What Are The Differences Between Muay Thai And Kickboxing

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What are the Differences Between Muay Thai and Kickboxing

Tomislav Zivanovic

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Martial Arts Unleashed

·8 min read·Jan 29, 2021

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Muay Thai and kickboxing are standup fighting styles that have seen an amazing rise over the last two decades. At first look, these two martial arts look very similar if not the same to many people. And this is not a huge shock considering how similar they are in many aspects.

We all know at least one person who has once mixed these two arts with one another. But even though we understand why this is so, one must realize these two arts differ a lot from one another. It’s even weird to think about how similar they may look, but how much they differ when you set them against each other.

In this article, we are bringing you all you need to know about these two fighting styles. After reading it, you will have a great insight into what is so special about them and how do they differ from one another.

What is the main difference between Muay Thai and Kickboxing?

Watch just a single match, and you can easily spot the biggest difference. Muay Thai is an eight-point striking system while kickboxing is a four-point system. This is the reason why you can often hear that Muay Thai is the “art of eight limbs.”

In other words, Thai boxers can use eight limbs to strike and do damage with punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. Kickboxers can use “only” four limbs to strike with kicks and punches.

Further, Muay Thai puts a lot of emphasis on the clinch work and usage of knees and elbows. This is why many people think Thai boxing is better because kickboxers prefer to strike at a distance. But, we have to point out that kickboxing has many forms out of which some allow fighters to land 1 strike in the clinch.

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Footwork and movement

Muay Thai fighters and kickboxers have very different footwork and movement. They both usually stand in a high guard, but there is a contrast in the way they move when attacking or defending.

Thai fighters are more patient, flat footed, and tend to keep their head in the centerline. You will hardly see them bouncing or circling around the ring as kickboxers do. Instead, they tend to move forward most of the time and will rarely slip or duck under the strikes.

Kickboxers put a lot of emphasis on footwork and head movement. This is one of the reasons why some of them can easily shift to boxing and vice versa. Like boxers, they are often light on their feet and move from side to side to keep the range or create angles.

Unlike Thai fighters, kickboxers focus on moving in and out fast and using angles to set up the attacks. Most of the time, they will use head movement to avoid the strike instead of taking them on the guard.

For many people, kickboxers move better and with that, have a better defense. But this stays open for debate.

Boxing techniques

Kickboxers, notably the ones from the west, put a lot of emphasis on throwing pure boxing combos. This is one of the reasons why they often do well in boxing and vice versa. They use angles, head movement and volume punches much more than Muay Thai fighters.

In Muay Thai, fighters focus on using kicks and their boxing skills are less technical. This doesn’t mean Thai boxing is less useful and that their skills are bad. They simply prefer to throw kicks over punches while kickboxers will do it the other way around. Thai fighters use boxing to counter the attack or to set up the vicious kicks or knees behind.

This is mainly because, in western kickboxing, clinch work is not that important. They can move in with the six punch boxing combo without thinking much about eating a knee or elbow in return.

Kicking and blocking the kicks

This is where these two arts differ the most when it comes to throwing strikes and doing damage. Kicks in kickboxing are different than the ones in Muay Thai. The main difference is in how they throw and land them.

As said earlier, Thai boxing puts a lot of emphasis on kicks and it is the main weapon of its fighters. Fighters throw it by turning their hips around and landing with their lower part of the shin or “tibia”.

Unlike kickboxers, Thai fighters do not bend the knee while throwing their kicks. And, they keep their leg relaxed up until the moment of impact to land with more speed. These kicks have huge power behind them, it’s like hitting someone with the baseball bat. Just look how stiff Buakaw’s legs are while he is throwing kicks.

Kickboxers throw their kicks by turning the hips and then lifting the leg up before snapping the knee. Unlike Thai fighters, they prefer to land with their foot. Some of them may land with the middle/lower part of the shin, but, they prefer to connect with the foot.

Blocking/checking the kicks

Muay Thai and kickboxing differ when it comes to defending the kicks as well. Thai fighters will check just about every kick with their shin. This is because not checking the kicks in Muay Thai looks bad in the judge’s eyes and can lead to serious leg damage. As said earlier, Thai kicks are very powerful, and not checking a single one can destroy your leg.

Even though this doesn’t stand for all kickboxers, a lot of them actually don’t block the kicks with their shin. Or they do not block the kick directly in most cases. A lot of them are willing to absorb a clean kick to counter with the boxing combination.

Volume and pace

Muay Thai fighters and kickboxers fight at a different pace. And on top of that, there is a clear difference in the volume and output of strikes.

Thai fighters are more patient and prefer to land a single power strike. They throw each strike with violent intentions and to knock you out. This is why Muay Thai is a striking art that has, perhaps, the highest damage per strike ratio.

You will rarely see Thai fighters landing soft kicks or just touching the rival with the punches. They will turn up the volume only when they smell the blood.

Kickboxers are volume strikers and they have a much higher output of strikes. They are very good at mixing boxing combos with low and high kicks. If you look at their matches, you may see them always finishing a three punch boxing combo with the low kick. Or, they can do it vice versa by firing a kick and following with a flurry of punches behind.

Both Muay Thai and kickboxing matches usually include 5 rounds of action with each round lasting 3 minutes. Yet, K-1, semi-contact, and low kick kickboxing matches may include 3 rounds instead of 5.

Muay Thai fighters tend to start slow and use the first two rounds to measure their range and make reads. In other words, they use the first 10 min to gather enough data to create a game plan for the next 9 minutes of the pure war. But we must point out this is the unwritten rule in Thailand only.

Kickboxers tend to start blasting each other from the opening second of the first round. Since the matches are 3 rounds, fighters do not have to save energy and be patient. They can use a lot of it from the opening seconds and these matches are always very exciting to watch.

Muay Thai vs Kickboxing - Which one is more complete?

Both kickboxing and Muay Thai are very useful martial art styles with each one having its own pros and cons. Yet, putting one above the other is not an easy task since they are very similar.

For many people, Muay Thai is better because of the elbow, knees, and clinch work. The other side believes kickboxing is better because of the footwork, movement, and boxing skills. But in reality, both of these arts can learn from one another, and here is why.

Kickboxers could use Muay Thai to elevate their game by learning how to fight in the clinch and use elbows and knees to do damage. And, training Muay Thai will allow them to increase the power in their strikes and improve counter attacks.

On the other side, Thai boxers could use kickboxing to improve their boxing skills, footwork, and head movement. And, they can add a wider range of strikes to their game.

Which one is better for MMA?

For many people, Muay Thai is better for MMA because it puts a lot of emphasis on clinch work. You see, the clinch is very important in modern MMA and you can’t expect to succeed without knowing how to fight in it.

MMA fighters who have strong Muay Thai skills use the clinch to land vicious knees to the body and elbows to the side of the head. They do this both to stop the takedowns or wear the opponent out by pressing them against the cage.

The worst nightmare of any grappler in MMA is to fight against a person who has good takedown defense and strong Muay Thai. One of such fighters is, by many the greatest of all time, Anderson Silva. Take a look at some of his “Muay Thai” finishes in MMA.

Further, Muay Thai is also very useful at distance too. Fighters like Edson Barboza are masters in punishing the rivals using vicious calf and body kicks from the distance. Or, they can use front/push kicks to maintain their range.

Kickboxing is also a good base for MMA. A lot of MMA fighters have kickboxing classes in their weekly training schedule. Yet, it is not as useful as Muay Thai simply because it lacks clinch work. But on the other side, it teaches you better movement and to attack from various angles.

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Written by Tomislav Zivanovic

203 Followers·Writer for

Martial Arts Unleashed

Mixed martial arts analyst and writer.

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