When we talk about popularity, there’s no doubt that boxing is one of the most beloved combat sports in the world. At the same time, the popularisation of MMA has introduced countless new fighting styles to sports enthusiasts worldwide, including Muay Thai. If you’re looking to get into fighting, a fair question to ask would be: is Muay Thai better than boxing?
Combat sports all bleed into one another to some degree, so naturally, there’s a fair bit of overlap between the two. On the other hand, you’re looking at a punch-only sport versus a self-defence technique originally used for military purposes. Ultimately, it’s fair to say that the two are more different than they are similar.
Is Muay Thai better than boxing, though? Read on for a comprehensive overview.
Muay Thai vs Boxing
Similarities
For starters, boxing and Muay Thai are standing sports that emphasise striking, while also allowing clinches. You get a lot of inertia in executing attacks for both since a lot of it comes down to a similar set of hip rotations to maximise impact.
The use of hand strikes is part of each sport, although obviously to varying degrees. Naturally, both rely on rudimentary attacks like jabs to transition into other attacks or get a feel for your opponent’s defence.
Many parts of the training regimen are similar as well. You can expect to do a lot of heavy-bag work, and shadowboxing is a common way to practice your technique in both fighting styles.
To make the most of each sport, light or heavy sparring is the ultimate test of your abilities. The intensity may vary, and many Muay Thai practitioners forgo it altogether, but practising with another person can do wonders for your improvement in either discipline.
Differences
As far as differences go, the most obvious one is the greater variety of moves in Muay Thai. On top of your feet, you can also rely on elbows and knees – this is why Muay Thai is known as The Art of Eight Limbs.
As for punches, while boxing relies on uppercuts, crosses, and hooks to target the head or body, a Muay Thai fighter will more commonly use elbows, both to land hits in close proximity and to block incoming attacks. Further, Muay Thai practitioners favour the spinning back fist as a punch for tactical reasons. A lot of times, your opponent will expect a hit when they see you executing a spin, making this one of the sport’s best fakeout moves.
Then there’s the scoring, which is a bit more technical in boxing. Each round can bring you up to 10 points, and the fighter with the larger sum of scores is the winner. The system works a little differently with Muay Thai, where the first rounds are relatively low-action, giving fighters the time to read each other’s style.
On top of that, since sweeps and kicks carry more weight than punches, you might unconsciously develop a psychological aversion to punches in Muay Thai as you train.
Finally, there are the differences in equipment, and it all starts with the fight shorts. Since Muay Thai fighters need more leg mobility to execute kicks, Muay Thai shorts tend to be shorter and slit. Muay Thai gear also needs to accommodate the bigger move pool – a great example is the reduced padding in the gloves, giving you better clinch control.
On the other hand, boxing gloves feature more layers and wrist support, allowing you to absorb attacks and maintain better form as you punch.
Is Muay Thai Better Than Boxing for Training?
Self-defence
If you want to learn to protect yourself, there are genuine pros and cons to both. After all, each one is centred around striking, which is how most aggressors will approach you in a sticky situation.
Alongside proper punching and blocking techniques, boxing gives you a lot of situational awareness. If someone tries to initiate physical contact, chances are they’ll resort to punches first. Amateurs will often telegraph their attacks in ways that are obvious to a trained boxer, and with some experience, you should have no trouble blocking a poorly executed strike and countering accordingly.
At the same time, Muay Thai gives you an element of surprise with its more varied move set. For starters, the average street brawler won’t expect you to open with a kick, and the clinch-knee combo can be a very effective one for pacifying the attacker without escalating the fight further.
On top of that, a thorough Muay Thai regimen will teach you to use your elbows in close quarters. You can even rely on elbows to block rogue body blocks if you’re dealing with someone who knows what they’re doing.
Another thing Muay Thai fighters have going for them is the weight factor. If you’re dealing with someone significantly larger than you, it helps if you have a bigger arsenal of attacks than just punches.
At the end of the day, remember that preventing a fight is almost always better than winning one. The first thing to do in these kinds of situations is to try and get away, and only try to use your fighting know-how if the other guy forces your hand.
Mixed Martial Arts
Is Muay Thai better than boxing or vice versa? This question becomes redundant when you get into MMA, where you pretty much have to combine multiple fighting disciplines to get ahead of the competition.
The good news is, these two styles synergise amazingly well if you can commit to both. Muay Thai has more points of contact than most other combat sports, giving you much-needed versatility in an MMA bout. On the flip side, the emphasis on kicks and elbows can make you lopsided in your punching skills.
This is where boxing training comes into play. It can condition you to work on your punches more than Muay Thai training, and it’ll teach you some key lessons in footwork and repositioning in the ring.
For a boxer, Muay Thai is a great fix to the lack of lower body defence. After all, learning to use your shins to take incoming blows makes a world of difference.
When you’re getting started, you may have a hard time getting used to the differences in stances. Mixing up angled and squared can throw you off your game, but as with anything else, it comes down to practice. You also have the problem of not covering grapples, although clinches combined with Muay Thai’s knees and elbows are a good place to start.
Whichever way you spin it, the two techniques go great together, especially if you have the patience to learn the more difficult Muay Thai attacks that may take years to master.
FAQs
Who would win in a Muay Thai vs boxing match?
Naturally, this depends on how skilled each fighter is. That said, if they have similar levels of experience and body weight, the Muay Thai fighter should come out on top.
To state the obvious, Muay Thai has more moves at its disposal. This includes low kicks, which boxers often won’t be trained to deal with. Also, Muay Thai fighters train their elbows extensively to block punches, which can help them absorb impact but also inflict heavy damage to the opponent’s hand or wrist.
Then there’s the way the two techniques approach clinching. If you disable a boxer’s use of their arms, there’s very little they can do to get out of a clinch position. Muay Thai fighters are different in that they can use their elbows and knees in high-pressure situations.
Is Muay Thai safer than boxing?
It’s hard to answer this one, as every combat sport has some risk of injury. On the whole, serious head trauma is probably the worst thing that can happen in a fight, and boxers tend to aim for the head a lot more.
This can mean a lot of things for a fighter, as injuries can range from bruises and broken noses to neurodegenerative diseases. Still, even though Muay Thai fighters prioritise other parts of the body, an elbow strike can puncture a skull when done correctly.
Conclusion
So, Is Muay Thai better than boxing? It’s impossible to say that one fighting style is definitively better than another, but Muay Thai is undeniably the more varied sport. The use of elbows and knees gives you a wider set of attacks to work with, and you’ll have a leg up if you want to get into MMA. If you’re intimidated, boxing has a more forgiving learning curve and is a great foundation for developing other fighting styles.
If you appreciate this no-hype approach, you’ll love our other martial arts comparisons. We cut through the noise to give you the real breakdown on every major fighting style. Get more honest breakdowns here.