Muay Thai learning path
32 skills in a suggested learning order. Difficulty is the learning order scaled from 1 to 5.
Beginner (11 skills)
| Step | Skill | What you learn | Difficulty | Tutorials reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choosing gloves and shin guards | Pick glove weight and fit shin guards for training and sparring. | 1.0 / 5 | 38 |
| 2 | Thai style hand wrapping | Wrap Thai-style with extra knuckle build-up. | 1.1 / 5 | 37 |
| 3 | Stance | Square, rear-loaded stance with the lead leg free to check. | 1.3 / 5 | 37 |
| 4 | Guard | High, wide guard that covers elbows and knees; introduces the long guard. | 1.4 / 5 | 41 |
| 5 | Footwork | Marching rhythm and stepping to create kicking angles without bouncing. | 1.5 / 5 | 38 |
| 6 | Jab | A long, probing jab from the square stance, paired with the teep. | 1.6 / 5 | 34 |
| 7 | Straight punch | The rear straight with hip commitment held back so a kick can follow. | 1.8 / 5 | 35 |
| 8 | Teep | The push kick: range control, off-balancing and setting up. | 1.9 / 5 | 40 |
| 9 | Roundhouse kick | Hip rotation, shin contact and follow-through for body and head kicks. | 2.0 / 5 | 45 |
| 10 | Shadow boxing | Shadow with kicks, knees and teeps, not just hands. | 2.2 / 5 | 43 |
| 11 | Hook | Hook with a short pivot and the hand returning high. | 2.3 / 5 | 43 |
Intermediate (10 skills)
| Step | Skill | What you learn | Difficulty | Tutorials reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Uppercut | Uppercuts inside and to open the clinch. | 2.4 / 5 | 35 |
| 13 | Low kick | Chop the lead leg with the shin and get out safely. | 2.5 / 5 | 37 |
| 14 | Knee strikes | Straight, diagonal and long knees from range and in the clinch. | 2.7 / 5 | 40 |
| 15 | Holding Thai pads | Hold pads for punches, kicks, knees and elbows. | 2.8 / 5 | 38 |
| 16 | Checking kicks | Check low kicks with the shin and the other low-kick defences. | 2.9 / 5 | 36 |
| 17 | Elbow strikes | Horizontal, uppercut and spinning elbows at close range. | 3.1 / 5 | 40 |
| 18 | Clinch basics | Plum, arm control and posture in the Thai clinch. | 3.2 / 5 | 37 |
| 19 | Combinations | Punch-kick-knee chains that flow. | 3.3 / 5 | 34 |
| 20 | Shin conditioning | Condition the shins without wrecking them. | 3.5 / 5 | 35 |
| 21 | Sparring for beginners | Light Thai-style sparring and its etiquette. | 3.6 / 5 | 39 |
Advanced (11 skills)
| Step | Skill | What you learn | Difficulty | Tutorials reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Catching kicks | Catch the body kick and counter or sweep. | 3.7 / 5 | 33 |
| 23 | Defending the teep | Parry, catch and counter the push kick. | 3.8 / 5 | 36 |
| 24 | Defending body kicks | Block, absorb and counter kicks to the body. | 4.0 / 5 | 41 |
| 25 | Setting up kicks with punches | Use hands to open the body and legs for kicks. | 4.1 / 5 | 34 |
| 26 | Long guard | Use the extended guard to control distance and frame. | 4.2 / 5 | 34 |
| 27 | Head movement | When head movement works in Muay Thai and when it walks you into a knee. | 4.3 / 5 | 35 |
| 28 | Defending elbows and knees | Block elbows and stop knees at close range. | 4.5 / 5 | 26 |
| 29 | Switch kick | Switch stance and fire the lead-leg kick. | 4.6 / 5 | 38 |
| 30 | Sweeps, trips and dumps | Take opponents down from the clinch and off caught kicks. | 4.7 / 5 | 34 |
| 31 | Spinning back kick | Turn and drive the heel through the target. | 4.9 / 5 | 37 |
| 32 | Dutch kickboxing style | The Dutch approach: high-volume combinations and low kicks. | 5.0 / 5 | 34 |
See also
Learning order and levels from the Subskills sports technique taxonomy (subskills.xyz), licensed CC BY 4.0.
Data: Subskills sports technique taxonomy (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.