What is Bang Muay Thai (BMT)?
Bang Muay Thai (BMT) is a hybrid martial arts striking system developed by Duane Ludwig, a former professional fighter turned renowned coach. Its roots trace back to Sensei Duane Ludwig’s extensive career in combat sports, which began in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Sensei Duane Ludwig was a decorated kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter, claiming titles like the 2000 WKA Muay Thai USA title, the 2002 K-1 World Max USA title, and the 2004 ISKA World Title. He also had a notable MMA career, competing in the UFC, including a record for the fastest knockout in UFC history (6 seconds, against Jonathan Goulet in 2006).
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After retiring from fighting, Sensei Duane Ludwig shifted focus to coaching, drawing on his experience under mentors like Bas Rutten and Trevor Wittman. Around 2010-2011, he began crafting Bang Muay Thai while training fighters in Colorado. The system crystallized during his tenure as head striking coach at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, where he refined it working with UFC stars like T.J. Dillashaw, who won the UFC bantamweight title twice (2014 and 2017-2019) using BMT techniques. Sensei Duane Ludwig’s success earned him MMA Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and 2014.
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BMT blends traditional Muay Thai (Thailand’s “Art of Eight Limbs”) with elements of Dutch Kickboxing, Western Boxing, Kyokushin Karate, and even wrestling footwork. Unlike traditional Muay Thai, which evolved over centuries from battlefield combat to a ring sport, BMT was purpose-built for mixed martial arts (MMA). It emphasizes speed, angles, timing, and stance-switching—skills tailored to the MMA cage, where fighters must adapt to takedowns and varied striking ranges. A key innovation is its numbering system, inspired by Bas Rutten, where combos are assigned numbers (e.g., “3” might be jab-cross-hook-low kick) for quick, fluid “chunking” of techniques. This made it accessible yet devastatingly effective, as seen in fighters like Dillashaw, Joseph Benavidez, and Cory Sandhagen.
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By 2015, Sensei Duane Ludwig formalized BMT into a structured curriculum with a belt system (white to black), taught through his gym in Broomfield, Colorado, and a network of affiliate gyms worldwide. It’s now a staple in MMA training, even praised by Joe Rogan as “the best striking system in the world”.
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