# New to martial arts, picking one for self defense



## kapas (Mar 18, 2015)

Hey Guys/Girl, my name is Andrew and i just registered here in the forum because in the next week i will choose a martial art to do, and improve. I really like muay thai and my main goal is not to go to the competitive side, but for self defending. I will explain: I have 19 years old, but since i only have 1,69 meters (5.5 feet) i am not very confident about myself and my hability to self defending me if i need to in street. I dont want to fight with anybody, but if i have to i must be prepared. So my question here is if someone did ever used muay thai in street for self defending and how did it gone?
Thanks in advance


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## K-man (Mar 18, 2015)

Welcome to MT. Self defence is only a small part of martial art training. The skills you learn in Muay Thai should take care of your requirements should the need arise. Perhaps the most important thing though is to find a style you enjoy because you are about to make a large commitment of time and money.


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## jezr74 (Mar 18, 2015)

In addition to K-mans advice. You are going to have a steep learning curve over the next months and you may find as you learn more about MT and other arts, you may change what you are attracted to. So as long as your in it for the long haul, take your time try things out for weeks or months at a time and find the training that you will stick with and keep showing up to class, it will be well worth it.


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## drop bear (Mar 18, 2015)

Muay Thai works fine for self defence. I have worked with some good Thai guys and they did well in street fights. Some of them no longer work because of how well they did,but that is a different matter.

If you compete your understanding of Thai will be better and so your self defence will be better. But you don't have to. It is a fun and interesting martial art regardless of what you use it for.


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## kapas (Mar 19, 2015)

thank you guys for your opinion !  It helped me a lot. Today i will try a muay thai class in a school near my house, its 25€ per month 3 times a week, what questions should i ask to the instructor or what aspects should i be aware while im in the class ?  Like what should i be looking for to see if the instructor ir good and if the class is good ? 
Thanks again in advance !


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## Shai Hulud (Mar 19, 2015)

kapas said:


> thank you guys for your opinion !  It helped me a lot. Today i will try a muay thai class in a school near my house, its 25€ per month 3 times a week, what questions should i ask to the instructor or what aspects should i be aware while im in the class ?  Like what should i be looking for to see if the instructor ir good and if the class is good ?
> Thanks again in advance !


Make sure they facilitate sparring. It's the best way to check yourself every now and then. Consider it an application test and stress test all rolled into one!


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 19, 2015)

You're 19 you have time to try a few different arts Muay Thai is a good place to start. Look around at what is in your area and go check a few places out and see what fits you best.


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## Instructor (Mar 19, 2015)

Muy Thai is a good root art!  You have a local school.  I think you are on a good track.  Check back in with us and let us know how your class is going.


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## kapas (Mar 19, 2015)

in this school of muay thai they also have MMA, BOX and jiu jitsu classes but im willing to give a try to muay thai, is the one i like most, so i will try today and i will let you know after how it was so u can judge qith ur knowledge guys. The fact that the school is near my house its a really apelative thing


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## kapas (Mar 19, 2015)

So i went to a muay thai class near my house, and i liked a lot. But give me opinions about the place and the class.
So i went with a friend, and the train was based on: Running, jump rope, the instructor was patient and he demonstrate us how to do basic jab, protecting and that basic things (i already did 2 classes 2 years ago of muay thai, and it was pretty much the same so its normal i guess). While we did this the other guys in the class we're in groups of two doing sequences of moves, and training with intensity. Every 5 minutes the alarm sounded to change sides. 
this was today





The instructor is the one sitting down in the middle without air and with a Black/Yellow sweatshit
and now some pictures about the gym: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	












So what is ur toughts guys?


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## Instructor (Mar 20, 2015)

Looks like a nice place to train.  Everybody looks very fit!


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## kapas (Apr 1, 2015)

hey guys, so i just had my first muay thai class and i liked a lot, they really focus on the shape of the body too since we did like 30 minutes of running, push ups, extension arms, abs and squats. The other hour i was teached how to low kick with both leggs and some clinches and how to defend them and get away of clinch. So i really enjoyed! My question now is: i have 1.69cm and 60Kg, i am not fat, i just have a slightly belly cause i eat a lot of trash food, but my abs are kinda visible cause i did sports all my life.. With my training (3x per week) can i get in shape in 2/3 months? Im meso/ectomorph. And i will stop with the junk food and the juices, and i will try to eat a lot of protein, salads and some carbs too. Do u think its possible? Thanks in advance guys!


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## drop bear (Apr 1, 2015)

In shape for what?


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## kapas (Apr 1, 2015)

in shape, like a bit ripped, abs, chest


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## drop bear (Apr 1, 2015)

Yeah you will get abs if your diet is good. If you want to be ripped and chesty. You will need to do some weight exercise on your off days.

Are you training for 1 hour or 2?


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## Drose427 (Apr 1, 2015)

Abs are hard. 

Its a lot more than diet and weight. I mean, Frankie Edgar doesnt have the same degree of ab definition as Demetrius Johnson or Jose Aldo. 

Even with a healthy diet, you need a good Ab regimen. A standard MT and BJJ workout will give you some definition, but youre probably not gonna get washboard abs that easily.

Junior year of HS I cut from 142 to 128 for wrestling, would roll/lift 3 hours at practice and then go to TSD for 2 hours and do forms, drilling, sparring, etc. I had several teammates who would go to BJJ after wrestling, one would head to his Boxing gym after.

We all had some degree of definition, but only one of us had any real abs, and it was the kid who was just skinny enough to have them.  

Full on, washboard Abs are one of the hardest things to get. If thats what youre looking for, youre gonna need a specialized Ab workout on top of your regular training.


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## kapas (Apr 1, 2015)

Drop bear i train for 1.30h 3x week
Oh okay, i have dumbbells in home, so i should do some exercices with them to chest and abs in off days? I will try to follow a good diet with proteins and some carbs! I did 1 year of gym, and i had whey protein, but maybe its not necessary after muay thai trainings right?


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## Drose427 (Apr 1, 2015)

kapas said:


> Drop bear i train for 1.30h 3x week
> Oh okay, i have dumbbells in home, so i should do some exercices with them to chest and abs in off days? I will try to follow a good diet with proteins and some carbs! I did 1 year of gym, and i had whey protein, but maybe its not necessary after muay thai trainings right?




Even with Gym workouts, if you wanma bulk, youre probably gonna need protein.

Abs are something youre gonna wanna fit in everyday if you really wanna keep them.

1000 crunches a day, 5 minutws of planking (side and normal) and side crunches are a good place to start, but there are a million ab workouts online you can find.

Abs are all about discipline and perseverance


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## kapas (Apr 1, 2015)

Drose427 said:


> Even with Gym workouts, if you wanma bulk, youre probably gonna need protein.
> 
> Abs are something youre gonna wanna fit in everyday if you really wanna keep them.
> 
> ...



I dont do gym nowz cause i have a problem with a nerve in my arm
I was searching about the abs exercices qnd i found this: Five-Week Washboard Ab Workout Muscle Fitness what do u think of it? Im a totally noob at abs


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## Drose427 (Apr 1, 2015)

kapas said:


> I dont do gym nowz cause i have a problem with a nerve in my arm
> I was searching about the abs exercices qnd i found this: Five-Week Washboard Ab Workout Muscle Fitness what do u think of it? Im a totally noob at abs



Assuming you jave the bench and weights to do it, it looks fine.

Im not a real big fan of "choose an exercise from group a, now group B" etc. Style workout plans because i personally feel it lets folks cheat at their workout by changing the pre-decided exercises when they run into difficulty


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## kapas (Apr 1, 2015)

ahhh ok i understand, i wilk keep searchinf then, i do not have the bench


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## drop bear (Apr 2, 2015)

kapas said:


> I dont do gym nowz cause i have a problem with a nerve in my arm
> I was searching about the abs exercices qnd i found this: Five-Week Washboard Ab Workout Muscle Fitness what do u think of it? Im a totally noob at abs



There are plenty of bodyweight and core exercises that will get you abs and help your muay Thai most of the guys who seriously train at our gym have definition. But they are also really light because they fight.


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## DragonNut (Dec 5, 2015)

I wouldn't pick up just "any" martial art. Muay Thai is one of those that work well on the street against unarmed attackers, because you learn to avoid, take and dish out a lot of punches and kicks and even clenching, but if you want to be prepared for every situation, you will need something that incorporates protection against armed attackers in addition to Muay Thai, something like Krav Maga maybe. That is, unless you have the fortune to find a school that teaches one of the Muay Boran styles properly, which is like the equivalent of Krav Maga, a military combat art, or in this case an assortment of that. But even then it would leave out some parts of the modern day battlefield issues like guns.


Things like knives are a major problem in self defense.


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## DragonNut (Dec 5, 2015)




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## JowGaWolf (Dec 5, 2015)

DragonNut said:


> I wouldn't pick up just "any" martial art. Muay Thai is one of those that work well on the street against unarmed attackers, because you learn to avoid, take and dish out a lot of punches and kicks and even clenching, but if you want to be prepared for every situation, you will need something that incorporates protection against armed attackers in addition to Muay Thai, something like Krav Maga maybe. That is, unless you have the fortune to find a school that teaches one of the Muay Boran styles properly, which is like the equivalent of Krav Maga, a military combat art, or in this case an assortment of that. But even then it would leave out some parts of the modern day battlefield issues like guns.
> 
> 
> Things like knives are a major problem in self defense.


The truth about knife defense.  You're gonna get cut, and it's just a matter of how bad the cut is going to be.


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## drop bear (Dec 5, 2015)

DragonNut said:


>



There are always so many assumptions made with these things.

They can't talk and cut you at the same time?


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 6, 2015)

drop bear said:


> There are always so many assumptions made with these things.
> 
> They can't talk and cut you at the same time?


I would be careful with assuming that just because someone is talking doesn't mean that they aren't alert.  Some people talk trash to push buttons with the main goal of getting the other person to react physically.  He would have been better off acting as if he was trying to get the attention of someone who is behind the attacker and taking action then.

Knives are easy to understand, they slash and they stab.  Don't move in a way that helps the slashing or stabbing.  The position of the knife against the throat is going to determine the technique that one should use.  He kept trying to use the same technique and was actually helping Nick (the attacker) to cut his own throat. Nick means well but some of his videos will get ya beat up.


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## Paul_D (Dec 7, 2015)

JowGaWolf said:


> The position of the knife against the throat is going to determine the technique that one should use.  He kept trying to use the same technique and was actually helping Nick (the attacker) to cut his own throat. Nick means well but some of his videos will get ya beat up.


The other thing to bear in mind is; if you are so switched off you have allowed someone to place a knife to your throat, are you suddenly going to be able to become switched on enough to pull of any technique.


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## Kickboxer101 (May 6, 2016)

Drose427 said:


> 1000 crunches a day, 5 minutws of planking (side and normal) and side crunches are a good place to start, but there are a million ab workouts online you can find.



To the op do /not/ listen to that 5 minutes of planks especially if your not used to exercise is seriously dangerous and could cause you permanent injuries. Same with the 1000 crunches that's ridiculous you follow that advice you won't be training at all as you'll be out injured. Depending on your current fitness do maybe 10-15 crunches a day and a 30 second to 1 minute plank then when that gets easier gradually move up. Push it to hard you won't gain muscle you'll end up destroying them or be so tired and sore from it you won't do it the next day and you'll stop doing it


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