How do you think about Muay Thai?

[athlete.not.fighter]

you're right. throws are nothing but fun. me and me training buddy have a focused workout where we only clinch. then we set up striking apps, throws and takedowns. i'm better at the throws than he is . he's better at takedowns though. but when you do them right, you can feel that their body weight doesn't resist you at all. mostly cause of the push pull tech. and when they get done correctly to you, as soon as you know whats going on, you're on the ground.
it's not exactly true that if you get thrown you're not getting up. if you know how to fall it's better
if you want to check out some throws, you should go to judoinfo.com they use a gi though so all you have to do is replace a hold on the gi with an underhook or overhook.
the one i really like is called Uchi-mata. i don't call it that. i just know how to do it
also i agree with you vanchilds that once you take a boxer to the ground, he's out of his game. basically, that whole argument boils down to what is "street effective" and i hate that argument because i know that i have no interest in getting in street fights. im an athlete and fighting is my sport. and while mma possibly comes the closest to street effective, it's boring to watch a ground and pound expert sit on their opponents chest and beat the hell out of them. aspects of fighting focusd by a set of rules is much more interesting to watch because the two athletes have to abide by the parameters of their fight. personally, boxing is not my favorite set of rules but it makes for a much more interesting fight than a street fight.

[squealpiggy]

If it's street self defense you're looking for then muay thai is a good option. There's a myth that street fights end up on the ground. A one-on-one fight without rules will always end up on the ground, but from a self defense perspective if you find yourself on the floor you can expect to be filled in by the aggressor's friends and all the full guards and kimoras in the world won't help. In my opinion the best form of self defense is one which is explosive, can slow down the attacker and give you room to run. Muay Thai is ideal, because you have the leg kick, punching ability, the push kick and if someone grabs a hold you have upright clinching and kneeing to make them let go. Groundwork techniques should be concentrated on getting up as fast as possible in a "street" situation.

From a sports MMA perspective you should be focusing on three areas: Standup, takedown and ground. On your feet you want to learn to defend against and use hand strikes and kicks. Muay Thai is perfect for this. On the ground you want to work on the guard, mount and submission holds, so Braxilian Jiu Jutsu is ideal. Muay Thai also teaches some rudimentary takedowns, so if you're going to stick with any two arts then Muay Thai would be one of them for sure.

There again if you only want to compete in Muay Thai then that's cool, but you certainly can't hurt your chances with learning some boxing. Because most fighters aren't versed in the sweet science it's a great technique especially against a faster opponent to rush in and smother them with shots to the head and body. Most thai fights I have seen the fighters dislike their opponents throwing combinations.