Muay Thai is a superb martial art and great for self-defense, but is it worth learning?
Muay Thai will teach you excellent self-defense skills and as it’s a skill you will constantly want to get better and improve. Also, it teaches discipline, respect reduces stress, builds muscle, and will improve every other quality of your life. It is definitely worth learning.
I honestly think training Muay Thai has changed my life forever for the better.
I really hope you start learning Thai boxing, and in this article, I will explain why it’s such a great thing to learn.
8 Reasons Why Muay Thai Is Worth Learning
Muay Thai Builds A Healthy Lean Physique
Muay Thai isn’t just for self-defense, if you are looking to lose some weight or put on some muscle then Muay Thai is the perfect fit.
It is a great full-body workout as it involves both the aerobic(with air) and anaerobic(without air) and involves most of your muscle groups! If you want to know the 11 other ways Muay Thai gets you in shape, please check my post here.
Muay Thai also burns around a fat-melting 1000 calories a class! Unlike doing traditional boring cardio workouts like running on a treadmill, you can melt the fat whilst working on your flexibility, core, and overall strength. What’s not to like?
Muay Thai Builds Self Discipline
You might say but Dillon I have no discipline! Muay Thai will teach you the importance of self-discipline for your Muay Thai and life in general.
To commit to your goals and training schedule you need to make sacrifices to progress as a martial artist, it really puts into perspective what is important in life.
As your learning a skill and will improve more quickly you more you put into Muay Thai, you will see the true value of hard work first hand as you improve.
There is no shortcut to success in Muay Thai or in life and Thai boxing will show you the importance of self-discipline is for success in general.
Muay Thai Improves You Mentally
Muay Thai will constantly push you physically it also will strengthen your mental fortitude, so you will be mentally powerful enough to overcome all obstacles in your life, whether in or outside the gym.
In your Muay Thai training, you will become comfortable with being uncomfortable and this will forge a deep warrior spirit inside of you, giving you the perseverance to push through obstacles that you couldn’t have done before you started training Muay Thai.
You will see for yourself how much of a stronger man or woman you can become after training, believe me.
Muay Thai Is One Of The Most Effective Martial Arts
Whilst you could train Karate or Taekwondo, in reality, Muay Thai is known as the most effective striking in the art, as it is effective in all ranges of stand up fighting,
You can use your knees, hands, elbows, and shins all of your body’s tools whether you are up close or in the kicking distance.
As Muay Thai comes from a combat system designed to be used by soldiers when they lost their weapons on the battlefield(read more here) it is proven to be competent in real-life situations for hundreds of years.
Know that when learning Muay Thai you will have all the necessary self-defense skills to protect you or people you care about in every situation.
Muay Thai Teaches You To Stay Calm
In life, if you haven’t been tested when things don’t go the way you want them to, you can end up becoming stressed or lash out.
In Muay Thai you will regularly find yourself in testing situations especially in sparring or in a fight situation so it teaches you to stay relaxed in testing situations.
Muay Thai will bless you with beautiful endorphins rushes and improves your mood after a challenging day. I know that when I feel down or a little depressed a tough Muay Thai workout always makes me feel better.
Muay Thai will push you past your limits and help you remain cool in difficult situations life throws at us, Sparring especially will help you stay cool in life as if you lose your cool in sparring or in a Muay Thai fight you pay for it, just like in life. It’s always better to remain cool and in control.
Muay Thai Makes You More Confident
Have you ever felt that you needed more confidence? Honestly, this is the reason I started Muay Thai, I wanted to feel in control and good at self-defense.
Confidence comes naturally to you when you train Muay Thai, as you are embracing the unknown, seeing new people in a new environment(the gym) so you learn to embrace what you couldn’t before.
The more confidence you gain as you improve and master Muay Thai techniques, you will feel more in control in your day to day life with challenges that used to be too difficult to take on are now are easy with your new Muay Thai trained self.
Now don’t confuse this confidence, with becoming overconfident. Training martial arts, in general, gives you real genuine quiet confidence as you feel capable, but also you have respect for everyone you meet as you know you first hand can’t judge someones fighting ability on what they look like!
Muay Thai Improves Your Social Circle
No matter how good your current social circle is, I can guarantee meeting like-minded women & men at a Muay Thai gym who all possess the unique goal of improving themselves both mentally and physically with Muay Thai is a great opportunity.
You will bond a lot with a lot of people at your Muay Thai class and usually pair up with them, but nothing will motivate you more to train that being surrounded by equally strong people who are trying to improve themselves doing a difficult thing; learning Muay Thai.
The gym in general is a great place to meet people compared to meeting randoms from a bar or night club, as you genuinely get to know each other as you see each other so often.
Some gym friendships could become relationships or friendships that will last a lifetime.
I’ve met a lot of good friends in my Muay Thai gym and even went into business with one of them! Now I cannot promise you will find the love of your life or a business partner, but I’m sure you will find great people that will enhance your life.
Muay Thai Is A Super Fun Workout!
Do you find working out in a traditional gym setting, lifting weights and running on the treadmill super boring? Try to train martial arts.
What makes learning martial arts such an excellent workout is how enjoyable they are both to do and learn, you forget that you’re exercising! As your learning a new skill in a very social setting you concentrating on what you’re doing instead of that your exercising.
I think Muay Thai is a superb option for people who don’t like exercising to exercise, as kicking a heavy bag as hard as you can is just plain fun! Would you rather go on a 5K run or hit the heavy bag for 20 minutes? I know which one I would choose.
How Hard Is It To Learn Muay Thai?
It takes around 6 months to learn all the basic Muay Thai techniques, and to have a good level of Muay Thai fitness, it taking about 2 years to become “good” Muay Thai with around 7-10 years before you become an expert.
Now Boxing will be a lot quicker to learn, see which one you should learn first in my post here. But I still recommend learning Muay Thai as it is a complete combat sports system and 6 months is enough to be confident in your own self-defense abilities.
If you want to know more about how why Muay Thai is so hard to learn and how long it takes to become an expert in it, then please check out my post here.
Interested in Muay Thai? Check Out My Recommendations
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