Due to the number of limitations that we all had to follow last year, now that we have a lot more freedom, many of us are looking into trying new things. Many of us are also eager to engage with our fellow humans, so we are looking into group activities.
A great way to make connections with other people is to take part in self-defensive classes. Some of the most popular self-defensive classes you can take are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Muay Thai. As much as we would like it, not all of us have the time to take on both, but it can be hard to decide which one is more worthwhile. In order to make the deciding process easier, we are going to break down the ups and downs of both.
Injury
Though this may seem obvious, it is important to make the physical risks of both well known. Both put you equally at risk of sustaining an injury. However, unless you explore competitive matches, then the damage that you will sustain will be minimal.
In both sports, you can expect to spar with people as part of your training. While in training you can experience all of your usual bruises or cuts, but for the most part, this is nothing to worry about. As you become more advanced, you may open yourself up to more injury. Luckily this can be easily mended through the use of protective gear. Depending on where you choose to train, the gear may be provided for you. However, if the company that you decide to go with doesn’t offer the gear, you may have to purchase it for yourself, which can be pricey. However, can you really put a price on your own safety? Getting the right kit and picking the right headgear is important when ensuring your own physical wellbeing and it is something you will have to do with both sports.
Which is Safer
If you are someone that is worried about physical injury, then you may want to focus on the sport that puts your body at the least risk. Dismissing competition level play, when it comes to training you can expect to experience more injuries from BJJ than Muay Thai. Though they both have their risks, on average the training for Muay Thai is much less demanding than BJJ. When it comes to Muay Thai training you can expect to experience bruises and bumps, but with BJJ you are much more likely to experience sprains and even broken bones
Any good company will ensure the safety of all of its trainers, however, mishaps happen and injuries occur, so if you want to avoid this we would recommend Muay Thai.
Which is More Powerful
Both arts of fighting will put you in a great position if you were to ever need to use them. In terms of which one is more powerful, we will have to give it to BJJ. Muay Thai is focused mainly on standing combat, so kicks and blocks. Though this can put you in quite a powerful position when applied to real-life situations someone that has practiced Muay Thai may find themselves struggling.
BJJ teaches you to overpower your opponent and even take them on when they are on the ground, which is useful for taking down someone that could be considered to be bigger and more powerful than you. If you are someone that is small and feels as though this would benefit you, then we could recommend going with BJJ.