# Technique based martial arts?



## reinhart_menken (Jun 23, 2009)

Hiya,

So recently I'm looking into starting out Muay Thai (and another form, which isn't relevant to this topic), as some of you might remember. My father pointed out that Muay Thai is more "power/strength-based" (I don't know if it's true, but I've never seen videos depicting specific Muay Thai techniques, like other forms/styles, during my research), and for someone of my size (small) I should lean toward technique-based martial arts. What are some technique-based forms/styles? And which ones aren't?

Or should I not even worry about that because I often see videos claiming certain strikes or kicks will deliver hundreds of pounds equivelent of force? Or is he just wrong?

Thanks!

ps. No need to list wrestling/grappling style for technique-based, since I'm not interested in learning that  Not knocking it, just not my cup of tea.


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## Ronin74 (Jun 23, 2009)

Technique comes first in any martial art. "Power" in terms of striking is the by-product of proper technique executed correctly. As far as your size is concerned, you'll eventually figure out how to make it work for you, but that could be a long way down the line.


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## Chris Parker (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi,

As Ronin74 said, all martial arts are technique orientated. That said, the main difference between any single system and another is not really one of technique, history, power source, or people involved in it, but one of philosophy. In Muay Thai's case, the philosophy involves the testing of self in competition within certain rules (and these rules change depending on where you are at times).

As a result, the approach Muay Thai takes is one of fast, hard application of specific techniques (a Muay Thai roundhouse kick is different to a Tae Kwon Do one, for example) in order to win a competitive match. But the first thing you will be taken through is how to perform the movements themselves (how Muay Thai punches, kicks, elbows, knees, grapples etc), which may be similar or different than your other art.

As you progress, you will find that Muay Thai, being a competitive system, will not focus so much on full techniques in the sense of "opponent punches, you slip the punch and deflect it past, then rise and kick to the knee, followed by a punch to the jaw - repeat", but instead, focus on a series of drills and combinations that you may design fr yourself, or find for yourself in the ring or in sparring, in order to generate the greatest amount of success for yourself.

So, due to it being a competitive art, you will find a greater emphasis on power and speed over patterns (forms, kata, poomse etc), but no less emphasis on proper technique (kick, punch, knee etc).

Hope this helps a bit, and that I made some sense.


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## reinhart_menken (Jun 23, 2009)

Thanks for the thorough explanation Chris Parker and Ronin74! You and Ronin74 both made a lot of sense. I think I'll be comfortable with Muay Thai.

What are some system that have more emphasis on kata then (or just have kata, not necessary more emphasis, as opposed to Muay Thai or JKD that doesn't have kata)? Just out of curiosity and for future reference.


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## Chris Parker (Jun 23, 2009)

Well, kata is a Japanese term that literally means "form", or "shape". The method of training refered to as kata training is what NLP practitioners refer to as "modeling". In this method, the student repeats the same movements and actions over and over without changing them, in order to instill the basic strategies and concepts of a martial system. As a result, you could even say that Muay Thai uses a kata method, in that you constantly repeat the same action (a particular kick, for example) over and over in order to be able to use it at any time.

In old Japanese arts, known as koryu (old styles), kata training often refers to paired combat exercises, with a specific attack and response scenario. This is applied to unarmed and weapon schools alike, with different schools having longer or shorter kata depending on the school in question. 

In more modern arts (such as karate, tae kwon do, various kung fu systems), the kata/form/poomse approach is far more often a long string of movements practiced solo. This method is probably what you are refeing to as "form-based", and is found, as stated, in karate systems, many kung fu systems (such as Wing Chun, and Tai Chi Chuan), Tae Kwon Do, many modern eclectic arts (which often have karate or similar as their base), and others. Those that don't will include sporting systems (Muay Thai, boxing etc), very old systems (Japanese koryu, the various Ninjutsu organisations), and any reality-based system (Senshido, for example).


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## ap Oweyn (Jun 23, 2009)

reinhart_menken said:


> Hiya,
> 
> So recently I'm looking into starting out Muay Thai (and another form, which isn't relevant to this topic), as some of you might remember. My father pointed out that Muay Thai is more "power/strength-based" (I don't know if it's true, but I've never seen videos depicting specific Muay Thai techniques, like other forms/styles, during my research), and for someone of my size (small) I should lean toward technique-based martial arts. What are some technique-based forms/styles? And which ones aren't?
> 
> ...


I disagree with your father.  Respectfully.  There's a ton of technique in muay thai.  It appears not to be the case mostly because of context.  When you see muay thai, you're generally seeing it applied in the ring.  Once you're familiar with the style, you'll recognize technique amidst the bedlam that's simply a part of any fighting format. 

With other styles, when you see them performed, you're often seeing a kata or a drill or some other relatively idealized format.  So you're seeing the technique because what you're watching is specifically designed to either showcase or develop technique.  If you were to watch drills from muay thai, you'd see the technique no problem.  Likewise, if you were to see many other styles performed in a sparring format, you'd once again have to work harder to see the technique in the chaos.  _But it will be there._

Personally, I think muay thai is a great choice.  But whatever style you choose, understand that success is going to come from the sum total of technique, conditioning, and experience.  All the technique in the world isn't going to help you unless you have the attributes in place to implement them.


Stuart


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## CoryKS (Jun 23, 2009)

Also respectfully disagree.  Have you seen those Thai guys?  Some of those fighters are pretty small, but that doesn't stop them from delivering a lot of pain.


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## reinhart_menken (Jun 23, 2009)

Chris Parker said:


> Well, kata is a Japanese term that literally means "form", or "shape". The method of training refered to as kata training is what NLP practitioners refer to as "modeling". In this method, the student repeats the same movements and actions over and over without changing them, in order to instill the basic strategies and concepts of a martial system. As a result, you could even say that Muay Thai uses a kata method, in that you constantly repeat the same action (a particular kick, for example) over and over in order to be able to use it at any time.
> 
> In old Japanese arts, known as koryu (old styles), kata training often refers to paired combat exercises, with a specific attack and response scenario. This is applied to unarmed and weapon schools alike, with different schools having longer or shorter kata depending on the school in question.
> 
> In more modern arts (such as karate, tae kwon do, various kung fu systems), the kata/form/poomse approach is far more often a long string of movements practiced solo. This method is probably what you are refeing to as "form-based", and is found, as stated, in karate systems, many kung fu systems (such as Wing Chun, and Tai Chi Chuan), Tae Kwon Do, many modern eclectic arts (which often have karate or similar as their base), and others. Those that don't will include sporting systems (Muay Thai, boxing etc), very old systems (Japanese koryu, the various Ninjutsu organisations), and any reality-based system (Senshido, for example).



Thanks, that's basically what I meant and wanted to know.

As for the others, yeah, I thought my dad could be wrong too  After all he's not even trained in martial arts before.

I think it's very likely that I'll train in Muay Thai, I've found a fair priced gym near where I live that offers access to unlimited classes per week as well as unlimited access to the regular work-out gym equipments that they have (tread mill, weights, etc), for a little over 150 a month.


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