Muay thai vs taekwando – which martial art is more effective in fighting?
If there was a fight between a muay thai champion and high level Taekwando black belt who would win?
These questions are answered in this post.
Based on 5 actual muay thai vs taekwando fights discussed in this post, the conclusion is muay thai is the more effective fighting style. The main reasons being:
- Competition in Taekwando especially Olympic competition focuses on points scoring. Muay thai competition focuses on damage making these techniques more suited for actual fighting.
- Taekwando requires distance/range and timing to land a powerful spinning technique. Space and range can be effectively taken away through closing the distance with strikes and the clinch.
- As Taekwando does not focus on the clinch or operate well in the medium to close range, this gives muay thai an advantage over Taekwando by taking the fight to these ranges muay thai can dominate a fight.
- Given the right distance Taekwando’s powerful spinning techniques can end any fight quickly if landed but this is difficult against an experienced fighter.
Supporting the argument that muay thai is a more effective fighting style over taekwando, the 5 fights below with video footage back up this argument and are shown and discussed below.
Changpeuk vs Oshkoshi – 1993 K-1
In 1993 under the K-1 fighting promotion a stylistic match up of muay thai vs taekwando took place with Changpuek Kiatsongrit representing muay thai against ITF black belt Shin Oshkoshi.
The fight ended in Round 1 with Oshkoshi’s corner throwing in the towel.
Ushkoshi was constantly body and head kicked and swept to the floor by Cahgpeuk.
It was difficult for Oshkoshi to find the perfect range for a fight ending spinning revers kick or similar powerful technique as he was stalked by Changpeuk.
This fight was under special karate rules which meant that many of the common muay thai weapons such as elbows, punches to the face and clinching were not allowed in this fight.
Observations:
- Oshkoshi was searching for the perfect range to land a devastating spinning attack. This was very difficult against the seasonsed Changpeuk and his good defensive stance and footwork.
- Muay thai roundhouse kicks are very efficient as well as very damaging. Changpeuk was able to land powerful head and body kicks on Oshkoshi.
- In muay thai blocking with the shins is trained a lot and is more effective for defending against the power of roundhouse kicks. Oshkoshi blocked kicks with his arms.
K-1 World MAX 2004 – Ludwig vs Yilmaz
Held at the Tokyo Yoyogi National Gymnasium in 2004, the K-1 World MAX featured Duane Ludwig vs Serkan Yilmaz.
Serkan YIlmaz was known as an an exciting fighter in K-1 due to his explosive Taekwando techniques that he paired well with kickboxing,
In this fight Yilmaz lost to Dunae Ludwig (the originator of Bang Muay Thai).
The clinch proved to be the deciding factor in this fight. Yilmaz just could not defend or counter Ludwigs superior clinch and hard knees from the clinch.
Yilmaz great timing and accuracy allowed for some great strikes in the 1 st round that put Ludwig to the mat for an 8 count.
Observations:
- The clinch was the deciding factor and is a big advantage to have in an actual fight. The clinch is trained regularly in muay thai with many techniques and strategies to dominate an opponent.
- Yilmaz has great timing and range and execution of technique. He was able to rock Ludiwig with some power spinning shots.
- But these was negated with Ludwig’s superior clinch.
K-1 Grand Prix – Final
In this muay thai vs taekwando match up from 1996, K-1 Grand Prix Super Fight, Japan’s ITF Taekwando Micro Weight Champion Isamu Hayami took on Takayuki Murosaki representing muay thai/kickboxing style.
In the end muay thai came out on top with a Round 1 KO.
Both fighters displayed elements of their respective styles in this K-1 match. However under K-1 rules extended clinching is not allowed which would have favoured the muay thai fighter more.
Both fighters displayed great kickboxing skills.
The Taekwando guy did show traditional power techniques such as spinning kicks.
In the end the fight was decided on punches and boxing/kickboxing.
So rather than a pure style vs style match up this fight was more Muay Thai Kickboxing vs Taekwando Kickboxing.
In the end the muay thai kickboxing stlye came out on top.
Key Lessons:
- Hayami was able to land spinning kicks and snapping high kicks as well as threatening with Axe kicks early in Round 1
- Murosaki closed the distance with advancing punches and eventually dropped the Taekwando man with a heavy right hand for an 8 count.
- Muarosaki walked down his opponent not giving him the distance and range to throw his powerful Taekwando kicks
- Murosaki was more comfortable in the short/clinch range from where he landed the fight ending tight lead hook
2009 WTF Taekwando VS Muay Thai
This match up took place in Hong Kong in 2009 under Sanshou rules.
Muay thai again came out in top in a more traditional style vs style match up but under Sanshou rules.
Unlike the Changpeuk fight that took place under Karate rules this rule set allowed more muay thai to come through including the clinch.
Key Lessons:
- No matter what the style, size is a big factor in fighting. In this fight the muay thai appeared much bigger than the Taekwando guy. He used his height well to rag doll the taekwando guy in the clinch.
- Taekwando guy looked very uncomfortable being punched in the face and this could be related to the majority of fight training in Taekwando is focused on points scoring techniques.
- In the end the Taekwando guy just couldn’t deal with the kicks and punches coming his way. He was unable to land any effective strikes and was always on the back foot.
The Taekwando guys corner threw in the towel in Round 1 conceding defeat.
Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs Yong-Soo Park
This Taekwando Champion vs Muay Thai Champion match up took place in 2007 under the K-1 Fighting Network in Seoul, South Korea.
Kaoklai was a respected Rajademnern two weight class Champion as well as WBC Muay Thai World Champion. Yong-Soo Park was a Korean National Taekwando Champion and a member of the NAtional Team with a few kickboxing wins under his belt.
In this David vs Goliath matchup, Kaoklai displayed the heart of a true nak muay by defeating a much larger and heavier opponent.
Observations:
- Despite the size and weight disadvantage, Kaoklai used evasiveness and varying his attacks to keep Park off balance
- Park’s side on stance used by Karateka and Taekwando fighters allowed for very fast kicks to land.
- The side on stance also makes for an easier target for low kicks as well as making it more difficult to check low kicks.
- Kaoklai and muay thai fighters in general have much better low kick defence
- The muay thai clinch again was a deciding factor with Kaoklai much more effective in close range fighting
Muay Thai VS Taekwando Final Thoughts
Based on the 5 fights discussed in this post that featured muay thai fighters against taekwando fighters the results are undeniable. Muay thai came out on top 5 out of 5 times and the realistic applicaiton fighting of muay thai was proven against the taekwando style.
Some of the key reasons for muay thai’s victory and the justificaiton behind the arugument that muay thai is more effective in as a fighting style are:
- The muay thai clinch is very applicable to fighting and in many cases it is the deciding factor in a fight. As muay thai trains the clinch exclusively and it can be used against stronger heavier opponents, the clinch is a huge factor behind muay thai effectiveness over taekwando.
- The side on bladed stance of taekwando allows for very fast kicks but also exposes the fighter for low kick attacks and makes it more difficult to stay balanced and check an opponents low kicks.
- Muay thai competition is focused on causing damage whereas taekwando compeition is more focused on points scoring and as such in each bout the muay thai fighter featured here was more composed under punches and striking attacks compared to the taekwando fighters.
