Thinking about quitting Muay Thai

[skribs]

I am still considering whether or not I want to continue Muay Thai. I'm not as ready to quit as I was yesterday, but I still don't know that I want to stay.

One thing I was thinking of today: I don't really have any goals in Muay Thai except to maintain my kicks and to fill in the gaps from my TKD experience. I also don't really know what my objective is when I spar in Muay Thai.

In every other martial art I've done, I've had goals. In TKD, my goals in sparring were to get points. In HKD, we did something similar to positional rolls in BJJ. In BJJ, there are positional rolls and live rolls which each have their own win condition. I know what I'm playing when I play the game. I know what the rules are, what the objective is. And then I've had long-term goals. In TKD, it was usually to learn a new tricking kick. In HKD, to figure out how to make the techniques for my belt color work properly. In BJJ, right now my intermediate goals are to build a strong knee shield and mount game (so I have a go-to bottom and top position), and eventually I want to get good at open guard and develop attacks from knee-on-belly.

But in Muay Thai, I don't really know what I'm doing when I spar. I'm just trying not to get hit. That's not as fun as going for submissions, even if I get submitted more than I submit. That's not as fun as going for points in TKD. I also don't have any long-term goals. There's nothing in Muay Thai that I look at and say, "I want to be able to do X in 6 months." I mean, I want to get hit in the head less, but the easiest way to do that is to quit.

 

[drop bear]

I am still considering whether or not I want to continue Muay Thai. I'm not as ready to quit as I was yesterday, but I still don't know that I want to stay.

One thing I was thinking of today: I don't really have any goals in Muay Thai except to maintain my kicks and to fill in the gaps from my TKD experience. I also don't really know what my objective is when I spar in Muay Thai.

In every other martial art I've done, I've had goals. In TKD, my goals in sparring were to get points. In HKD, we did something similar to positional rolls in BJJ. In BJJ, there are positional rolls and live rolls which each have their own win condition. I know what I'm playing when I play the game. I know what the rules are, what the objective is. And then I've had long-term goals. In TKD, it was usually to learn a new tricking kick. In HKD, to figure out how to make the techniques for my belt color work properly. In BJJ, right now my intermediate goals are to build a strong knee shield and mount game (so I have a go-to bottom and top position), and eventually I want to get good at open guard and develop attacks from knee-on-belly.

But in Muay Thai, I don't really know what I'm doing when I spar. I'm just trying not to get hit. That's not as fun as going for submissions, even if I get submitted more than I submit. That's not as fun as going for points in TKD. I also don't have any long-term goals. There's nothing in Muay Thai that I look at and say, "I want to be able to do X in 6 months." I mean, I want to get hit in the head less, but the easiest way to do that is to quit.

Do a fight.

 

[HighKick]

Gear is different between different martial arts. We wear no protective gear in BJJ. We wear different shin protectors and gloves and no chestguard in Muay Thai.

Half the time we don't even know we're sparring when we grab our gear. He'll say "gloves and shinpads" and then when we get on the mat, he says, "Sparring, 2 minute rounds." And that's the point, he tells us explicitly to get gloves and shinpads. It may not be his intention that that's all that's recommended, but it's the way it comes across.

Is he saying it as a Minimum Requirement, or maybe that is his vernacular for 'put your sparring gear on'. Regardless, I am wearing my cup.
Does anyone else gear up more than just gloves and shinpads?

 

[HighKick]

I actually made the decision a while back to stop wearing a cup while rolling in BJJ, because I found it was leading me to bad habits in terms of not protecting my groin properly. (Also wearing a cup is against the rules in most BJJ competition because it can be used as a weapon, but that wasn’t a primary concern for me.) I do recognize that if that lack of protection leads me to get accidentally nailed in the nuts, that’s my responsibility.

Obviously, I know little about BJJ rules or etiquette. And using a cup as a weapon is a new one for me, and I wrestled in high school and college. I do get the disadvantages of getting a false sense of security from protective gear.

I have been a standup, out-fighter most of my martial arts experience. Having the other persons kick slide down your leg hitting the groin, or someone (usually a smaller person or lower belt) inadvertently kicking you in the groin is quite common.
Clearly, the style of sparring matters.
I have been nailed in the nuts so many times by kids or new students, I fully believe a person can get somewhat conditioned to it. And I agree, that is on me. But I guess taps don't count to me anymore.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Obviously, I know little about BJJ rules or etiquette. And using a cup as a weapon is a new one for me, and I wrestled in high school and college. I do get the disadvantages of getting a false sense of security from protective gear.

I have been a standup, out-fighter most of my martial arts experience. Having the other persons kick slide down your leg hitting the groin, or someone (usually a smaller person or lower belt) inadvertently kicking you in the groin is quite common.
Clearly, the style of sparring matters.
I have been nailed in the nuts so many times by kids or new students, I fully believe a person can get somewhat conditioned to it. And I agree, that is on me. But I guess taps don't count to me anymore.

Yeah, for sparring with kicks, wearing a cup is a really good idea unless you're going very light and really trust your partner's accuracy. I also consider a cup to be an absolute must for sparring with weapons. But for pure grappling it's more optional.

 

[HighKick]

Yeah, for sparring with kicks, wearing a cup is a really good idea unless you're going very light and really trust your partner's accuracy. I also consider a cup to be an absolute must for sparring with weapons. But for pure grappling it's more optional.

Yes Sir. When stick fighting in Kali, I have been popped there more than a few times.

 

[drop bear]

Yeah, for sparring with kicks, wearing a cup is a really good idea unless you're going very light and really trust your partner's accuracy. I also consider a cup to be an absolute must for sparring with weapons. But for pure grappling it's more optional.

I will absolutely groin myself to get the arm bar. Cup or no cup.

 

[drop bear]

Obviously, I know little about BJJ rules or etiquette. And using a cup as a weapon is a new one for me, and I wrestled in high school and college. I do get the disadvantages of getting a false sense of security from protective gear.

I have been a standup, out-fighter most of my martial arts experience. Having the other persons kick slide down your leg hitting the groin, or someone (usually a smaller person or lower belt) inadvertently kicking you in the groin is quite common.
Clearly, the style of sparring matters.
I have been nailed in the nuts so many times by kids or new students, I fully believe a person can get somewhat conditioned to it. And I agree, that is on me. But I guess taps don't count to me anymore.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Is he saying it as a Minimum Requirement, or maybe that is his vernacular for 'put your sparring gear on'. Regardless, I am wearing my cup.
Does anyone else gear up more than just gloves and shinpads?

My level of sparring depends on the type of protection that I have, the type of sparring I'm doing, and who I'm sparring with.

School sparring is almost 100% wear a cup simply because most people spar to win or spar to out do their opponent so I may not have the opportunity to take the same risks that I do when I spar to learn.

 

[skribs]

Is he saying it as a Minimum Requirement, or maybe that is his vernacular for 'put your sparring gear on'. Regardless, I am wearing my cup.
Does anyone else gear up more than just gloves and shinpads?

Nobody else does. But we're all also new at this. We have a few other folks with TKD experience, but nobody else with Muay Thai experience.

When we gear up for drills, he will tell us either "just gloves" or "gloves and shinpads" depending on the drill. Or "one person gloves, one person pads" if we're holding pads for each other.

 

[skribs]

Obviously, I know little about BJJ rules or etiquette. And using a cup as a weapon is a new one for me, and I wrestled in high school and college. I do get the disadvantages of getting a false sense of security from protective gear.

Nut shots in BJJ are much less painful than nut shots in TKD/MT. The problem in BJJ is less the hits, it's more when a shin is being dragged across your groin.

 

[MuayJitsu]

So you chose not to put a groin guard on….even though he advised you to…and you get upset because you got kicked in the nuts?…i mean sorry that’s on you. At no gym that I’ve been to has anyone told us to put on a groin guard but I mean it’s common sense that if you’re sparring then you should be wearing one and if you choose not to you won’t be told off but the consequences are on you. But hey you don’t enjoy it then quit. it’s no big deal you won’t be the first nor the last to quit there

 

[drop bear]

I am still considering whether or not I want to continue Muay Thai. I'm not as ready to quit as I was yesterday, but I still don't know that I want to stay.

One thing I was thinking of today: I don't really have any goals in Muay Thai except to maintain my kicks and to fill in the gaps from my TKD experience. I also don't really know what my objective is when I spar in Muay Thai.

In every other martial art I've done, I've had goals. In TKD, my goals in sparring were to get points. In HKD, we did something similar to positional rolls in BJJ. In BJJ, there are positional rolls and live rolls which each have their own win condition. I know what I'm playing when I play the game. I know what the rules are, what the objective is. And then I've had long-term goals. In TKD, it was usually to learn a new tricking kick. In HKD, to figure out how to make the techniques for my belt color work properly. In BJJ, right now my intermediate goals are to build a strong knee shield and mount game (so I have a go-to bottom and top position), and eventually I want to get good at open guard and develop attacks from knee-on-belly.

But in Muay Thai, I don't really know what I'm doing when I spar. I'm just trying not to get hit. That's not as fun as going for submissions, even if I get submitted more than I submit. That's not as fun as going for points in TKD. I also don't have any long-term goals. There's nothing in Muay Thai that I look at and say, "I want to be able to do X in 6 months." I mean, I want to get hit in the head less, but the easiest way to do that is to quit.

Try doing some of the senchai tricks.

 

[skribs]

So you chose not to put a groin guard on….even though he advised you to…and you get upset because you got kicked in the nuts?…i mean sorry that’s on you. At no gym that I’ve been to has anyone told us to put on a groin guard but I mean it’s common sense that if you’re sparring then you should be wearing one and if you choose not to you won’t be told off but the consequences are on you. But hey you don’t enjoy it then quit. it’s no big deal you won’t be the first nor the last to quit there

He didn't advise us to.

He told us months ago to get one, never advised us to use it.

 

[Dirty Dog]

He didn't advise us to.

He told us months ago to get one, never advised us to use it.

Wait. Seriously? You're told to get a groin guard but you have to explicitly be told to use it?

 

[MuayJitsu]

He didn't advise us to.

He told us months ago to get one, never advised us to use it.

Umm im new here so I might be missing joke but is this serious?….he advised you to get one….but you needed to actually be told to use it?..what do you think he wanted you to use it for? To wear it as a mask to in case of Covid?….when I started Muay Thai my coach advised me to buy some shin pads…. i didn’t need him to tell me every week to put them on when it came time to spar….i mean come on common sense…do you need him to tell you how to put it on as well?

 

[MuayJitsu]

Wait. Seriously? You're told to get a groin guard but you have to explicitly be told to use it?

So that did sound as stupid as I thought It did,.,.wasn’t sure if I was missing a joke

 

[Dirty Dog]

So that did sound as stupid as I thought It did,.,.wasn’t sure if I was missing a joke

I'm hoping I missed a joke. @skribs is new to Muay Thai but not new to MA.

 

[skribs]

As I said previously in this thread, he will explicitly say what gear we need for each drill. Things like:

• Put on gloves.
• Gloves and shinpads.
• One person gloves, no shinpads. Other person hold targets.
• Gloves, shinpads, mouthguard, we're sparring.

So yes, I go by what he explicitly tells us to put on, because usually if you put on something he didn't tell you, he will tell you to take it off. "I said gloves on, no shinpads."

He told us once several months ago to get more gear than we've ever used in class, including groin cup and headgear. Neither he nor the other coaches have worn them. He doesn't tell new people to get anything more than gloves, shinpad, and mouthpiece. He's never once told us to put them on.

So yes, I hold him responsible for at the very least recommending the appropriate gear for sparring.

I put "as I have said previously in this thread" in bold, because this nobody is coming onto the board and criticizing me without even reading the thread.

 

[drop bear]

Wait. Seriously? You're told to get a groin guard but you have to explicitly be told to use it?

Wore it as a hat.