A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUAY THAI BOXING

Thai boxing, or Muay Thai as the Thai people call it, is a traditional art of self defense of the Thais. It is different from international boxing in that in the Thai style of unarmed fighting, feet, elbows and knees are used as well as fists. Thus, it resembles more to a real free- for-all fight and is therefore considered superior to international boxing as an art of self defense. As it is more exacting, a Thai boxing match lasts only five rounds of three minutes each, with a two-minute rest between rounds.

Since ancient times the Thai rulers have attached great importance to the training of their soldiers and the ordinary people in the skills of hand-to-hand fighting, both with and without weapons. While the latter is known as muay, the former is called krabi-krabong, literally sword and baton, though the weapons used are not limited to these two. Very often, the rulers themselves were great fighters--strong, valiant and skilled in the art. That is one of the reasons why the Thais emerged a victor in their rivalry with other races and became dominant in this part of the world. When the first Thai kingdom was set up in the late 13th century with Sukhothai as capital, a piece of ground in front of the palace was used by the king himself for practicing shadow boxing and also as a stadium where boxing contests were held to select good boxers as palace guards. When the power of Sukhothai declined, another Thai kingdom rose in the lower reaches of the Chao Phraya River in 1350 with Ayutthaya as capital. The Kingdom was ruled successively by 35 kings of five dynasties until 1767, when Ayutthaya was occupied by the Burmese invaders. During this long period of over four centuries, several outstanding Thai boxers were produced. The first was King Naresuan the Great (1590-1605). When Naresuan was a boy of nine, he was taken to Burma as a hostage following the first fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese which resulted in the conqueror's installation of Naresuan's father, Maha Thammaraja, as the new king of Siam. Six years later, the Siamese prince was allowed to come back home, but only after he had won a boxing match with a well- known Burmese pugilist, which was a precondition set by the Burmese ruler for his release. Latter, Naresuan declared Siam's independence from Burma and, with his fighting skills, was able to repel another invasion from Burma and killed the crown prince of the enemy in the decisive battle. Another Ayutthayan king known for his fondness of and expertise in boxing was Sanpet VIII. He once fought two boxers consecutively in a village fair not far from the capital. He beat both of them and won a prize of two bath from the ringmaster without revealing his real identity. But he did not use his special ability to bring glory to his country, but indulged himself in sensual pleasure. He soon acquired the bad reputation of being a cruel sexual pervert and the infamous nickname of "King Tiger". Another very well known Thai boxer was a commoner named Khanomtom. He was among some 30,000 Thais taken to Burma as prisoners after the second fall of Ayutthaya in 1767. The next year a grand festival was held at a Buddhist temple in Rangoon where a holy relic of the Buddha was enshrined. Boxing contests were organized at the temple and Khanomtom was sent as a representative of the Thai prisoners of war. Having been well trained in the use of his fists, feet, elbows and knees in fighting, Khanomtom incredibly defeated 10 Burmese boxers in succession and was highly commended by the Burmese king. His extraordi- nary exploit is recorded in school textbooks and is known to every Thai school-children today. After expelling the Burmese aggressors in late 1767, Phraya Taksin ascended the throne at Thom Buri. Himself a great warrior and keen boxer, the king spared no efforts in promoting the art of hand-to-hang fighting. Links his predecessors, he held boxing matches in his palace grounds. Among these the best known was Phraya Phichai the Broken Sword. He got the nickname because he once broke his sword in a fierce fight with the enemy and subsequently killed the enemy with the broken sword. He was later made governor of Phichai with the title of phraya. RamaI, who founded the Chakri dynasty in Bangkok in 1782, also used the grounds in front of his palace as an arena where boxing matches were held to select his guardsmen. Once during his reign, there were two French brothers coming to Bangkok looking for rivals in free-style boxing contests with stakes. They had toured several cities in Indochina for the same purpose and had won a lot of money. To meet the challenge, the king assigned his foremost boxer Muen phlan to fight one of the brothers. It was an uphill task for the Thai boxer who was inferior in size and weight. However, he was able to use his superior skills in kicking, punching and attacking with elbows and knees to his advantage and defeated the brothers one after the other. Rama V (1868-1910) was another king who was a great patron of boxing. He promoted the martial art by setting up his own boxing camp and encouraging the princes and other members of the nobility to do the same in all major cities of the country. He arranged boxing contests regularly and awarded the winners with rank and money. Rama VI (1910-1925) took a step further by allowing commoners to run their own boxing camps, boxing rings and boxing competitions. The first modern boxing ring was erected on the football ground of Wang Suan Kulap or Rose Garden Palace in Bangkok. It was a raised square space enclosed by ropes with two referees to control matches, one at the blue corner and the other at the red corner. In a contest, the boxers' hands were bound with strings instead of wearing padded gloves as is the universal practice today. Thus, Thai boxers of former times could do much greater damage to each other in a match. What is most strange is the timing device, which was a holed coconut shell. It was placed in a tub filled with water at the beginning of a round. The round ended as soon as the coconut shell was completely immersed in the water. The best Thai boxer of the time was a Korat man named Yang Hanthale. He became internationally known after beating a Shaolin-school boxer from China, Chin Chang, in a free- style match at the palace stadium. Chin was defeated because he failed to find an effective way to fend off the quick and powerful high kicking of the Thai boxer. Consequenty, he was hit at the neck into unconsciousness and had to be carried off the ring. The boxing ring was successively moved to Tha Chang, Suan Sanuk and Lak Muang, all inside the ormer walled city of Bangkok. It was in 1919 when boxing matches were held at Tha Chang that the rules of Thai boxing were changed to require all boxers to wear boxing gloves in contests. All the above boxing rings were temporary structures. The first permanent boxing stadium in Bangkok was built on Rachadamnoen Nok Road and was first opened in December 1945. Half a century later, Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium is still one of the two major stadium in the capital, where both Thai and international boxing matches are staged regularly, the other being Lumphini Boxing Stadium near Lumphini Park. Major matches are often televised live. And there are many other boxing rings in large cities throughout the country. So it is not difficult for a foreign visitor to Thailand to find out at first hand what Thai boxing is like. 
-By Thawat Watthana

Muay Thai techniques

In its original form, Muay Thai consisted of an arsenal of nine weapons - the head, fists, elbows, knees and feet - known collectively as na-wa arwud. However in modern Muay Thai, both amateur and professional, headbutting 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 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. With the success of Muay Thai in mixed martial arts fighting, it has become the de facto martial art 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 techniques in Muay Thai use the entire body movement, rotating the hip with each kick, punch, 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 of martial arts.
Punching (Chok)

    English     Thai     Transliteration     IPA
    Straight punch     หมัดตรง     Mud Trong     mɑd troŋ
    Hook     หมัดเหวี่ยงสั้น     Mud Wiang San     mɑd wɪɑŋ sɑn
    Swing     หมัดเหวี่ยงยาว     Mud Wiang Yao     mɑd wɪɑŋ jɑːo
    Spinning backfist     หมัดเหวี่ยงกลับ     Mud Wiang Glub     mɑd wɪɑŋ glɑb
    Uppercut     หมัดเสย ( หมัดสอยดาว )     Mud Seuy     mɑd sɣɪ
    Cobra punch     กระโดดชก     Kra-dod Chok     grɑ doːd tʃog
    Undercut     หมัดฮุก     Mud Hook     mɑd hug

    The punch techniques in Muay Thai were originally quite simple 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: jab, straight right/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 martial arts to avoid exposing the attacker's head to counter strikes from knees or elbows. To utilise the range of targetting points, in keeping with the Theory of Muay Thai - Centre Line, the advocate can use either Western or Thai stance which allows for either long range or short range attacks to be undertaken effectively without compromising guard.

    Elbow (Tee 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 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.

    English     Thai     Transliteration     IPA
    Elbow Slash     ศอกตี     Sok Tee     sɔ̀ːk tīː
    Horizontal Elbow     ศอกตัด     Sok Tud     sɔ̀ːk tàd̥
    Uppercut Elbow     ศอกงัด     Sok Ngud     sɔ̀ːk ŋád̥
    Forward Elbow Thrust     ศอกพุ่ง     Sok Poong     sɔ̀ːk pʰûŋ
    Reverse Horizontal Elbow     ศอกเหวี่ยงกลับ     Sok Wiang Glub     sɔ̀ːk wìːaŋ klàb̥
    Spinning Elbow     ศอกกลับ     Sok Glub     sɔ̀ːk klàb̥
    Elbow Chop     ศอกสับ     Sok Sub     sɔ̀ːk sàb̥
    Double Elbow Chop     ศอกกลับคู่     Sok Glub Koo      
    Mid-Air Elbow Strike     กระโดดศอก     Gra-dode Sok      

    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 utilised to great effect as blocks or defences against, for example, spring knees, side body knees, body kicks or punches.

    Kicking (Teh)
    Low kick
    Roundhouse high kick

    English     Thai     Transliteration
    Straight Kick     เตะตรง     Teh Trong
    Roundhouse Kick     เตะตัด     Teh Tud
    Diagonal Kick     เตะเฉียง     Teh Chiang
    Half-Shin, Half-Knee Kick     เตะครึ่งแข้งครึ่งเข่า     Teh Krueng Kheng Krueng 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

    The two most common kicks in Muay Thai are known as the teep (literally "foot jab,"), and the Teh(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 kick in martial arts.[citation needed] 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.

    If a round house kick is attempted by the opponent the Muay Thai fighter will normally block with his 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.

    Knee (Tee kao)[6]

    English     Thai     Transliteration
    Straight Knee Strike     เข่าตรง     Kao Trong
    Diagonal Knee Strike     เข่าเฉียง     Kao Chiang
    Curving Knee Strike     เข่าโค้ง     Kao Kong
    Horizontal Knee Strike     เข่าตัด     Kao Tud
    Knee Slap     เข่าตบ     Kao Tob
    Knee Bomb     เข่ายาว     Kao Youwn
    Flying Knee Strike     เข่าลอย     Kao Loi
    Step-Up Knee Strike     เข่าเหยียบ     Kao Yiep

        * Kao Dode (Jumping knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up on one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
        * Kao Loi (Flying knee strike) - the Thai boxer takes step(s), jumps forward and off one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
        * Kao Tone (Straight knee strike) - the Thai boxer simply thrusts it forward (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 Kao Dode or Kao Loi.[citation needed] 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 (teep)

    Foot-Thrusts also known as Push Kicks or literally "foot jabs" are one of the most common techniques used in Muay Thai. Teeps are different from any other Muay Thai technique in terms of objective to use. Foot-thrusts are mainly used as a defensive technique to control distance, block attacks, and get an opponent off balance. Foot-Thrusts should be thrown quickly but yet with enough force to knock an opponent off balance.[7]

    English     Thai     Transliteration     IPA
    Straight Foot-Thrust     ถีบตรง     Teep Trong     tʰìːb̥ tròŋ
    Sideways Foot-Thrust     ถีบข้าง     Teep Kang     tʰìːb̥ kʰâːŋ
    Reverse Foot-Thrust     ถีบกลับหลัง     Teep Glub Lang     tʰìːb̥ klàb̥ làŋ
    Slapping Foot-Thrust     ถีบตบ     Teep Tob      
    Jumping Foot-Thrust     กระโดดถีบ     Gra-dode Teep     kràʔ dòːd̥ tʰìːb̥

    Clinch

    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 techniques are used. 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 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 has 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).[citation needed]

    Defense against attacks

    Defenses in Muay Thai are categorised in 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).

    Punches and kicks

    Defensively, the concept of "wall of defence" 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 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.

    Conditioning
    A fighter doing some heavy bag work in a training camp in Thailand.

    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 practitioners typically apply Namman Muay 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 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 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 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[citation needed], this is not true and 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.

                        Courtesy of Wikipedia.com