Is muay thai good self defense?

Question

just wondering

Answer 1

its not really meant for self defence but it is better than knowing nothing.it is a very good art to crosstrain in.it blends in very well with freestyle karate and helps strenghthen your kicking,punching,elbows and knees.very good for fitness and flexibility.  

Answer 2

ya for UFC  

Answer 3

muay thai as with any martial art is practicing fighting so yeah would be, also muay thai has styles such as muay chaiya and muay boran, which is all about self defence muay thai the ring sport was developed from these arts.  

Answer 4

oh yeah man, not to sound lame or anything, but back in high school i was having a huge problem with a bully. i decided to take up a martial art and thought muay thai was the most bad *** looking. dude, that sport makes you a ******* machine. one day when i was confident enough i decided to fight the kid, all it took was one hard leg kick to the shin and he was done. so yeah man its a brutal sport but it is very good self defense.  

Answer 5

not that i've ever practiced it but it sure is meant to be good self-defence.

Answer 6

Yes and no.

If you train hard then you'll be in great shape, be able to take a load of abuse as your body will be conditioned.  You'll have good boxing skills, good boxing skills, blocking skills, very powerful kicks that cause a lot of damage and good use of knees and elbows.

On the other hand..

in a street fight, the chances of the other person following the rules of Muay Thai are slim, in a street fight the rules are 'whatever it takes'.  Punches, kicks, knees, elbows, headbutts, eye gouging, groin strikes, stomping, etc. etc.

Also, Muay Thai has no ground game.  True, you'll still know how to block, parry and counter punches, but that's about it.

That being said, you'll still no how to fight and that's more than the other guy will usually know.

Muay Thai is a great thing, I love it, but in a real fight I wouldn't stick to it's rules, I'd just take what I know, incorporate whatever else needs to be done and fit it to the situation.  (i.e. if it was me or him, I wouldn't throw a leg kick, I'd probably use and ashtray to the head, heh).