Originally Posted by
taai gihk yahn
contemporary MT is not "traditional" in the sense of an indigenous non-competition oriented martial system, as the current version is a relatively recent modification (~1850's) of "traditional" Thai MA (muay boran); ontologically, it would be the equivalent of Judo to jujitsu or more recently WTF TKD relative to the older "kwans" (or even to taekyun, if there ever really was such a thing originally, but anyway...);
furthermore, MT utilizes a decidedly "modern" training regimine relative to more "traditional" systems;
the fact that it does NOT have forms would place it firmly in the minds of most "traditionalists" into a "non-traditional" category;
you can have strong fundamentals in one system and still get demolished by someone who has average fundamentals in another system (or none at all if they are an aggressive brawler w/experience in "t3h str33t") depending on what each system considers fundamental and how they train it, which varies greatly;
as far as using TKD as an example of "sound fundamentals", you are talking about a system that is almost two different arts at this point: the average WTF TKD school trains "traditional" stances, does one/three step-sparring, some self defense and those god-awful taeguek forms (the art), but then it essentially eschews all of it when it gets into sparring, which it trains almost completely differently, with strong emphasis on a relatively limited number of kics / kicking combos / strategies and minimal hand techniques, designed for the sole purpose of success in Olympic TKD style fighting (the sport); so it's not much of a stretch to see a TKD fighter w/"sound fundamentals" get his asz handed to him in an MMA or "t3h str33t" situation, because the training is pigeon-holed pretty much from the get go (did a little TKD myself, WTF and Moo Duk Kwan, for ~10 yrs., so I have some basis in that as well)