Six Styles of Muay Thai

Like all martial arts, there are several general styles of Muay Thai. The two most important factors that play a role in deciding upon a style are physical attributes and personality.

With respect to physical attributes, this includes body type and height, as well as your level of strength, agility, and explosiveness. A person who is very tall with a really long reach is going to have a fundamentally different style from someone who is shorter, more compact, and has a smaller striking range.

Personality is the second major determining factor in deciding a person’s style. If you are a more aggressive person, you will likely favor a style that weeks to overwhelm opponents. If you are a more patient and conscientious person, you will likely favor a more methodical style.

As explained below by Alby Tam of Combat Culture, a Muay Thai gym in San Francisco, picking a style does not mean that you’re married to it. You can change it up depending on your opponent or it may just evolve over time. If you put on significant mass or lose a lot of weight, you may find that the style you’ve always favored may be less effective than it once was. This kind of adaptability means there are a nearly endless number of individual styles even if they can be grouped into general types like the six that we’ll touch on today. 

Muay Khao

Muay Khao is a style that favors knee attacks. In terms of body types, they tend to be taller people who are comfortable being aggressive. This style is most effective when the fighter manages to get close and inside, and they tend to obtain this position by bulldozing their opponent. Once there, they can attack with a mid-range knee, or they can throw knees from the clinch.

Pros:

• They can easily overwhelm opponents with a blizzard of strikes
• They are especially dangerous in later rounds once fatigue has set in
• This style is especially strong in a clinch

Cons:

• They may take a lot of damage as they try to get in close

Muay Mat

Like Muay Khao, Muay Mat is a high-pressure style that is most effective at mid-range or in close. Instead of relying on knee attacks, they go for strikes with their hands and low kicks. Unlike Muay Mat fighters, they tend to be shorter.

Pros:

• They can easily overwhelm opponents with strikes
• They set a fast pace that can exhaust opponents who lack stamina

Cons:

• They may take a lot of damage as they try to get in close
• They do not score as high as other styles
• Without a high level of endurance, this strategy can be disastrous

Muay Femur

The Muay Femur style is favored by fighters with the highest fight IQ. This is a style that is effective at any range and is highly reliant on feints and counters. Muay Femur fighters are calm, patient, and demonstrate a great understanding of distance and timing, and they can prove to be extremely formidable even if they may not be the strongest or the fastest fighters.

Pros:

• They perform well against all styles
• They score very high
• They frustrate other fighters and force them to make mistakes

Cons:

• They can be overwhelmed by a sufficiently aggressive fighter
• They may lack endurance and struggle to regain ground in later rounds if they are training in points

Muay Tae

Muay Tae fighters are kick specialists who are most dangerous at mid and long range. In addition to extremely dangerous high kicks that can cause serious damage, the style lends itself to effective distance control by using a high volume of jabs and teeps (push kicks).

Pros:

• They do well from the outside
• They can take advantage of many different angles
• They have a wide range of attacks that can set up devastating kicks

Cons:

• They tend to start slow while assessing their opponents; more aggressive fighters might take this opportunity to rush them
• They have a higher risk of being countered

Muay Sok

Alby believes that Muay Sok fighters may be the most dangerous kind of fighters. They specialize in elbow strikes, which they need to do at close range. This makes them especially strong in a clinch. The other dangerous thing about elbow attacks is that they can both knock you out and seriously cut you. If the cut is bad enough in a tournament, the ref will call the fight and it will be over even if the other fighter isn’t hurt that badly.

Pros:

• They are extremely dangerous in close range
• They can quickly end a fight
• They are very strong against Muay Mat and Muay Bouk fighters

Cons:

• They need to be close to be effective
• They may struggle against other clinchers who know how to counter elbow attacks

Muay Bouk

Muay Bouk fighters are very aggressive, constantly driving forward and delivering a high volume of attacks. They also take a lot of damage, so you don’t see a lot of older or more experienced fighters who favor this style because it’s easy to burn out. When they are in their prime, however, they thrive in high-pressure situations, making them effective at any range. The difference between Muay Bouk fighters and Muay Mat fighters is that the former tend to adjust to their opponent more than the latter.

Pros:

• They have a lot of different attacks to rely on
• They set the pace of the match, which can easily wear someone down if they don’t have high endurance
• They can overwhelm experience and high IQ fighters by applying pressure

Cons:

• Successful Muay Bouk fighters take a lot of damage, so they need a lot of stamina and endurance
• They need a lot of recovery time between fights
• They may face more significant injuries than other fighters

While every fighter gets to decide their style, it’s important to recognize that instructors often play an outsized role in helping fighters make this decision. They have a lot of experience in helping develop fighters and they can often tell what kind of style will fit a person who has just started training Muay Thai. You don’t have to listen to your instructor, but you should at least recognize that their input is valuable, especially if you’re new to martial arts. After all, you can always change styles if you feel that it’s not the right fit.