Straight from Bangkok (jing-jing) There are no comparisons to muay thai. People who tell you otherwise just don’t know.

“I practice 7 martial arts and blahblahblah..and my friend like totally studied muay thai and blablahblah…and he can’t hit me.”
I promise I can hit you, and I’ve only studied one martial art–muay thai–for a year and a half, 5 days a week. Don’t fault an art because of a poor exponent. You couldn’t last one round at my gym just hitting the pads, let alone sparring. Our rounds are 10-15 minutes non-stop, and that’s why it produces top fighters.

There is no way around training in Thailand if you really want to learn muay thai. You come to Bangkok, you find a gym where you’re the only farang, where they don’t speak English. You show respect to your teachers, you honor the time they spend training you by giving 120% and you won’t have to say much anyway. You pay them well and they will take care of you. You will learn more in a month of twice a day sessions than you will in a year of evenings at the local studio. Oh, learn some basic Thai and sleep at the camp.

As to preparations, it is silly to say you need 4 years of international boxing before muay thai. The stances and weight distribution are completely different. Look what happens when a boxer fights a thai boxer. He bobs and weaves his way into a shin or worse. You don’t need 4 years of bad habits for muay thai. You do need conditioning though. None of the standard “you should be able to kick a telphone pole with your shins” crap either. Be able to jump rope for 30 minutes non-stop and then shadow box for another 30 and you should be okay. You’ll still die in the heat out here, but drink plenty of water and you’ll get up to speed within a week or so. Your shins, the subject of so much unfounded mystique, will adapt to kicking a heavy bag soon enough. Start with the soft one and move up when you’re ready.

I hope this is helpful. Muay Thai in Bangkok has been an incredible experience, and with the right attitude and teacher, it could be the same for you. Keep your gloves up.

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