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Should I Learn Muay Thai And BJJ At The Same Time?

A lot of people interested in training in martial arts are curious about training in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the same time. After all, the two disciplines both cover separate areas of fighting. Muay Thai is primarily striking from a standing position whereas BJJ is about grappling and submissions.

Having a strong background in each discipline seems like a great base to have for combat athletes especially those interested in mixed martial arts.

So should you train Muay Thai and BJJ at the same time?

A martial artist needs to consider the following before training in both Muay Thai and BJJ at the same time:

  1. Why Muay Thai And BJJ Work So Well Together
  2. The Different Philosophies Of BJJ And Muay Thai
  3. Advice On Training Both Disciplines At Once From Firas Zahabi
  4. BJJ And Muay Thai Do Not Overlap Much
  5. How Often Should You Be Training In Each Discipline?

Why Muay Thai And BJJ Work So Well Together

When the UFC was first created, Royce Gracie used it as a platform to show that Jiu-Jitsu was the ultimate martial art. His success in the first few UFC tournaments led to a surge in Jiu-Jitsu gyms being opened up all over the world. This was really eye-opening for the entire martial arts community and had vast impacts worldwide. The original style vs style format of the early UFCs caused some martial arts’ popularity to explode and others to falter greatly. 

As the sport of MMA grew, however, strikers began to learn the fundamentals of wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu so they could keep fights standing. Those who were able to do so then were able to showcase their advanced striking techniques.

As MMA flourished and evolved, some disciplines rose to prominence and others faded away to obscurity. Two disciplines that flourished were Jiu-Jitsu and Muay thai. The two styles were shown to work well in tandem together. Wrestling and Muay Thai also work well in tandem with each other for the fighters not interested in winning via submission. That there is such little overlap in the techniques between Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai is why many athletes feel learning them together is the right approach. 

Many MMA coaches, however, will state that to find success in MMA, you need to be particularly skilled in one discipline and well-versed enough in others that you can take the fight where you want it to take place (i.e standing or on the ground.) Most gyms offer classes in multiple disciplines nowadays. This allows students to train in various martial arts and naturally gravitate towards those that come more naturally to them. 

The Different Philosophies Of BJJ And Muay Thai

It is notable that these two disciplines, which have both gained a degree of dominance in martial arts and mixed martial arts, have polarized philosophies from one another. 

Jiu-Jitsu was developed in the late 19th century. The discipline is heavily-influenced by the Japanese martial art of Judo. The “jiu” from Jiu-Jitsu and “ju” from the word Judo both mean soft or gentle in Japanese. This sums up the philosophy that guides the martial art and much of what made Royce Gracie’s dominance in the early-UFC era so interesting. Both Jiu-Jitsu and Judo are designed to allow a weaker or smaller opponent an advantage over a larger but not as well trained competitor. In Jiu-Jitsu this often means grappling with an opponent until they are in a vulnerable position and getting them to submit. A well trained Jiu-Jitsu practitioner can submit their opponent while delivering (and receiving) the least amount of damage possible. 

Muay Thai has a completely opposite philosophy. It is about inflicting the most amount of damage to your opponent possible. Muay Thai developed in the early 1900s as a mix of the Thai discipline of Muay Boran and traditional boxing. Unlike in Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, there is heavy emphasis on conditioning and strength-building. Jiu-Jitsu and Judo are more like a game of human chess, whereas Muay Thai is skill mixed with toughness and brute strength. 

The opposite philosophies of BJJ and Muay Thai is part of why it is appealing to train the two in conjunction with one another. In many ways, they are the Yin to each other’s Yang. 

BJJ And Muay Thai Don’t Overlap Much

Another reason why many combat athletes choose to train BJJ and Muay Thai at the same time is that very little of what happens in one discipline happens in the other. This is not the case with other martial arts, however, especially ones which emphasize both striking and grappling. 

Martial artists training in Taekwondo and Muay Thai could end up confusing disciplines, however, since both involve striking. In the above video, the presenter notes someone training in these two martial arts would not want to confuse their Taekwondo with their Muay Thai and start blocking low kicks with a downward block.

Another factor when deciding to train in two martial arts at the same time is that you would have different coaches telling you different things. This could potentially pull your training into different directions. Your muscle memory for different strikes or grappling techniques would also be affected.

This is less the case with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, however. None of your BJJ submissions will be impacted by your Muay Thai training, since Muay Thai doesn’t involve submissions. Similarly, training in BJJ will have little impact on your Muay Thai training since striking is such a small part of BJJ and a large part of Muay Thai. Your stance and movement may be impacted, however. 

Firas Zahabi On Training Muay Thai And BJJ At The Same Time

Tristar coach Firas Zahabi does not necessarily see a problem with training in the two disciplines at once provided they are both worked into the same session. Zahabi warns that a schedule where a person trains in Jiu-Jitsu 3 days a week and Muay Thai 3 days a week would result in a martial artist becoming a jack of 2 trades but a master of none. Instead, Zahabi recommends that a martial artist work on both disciplines into the same workout and putting more emphasis on one over the other. 

This could mean having a training schedule that involves 1 hour and 15 minutes dedicated to one discipline and then 30-45 minutes at the other. You are learning and practicing in one discipline and staying fresh in the other. Then change up which discipline you focus on at your own discretion. What he specifically warns against, however, is training each discipline in separate sessions. 

How Often Should You Be Training In Each Discipline?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1F8tsg44UM

Training two martial arts at the same time is a little like learning two languages at the same time. You can do it but you run the risk of confusing one with the other and becoming not particularly adept at either language. This is part of why training in martial arts which don’t overlap much is important. You need to ensure you are training enough in each discipline to be developing your skills, however. 

For this reason, it is not advised to train in one martial art for an extended period of time then stop and start training in another discipline for an extended period of time. Compare this to if you adopted the same strategy for learning two languages at the same time. If you spent 6 months learning nothing but Spanish, you would learn a lot of what you need to speak Spanish. If you then stopped your Spanish training after 6 months and then spent 6 months learning French, it would have a negative impact on the Spanish you had just learned. Your French lessons will be at the forefront of your mind but much of what you learned about Spanish over the previous 6 months will be muddled, confused with the French you learned, or forgotten altogether. 

The same is true of martial arts. If you spend 6 months training nothing but Jiu-Jitsu, you’ll learn a lot and be more skilled than you were at it previously. If you then stop your Jiu-Jitsu training and focus on nothing but Muay Thai for the next 6 months, what you learned about Jiu-Jitsu will be less fresh in your mind and your skills will have waned. The effect is increased if you go from what martial art to another similar martial art such as Taekwondo and kickboxing.