Muay Thai and Krav Maga

I haven’t mentioned it on this blog yet, but about four months ago, I joined a Muay Thai and Krav Maga school a few towns over. It’s been quite worthwhile.

Here’s what happened – One day after Jiu Jitsu class, I was talking to one of the guys I train with. Unfortunately, this fella is no longer training with us. That’s a shame because I really liked him and he had a lot of potential. Anyway, as we were talking, I mentioned that I still have a lot of energy throughout the week and while Jiu Jitsu is the love of my life, I would really like to punch things. I told him that I wanted some stand up skills to use if need be. He said, “You want Muay Thai dude.” Muay Thai? I never heard of that.

I left class that day and did a little research. I found that Muay Thai “is a hard martial art from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.” It’s basically some really awesome kick boxing and regular boxing all in one. Throw in some knees and elbows and you have Muay Thai. With many martial arts, you have four points of contact; your hands and your feet. With Muay Thai, you use eight points of contact; your hands, feet, knees and elbows. It’s some serious stuff.

After I did my research and discovered that Muay Thai is a huge part of MMA, I was pretty much sold. What better way to round out my Jiu Jitsu (that’s coming up on two years)? I started looking for schools and found a good one not too far away.

The school I joined specializes in Muay Thai and Krav Maga. Since I already explained what Muay Thai is, I will fill you in on Krav Maga. Krav Maga “is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel that involves wrestling, grappling and striking techniques, mostly known for its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks, as it is also taught to elite special forces around the world.” This was a bonus. It’s one of those things I wasn’t looking for, but am now glad I am learning.

As I mentioned above, I have been doing this for about four months. The workout is intense and I am actually surprised that I am able to do it. The first class was pretty rough, but as time went on, I became better and better at keeping up. Now, I have absolutely no problem. It’s awesome and I love it. I love the striking. I really love the way I can punch and kick as hard as I want. I like the cardio and feel so good when I leave.

So, between the Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, I work out 5-6 times a week. It’s so much better of a workout than going to a gym too. Not only do I keep lean and mean, I don’t get bored and I learn really effective skills.

Here are some videos of Muay Thai and Krav Maga. The first video is some serious action brought to us by Ramon Dekkers.The second video is instruction on Muay Thai kicks. I am posting this because we went over some kicks this week. The third video is full of action packed Krav Maga. If you watch just one video, make sure it’s the Krav Maga one.