Different parts of the world have their own regional sports, each with unique rulesets. As competitive combat sports become more international, it can be difficult to keep track of them all. In particular, there’s often confusion about the differences between Muay Thai and kickboxing.
If you’re accustomed to wrestling or MMA, any pair of striking sports may look identical. However, small differences in how you can use your limbs can change everything. Stance differences, for example, can open up a new world of manoeuvres.
To get a better idea of what we mean, continue reading our detailed breakdown.
What is Muay Thai?
Dating back to around the 13th century, Muay Thai is the signature combat sport of Thailand. It literally translates to “Thai boxing.” The sport uses both kicks and punches. What sets it apart, however, is the reliance on elbows and knees.
The eight points of contact and the ability to use clinches make Muay Thai one of the most aggressive combat sports. Its range of legal moves allows fighters to land powerful strikes. Meanwhile, clinches can be used to break momentum and establish a safe distance.
Speaking of defence, fighters need to be more tactical with their hands in Muay Thai. The knees and shins have strong offensive and defensive capabilities. Because of this, a well-trained Thai boxer can render a punch ineffectual and punish the attacker with a kick.
In that sense, you can think of Muay Thai as one of the ultimate counterattack sports. While one point of contact is blocking, it opens up the other seven for a potential attack.
What is Kickboxing?
Kickboxing as we know it today originated in Japan around the 1960s. This version of the sport mixed boxing, karate, and Muay Thai sensibilities. As the West adopted it, the sport underwent core changes. Fighters began using fewer kicks in chain combos in favour of heavier punches.
Overall, as the name suggests, there are four points of contact in kickboxing. This limits the range of available attacks, but the emphasis on head movements offsets this for added defence.
In kickboxing, knockouts from head strikes are more common than in Muay Thai. This is because Muay Thai focuses on debilitating an opponent with low kicks. Its leg-based defence also makes it more difficult to land a clean head strike.
Furthermore, while Muay Thai is largely a game of patience, it’s more common to execute chain attacks in kickboxing. In addition, kickboxers face their opponents sideways to make themselves smaller targets. This is their alternative to the Muay Thai method of absorbing attacks with blocks.
Differences in Training for Muay Thai and Kickboxing
The training frequency and intensity for Muay Thai and kickboxing are quite different for both cultural and practical reasons. To start, Muay Thai engages more of the body in direct contact. This means frequent, high-intensity sparring can result in significant damage, even before you compete.
Instead, the sport places an emphasis on patience and mastering a broad range of techniques. This includes landing sharp elbow attacks, paralysing kicks, and learning to soak in attacks with your shins.
The Muay Thai philosophy is roughly, “why endure attacks when you can thwart them and counter effectively?” For this reason, many Muay Thai fighters have no ambition to go competitive. They simply practice the sport to hone their timing and discipline.
Training Muay Thai vs Kickboxing: What to Train
Each sport comes with its own set of advantages and drawbacks. Which you should train depends on what you’re looking to get.
By default, you can argue that Muay Thai is a more well-rounded sport. If you want to train for self-defence, the use of knees and elbows in Muay Thai makes it resemble an average street fight more closely. It also gives you a more reliable way of dealing with multiple attackers.
On the other hand, if your main reference is boxing or MMA, you may find it easier to get into kickboxing. The learning curve for primarily using your fists and feet can be more forgiving. Kickboxing also places more emphasis on footwork. This allows you to strafe and move around opponents when the situation calls for it.
FAQs on Muay Thai vs Kickboxing
Is Muay Thai more dangerous than kickboxing?
This often depends on how frequently you train and whether you go competitive. However, a strong case can be made that Muay Thai has a higher potential for serious injury. For starters, elbow attacks can potentially inflict more cranial damage than a padded punch.
Because of the bone structure, a well-timed elbow strike doesn’t need to be particularly strong to inflict cuts. A well-timed elbow can even puncture a skull, making defence that much more important when you train.
Ultimately, any sport where you can get hit in the head carries a degree of danger. From severe mood swings to staggering degrees of Parkinsonism, there’s no such thing as a safe combat sport, so always keep that in mind.
Do you need different equipment for Muay Thai and kickboxing?
For all the differences between the two sports, the answer is yes and no. For instance, Muay Thai shorts are effectively the same as kickboxing shorts, since the goal is free leg movement.
As far as gloves go, Muay Thai gloves tend to have less wrist support because of the sport’s reliance on clinches. The technical differences can be hard to understand. To start, you can rely on Twins as one of the most reliable Muay Thai gear manufacturers.
When it comes to shin guards, you’ll want more foot cushioning than in kickboxing. This is because you’ll mainly make contact with your feet, not your shins. Once again, you have no shortage of affordable options for Muay Thai leg protection.
Are fights scored the same in Muay Thai and kickboxing?
This is one of the most misunderstood differences, especially for beginners. Most combat sports rely on a 10-point-per-round scorecard, where a judge evaluates each round separately.
The Muay Thai point system, on the other hand, is more holistic. While each round is scored, the purpose isn’t to determine who “won” more rounds. It’s primarily a way for scorekeepers to keep tabs on who’s ahead.
The philosophy is that a single bad round early on shouldn’t make the fight unwinnable. Muay Thai gives fighters more leeway for comebacks, in the spirit of sportsmanship. It also removes the pressure fighters face when they have to pull off impossible knockouts to stay in the game.
Conclusion
And that concludes our breakdown of Muay Thai vs kickboxing. To summarize, the two sports overlap, such as using both arms and legs. However, Muay Thai fighters may use elbows and knees, while kickboxers rely on weaves and a narrow stance to minimize impact.
We realise there’s a lot of information to soak in. It’s exactly this variety that makes combat sports so rich and immersive. Whichever sport you choose, you can expect it to add a lot of value to your life, so join the club!
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