Hapkido Vs Muay Thai-A Better Self-Defense Way

Is muay Thai and hapkido worth learning? Hapkido vs muay Thai? Which self-defense is worth learning? Before deciding and investing your energy and time in something, you should have all the required information about it. The same goes for martial arts learning. You are about to dedicate your time and effort to learn that certain technique. Therefore, you must understand all the concerning points regarding martial arts. This article will make you aware of the styles of both martial arts which help you choose better. 

In the era of hatred and conflicts, we all should be aware of defending ourselves and escaping from shunned situations such as street attacks, kidnapping, and assaults. It’s never too late to learn a good self-defense skill to protect you, especially for women and girls. So now the main question is whether hapkido self defense or muay Thai self defense? Let’s find that out. 

Hapkido Vs Muay Thai – Main Differences

In this section, we are going to mention the main differences between both types of training such as origin, moves, techniques, style, and evolution. 

Origin:

The effective fighting technique is called muay Thai, originally from Thailand. The literal meaning of the name is “Thai Boxing”. It was developed in the 13th century, back then it was Muay Boran. Moreover, it’s not only famous in Thailand but known worldwide. 

The origin of hapkido is Korea which shares roots with Aikido, Japanese martial arts. Furthermore, hapkido has more aggressive and broad moves than Aikido. The focus of Hapkido martial arts is learning defensive techniques to escape from skilled attackers.

Techniques:

Both self-defense training has different types of techniques. It should be noted that hapkido training has a wide range of techniques and moves. In contrast, muay Thai has simple, lesser, and straightforward techniques. 

With more than 300 techniques, the hapkido focuses on punching, blocking, kicking, and throwing. On the other hand, muay Thai self defense training includes stand-up hitting with different aspects of clinching.  

Additionally, you must keep in mind that some hapkido techniques are not allowed in muay Thai such as joint locks. A joint lock is one of the famous techniques in Hapkido. 

Another name of muay Thai is the art of eight limbs. As the name suggests, muay Thai techniques use each of the eight limbs to create trouble for the attacker. You have to use knees, elbows, fists as well as shins with full force to take an opponent down. 

Moreover, muay Thai also has evolved sweeps, dumps, and interesting takedowns that help you to knock someone down. Such techniques seem to be significant in real fighting. 

Training:

Both muay Thai defense and hapkido defense training have different ways to train. We are mentioning some of them below. 

Heavy Bags:

In muay Thai, the major equipment to train is a heavy bag. It’s just impossible to get trained without a heavy bag or pads. In addition to that, heavy bags help to develop accuracy, perfect timing, and space from opponents. Strength and patience are the main goals of Muay Thai training. 

On the other hand, the use of heavy bags in hapkido is very rare. However, some aikido techniques do use kick pads.

Ranking:

The ranking and belt system is essential to show the proficiency and level of the fighter. That’s why most traditional martial arts have this concept, such as hapkido. This Korean martial art has a proper system of grading that includes belts and ranks. 

On the contrary, muay Thai doesn’t have a grading system, especially in Thailand. Nevertheless, some countries other than Thailand do have a ranking system to encourage students to learn more and do their best. 

Sparring:

Sparring is the most crucial part of muay Thai training. Muay Thai has relaxed and brutal sparring as well. Most of the time, the fighter uses playful sparring techniques. Clinch sparring in muay Thai is definitely one of the most violent techniques. 

Talking about hapkido, sparring is not common practice in hapkido training. 

Hand-to-Hand or Weapon:

Both of the training are going opposite at this point. The muay Thai defense doesn’t have any technique that needs any type of weapon as the whole training is entirely directed on hand-to-hand combat. 

While the hapkido training has a combination of techniques that includes weapons as well as hand-to-hand. 

Some Tips:

Last but not least, following some points will help you choose between the two self-defense training if you’re still perplexed. 

• If you only want to defend yourself, hapkido should be your best choice to make. 
• Besides, if you want to be a real fighter and someone who can definitely defend himself, go for muay Thai self defense. 

Final Thoughts:

Now it’s safe to say that you have all the information and answers to your questions. You can certainly choose the best training session for you between Hapkido vs Muay Thai. Undoubtedly, the best thing would be to try both self-defense training out. You’ll get better at self-defense this way.  We hope you won’t have any trouble finding the best match training according to your liking and preferences.