Thai Boxing?

[TibetanKF]

I’ve been studying kung fu for about 3 years now. I love the style (Hop Gar) and think it fits me very well. But I feel like my training is missing something. We don’t spar or spend a lot of time on “fighting”. So, I was thinking about adding Thai boxing to my training to help with timing, footwork, etc. All of the things you don’t get doing hundreds of reps.

That said, I will continue to study Kung Fu forever. I just thought while I was still young enough to take a punch I could use this to supplement my current style.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this will be helpful or detrimental?

[yenhoi]

You will do hundreds of reps in thai boxing, and they will hurt.

[DragonzRage]

You should definitely try it out! But make sure you pick a serious gym that really trains adequately. If the training sessions aren't long and hard, if you're not doing plenty of bag, padwork and conditioning, if you aren't sparring regularly, and if you really don't see any fighters in the gym then steer clear. If the training is not good then you're no better off than you were before. Basically your best bet is to find a good MT gym that specializes in teaching MT and producing fighters. Most of the "muay thai" programs you might see at some local karate school are pretty lousy. If your goal is simply to learn some practical fighting skills rather than specifically learning MT then you might consider checking out a good JKD club. But I would not recommend learning muay thai at a JKD club because most of them really do not focus on it enough and do not stress the same level of physical conditioning.

[DelicateSound]

Do you want to master your HopGar, and be able to make that work, or do you want to make your training more universal?

That is the decision.




IMHO specialisation wins. *Just my opinion*

[Mantis9]

Personnally, I would stick to Hop Gar and look for a venue to spar with it. Maybe, talking to your sifu about it would help. He/She probably wants to see you develop correctly and may have some reservation about you sparring just yet.

Perhaps, you can find or organize a group of MAer's that would be willing to spar each other and help eveyone's development in your particular arts.

Just my opinion, though.

Mantis9

[straight blast]

I think some Muay Thai will give you a very good feel for sparring. It'll also (and most importantly) teach you that no matter how ****ed good you are and no matter what anyone tells you that you can and will be hit in a fight, and it will teach you to deal with that. "Hundreds of reps" will not. Do your Hop Gar seniors spar lots? Perhaps you should take it to your Sifu. Chances are that he's been there before in his journey, and may be able to help you out.

But I think the Muay Thai would be for the best.

[SevenStar]

Go for it. It will give you exposure to a diffrent style and alternate methods of training. You should also get plenty of sparring time. There's nothing wrong with supplementing an art with something else, however, keep in mind that you will be doing some of the same techniques that you do in Hop Gar, however, the mechanics will be different. This may cause problems, as your sifu will be telling you to do it one way, and your MT instructor will have you do it a defferent way. At that point, you'll have to decide what works best for you and stick with it. I for example prefer my thai roundhouse to the standard one in most situations. when I spar, that's what I use. I use the roundhouse that I learned in CMA also however. by training in both styles, you will only make yourself more versatile.

[Azreal]

I think that it could only help you to have exposure to different styles. That being said, I agree partially with Mantis9. Spar with your Hop Gar, against fellow students and against different styles, ie. Thai boxers, boxers, tai-chi boxers, wrestlers, etc. If your instructor is reluctant to let you spar after training for 3 years you will NEVER learn fighting from him/her, and should look elsewhere.

[scotty1]

You may get a lot of fighting in the Muay Thai, but it will be in the Thai style and you will still not be learning to fight using your Hop Gar. So if you want to learn to fight MT then go to the Muay Thai class, but if you want to fight with your HG then talk to your Sifu about the lack of sparring.

If you want to master Kungfu find a kungfu class that fights as much as the Thai class.

The reason Thai fighters are so hard is because they fight a lot.
No reason a kungfu man couldn't be as hard if his training involved as much contact.

When I was looking for a kungfu class I found a class or two that taught Kungfu really well, but the only sparring they did was kickboxing. So I went and learnt kickboxing instead.

No point learning one system only to have to fight with another. That is what I would call a waste of time.

[fa_jing]

I agree with what has been said - you need to decide if what you want is to learn another art. If what you want is to learn to spar with Hop Gar, then you just need a pair of gloves (14-16oz. is good for training), a willing partner, and hopefully someone to observe that has this kind of experience. You know, to tell you things like "open your eyes," "keep your hands up," etc. If your Sifu will do this, much better is the situation. JKD people are also good with this kind of thing. I also suggest you buy a timer, alot of times people get pooped out, it seems that a lot of time has gone by, then you find out only 2 minutes have gone by.

If you are looking for an integrated experience and do want to learn something new, than probably Muy Thai would work for you.

-FJ