional martial art can only help develop you as a martial artist.
As a newbie to martial arts and someone who is debating between muay thai vs MMA to begin training, my recommendation would be muay thai.
You could also include some BJJ classes as well to also take on the grappling aspect into your game if you wish.
But muay thai is a complete art and as someone who is new to martial arts I feel you really cant go wrong getting into muay thai to start off with.
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