So you want to learn Muay Thai. However, you might find it difficult to find the time or money to get started. I’ve been there, so I know what it feels like. You want to start training, but you’re on the verge and can’t seem to fully commit.
Don’t worry, this is a natural response. So the next time you’re wondering if something is wrong with you, remember that our intuition is to remain in the safe zone, in our bubbles. Therefore, your mind will be “against” you and convince you not to start your training.
And this is why I decided to write this article. Let’s talk about some of the things YOU will gain from reading this article.
After you finish reading this article, you’ll have everything you need, including knowledge, to begin learning and training Muay Thai from your home. We’ll also review why you should strive to find training partners to both train and spar with.
Eventually, you’ll know everything you need to know in order to start. Before we dive into the article itself, there’s a critical point I want to address. I’ve decided to order this article in a step-by-step format, so you can manage to stop overthinking and follow my instructions.
Do that—and you’ll find yourself learning and progressing faster than ever! So let’s dive in!
Step #1 – Decide to Learn Muay Thai
The first step of your Muay Thai journey is to decide whether you want to learn Muay Thai. I know it might sound obvious, but trust me when I tell you that most people will never truly decide if they genuinely want to learn it.
Once you make the decision to train, you want to fully commit yourself to the act of learning and training this beautiful and fierce martial art. If you continue hesitating, you’ll never get the results you’re looking for.
You might also decide that Thai Boxing isn’t a suitable choice for you. In that case, you don’t have to read this article and instead look for another fighting style. If that’s you, follow this link to read about the best martial arts for self-defense that you can learn at home.
However, if you’re in, cease all hesitation and commit yourself to learning Muay Thai. You’ll soon find yourself noticing many results and benefits, primarily learning to fight and knowing to protect yourself.
However, here are some of the benefits you can expect to experience once you commit yourself to Thai Boxing.
- Increased Confidence
- Higher Self-Esteem
- Respecting Oneself
- Knowing to Fight
- Less Stress in Personal Life
- Reduced Aggression
- Lower Violence Levels
- Controlling Your Mind
- Losing Body Fat
- Building Muscle
- Better Physical Shape (Aerobic + Anaerobic)
Anyways, I hope you’re fired up for the second step!
Step #2 (Recommended) – Buy a Punching Bag and Gloves
I want to be as honest with you as possible. You want to learn Muay Thai, so you probably want to become a solid, fierce fighter. That’s fantastic. And you have likely also heard or seen people learn to fight without any equipment.
In our case, it’ll be by using Shadowboxing, which is a drill you’ll definitely use in the rest of your martial arts journey. However, it’s going to be more than difficult to learn to fight without feeling any pressure, which can be done in many ways, including using pads, punching bags, and sparring.
Anyways, this is why I encourage you to buy a punching bag and boxing gloves. You also want to buy hand wraps to ensure complete hand and wrist protection. These two will help you feel the pressure (literally) against your punches and kicks. So you’ll feel the impact you’re creating when you punch.
Without these two or a training partner, I’ll go as far as saying that the likelihood of you becoming a great fighter—are slim.
If you want to follow my advice, here’s the punching bag and gloves I want you to buy. If you can just put aside all doubts and commit yourself to learning to fight, you’ll notice more results than you currently think possible.
Step #3 – Learn the Basics of Punching
Alright. You now should have a punching bag and gloves, or at least ordered them, which means you can keep reading this article but ensure to bookmark it, so you can return to it whenever you want to boost your learning journey. You can also follow the upcoming steps without any equipment, which is for those who didn’t buy equipment or have ordered it. You’ll do so by using Shadowboxing.
Your next step is to learn the basics of punching. I would say that most of the strikes you’ll use will be punching. Therefore, it’s a critical aspect to know and understand. And if you don’t understand how to punch with proper form, you won’t become a very good fighter.
So where do you start?
You want to learn the six basic punches, which are:
I’ve thought about separating elbows to another step, but I’ve decided to combine them all. These are the six most important techniques in the world of Muay Thai, so you want to invest time in learning them properly.
Begin slowly and amp up the speed once you notice you have developed muscle memory. That way, when you amp up the speed, you won’t mess up your entire technique and end up throwing an improper punch.
You can start on the punching bag, but it’ll be better if you start by shadowboxing and advance to using the punching bag after a few tries.
Step #4 – Learn the Basics of Kicking
Just to clarify, the fact that you have moved on to the next step doesn’t mean you can stop practicing the previous steps. So make sure to keep on honing your punching technique before you advance to kicks.
You now want to be able to throw the six basic punches of Muay Thai. If you can do that, it’ll be best if you keep expanding your knowledge base and learn to kick.
Kicks are a primary aspect of Thai Boxing, as it’s not just named the art of 8 limbs. You have legs that are capable of generating tons of power and momentum, so you want to use that.
Here are the basic kicks of Muay Thai:
You have a lot to learn here. Although these are only five new kicks, you’re learning something totally new here. As a result, it’ll be difficult to learn it from scratch. You might slip a few times or totally mess up the kicks.
Don’t pay too much attention to that, as it’s completely natural. Start slowly against nothing and move over to the punching bag once you begin to feel comfortable with these kicks.
Step #5 – Practice Defensive Moves
Now that you know how to kick and punch, you want to start working on your defense. Offensive moves are the shiniest because they help you cause damage to your opponents, which is likely what attracted you to Muay Thai in the first place.
However, you must work on your defensive moves almost as much as on your offensive moves. Now you already know to attack, which is great. So you want to start learning to defend yourself. But I’m a big fan of using offense as defense.
Anyways, here are the basic defensive moves you must learn to use properly:
- Teep
- Bob and Weave
- Slip
- Covers
- Catching the Kick
- Offense as Defense
As you can see, you have a lot to learn it. I want you to take your time with these, as it’s going to be difficult to incorporate offense and defense at first. However, once you get comfortable with executing these alone, you’ll be able to begin combining defense with offense, which is the primary difference between good and excellent fighters.
Step #6 – Start Using Combinations
Alright. Let’s recap everything you’ve learned thus far. You now know how to kick, punch, and use various defensive moves to your advantage. It’s time we amp up your skills—and the best way we can do that is by combining everything you’ve learned thus far.
This is the most important thing you’ll learn in this guide. Once you’ve managed to build appropriate muscle memory, which is key to this step, you can advance in your Muay Thai journey and begin using combinations.
The best combinations to begin with are the uncomplicated ones, such as a jab followed by a cross (1-2) and a jab, cross, and hook. (1-2-3)
However, these are not the only ones. I want you to take every technique you know in Thai Boxing and think of creative ways to combine them together. For instance, let me tell you about one of the most beautiful combinations that doesn’t require a lot of skills.
This is the jab, slip, and hook. So you start by throwing a jab, which your opponent is likely to counter. That’s why the slip is located where it is. So you slip your opponent’s counter and counter the counter with a hook (with the same hand.)
So start experimenting with combinations. You’ll begin to feel like a truly competent Thai Boxing fighter when you do just that.
Step #7 – Add Pressure Testing
The next step is to add pressure testing. Typically, it’ll be in the form of sparring. For this step, you must find someone to train with you. That’s why I encourage everyone reading these words to attend a qualified Muay Thai gym.
Pressure testing is key to your long-term progression because you’ll put your skill to the truest of tests. Instead, of looking for real fights with random people and ending up hurting them or yourself, you can test your skills in a safe environment.
The best way to do that is by sparring with a Muay Thai disciple of around the same skill level as you. However, if you only manage to find someone much better than you, you can tell him to dial down his aggression levels if you want to learn at all.
This is a step you must take to see more results. While the following step is optional, and the second step is recommended, this is not. Pressure testing is key to your success and progress as a fighter.
Step #8 (Optional) – Sign Up to a Competition
And now, for the last step of this complete beginner’s guide, we have an optional step. Before I present it to you (which I don’t need to because you can read the title), I want to make a point here.
The fact that this step is optional doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Not at all. In fact, you, sooner or later, want to make it happen to multiply your results; I’ll tell you how it does that.
The last step, which is optional, is to sign up for a competition. The primary reason it’ll boost all your results is because it’ll put pressure on you to train as hard as possible. Do you think it’ll be easy fighting someone who’s about to go all in on you?
Of course not. Your brain will be eager to train as much as possible, so to ensure you’ll be skilled enough to come out victorious. Competitions are underutilized. And you can be the disciple that uses this resource to your advantage and climb to the top of fighters.
Do what most people will never think of doing and you’ll be better than all of them.
Sign Up for a Muay Thai Gym
The last point of this article is to sign up for a Muay Thai gym. You’ll be able to go through all these steps simply by attending a qualified gym and training under a solid coach.
You won’t need to worry about equipment or any of these issues you’ll face when training at home. Likewise, you won’t have to look for training partners to spar with, as you’ll have plenty of people in the gym itself.
This will boost your progression and allow you to become a better fighter much, much sooner. So if you’re willing to invest the commute time and money, definitely go ahead and do just that.
How Often Should Beginners Train in Muay Thai?
Beginners should train 1-5 times per week to see optimized results and progression. Training every day might lead you to symptoms of overtraining, which you must avoid. However, undertraining also exists and is likely to occur when you train less than once a week. Overtraining and undertraining will be a barrier between you and the results.
Final Words
So you now know how to fight. Congratulations; you have everything you need to commence and continue your Muay Thai journey. Hopefully, this has been concise and clear enough, as that was one of my goals.
You can train Muay Thai at home and become a solid fighter, which should be great news to anyone who’s unable to attend a martial arts gym, due to financial situation or location.
I want you to never stop learning and training. There isn’t an end to martial arts, meaning that you can learn them as long as you live, as you always have more to learn.
Good luck on your journey!
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