9 Reasons to Train Muay Thai

While Muay Thai is widely considered the most effective striking discipline in the world, its reputation often deters many people from practising the sport as they consider it too brutal or likely to involve too much pain. While there is some justification in this, much of the pain arising from contact can be avoided and the benefits Muay Thai brings even the average practitioner are worthwhile and varied.

Muay Thai builds physical strength

Muay Thai is a full body work out like no other. Striking with fists, elbows, knees and shins ensure you engage muscles from top to toe. Swinging hips and smashing pads, people and bags develops core and muscle strength, while boosting cardio and accelerating fat loss.

Muay Thai builds mental strength

Training Muay Thai can be physically exhausting, sometimes taking you to the point of vomiting (and even doing so). Training and competition can get so vigorous, you will question whether you can continue or why you even bothered in the first place. Pushing through all this and pursuing knowledge and continuous improvement will build mental strength and resilience.

Muay Thai builds confidence

It doesn't take too much Muay Thai training before you recognise your inner strength. Seeing yourself improve each session and watching your speed, power and stamina increase are both rewarding and encouraging. This helps build self-confidence, as you recognise your ability to grow, develop and push through in the face of adversity; attributes you can transfer to your personal and professional life too.

You'll develop your social circle

Whether you're a natural introvert or extrovert, the challenges everyone faces practising Muay Thai are best shared together, as part of a team, alongside students you can grow to trust and befriend.

Muay Thai attracts people from all walks of life, some of which you'd probably never encounter without training. It's these people you'll come to rely on, work with and support as you develop your skills.

You'll learn to remain calm & relaxed

Life is hectic, full of emotion, unpredictability and surprises. Sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us and we get stressed, upset and angry. Training Muay Thai helps relieve stress, boost your mood and get adrenaline coursing through your body. This, coupled with the challenges of training and competing, develop your ability to adapt to uncertain situations and help you remain calm in tough times.

Furthermore, it's always beautiful to see the haste and explosiveness people move with after being in a relaxed and rhythmic stance.

Muay Thai is a truly effective martial art

Muay Thai has been proven time and time again – whether it be in the ring, cage, street or even (historically) in the battlefield – to be the most effective striking discipline. It has been tested against almost all others and continues to come out on top as it utilises a wide range of weapons with unmatched speed and power.

Muay Thai helps you put things into perspective

There are many ways to think about this point, a couple of examples may help illustrate it best:

• When you’re having a bad week and it seems the universe is against you, train Muay Thai to relieve stress and prove to yourself how strong you are, how resilient you can be and how good your abilities are.
• If you ever get to a point where you feel ultra-confident, perhaps a little arrogant, some hard training or sparring can quickly make you think twice and deflate any ego. This helps build humility and ensure continuous learning.

The point being, Muay Thai always helps you think of things from a different angle and regularly throws up new surprises and challenges.

You'll become more flexible and agile

As you develop your Muay Thai game, you'll need to build your flexibility through stretching to hone your high attacks and defence.  Increased flexibility helps you attack with speed and fluidity. It also helps you outside of Muay Thai – the more flexible you are the less likely you are to get injured or muscles strains going about your day-to-day life. It's especially useful if you work in an office and sit down for 8+ hours a day.

Not only will you be able to move quicker and with greater ease, your mind will also become sharper and your reactions faster.

Conclusion

This list is just a taster – everyone has different reasons they train Muay Thai and you will too as you embark on your journey. To make the most of your training, you'll need high-quality gear to help you train at your best and quickly develop your skills – get it here.