# muay thai or bjj?



## davidGeddes (Dec 4, 2010)

i was thinking of starting muay thai and bjj or should i just start one just now as i have never done any martial arts before?


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## edudley (Dec 5, 2010)

Both.

I started with Muay Thai for two months to get into shape and just started to add BJJ to my training program. I think both offer a martial artist a very well rounded skill set. I enjoy the physicalness of both styles and in my opinion they compliment each other very well.

Again just my opinion.


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## Tanaka (Dec 5, 2010)

davidGeddes said:


> i was thinking of starting muay thai and bjj or should i just start one just now as i have never done any martial arts before?


In my opinion(which I will give reasoning for) I think you should choose one first, than the other. By this I mean you should find out which art favors your personality and/or body type. Do you have long legs and arm reach? Are you short body type which give you a low center of mass? Do you favor the image of defeating an opponent with striking? Would you rather be able to get in close and subdue your opponent in a choke or joint lock? 
Ask yourself these questions(and more) and find out which one you prefer as what I would call your "CORE" art. Once you find out which one favors you most. Develop a good "core" in this art. Become very knowledgeable and skilled in this art. Wait until you have reached a high level of skill in your core art. Once that is done... you can look to the other as a way to compliment your core art. But still take it seriously though because you do not want to insult your instructor. Gain as much knowledge/skill as you can. 

I am not a fan of jumping into two different systems at the same time. I think it will make it harder for you to develop into being a good martial artist.


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## billc (Dec 5, 2010)

What are looking to get out of your training.  If it is self-defense, then eventually try to do both, as edudley suggests.  If it is more excercise than I bet either one would be great.  What are your interests, if you wrestled in high school then BJJ might be what you want, if you like what you see in striking arts, then Muay Thai would be great.  Or, try each and see what happens.  You won't know for sure till you jump in.  Tanaka makes excellent points as well.


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## Tez3 (Dec 5, 2010)

billcihak said:


> What are looking to get out of your training. If it is self-defense, then eventually try to do both, as edudley suggests. If it is more excercise than I bet either one would be great. What are your interests, if you wrestled in high school then BJJ might be what you want, if you like what you see in striking arts, then Muay Thai would be great. Or, try each and see what happens. You won't know for sure till you jump in. Tanaka makes excellent points as well.


 
We don't wrestle in High School here, at least not in the way you mean. In fact we don't do High School either lol.

David, what's avaliable in your area? The people I know tend to be across Edinburgh more than your way. If you let me know what's availble though I can find how what their rep is.


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## davidGeddes (Dec 6, 2010)

theres a muay thai club that my borthers friend runs which is supposed to be good and a club in coatbridge which does muay thai and mma. after a while i would like to start fighting but im also interested in bjj but after a while of either i would love to get some fights


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## Tez3 (Dec 6, 2010)

I will recommend the very best place in Scotland for you to train at, it's in Glasgow but worth a bit of travelling. It's the Griphouse, they are home to the Dinky Ninjas fight team, they also do Muay Thai. A great bunch of people btw as well as the best training.

http://www.thegriphouse.co.uk/


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## First Action (Dec 6, 2010)

MMA mixes these two styles nicely


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## Supra Vijai (Dec 6, 2010)

As First Action said, MMA is an option if you want to get both of these (and some more) at the same time, and from everything I've been told, MMA is brilliant for teaching you the mechanics of power generation and ground work etc. 

if you're not so interested in MMA style then I'd personally say pick one and train it for a while till you an understanding of the art and then choose something else to train. Who knows you may train Muay Thai or BJJ for a couple of months, realise it's not what you were after at all and pick something totally different.


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## Tez3 (Dec 7, 2010)

At the moment David will be lucky if he gets to the end of his street! 
Most of Scotland is cut off with the snow, David, shall I send up the St Bernards with the brandy or a wee dram?

Go see the dinky Ninjas if you can though, tell them Tez/Irene from Pride and Glory sent you.


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## xfighter88 (Dec 7, 2010)

As stated above you need to figure out what kind of "fighter" you are naturally. The only way to do that is to try them both out. If you are talking about competeing you need to be well rounded whether that means Muay Thai and BJJ or Taekwondo and wrestling is up to you. I do quite a bit of both but perfer to stand and strike so a lot of my BJJ time is working escapes and standing back up. For the style of fighting I perfer wrestling to  BJJ since it focuses on position and scrambling. BJJ feels more like staying on the ground and submitting to me. Also when it comes to self defense skills it is safer to favor standup striking and ground and pound to submissions as you can't be sure you are only fighting one enemy.

Happy Hunting


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## davidGeddes (Dec 7, 2010)

thanks everyone for your help and tez3 the snow is murder lol cant get anywhere lol and i will go see them will do


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