Capoeira or Muay Thai?

Question

I can't decide. I'm a 13 year old girl, and I really want to learn one of these, I'm not sure which one though. I love the flexibility of Capoeira but the brutal force and power of Muay Thai. I'm looking to increase my fitness and overall body strength. Capoeira seems a bit more appealing when I say this, but it doesn't look to be able to be utilised in a street-fight situation (you know, just in case)?

I'm a tall and average built by the way.

Answer 1

If the street-fight ability is all that is stopping you from going for Capoeria, I'd say choose it anyway. The moves you learn from Capoeria would actually be useful in a fight as you do learn take-downs, head butts, kicks, arm strikes, and much more. You'll also gain a lot of power through learning Capoeria (especially with the movements) so the power you learn will be a huge advantage on the streets.

The flexibility in Capoeria is really the main selling point. It has a dance-like movement that is really a pleasure to watch as well so I'd say that would be a major advantage over Muay Thai.

Hope I was a help.

Answer 2

If you are looking to increase your fitness, you should definitely try capoeira. It increases your strength, especially in the legs and arms. It increases your balance (you'll learn how to do a handstand and a headstand among other various cool moves). It also increases your flexibility because you are always stretching and etc. Most of all, it gives you a hot body. It may somewhat be utilised in a street-fight situation because capoeira is all about evading.  

Answer 3

Keep in mind that Capoeira was originally designed as a dance because of prohibitions against slaves learning to fight. If you train and carefully examine the techniques, you can distill it down into a very effective fighting style. I'll tell you this: the key lies in timing and the way your body weight is flung into each attack.

Muay Thai (Especially Muay Boran) is a great martial art with great instruction in striking through the opponent and striking through the joints to break them. There are many great women fighters that have come out of Muay Thai backgrounds, but if you're concerned with self-defense, it's imperative that you find a school that trains for self-defense and not just for competition. Competitions have rules which prohibit certain strikes, and it's these strikes that you must learn for self-defense applications.

Good luck. Your life is on the line. Practice well.

Answer 4

my pick would be muay thai of those you have listed.

Answer 5

first of all GOOD JOB FOR TAKING INTEREST IN THESE

i've been too lazy .-.

i've wanted to learn how to fight recently, and from all the styles i've heard of, these too are a definate favorite

i can see how capoiera is very appealing

(i might learn if i feel i'm capable of taking it on with a class full of older fitter college kids)

and muay thai is just an option great if you want to learn how to fight

and it's one of the best :D

either way you can't go wrong, but capoeira seems more like a right go for now

you could always take up the other later right??

Answer 6

capoeira is an excellent martial art for fun and fitness.  it's very physical so it's a real good work out.

if practicality is your main concern believe me when I say that capoeira is just as practical as any other martial art.  the acrobatics and dance routines are a great help to increase strength and stamina in exactly those areas that you will need in a real fight

check out this little clip of capoeirista actually fighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMX9KKzG4...

capoeira is a lot of fun and the great thing is that it's not as agressive contact like muay thai, believe me that as a growing child contact sports can harm your body later in life.