WTF: Muay Thai vs. Kung Fu… with a surprising twist

Welcome to more midweek violence hijinks, kids! We’ve got even more wild Kung Fu vs The World stuff this week, and some breathtaking striking action to go with it. We’ve even got a fair bit of lovely grappling as dessert, but only if you behave.

And before we actually get to the meat and potatoes, just want to thank you all for your continued love and support. It means the world to us, and we’re glad to still be here to provide you with independent coverage along with weird and surreal stuff like this. If you’re not a subscriber yet, please consider joining our Substack.

So now that we’ve put that out into the universe, let’s start the fun.

Kungfuception

Here’s a setup for you: a Kung Fu guy challenges a Muay Thai guy. We’ve been here before, right? We know what that looks like. Here’s the twist: the Muay Thai guy claims he’s also Kung Fu guy.

Now, we need to clarify this up front – the Muay Thai guy doesn’t claim to be a Kung Fu master himself, just that he’s got some training as well. Based off his movement and opening taunt, it doesn’t look like the Muay Thai guy doesn’t have some kind of background in Kung Fu. My guy certainly moves like he’s got at least a bit of training to get the motions he’s mimicking right. Either that or he’s really, really good at imitation and/or grew up a martial arts cinema nerd like me.

But who else could give us such a bounty? Well, that’s none other than our guy Jerry over at Fight Commentary Breakdowns. The challenge match takes place in a Muay Thai gym, in a Muay Thai ring, and under Muay Thai rules. But the Kung Fu guy in this scenario has one thing going for him, and that’s dressing like a character out of One Piece. Goddamn, that show is so good.

Look at this king. Gaze upon his mobility and marvel at his bravado. He’s going to outhustle the other guy and I simply must know how that manifests itself. As for the Kung Fu guy that’s challenging? Big ups to him. He keeps it cool and doesn’t appear bothered at all. But first, the feeling out process.

It’s not much of a process, at least not in the strictest form. It’s more of them sort of pawing at each other for a good bit. And it doesn’t even seem like they’re gauging reactions, just sort of moving around and the Muay Thai guyplaying with his food. Then Kung Fu guy launches his opening salvo.

Swing and a miss. Nice try, I guess. But the Muay Thai guy gets to have a little fun out there launching some overextended backfists. It’s adorable.

It becomes apparent that the Muay Thai guy either isn’t taking this too seriously or isn’t as focused as he could be. Meanwhile, the Kung Fu guy starts doing pretty well for himself. Don’t get too excited, it’s just a little bit of improvement. His defense looks like that of a Punch Out character, but he starts getting loose.

Even the ref seemed amused.

And let’s not mince words here, the Kung Fu guy still looks pretty bad. He’s not really doing anything that would genuinely be considered Kung Fu, and honestly, that’s fine. He’s opening up and actually landing on the other guy who thought it was sweet out here. Even after his gas tank gives out and he starts eating punches for real, he mounts a spirited counteroffensive.

There’s no actual official winner here, but you gotta give it to the Kung Fu kid. He had heart and didn’t just hold his own to survive, he landed some good ones. Got his ass good, if you ask me.

Dambe onslaught

Time to return to Nigeria for African Warriors Fighting Championship, and they’re still pumping out some heat. Another compilation of wild flurries, knockdowns and knockouts. It’s all intense action from start to finish.

And while there’s some good stuff in there, you have to see this. A lot of anticipation and buildup that has and ending you won’t believe. Player 1 stuns player 2 to the point where it seems his controller’s disconnected. Player 2 takes two steps away and gets hit with the showstopper. Good god, just look at this shit:

Muay Thai is good for you, not the other guy

We got some good ones here, kids. First we’ve got some Lumpinee Stadium action from 2016, and it’s blazing hot. The marvelous Tawanchai even shows up.

Love this little jump for joy my man dished out here. Good for him.

Next we have one of my personal favorites, Muay Thai Scholar. It’s a compilation of Muay Thai knees from the clinch. Just devastating blows to the head and body over and over. And when they fold, they go down hard. It’s a lot.

Combat Jiu-Jitsu is not for everyone

We’ve all been familiar with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling for decades. Some of us are old enough to remember the original Pancrase and RINGS as well. Submission grappling featuring open-handed strikes? Kind of a hard formula to mess up. It’s a classic formula, at that. And while Combat Jiu-Jitsu isn’t exactly a new thing, it’s a fairly recent development after grappling became ubiquitous in North America and many other parts of the world.

Videographer Simon Park has this great highlight vid of the first CJJ event from a few years ago, and it’s not that complicated. But it is intense. And the video work is just lovely.

Don’t try this at home

We’ll end the week on a very high note, with this video of Taekwondo demonstrations that is simply gorgeous. The mastery and control on display is commendable, and you know it takes a high level of dedication and passion to get this good at what they’re doing.

That’s all we’ve got for this week, kids. Get yourself that Lies of P demo, it’s straight fire. And remember – you might think you can fight, but there are many guys like you all over the world.

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Victor Rodriguez

Victor Rodriguez has been a writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow since 2015. He started his way as a lowly commenter and moderator to become the miscreant he is now. He often does weekly bits on fringe martial arts items across the globe, oddball street combat pieces, previews, analysis, and some behind-the-scenes support. He has trained in wrestling, Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and the occasional Muay Thai and Judo lesson here and there. Victor has also been involved with acting and audio editing projects. He lives in Pennsylvania where he plays way too many video games and is an S-rank dad.

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