Muay Thai History (english)

The Thai culture has been strongly influenced by the old civilizations that dominated South East Asia throughout the centuries. The origins of Muay Thai are unclear as the scriptures on this subject have been lost during the raid of Ayutthaya by the Burmese army

One theory is that the martial art came along with the Tai people from China, who settled in Thailand. Another theory is that Muay Thai has been copied and altered from the old Khmer martial arts during the time that Khmer, Cambodia today, dominated large parts of South East Asia. 

During this period, the Thai culture was majorly influenced by the powerful neighboring country. The one thing that is certain is that Muay Thai is evolved from Muay Boran. Muay Boran was practiced by soldiers of the Siamese army (Siam is the old name of Thailand). It is known that every region had its own Muay Boran style. This is reflected in the old saying: Punch Korat (East), Wit Lopburi (Center), Posture Chaiya (South), Faster Thasao (North). (หมัดหนักโคราช ฉลาดลพบุรี ท่าดีไชยา ไวกว่าท่าเสา).

Renaissance of Muay Boran 

The ascension of King Chulalonkorn (Rama V) in 1868 was not only the start of the golden century for the Muay history, but also for Thailand in its entirety. During the reign of King Rama V, Muay developed considerably. This was a direct result of the personal interest that the King took in the martial art. Peace was ruling the Kingdom and Muay served as a way of self defense, recreation and a way of promotion. Masters of the martial art, like former fighters and soldiers, started to teach Muay in training camps. That was a place where food and shelter was provided for the students so that they could fully focus on learning Muay. It became a tradition to take on the name of the camp where they were living as their last name.

After a fatality in the ring, King Rama VII urged for the implementation of a set of formal rules for Muay Thai fights held within the Kingdom. One of the new implemented rules was the obligation for fighters to wear a pair of modern boxing gloves and to wear a pair of cotton socks over feet and ankles. During this same period, around 1920, the name Muay Thai was given to the new form of Muay. Since then, all older forms were referred to as "Muay Boran”.

 Muay Boran

history2The first reference made to a Thai fighting system in the Muay Thai history, was the mentioning of a style called Muay Chaiyuth. There is not much known about this ancient form, but what is known is that during the Sukhothai-period, this style was replaced by a fighting style called Muay Chaiya. Until today, this style is the oldest form of unarmed combat known in Thailand and is still being practiced today. The style which is known as “Muay Boran” originated after a series of raids by the Burmese army into Thailand. King Ramathibodi moved his capital to the former Khmer strong hold of Ayutthaya. 

Here he had his army trained in armed and unarmed combat. Because Muay Boran was originally developed for use on the battlefield, all techniques were designed to inflict maximum damage onto its opponents. Punches and kicks within Muay Boran were designed so that they would break or shatter bones in one single strike. Next to punches, kicks, elbows and knees techniques used in Muay Boran, there are also arm and leg locks and strangulations.

Besides being used as a form of unarmed combat, Muay Boran developed itself into a martial art in which Thai men could test their skills in unarmed combat against others. Large crowds would form to watch the fighters go toe to toe against each other. Like with many other Asian martial arts, the monks took on the role of instructors (Khru), like for example the famous Shaolin monks from China. The Buddhist monks also added some spiritual elements to the sport. During festivities, Buddhist temples started organizing fights to entertain the people. Given the fact that ever self respecting Thai man is expected to spend some time living in a temple at some point in his live, the sport rapidly gained in popularity.

 Up to a point where it was considered normal that any Thai male would be able to defend himself by using Muay Boran. Initially, the fighters who took part didn't use any form of protection and would fight bare-handed. After some time, it became standard practice for a fighter who was taking part in Muay Boran fights to wrap his fists and forearms with hemp robe. Fights like these wouldn't be held in an official ring but just in an open space. The size of the “ring” wasn't marked by ropes, but just by the space given by the spectators.

Throughout the years, Muay Boran became so popular that the fights would become an integral part of any temple or village fair held in the Kingdom. Fights were even organized within the walls of the royal palace to entertain the royal family. Muay Boran also became a way for young men to advance their social status. The nobility in the Kingdom were trying to impress by linking the most skillful fighters to their name. Fighters were even invited by the royal family to teach Muay Boran to the princes. During the Ayutthaya period, a Muay regiment was formed to serve as personal body guards to the Royal family. 

They were known under the name Grom Nak Muay. The royal patronage was continued during the reign of King Khun Luang Sorasak, better known as the Tiger King. There are records dating back to that period which referenced to his passion for the art of Muay. There are stories which state that the King would sneak out of the palace disguised as a commoner so that he could take part in fights at local fairs and festivals. That way he would be able to test his skills against the best fighters in the Kingdom. Disguise was the only option because if they knew who he really was, no men would dare to raise his hand against the King.

Muay Boran Techniques

In Muay Boran, the legs are wider apart and the standard fighting position is much lower than in Muay Thai. It is comparable with traditional martial arts from China and India. Muay Boran requires speed, flexibility and agility from the fighter. He could, for example, punch the opponent on the head by using the opponent’s knee to jump up.

Because of its technique, Muay Boran is very effective in causing considerable damage to the opponent. It is very effective as every attack could result in broken bones or even death. The most remarkable thing about Muay Boran is the focus on the powerful elbow and knee strikes. This with the intention to knock out the opponent as quickly as possible; the next opponent on the battlefield could already be on his way!

 Muay Boran Rules

In the old Muay Boran rules for fights in the ring, the following attacks were prohibited: punches in the crouch, attacking an opponent who has already been floored, pulling hairs and biting. Weight classes were non-existent and there was no specially built ring. Instead of in a proper ring, fights took place in open areas in the midst of a circle of spectators. The duration of one round was calculated by placing a coconut in the water with a small hole in it. When the coconut sunk, someone sounded the drum to indicate the end of the round. Yet another Muay Thai history fact!

 Muay Boran Heroes

During the fall of the ancient Siamese capital city, Ayutthaya, in 1763, many groups of civilians, including large group Thai boxers, were taken as prisoners to the Burmese city of Ungwa. In 1774, the Burmese King, Hsinbyushin, which means “King Mangra” in Thai, decided to organize a religious festival in the city of Rangoon in honor of Buddha. This festival lasted for seven says and seven nights and consisted of several kinds of entertainment, such as traditional Burmese plays (also called Likay), comedians and traditional Burmese sword fencing events. 

At some point, the King wanted to see how Muay Boran compared to the Burmese style of boxing, Lethwei. One of the Thai boxing prisoners, Nai Khanom Tom, captured by the Burmese in Ayutthaya, was chosen to face the Burmese champion. The ring was set-up right in front of the throne of the King and before the fight started, Nai Khanom Tom performed the Wai Khru (Ram Muay), which is a traditional thing to do for Thai boxers before the start of each fight. By doing so, he showed respect to the King, spectators and of course his teacher. This was never witnessed before in the history of Burma. All the spectators, including the King, were deeply impressed by this symbol of respect.

When the fight started, he attacked his opponent by using punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. He kept on going until his opponent dropped on the floor and was not able to stand up anymore. However, the referee decided that the Burmese fighter was too distracted by the Wai Khru and the KO was declared invalid. In order to prove that the Wai Khru was not used to distract the opponent, the King requested Nai Khanom Tom to fight nine Burmese champions. He accepted the challenge and fought them one by one, without resting in between the fights. His last opponent was a well-known boxing teacher from Ya Kai. Nai Khanom Tom crippled him with his devastating kicks; nobody dared to fight him again.

muaythaihistoryKing Mangra was so impressed that he made the following remark: “Every part of this Thai is blessed with poison. Even with bare hands he can knock down nine or ten opponents. But his leader lacked ability and lost his country to his enemy. If he was a competent leader, it would have been impossible to take over the city of Ayutthaya”. King Mangra offered Nai Khanom Tom his freedom and made him choose between gold and two beautiful Burmese women. 

Nai Khanom Tom picked the women and said to the King: “Wealth is easier to find than a good wife”, after which he left to Siam (Thailand). In other versions of the same story, he also secured the release of his fellow Siamese prisoners, but this seems unlikely. Nai Khanom Tom’s good deed are still remembered and celebrated on the 17th of March, which is also known as “Boxing Day” or “National Muay Thai Day”.Nowadays, some have incorrectly attributed Nai Khanom Tom’s legend to King Naresuan, who was also a Burmese prisoner. However, both lived almost two centuries apart.

Muay Thai Techniques

Introduction

Previously, Muay Thai consisted of an arsenal of nine Muay Thai techniques / weapons, namely the head, fists, elbows, knees and feet, known collectively as na-wa arwud. However, in modern Muay Thai, both amateur and professional, head butting an opponent is no longer allowed.To strike and bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used: the clinch. Formal Muay Thai techniques are divided into two groups: 

Mae Mai (major Muay Thai techniques) and Luk Mai (minor Muay Thai 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. With the success of Muay Thai techniques in mixed martial arts fighting, it has become one of the prevalent martial arts of choice for competitive stand-up fighters. 

As a result, it has evolved and incorporated much more powerful hand striking techniques used in western style boxing and the Thai style of exchanging blow for blow is no longer favorable. Note: when Muay Thai fighters compete against fighters of other styles (and if the rules permit it), they almost invariably emphasize elbow (sok) and knee (kao) techniques to gain a distinct advantage in fighting.Almost all Muay Thai techniques use the entire body movement, rotating the hip with each kick, punch, elbow and block. The rotation of the hips in Muay Thai techniques, and intensive focus on "core muscles" (such as abdominal muscles and surrounding muscles) is very distinctive and is what sets Muay Thai apart from other styles.

 Punch (Thai: Chok) 

muay thai punchThe hand techniques in Muay Thai were originally quite straight forward: a long (or lazy) circular strike was made with a straight (but not locked) arm with the purpose to land on the target 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 in Muay Thai techniques: jab, straight right/cross, hook, uppercut, shovel and corkscrew punches and overhands as well as hammer fists and back fists. Body punching is used less in Muay Thai than most other striking martial arts to avoid exposing the attacker's head to counter strikes from knees or elbows.

The boxing techniques used by Muay Thai practitioners are generally punches from a distance. 

This is unlike the western boxing where the opponents like to fight chin to chin. The reason is that Muay Thai fighters also should take account of kicks and knees. Muay Thai fighters often use long punches as an introduction to be followed by a kick, knee or elbow. But there are also many fighters that successfully adapted a western style of boxing.For a proper position during a fight, a Muay Thai fighter will almost always assume that his "core line" will end up right in front of his opponent so that he can bombard his opponent at both sides of the body with maximum force behind his techniques.

The different Muay Thai techniques (punches) along with the Thai name:

Jab  หมัดตร   Mud Trong

Hook หมัดเหวี่ยงสั้น  Mud Wiang San

Swing หมัดเหวี่ยงยาว  Mud Wiang Yao

Spinning Backfist   หมัดเหวี่ยงกลับ   Mud Wiang Glub

Uppercut   หมัดเสย ( หมัดสอยดาว )   Mud Seuy

 Elbow (Thai: Tee Sok)

muay thai elbowThe 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 blood also raises the opponent's awareness of being hurt which could affect his performance. This is the most common way of using the elbow. The diagonal elbows are faster than the other forms, but are less powerful. The uppercut and flying elbows are the most powerful, but are slower and easier to avoid or block. The downward elbow is usually used as a finishing move.

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 elbows, 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 defense against, for example, spring knees, side body knees, body kicks or punches.

The different Muay Thai techniques (elbows) along with the Thai name:

Elbow Slash   ศอกตี   Sok Tee

Horizontal Elbow ศอกตัด   Sok Tud

Elbow Uppercut  ศอกงัด   Sok Ngud

Forward Elbow Thrust  ศอกพุ่ง   Sok Poong

Reverse Horizontal Elbow  ศอกเหวี่ยงกลับ  Sok Wiang Glub

Spinning Elbow ศอกกลับ    Sok Glub

Elbow Chop  ศอกสับ    Sok Sub

Double Elbow  Chop ศอกกลับคู่    Sok Glub Maru

Mid-Air Elbow Strike  กระโดดศอก    Gra-dode Sok

 Kick (Thai: Teh)

muay thai kickThe two most common kicks in Muay Thai techniques are known as the teep (literally "foot jab"), and the The (kick) Chiang (kicking upwards in the shape of a triangle cutting under the arm and ribs) or angle kick. The Muay Thai angle kick has been widely adopted by fighters from other martial arts and is considered one of or the most powerful kicks in martial arts. The angle kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body. The angle kick is superficially similar to a karate roundhouse kick, but omits the rotation of the lower leg from the knee used in other striking martial arts like Karate or Taekwondo. The angle kick draws its power entirely from the rotational movement of the body. Many Muay Thai fighters use a counter rotation of the arms to intensify the power of this kick. Muay Thai has a style of kicking unique to the martial art.

If a round house kick is attempted by the opponent the Muay Thai fighter will normally check the kick and blocks the kick with his own shin. Thai boxers are trained to always connect with the shin. While sensitive in an unconditioned practitioner, the shin is the strongest part of the leg for experienced Muay Thai fighters. 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 axe kick, side kick or spinning back kick etc. These kicks are only used in bouts by some fighters. It is worth noting that a side kick is performed differently in Muay Thai than the traditional side kick of other martial arts. In Muay Thai, a side kick is executed by first raising the knee of the leg that is going to kick in order to convince the opponent that the executor is going to perform a teep or front kick. The hips are then shifted to the side to the more traditional side kick position for the kick itself. The "fake-out" almost always precedes the kick in Muay Thai technique.

The different Muay Thai techniques (kicks) along with the Thai name:

Straight Kick เตะตรง Teh Trong

Roundhouse Kick เตะตัด Teh Tud

Diagonal Kick เตะเฉียง Teh Chiang

Half-Shin, Half-Knee Kick เตะครึ่งแข้งครึ่งเข่า Teh Krueng Kheng Kao

Spinning Heel Kick เตะกลับหลัง Teh Glub Lang

Down Roundhouse Kick เตะกด Teh Kod

Axe Heel Kick เตะเข่า Teh Khao

Jump Kick กระโดดเตะ Gra-dode Teh

Step-Up Kick เขยิบเตะ KhaYiep Teh

 Clinch (Thai: Djab-ko)

In Western Boxing the two fighters are separated when they clinch; in Muay Thai, however, they are not. It is often in the clinch where knee and elbow Muay Thai techniques are used. It seems that the methodology of "djab -ko" is evolved from "Greco roman style wrestling maneuvers" especially after 1940's with some differences enabling especially "knee attacks" and also "elbows" with a much more stiffer stance. 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.

In the ring fighters are wearing boxing gloves and cannot intertwine their fingers.

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.

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 correctly preformed 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 him or her, as the clinch requires both participants to be very close to one another. Additionally, the non-dominant clincher can try to "swim" his or her arm underneath and inside the opponent's clinch, establishing the previously non-dominant clincher as the dominant clincher.

Muay Thai includes several other variants of the clinch, including:

Arm clinch, where 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 passing 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, with both controlling arms passing under the defender's arms, which is generally used by the shorter of two opponents.

Swan-neck, where one hand around the rear of the neck is used to briefly clinch an opponent (before a strike).

 Defense

In the defense of Muay Thai, the concept of "wall of defense" is used, in which shoulders, arms and legs are used to hinder the attacker from successfully executing Muay Thai 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 kicks are normally blocked with the upper portion of a raised shin. High body strikes are blocked with the forearm/glove, elbow/shin. Mid section roundhouse kicks 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 your hair," raising the elbow forward and effectively shielding the head with the forearm, flexed biceps, and shoulder.

More advanced Muay Thai blocks are usually counters, used to damage the opponent to prevent another attack being made. The punching Muay Thai techniques consist of "long distance punches " in common and are a bit different if compared to "quinsburry-western style boxing" in general. The reason of this is that the fighters are challenging against kicks, the Thai fighters mostly use the long direct punches as an intermediate step into throwing kicks, knees or elbows, however, there are also many fighters using "western style boxing methodology" and are also successful.

Defensive Muay Thai techniques can be divided into 6 groups:

Blocking – defender's hard blocks to stop a strike in its path so preventing it reaching its target, (eg the Shin Block described in more detail below).

Redirection – defender's soft parries to change the direction of a strike (eg 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, eg defender moving the front leg backwards from the attacker's low kick: then immediately counter-attacking with an angle kick: or defender laying the head back from the attacker's high angle kick: then immediately counter-attacking with a side kick from the front leg.

Evasion – moving the body out of the way or range of a strike so the defender has to move close again to counter-attack, eg defender jumping back from attacker's kicks.

Disruption – Pre-empting an attack. eg with defender using disruptive techniques like jab, teep or low angle kick (to the inside of the attacker's front leg) as the attacker attempts to close distance.

Anticipation – Defender catching a strike (eg catching an angle kick to the body) or countering it before it lands (eg defender's low kick to the supporting leg below as the attacker iniates a high angle kick).

 Muay Thai Training

Muay Thai training consists out of a one on one training with coaches on Thai pads, focus mitts, 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. 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 train 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 Muay Thai techniques practiced on the pads. Sparring is a means to test Muay Thai techniques, 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 fighting and 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. It is a common myth that Thai boxing causes arthritis; this is not true, and it is in no way more damaging to the body than other sports such as karate or even running. 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 don't practice the sport or practice it only as amateur Muay Thai boxers.

                                                                                

                                                      Nick  thaisnake