I don't know who you've talked about/practiced Muay Thai with Gok but we actually have very good groin defence. We use our lead leg to check across our body. I've found it to be better then in karate with some of the very wide traditional stances. I'll agree about the kicking, one of my instructors hates how I kick from the knee. But to compensate we do a lot of shin conditioning to make sure our shins are stronger in case you are off target.

Tfiguy, I live in Ulladulla, which is a small town 3 hours south of Sydney. I am fortunate however that we have a great school for the size if our town. My main coach Nick is the WKA full Muay Thai rules Australian champion for his weight division.