Muay Thai
Encyclopedia
Muay Thai is a combat sport
from Thailand
that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey
from Cambodia
, tomoi
from Malaysia, lethwei
from Myanmar
and muay Lao
from Laos
. Descended from muay boran
, muay Thai is Thailand's national sport.
The word muay derives from the Sanskrit
mavya which means "to bind together". Muay Thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" or the "Science of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in other more regulated combat sports, such as kickboxing, boxing, and savate. A practitioner of muay Thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang, meaning "foreign boxer."
. Based on Chinese
and Indian martial arts
, practitioners claim that these systems can be traced back to a thousand years.
In Thailand, muay Thai evolved from the older muay boran
(ancient boxing), an unarmed combat method which would have been used by Siamese soldiers after losing their weapons in battle. Some believe that the ancient Siamese military created muay boran from the weapon-based art, krabi krabong
but others contend that both systems were developed at the same time. Krabi krabong
nevertheless was an important influence on muay thai as seen in the movements in the wai khru.
Muay boran
, and therefore muay Thai, was originally called dhoi muay or simply muay. As well as being a practical fighting technique for use in actual warfare, muay became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch for entertainment. These muay contests gradually became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations, especially those held at temples. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This type of match was called muay khat chueak (มวยคาดเชือก).
. Muay progressed greatly during the reign of Rama V as a direct result of the king's personal interest in the art. The country was at peace and muay functioned as a means of physical exercise, self-defense, recreation, and personal advancement.
Masters of the art began teaching muay in training camps where students were provided with food and shelter. Trainees would be treated as one family and it was customary for students to adopt the camp's name as their own surname. Scouts would be sent by the royal family to organize matches between different camps.
began wearing modern gloves during training and in boxing matches against foreigners. Rope-binding was still used in fights between Thais but after the occurrence of a death in the ring, it was decided that fighters should wear gloves and cotton coverlets over the feet and ankles. It was also around this time that the term Muay Thai became commonly used while the older form of the style came to be known as muay boran
, which realistically is only a name.
With the success of muay Thai in the mixed martial arts
, it has become the de facto style of choice for competitive stand-up fighters
. As a result, western practitioners have incorporated much more powerful hand striking
techniques from boxing
although some Thai purists accuse them of diluting the art.
At the time of the fall of the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya
in 1767, the invading Burmese troops rounded up thousands of Thais and took them to Burma as prisoners. Among them were a large number of Thai kickboxers, who were taken to the city of Ava
.
In 1774, in the Burmese city of Rangoon
, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin
(known in Thai as "King Mangra") decided to organize a seven-day, seven-night religious festival in honor of Buddha
's relics. The festivities included many forms of entertainment, such as the costume plays called likay, comedies and farces, and sword-fighting matches. At one point, King Hsinbyushin wanted to see how muay boran would compare to the Burmese art lethwei
. Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against the Burmese champion. The boxing ring was set up in front of the throne and Nai Khanomtom did a traditional Wai Kru
pre-fight dance, to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors, as well as the spectators, dancing around his opponent. This amazed and perplexed the Burmese people, who thought it was black magic
. When the fight began, Nai Khanomtom charged out, using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees to pummel his opponent until he collapsed.
However the Burmese referee said the Burmese champion was too distracted by the dance, and declared the knockout invalid. The King then asked if Nai Khanomtom would fight nine other Burmese champions to prove himself. He agreed and fought them all, one after the other with no rest periods in between. His last opponent was a great kickboxing teacher from Rakhine
. Nai Khanomtom mangled him by his kicks and no one else dared to challenge him.
King Mangra was so impressed that he allegedly remarked, "Every part of the Thai is blessed with venom. Even with his bare hands, he can fell nine or ten opponents. But his Lord was incompetent and lost the country to the enemy. If he would have been any good, there was no way the City of Ayutthaya would ever have fallen."
King Mangra granted Nai Khanomtom freedom along with either riches or two beautiful Burmese wives. Nai Khanomtom chose the wives as he said that money was easier to find. He then departed with his wives for Siam. Other variations of this story had him also winning the release of his fellow Thai prisoners. His feat is celebrated every March 17 as Boxer's Day or National Muay Boran Day in his honor and that of muay boran's.
Today, some have wrongly attributed the legend of Nai Khanomtom to King Naresuan
, who spent his youth as a royal hostage in Burma while Ayutthaya was a Burmese vassal. However, Nai Khanomtom and King Naresuan were almost two centuries apart.
The punch techniques in muay Thai were originally quite limited being crosses and a long (or lazy) circular strike made with a straight (but not locked) arm and landing with the heel of the palm. Cross-fertilization with Western boxing and western martial arts mean the full range of western boxing punches are now used: lead jab, straight/cross, hook, uppercut, shovel and corkscrew punches and overhands as well as hammer fists and back fists.
As a tactic, body punching is used less in muay Thai than most other striking combat sports to avoid exposing the attacker's head to counter strikes from knees or elbows. To utilize the range of targeting points, in keeping with the center line theory, the fighter can use either the Western or Thai stance which allows for either long range or short range attacks to be undertaken effectively without compromising guard.
There is also a distinct difference between a single elbow and a follow-up elbow. The single elbow is an elbow move independent from any other move, whereas a follow-up elbow is the second strike from the same arm, being a hook or straight punch first with an elbow follow-up. Such elbows, and most other elbow strikes, are used when the distance between fighters becomes too small and there is too little space to throw a hook at the opponent's head. Elbows can also be utilized to great effect as blocks or defenses against, for example, spring knees, side body knees, body kicks or punches.
The two most common kicks in muay Thai are known as the thip (literally "foot jab") and the te chiang (kicking upwards in the shape of a triangle cutting under the arm and ribs) or roundhouse kick. The muay Thai roundhouse kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body and has been widely adopted by practitioners of other combat sports. It is superficially similar to a karate roundhouse kick
, but includes the rotation of the standing leg, like in Kyukushin, Goju, Kojosho and Kenpo, it is done from a circular stance with the back leg just a little ways back (roughly shoulder width apart) in comparison to instinctive upper body fighting (boxing) where the legs must create a wider base. This kick comes with the added risk of having the groin vulnerable at times, which is against Karate and Tae Kwon Do ideology in general except for brief moments after a kick for example. The roundhouse kick draws its power entirely from the rotational movement of the body; the hips. It is thought many fighters use a counter rotation of the arms to intensify the power of this kick, but in actuality the power is from the hips and the arms are put in said position to get them out of the way.
If a roundhouse kick is attempted by the opponent, the Thai boxer will normally check the kick, that is he will block the kick with his own shin. Thai boxers are trained to always connect with the shin. The foot contains many fine bones and is much weaker. A fighter may end up hurting himself if he tries to strike with his foot or instep.
Muay Thai also includes other varieties of kicking such as the side kick and spinning back kick. These kicks are used in bouts only by few fighters.
; in muay Thai, however, they are not. It is often in the clinch where knee and elbow techniques are used. To strike and bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used in the clinch
. The front clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other. There are three reasons why the fingers must not be intertwined. 1) In the ring fighters are wearing boxing gloves and cannot intertwine their fingers. 2) The Thai front clinch involves pressing the head of the opponent downwards, which is easier if the hands are locked behind the back of the head instead of behind the neck. Furthermore the arms should be putting as much pressure on the neck as possible. 3) A fighter may incur an injury to one or more fingers if they are intertwined, and it becomes more difficult to release the grip in order to quickly elbow the opponent's head.
A correct clinch also involves the fighter's forearms pressing against the opponent's collar bone while the hands are around the opponent's head rather than the opponent's neck. The general way to get out of a clinch is to push the opponent's head backwards or elbow them, as the clinch requires both participants to be very close to one another. Additionally, the non-dominant clincher can try to "swim" their arm underneath and inside the opponent's clinch, establishing the previously non-dominant clincher as the dominant clincher.
Muay Thai has several other variants of the clinch or chap kho tɕàp kʰɔː, including:
s are normally blocked with the upper portion of a raised shin. High body strikes are blocked ideally with the forearms and shoulder together, or if enough time is allowed for a parry, the glove (elusively), elbow, or shin will be used. Mid section roundhouse kick
s can also be caught/trapped, allowing for a sweep or counter attack to the remaining leg of the opponent. Punches are blocked with an ordinary boxing guard and techniques similar, if not identical, to basic boxing technique. A common means of blocking a punch is using the hand on the same side as the oncoming punch. For example, if an orthodox fighter throws a jab (being the left hand), the defender will make a slight tap to redirect the punch's angle with the right hand. The deflection is always as small and precise as possible to avoid unnecessary energy expenditure and return the hand to the guard as quickly as possible. Hooks are most often blocked with a motion most often described as "combing the hair", that is, raising the elbow forward and effectively shielding the head with the forearm, flexed biceps and shoulder. More advanced muay Thai blocks are usually in the form of counter-strikes, using the opponents weight (as they strike) to amplify the damage that the countering opponent can deliver. This requires impeccable timing and thus can generally only be learned by many repetitions.
Like most competitive full contact fighting sports, muay Thai has a heavy focus on body conditioning
. Muay Thai is specifically designed to promote the level of fitness
and toughness required for ring competition. Training regimens include many staples of combat sport conditioning such as running
, shadowboxing
, rope jumping
, body weight resistance exercises
, medicine ball exercises, abdominal exercises, and in some cases weight training
. Muay Thai fighters rely heavily on kicks utilizing the shin bone. As such, practitioners of muay Thai will repeatedly hit hard objects with their shins, conditioning it, hardening the bone through a process called cortical remodeling
. Muay Thai practitioners typically apply Namman Muay
muay Thai liniment liberally before and after their intense training sessions.
Training that is specific to a muay Thai fighter includes training with coaches on Thai pads, focus mitt
s, heavy bag, and sparring. The daily training includes many rounds (3-5 minute periods broken up by a short rest, often 1–2 minutes) of these various methods of practice. Thai pad training is a cornerstone of muay Thai conditioning which involves practicing punches, kicks, knees, and elbow strikes with a trainer wearing thick pads which cover the forearms and hands. These special pads are used to absorb the impact of the fighter’s strikes and allow the fighter to react to the attacks of the pad holder in a live situation. The trainer will often also wear a belly pad around the abdominal area so that the fighter can attack with straight kicks or knees to the body at anytime during the round.
Focus mitts are specific to training a fighter’s hand speed, punch combinations, timing, punching power
, defense, and counter-punching and may also be used to practice elbow strikes. Heavy bag training is a conditioning and power exercise that reinforces the techniques practiced on the pads. Sparring is a means to test technique, skills, range, strategy, and timing against a partner. Sparring is often a light to medium contact exercise because competitive fighters on a full schedule are not advised to risk injury by sparring hard. Specific tactics and strategies can be trained with sparring including in close fighting, clinching
and kneeing only, cutting off the ring, or using reach and distance to keep an aggressive fighter away.
Due to the rigorous training regimen (some Thai boxers fight almost every other week) professional muay Thai fighters have relatively short careers in the ring. Many retire from competition to begin instructing the next generation of Thai fighters. Most professional Thai boxers come from the lower economic backgrounds, and the fight money (after the other parties get their cut) is sought as means of support for the fighters and their families. Very few higher economic strata Thais join the professional muay Thai ranks; they usually either do not practice the sport or practice it only as amateur muay Thai boxers.
and various forms of kickboxing
, is recognized as a very effective striking
base within MMA
, and is very widely trained among MMA
fighters. Fighters (some of whom have won titles) such as Anderson Silva
, Wanderlei Silva
, Mauricio Rua
, Thiago Silva
, Alistair Overeem
, Jose Aldo
, Amir Sadollah
, Gina Carano
, Cristiane Santos
employ a broad range of tactics born of muay Thai. Countless other mixed martial artists have trained in the art, and it is often taught at MMA gyms as is BJJ and Wrestling
.
Many techniques associated with muay Thai are often seen in MMA, such as punches, elbows
, clinch fighting, leg kicks
and knees
.
. Yet one of the first popular films that included Muay Thai was Jean-Claude Van Damme
's 1989 movie Kickboxer
.
Muay Thai has been represented in quite a few fighting games as well. Sagat and Adon from Street Fighter
, Joe Higashi and King and Hwa Jai from King of Fighters
, Zack the DJ from Dead or Alive, Bruce Irvin from Tekken, Brad Burns from Virtua Fighter
, and Jax Briggs from Mortal Kombat are all known to be practitioners of the martial arts. Muay Thai has also become popular in the movie industry with the release of The Ong Bak Trilogy, starring rising muay Thai star Tony Jaa. Chocolate
, starring Yanin Vismistananda, is another martial arts movie demonstrating muay Thai's increasingly broad appeal.
Another reference to muay Thai is its use in the anime/manga, "Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple
". Apachai Hopachai, one of the Masters of Ryozanpaku is called, in episode 48, "The Death God of the Muay Thai Underworld"; he is also shown to have difficulty controlling his power as well. This stems from his life-long exposure to ruthless opponents in death-match fights.
Muay Thai fighting contests not only include fighting bouts between 2 people. They also include Muay Thai competitions that are about a series of people competing and whoever displays (and posses) the best Muay Thai skills wins the competition and gets 1st place.
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey
Pradal Serey
Pradal serey is an unarmed martial art from Cambodia. In Khmer the word pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Originally used for warfare, pradal serey is now one of Cambodia's national sports...
from Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, tomoi
Tomoi
Tomoi is an unarmed martial art from Malaysia. It is closely related to other Indochinese boxing styles, such as as muay Thai in Thailand, pradal serey in Cambodia, muay Lao in Laos and lethwei in Myanmar....
from Malaysia, lethwei
Lethwei
Lethwei is an unarmed Burmese martial art. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai from Thailand, pradal serey from Cambodia, Muay Lao from Laos and tomoi from Malaysia.- History :...
from Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
and muay Lao
Lao boxing
Muay Lao is a traditional unarmed martial art from Laos. It is similar to Muay Thai in Thailand, Pradal Serey in Cambodia, tomoi in Malaysia and as a similar art called lethwei in Myanmar. It incorporates punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. Muay Lao was an event at the 2009 Southeast Asian...
from Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. Descended from muay boran
Muay Boran
Muay boran is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.It is thus the direct ancestor of modern Muay Thai....
, muay Thai is Thailand's national sport.
The word muay derives from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
mavya which means "to bind together". Muay Thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" or the "Science of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in other more regulated combat sports, such as kickboxing, boxing, and savate. A practitioner of muay Thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang, meaning "foreign boxer."
Origins
Various forms of kickboxing have long been practiced throughout Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Based on Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Indian martial arts
Indian martial arts
The Indian subcontinent is home to a variety of fighting styles. In Sanskrit they may be collectively referred to as ' or '. The former is a compound of the words and , meaning "knowledge of the sword" or "knowledge of weaponry"...
, practitioners claim that these systems can be traced back to a thousand years.
In Thailand, muay Thai evolved from the older muay boran
Muay Boran
Muay boran is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.It is thus the direct ancestor of modern Muay Thai....
(ancient boxing), an unarmed combat method which would have been used by Siamese soldiers after losing their weapons in battle. Some believe that the ancient Siamese military created muay boran from the weapon-based art, krabi krabong
Krabi Krabong
Krabi krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Indonesian-Malay silat, Burmese banshay and the armed component of Cambodian bokator...
but others contend that both systems were developed at the same time. Krabi krabong
Krabi Krabong
Krabi krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Indonesian-Malay silat, Burmese banshay and the armed component of Cambodian bokator...
nevertheless was an important influence on muay thai as seen in the movements in the wai khru.
Muay boran
Muay Boran
Muay boran is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.It is thus the direct ancestor of modern Muay Thai....
, and therefore muay Thai, was originally called dhoi muay or simply muay. As well as being a practical fighting technique for use in actual warfare, muay became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch for entertainment. These muay contests gradually became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations, especially those held at temples. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This type of match was called muay khat chueak (มวยคาดเชือก).
19th century
The ascension of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) to the throne in 1868 ushered in a golden age not only for muay but for the whole country of ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Muay progressed greatly during the reign of Rama V as a direct result of the king's personal interest in the art. The country was at peace and muay functioned as a means of physical exercise, self-defense, recreation, and personal advancement.
Masters of the art began teaching muay in training camps where students were provided with food and shelter. Trainees would be treated as one family and it was customary for students to adopt the camp's name as their own surname. Scouts would be sent by the royal family to organize matches between different camps.
Modernization
King Rama VII (r. 1925-1935) pushed for codified rules for muay, and they were put into place. Thailand's first boxing ring was built in 1921 at Suan Kularp. Referees were introduced and rounds were now timed by kick. Fighters at the Lumpinee Kickboxing StadiumLumpinee Boxing Stadium
Lumpinee Boxing Stadium is an indoor sporting arena located in Bangkok, Thailand. Opened more than a decade later than Rajadamnern Stadium, the Lumpinee is run by Royal Thai Army on behalf of Thai Government. It has become the symbol of modern Muay Thai. Only Rajadamnern Stadium rivals the...
began wearing modern gloves during training and in boxing matches against foreigners. Rope-binding was still used in fights between Thais but after the occurrence of a death in the ring, it was decided that fighters should wear gloves and cotton coverlets over the feet and ankles. It was also around this time that the term Muay Thai became commonly used while the older form of the style came to be known as muay boran
Muay Boran
Muay boran is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.It is thus the direct ancestor of modern Muay Thai....
, which realistically is only a name.
With the success of muay Thai in the mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
, it has become the de facto style of choice for competitive stand-up fighters
Stand-up fighting
Stand-up fighting is hand-to-hand combat that takes place while the combatants are in a standing position. The term is commonly used in martial arts and combat sports to designate the set of techniques employed from a standing position, as opposed to techniques employed in ground fighting...
. As a result, western practitioners have incorporated much more powerful hand striking
Strike (attack)
A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
techniques from boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
although some Thai purists accuse them of diluting the art.
Folklore
The most popular folklore regarding muay boran is that of Nai Khanomtom.At the time of the fall of the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya (city)
Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. Located in the valley of the Chao Phraya River. The city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya...
in 1767, the invading Burmese troops rounded up thousands of Thais and took them to Burma as prisoners. Among them were a large number of Thai kickboxers, who were taken to the city of Ava
Ava
Innwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
.
In 1774, in the Burmese city of Rangoon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Alaungpaya is best known for his wars with China and Siam, and is considered the most militaristic king of the dynasty. His successful defense against four Chinese invasions preserved...
(known in Thai as "King Mangra") decided to organize a seven-day, seven-night religious festival in honor of Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's relics. The festivities included many forms of entertainment, such as the costume plays called likay, comedies and farces, and sword-fighting matches. At one point, King Hsinbyushin wanted to see how muay boran would compare to the Burmese art lethwei
Lethwei
Lethwei is an unarmed Burmese martial art. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai from Thailand, pradal serey from Cambodia, Muay Lao from Laos and tomoi from Malaysia.- History :...
. Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against the Burmese champion. The boxing ring was set up in front of the throne and Nai Khanomtom did a traditional Wai Kru
Wai khru ram muay
Wai Khru Ram Muay is a warm up activity in Thai culture that is performed by participants in Muay Thai competitions. Wai is an action of Thais to show respect to others by putting the hands together like in prayer. Khru means teacher. Ram means dance in the old Thai traditional style. Muay means...
pre-fight dance, to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors, as well as the spectators, dancing around his opponent. This amazed and perplexed the Burmese people, who thought it was black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
. When the fight began, Nai Khanomtom charged out, using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees to pummel his opponent until he collapsed.
However the Burmese referee said the Burmese champion was too distracted by the dance, and declared the knockout invalid. The King then asked if Nai Khanomtom would fight nine other Burmese champions to prove himself. He agreed and fought them all, one after the other with no rest periods in between. His last opponent was a great kickboxing teacher from Rakhine
Rakhine State
Rakhine State is a Burmese state. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State in the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region in the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between...
. Nai Khanomtom mangled him by his kicks and no one else dared to challenge him.
King Mangra was so impressed that he allegedly remarked, "Every part of the Thai is blessed with venom. Even with his bare hands, he can fell nine or ten opponents. But his Lord was incompetent and lost the country to the enemy. If he would have been any good, there was no way the City of Ayutthaya would ever have fallen."
King Mangra granted Nai Khanomtom freedom along with either riches or two beautiful Burmese wives. Nai Khanomtom chose the wives as he said that money was easier to find. He then departed with his wives for Siam. Other variations of this story had him also winning the release of his fellow Thai prisoners. His feat is celebrated every March 17 as Boxer's Day or National Muay Boran Day in his honor and that of muay boran's.
Today, some have wrongly attributed the legend of Nai Khanomtom to King Naresuan
Naresuan
Somdet Phra Naresuan Maharat or Somdet Phra Sanphet II was the King of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1590 until his death in 1605. Naresuan was one of Siam's most revered monarchs as he was known for his campaigns to free Siam from Burmese rule...
, who spent his youth as a royal hostage in Burma while Ayutthaya was a Burmese vassal. However, Nai Khanomtom and King Naresuan were almost two centuries apart.
Techniques
Formal muay Thai techniques are divided into two groups: mae mai or major techniques and luk mai or minor techniques. Muay Thai is often a fighting art of attrition, where opponents exchange blows with one another. This is certainly the case with traditional stylists in Thailand, but is a less popular form of fighting in the contemporary world fighting circuit where the Thai style of exchanging blow for blow is no longer favorable. Almost all techniques in muay Thai use the entire body movement, rotating the hip with each kick, punch, elbow and block.Punching (Chok)
| English | Thai | Romanization Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... | IPA Jab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Cross (boxing) In boxing, a cross is a power-punch like the uppercut and hook. Compubox, a computerized punch scoring system, counts the cross as a power-punch.... |
หมัดตรง | Mat trong | màt troŋ |
| Hook Hook (boxing) A hook is a punch in boxing. It is performed by turning the core muscles and back, thereby swinging the arm, which is bent at an angle near or at 90 degrees, in a horizontal arc into the opponent... |
หมัดเหวี่ยงสั้น | Mat wiang san | màt wìəŋ sân |
| Swing Swing (boxing) The swing is a type of hook, with the main difference being that in the swing the arm is usually more extended.... |
หมัดเหวี่ยงยาว | Mat wiang yao | màt wìəŋ jaːw |
| Spinning Backfist | หมัดเหวี่ยงกลับ | Mat wiang klap | màt wìəŋ klàp |
| Uppercut | หมัดเสย/หมัดสอยดาว | Mat soei/Mat soi dao | màt sɤ̌j, màt sɔ̌j daːw |
| Cobra* | กระโดดชก | Kradot chok | kradòːt tɕʰók |
The punch techniques in muay Thai were originally quite limited being crosses and a long (or lazy) circular strike made with a straight (but not locked) arm and landing with the heel of the palm. Cross-fertilization with Western boxing and western martial arts mean the full range of western boxing punches are now used: lead jab, straight/cross, hook, uppercut, shovel and corkscrew punches and overhands as well as hammer fists and back fists.
As a tactic, body punching is used less in muay Thai than most other striking combat sports to avoid exposing the attacker's head to counter strikes from knees or elbows. To utilize the range of targeting points, in keeping with the center line theory, the fighter can use either the Western or Thai stance which allows for either long range or short range attacks to be undertaken effectively without compromising guard.
Elbow (Ti sok)
The elbow can be used in several ways as a striking weapon: horizontal, diagonal-upwards, diagonal-downwards, uppercut, downward, backward-spinning and flying. From the side it can be used as either a finishing move or as a way to cut the opponent's eyebrow so that blood might block his vision. The diagonal elbows are faster than the other forms, but are less powerful.| English | Thai | Romanization Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elbow Slash | ศอกตี | Sok ti | sɔ̀ːk tiː |
| Horizontal Elbow | ศอกตัด | Sok tat | sɔ̀ːk tàt |
| Uppercut Elbow | ศอกงัด | Sok ngat | sɔ̀ːk ŋát |
| Forward Elbow Thrust | ศอกพุ่ง | Sok phung | sɔ̀ːk pʰûŋ |
| Reverse Horizontal Elbow | ศอกเหวี่ยงกลับ | Sok wiang klap | sɔ̀ːk wìəŋ klàp |
| Spinning Elbow | ศอกกลับ | Sok klap | sɔ̀ːk klàp |
| Elbow Chop | ศอกสับ | Sok sap | sɔ̀ːk sàp |
| Double Elbow Chop | ศอกกลับคู่ | Sok klap khu | sɔ̀ːk klàp kʰûː |
| Mid-Air Elbow Strike | กระโดดศอก | Kradot sok | kradòːt sɔ̀ːk |
There is also a distinct difference between a single elbow and a follow-up elbow. The single elbow is an elbow move independent from any other move, whereas a follow-up elbow is the second strike from the same arm, being a hook or straight punch first with an elbow follow-up. Such elbows, and most other elbow strikes, are used when the distance between fighters becomes too small and there is too little space to throw a hook at the opponent's head. Elbows can also be utilized to great effect as blocks or defenses against, for example, spring knees, side body knees, body kicks or punches.
Kicking (Te)
| English | Thai | Romanization Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Kick | เตะตรง | Te trong | tèʔ troŋ |
| Roundhouse Kick | เตะตัด | Te tat | tèʔ tàt |
| Diagonal Kick | เตะเฉียง | Te chiang | tèʔ tɕʰǐəŋ |
| Half-Shin, Half-Knee Kick | เตะ ครึ่งแข้ง ครึ่งขา | Te khrueng khaeng khrueng khao | tèʔ kʰrɯ̂ŋ kʰɛ̂ŋ kʰrɯ̂ŋ kʰàw |
| Spinning Heel Kick | เตะกลับหลัง | Te klap lang | tèʔ klàp lǎŋ |
| Down Roundhouse Kick | เตะกด | Te kot | tèʔ kòt |
| Axe Heel Kick | เตะเข่า | Te khao | tèʔ kʰàw |
| Jump Kick | กระโดดเตะ | Kradot te | kradòːt tèʔ |
| Step-Up Kick | เขยิบเตะ | Khayoep te | kʰa.jɤ̀p tèʔ |
The two most common kicks in muay Thai are known as the thip (literally "foot jab") and the te chiang (kicking upwards in the shape of a triangle cutting under the arm and ribs) or roundhouse kick. The muay Thai roundhouse kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body and has been widely adopted by practitioners of other combat sports. It is superficially similar to a karate roundhouse kick
Roundhouse kick
A roundhouse kick is a kick in which the attacker swings his leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the leg or foot. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions...
, but includes the rotation of the standing leg, like in Kyukushin, Goju, Kojosho and Kenpo, it is done from a circular stance with the back leg just a little ways back (roughly shoulder width apart) in comparison to instinctive upper body fighting (boxing) where the legs must create a wider base. This kick comes with the added risk of having the groin vulnerable at times, which is against Karate and Tae Kwon Do ideology in general except for brief moments after a kick for example. The roundhouse kick draws its power entirely from the rotational movement of the body; the hips. It is thought many fighters use a counter rotation of the arms to intensify the power of this kick, but in actuality the power is from the hips and the arms are put in said position to get them out of the way.
If a roundhouse kick is attempted by the opponent, the Thai boxer will normally check the kick, that is he will block the kick with his own shin. Thai boxers are trained to always connect with the shin. The foot contains many fine bones and is much weaker. A fighter may end up hurting himself if he tries to strike with his foot or instep.
Muay Thai also includes other varieties of kicking such as the side kick and spinning back kick. These kicks are used in bouts only by few fighters.
Knee (Ti khao)
| English | Thai | Romanization Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Knee Strike | เข่าตรง | Khao trong | kʰàw troŋ |
| Diagonal Knee Strike | เข่าเฉียง | Khao chiang | kʰàw tɕʰǐəŋ |
| Curving Knee Strike | เข่าโค้ง | Khao khong | kʰàw kʰóːŋ |
| Horizontal Knee Strike | เข่าตัด | Khao tat | kʰàw tàt |
| Knee Slap | เข่าตบ | Khao top | kʰàw tòp |
| Knee Bomb | เข่ายาว | Khao yao | kʰàw jaːw |
| Flying Knee | เข่าลอย | Khao loi | kʰàw lɔːj |
| Step-Up Knee Strike | เข่าเหยียบ | Khao yiap | kʰàw jìəp |
- Khao dot kʰàw dòːt (Jumping knee strike) – the boxer jumps up on one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
- Khao loi (Flying knee strike) – the boxer takes a step(s), jumps forward and off one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
- Khao thon kʰàw tʰoːn (Straight knee strike) – the boxer simply thrusts it forward but not upwards, unless he is holding an opponents head down in a clinch and intend to knee upwards into the face. According to one written source, this technique is somewhat more recent than khao dot or khao loi. Supposedly, when the Thai boxers fought with rope-bound hands rather than the modern boxing gloves, this particular technique was subject to potentially vicious cutting, slicing and sawing by an alert opponent who would block it or deflect it with the sharp "rope-glove" edges which are sometimes dipped in water to make the rope much stronger. This explanation also holds true for some of the following knee strikes below as well.
Foot-thrust (Thip)
The foot-thrust or literally "foot jab" is one of the techniques in muay Thai. It is mainly used as a defensive technique to control distance or block attacks. Foot-thrusts should be thrown quickly but yet with enough force to knock an opponent off balance.| English | Thai | Romanization Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Foot-Thrust Front kick The front kick in martial arts is a kick executed by lifting the knee straight forward, while keeping the foot and shin either hanging freely or pulled to the hip, and then straightening the leg in front of the practitioner and striking the target area... |
ถีบตรง | Thip trong | tʰìːp troŋ |
| Sideways Foot-Thrust | ถีบข้าง | Thip khang | tʰìːp kʰâːŋ |
| Reverse Foot-Thrust | ถีบกลับหลัง | Thip klap lang | tʰìːp klàp lǎŋ |
| Slapping Foot-Thrust | ถีบตบ | Thip top | tʰìːp tòp |
| Jumping Foot-Thrust | กระโดดถีบ | Kradot thip | kradòːt tʰìːp |
Clinch and neck wrestling (Chap kho)
In Western boxing the two fighters are separated when they clinchClinch fighting
Clinch fighting is the part of stand-up fighting where the combatants are grappling in a clinch, typically using clinch holds. Clinching the opponent can be used to eliminate the opponent's effective usage of some kicks, punches, and mêlée weapons...
; in muay Thai, however, they are not. It is often in the clinch where knee and elbow techniques are used. To strike and bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used in the clinch
Clinch fighting
Clinch fighting is the part of stand-up fighting where the combatants are grappling in a clinch, typically using clinch holds. Clinching the opponent can be used to eliminate the opponent's effective usage of some kicks, punches, and mêlée weapons...
. The front clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other. There are three reasons why the fingers must not be intertwined. 1) In the ring fighters are wearing boxing gloves and cannot intertwine their fingers. 2) The Thai front clinch involves pressing the head of the opponent downwards, which is easier if the hands are locked behind the back of the head instead of behind the neck. Furthermore the arms should be putting as much pressure on the neck as possible. 3) A fighter may incur an injury to one or more fingers if they are intertwined, and it becomes more difficult to release the grip in order to quickly elbow the opponent's head.
A correct clinch also involves the fighter's forearms pressing against the opponent's collar bone while the hands are around the opponent's head rather than the opponent's neck. The general way to get out of a clinch is to push the opponent's head backwards or elbow them, as the clinch requires both participants to be very close to one another. Additionally, the non-dominant clincher can try to "swim" their arm underneath and inside the opponent's clinch, establishing the previously non-dominant clincher as the dominant clincher.
Muay Thai has several other variants of the clinch or chap kho tɕàp kʰɔː, including:
- arm clinch: One or both hands controls the inside of the defender's arm(s) and where the second hand if free is in the front clinch position. This clinch is used to briefly control the opponent before applying a knee strike or throw
- side clinch: One arm passes around the front of the defender with the attacker's shoulder pressed into the defender's arm pit and the other arm passing round the back which allows the attacker to apply knee strikes to the defender's back or to throw the defender readily.
- low clinch: Both controlling arms pass under the defender's arms, which is generally used by the shorter of two opponents.
- swan-neck: One hand around the rear of the neck is used to briefly clinch an opponent before a strike.
Defense against attacks
Defenses in muay Thai are categorized in six groups:- Blocking – defender's hard blocks to stop a strike in its path so preventing it reaching its target (e.g. the shin block described in more detail below)
- Redirection – defender's soft parries to change the direction of a strike (e.g. a downwards tap to a jab) so that it misses the target
- Avoidance – moving a body part out of the way or range of a strike so the defender remains in range for a counter-strike. For example, the defender moves their front leg backwards to avoid the attacker's low kick, then immediately counters with a roundhouse kick. Or the defender might lay their head back from the attacker's high roundhouse kick then counter-attack with a side kick.
- Evasion – moving the body out of the way or range of a strike so the defender has to move close again to counter-attack, e.g. defender jumping laterally or back from attacker's kicks
- Disruption – Pre-empting an attack e.g. with defender using disruptive techniques like jab, foot-thrust or low roundhouse kick, generally called a "leg kick"(to the outside or inside of the attacker's front leg, just above the knee) as the attacker attempts to close distance
- Anticipation – Defender catching a strike (e.g. catching an roundhouse kick to the body) or countering it before it lands (e.g. defender's low kick to the supporting leg below as the attacker initiates a high roundhouse kick).
Punches and kicks
Defensively, the concept of "wall of defense" is used, in which shoulders, arms and legs are used to hinder the attacker from successfully executing techniques. Blocking is a critical element in muay Thai and compounds the level of conditioning a successful practitioner must possess. Low and mid body roundhouse kickRoundhouse kick
A roundhouse kick is a kick in which the attacker swings his leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the leg or foot. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions...
s are normally blocked with the upper portion of a raised shin. High body strikes are blocked ideally with the forearms and shoulder together, or if enough time is allowed for a parry, the glove (elusively), elbow, or shin will be used. Mid section roundhouse kick
Roundhouse kick
A roundhouse kick is a kick in which the attacker swings his leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the leg or foot. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions...
s can also be caught/trapped, allowing for a sweep or counter attack to the remaining leg of the opponent. Punches are blocked with an ordinary boxing guard and techniques similar, if not identical, to basic boxing technique. A common means of blocking a punch is using the hand on the same side as the oncoming punch. For example, if an orthodox fighter throws a jab (being the left hand), the defender will make a slight tap to redirect the punch's angle with the right hand. The deflection is always as small and precise as possible to avoid unnecessary energy expenditure and return the hand to the guard as quickly as possible. Hooks are most often blocked with a motion most often described as "combing the hair", that is, raising the elbow forward and effectively shielding the head with the forearm, flexed biceps and shoulder. More advanced muay Thai blocks are usually in the form of counter-strikes, using the opponents weight (as they strike) to amplify the damage that the countering opponent can deliver. This requires impeccable timing and thus can generally only be learned by many repetitions.
Conditioning
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
. Muay Thai is specifically designed to promote the level of fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
and toughness required for ring competition. Training regimens include many staples of combat sport conditioning such as running
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
, shadowboxing
Shadowboxing
Shadowboxing is an exercise used in the training for combat sports, especially, as its name implies, in boxing. It is used mainly to prepare the muscles before the person training engages in stronger physical activity. In shadowboxing, only one person is required to participate; the participant...
, rope jumping
Jump rope
Jump rope or skipping rope is the primary tool used in the game of skipping played by children and many young adults, where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads...
, body weight resistance exercises
Calisthenics
Calisthenics are a form of aerobic exercise consisting of a variety of simple, often rhythmical, movements, generally using multiple equipment or apparatus. They are intended to increase body strength and flexibility with movements such as bending, jumping, swinging, twisting or kicking, using...
, medicine ball exercises, abdominal exercises, and in some cases weight training
Weight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
. Muay Thai fighters rely heavily on kicks utilizing the shin bone. As such, practitioners of muay Thai will repeatedly hit hard objects with their shins, conditioning it, hardening the bone through a process called cortical remodeling
Bone remodeling
Bone remodeling is a lifelong process where mature bone tissue is removed from the skeleton and new bone tissue is formed...
. Muay Thai practitioners typically apply Namman Muay
Namman Muay
Namman Muay is a herbal liniment made from botanical products from Thailand. Its main active ingredients are known to reduce inflammation and aid in blood circulation...
muay Thai liniment liberally before and after their intense training sessions.
Training that is specific to a muay Thai fighter includes training with coaches on Thai pads, focus mitt
Focus mitt
A focus mitt is a padded target attached to a glove and usually used in training boxers and other combat athletes.The person holding the focus mitts will typically call out combinations and "feed" the puncher good counter-force while maneuvering and working specific skills...
s, heavy bag, and sparring. The daily training includes many rounds (3-5 minute periods broken up by a short rest, often 1–2 minutes) of these various methods of practice. Thai pad training is a cornerstone of muay Thai conditioning which involves practicing punches, kicks, knees, and elbow strikes with a trainer wearing thick pads which cover the forearms and hands. These special pads are used to absorb the impact of the fighter’s strikes and allow the fighter to react to the attacks of the pad holder in a live situation. The trainer will often also wear a belly pad around the abdominal area so that the fighter can attack with straight kicks or knees to the body at anytime during the round.
Focus mitts are specific to training a fighter’s hand speed, punch combinations, timing, punching power
Punching power
Punching power is a term that describes the amount of momentum in a person's punches. Knockout power is a more specific term for the probability of any strike to the head to cause unconsciousness in an opponent, usually referred to as a knockout, or King-Hit in Australian English...
, defense, and counter-punching and may also be used to practice elbow strikes. Heavy bag training is a conditioning and power exercise that reinforces the techniques practiced on the pads. Sparring is a means to test technique, skills, range, strategy, and timing against a partner. Sparring is often a light to medium contact exercise because competitive fighters on a full schedule are not advised to risk injury by sparring hard. Specific tactics and strategies can be trained with sparring including in close fighting, clinching
Clinching
Clinching may refer to:* Clinching , a method of fastening sheet metal together* Clinching position, a grappling position.* Clinching , To bend and hammer the protruding point of a nail so it cannot be removed....
and kneeing only, cutting off the ring, or using reach and distance to keep an aggressive fighter away.
Due to the rigorous training regimen (some Thai boxers fight almost every other week) professional muay Thai fighters have relatively short careers in the ring. Many retire from competition to begin instructing the next generation of Thai fighters. Most professional Thai boxers come from the lower economic backgrounds, and the fight money (after the other parties get their cut) is sought as means of support for the fighters and their families. Very few higher economic strata Thais join the professional muay Thai ranks; they usually either do not practice the sport or practice it only as amateur muay Thai boxers.
Rules
Muay Thai is practiced in many different countries and there are different rules depending on which country the fight is in and under what organization the fight is arranged. The following is a link to the rules section of the Sports Authority of Thailand.Mixed Martial Arts
Muay Thai, like boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and various forms of kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
, is recognized as a very effective striking
Strike (attack)
A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
base within MMA
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
, and is very widely trained among MMA
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighters. Fighters (some of whom have won titles) such as Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva
Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history...
, Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...
, Mauricio Rua
Mauricio Rua
Maurício Milani Rua is a Brazilian mixed martial artist fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion...
, Thiago Silva
Thiago Silva
Thiago Anderson Ramos da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who got his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Jorge Patino. Silva currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championships...
, Alistair Overeem
Alistair Overeem
Alistair Cees Overeem is a British born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat...
, Jose Aldo
Jose Aldo
José Aldo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the first and current UFC Featherweight Champion...
, Amir Sadollah
Amir Sadollah
Amir Sadollah is an American professional mixed martial artist of Iranian and Irish descent. He was the winner of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter 7....
, Gina Carano
Gina Carano
Gina Joy Carano is an American model, actress, and mixed martial arts fighter. Carano appeared as the Gladiator "Crush" on American Gladiators...
, Cristiane Santos
Cristiane Santos
Cristiane Justino Venancio Santos is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and the Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion . Santos won the title on August 15, 2009 by defeating Gina Carano via TKO...
employ a broad range of tactics born of muay Thai. Countless other mixed martial artists have trained in the art, and it is often taught at MMA gyms as is BJJ and Wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
.
Many techniques associated with muay Thai are often seen in MMA, such as punches, elbows
Elbow (strike)
An elbow strike is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow...
, clinch fighting, leg kicks
Kick
In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...
and knees
Knee (strike)
A knee strike is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent...
.
In popular culture
Interest in Muay Thai has risen in the past ten years, due to the popularity of martial arts in film and television. The most notable practitioner of Muay Thai is martial arts sensation Tony JaaTony Jaa
Tatchakorn Yeerum , formerly Panom Yeerum , better known in the West as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Panom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman, director, and monk...
. Yet one of the first popular films that included Muay Thai was Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
's 1989 movie Kickboxer
Kickboxer (film)
Kickboxer is a 1989 martial arts film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and former world Kickboxing champion, Dennis Alexio. Like Van Damme's previous film, Bloodsport, it showcases Van Damme's martial arts fighting abilities...
.
Muay Thai has been represented in quite a few fighting games as well. Sagat and Adon from Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
, Joe Higashi and King and Hwa Jai from King of Fighters
King of Fighters
, officially abbreviated KOF, is a series of fighting games by SNK Playmore . The series was originally developed for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware, which served as the main platform for the series until 2004, when SNK retired the MVS in favor of the Atomiswave arcade board...
, Zack the DJ from Dead or Alive, Bruce Irvin from Tekken, Brad Burns from Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter
is a 1993 fighting game developed for the Sega Model 1 arcade platform by AM2, a development group within Sega, headed by Yu Suzuki. It is the first game in the Virtua Fighter series, and the first arcade fighting game to feature fully 3D polygon graphics. It has been ported to several home video...
, and Jax Briggs from Mortal Kombat are all known to be practitioners of the martial arts. Muay Thai has also become popular in the movie industry with the release of The Ong Bak Trilogy, starring rising muay Thai star Tony Jaa. Chocolate
Chocolate (2008 film)
Chocolate , also known as Zen, Warrior Within, is a 2008 Thai martial arts film starring Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda in her debut film performance. It is directed by Prachya Pinkaew, with martial arts choreography by Panna Rittikrai...
, starring Yanin Vismistananda, is another martial arts movie demonstrating muay Thai's increasingly broad appeal.
Another reference to muay Thai is its use in the anime/manga, "Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple
is a Japanese manga by Syun Matsuena serialized in the weekly manga magazine Shōnen Sunday.The first tankōbon was published on August 9, 2002...
". Apachai Hopachai, one of the Masters of Ryozanpaku is called, in episode 48, "The Death God of the Muay Thai Underworld"; he is also shown to have difficulty controlling his power as well. This stems from his life-long exposure to ruthless opponents in death-match fights.
Muay Thai fighting contests not only include fighting bouts between 2 people. They also include Muay Thai competitions that are about a series of people competing and whoever displays (and posses) the best Muay Thai skills wins the competition and gets 1st place.
See also
- Lumpinee Boxing StadiumLumpinee Boxing StadiumLumpinee Boxing Stadium is an indoor sporting arena located in Bangkok, Thailand. Opened more than a decade later than Rajadamnern Stadium, the Lumpinee is run by Royal Thai Army on behalf of Thai Government. It has become the symbol of modern Muay Thai. Only Rajadamnern Stadium rivals the...
- Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium
- LethweiLethweiLethwei is an unarmed Burmese martial art. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai from Thailand, pradal serey from Cambodia, Muay Lao from Laos and tomoi from Malaysia.- History :...
- Muay Lao
- Pradal SereyPradal SereyPradal serey is an unarmed martial art from Cambodia. In Khmer the word pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Originally used for warfare, pradal serey is now one of Cambodia's national sports...
- TomoiTomoiTomoi is an unarmed martial art from Malaysia. It is closely related to other Indochinese boxing styles, such as as muay Thai in Thailand, pradal serey in Cambodia, muay Lao in Laos and lethwei in Myanmar....
- Champions of Champions EliteChampions of Champions EliteChampions of Champions Elite or COC-Elite is a martial arts television show focused on Muay Thai that is currently airing once a month on G4TV...
- SagatSágatSágat is a Sámi newspaper written in Norwegian that is published in the county of Finnmark in Norway with a circulation of 2,717 ...
External links
- World Muay Thai Federation
- Muay Thai Kru Register
- World Muay Thai Council
- International Federation of Muaythai Amateur
- Muay Thai Pattaya Training Camp
- Kao Loi Gym
- Lion Gym
- Database of International Muay Thai Training Gyms & Camps
- muay thai shorts
- Coban Lookchaomaesaitong
- Sinbi World Renowned Muay Thai Camp