Post by dain on Jan 25, 2007 15:31:23 GMT -5
Muay thai; ("Thai Boxing") is the Thai name for a form of hard martial art practiced in several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Cambodia (where it is known as Pradal Serey), Malaysia (where it is known as Tomoi) and as a similar style in Myanmar (called Lethwei)and in Laos (Muay Lao) . The different styles of fighting in mainland South East Asia are analogous to the different types of Kung Fu in China or Silat in the South East Asian islands or Malay World. It is the national sport of Thailand, and is also known as Thai Boxing or Art of the Eight Limbs.
Muay Thai has a long history in Thailand. Today, the Thai military uses a modified form of Muay Thai called Lerdrit. Traditional Muay Thai, as it is practiced today, varies slightly from the original art and uses kicks and punches in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing. Muay Thai is referred to as "The Science of Eight Limbs", as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A master practitioner of Muay Thai thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight "points of contact," as opposed to "two points" (fists) in Western boxing and "four points" (fists, feet) used in the primarily sport-oriented forms of martial arts. Muay Thai is an especially versatile, brutal, straightforward martial art.
Nak Muay - A Muay Thai fighter
A pair of Muay Thai shorts, note the Thai text that translates to Muay Thai in English.Nak Su - Thai word for Muay Thai warrior (in Muay Thai term)
Kru - Instructor or trainer
Ajarn - Master or instructor (more advanced than kru)
Wai Kru (also transliterated as Whai Kru) - A ritual before a competition. The fighter performs three bows, on the third one the fighter concentrates, thinking about someone who is very dear to them. This ritual is meant to show respect toward family, gym and teacher.
Ram Muay - The Ram Muay is the pre-fight ritual conducted after the Wai Kru. It is a dance that the fighter performs to traditional music. In ancient times, the Ram Muay was used as a warm-up before a fight, but it is now performed prior to the beginning of a Muay Thai match.
Pra Jiad - A type of armband worn by Muay Thai fighters. The Pra Jiad gives good luck and confidence to the athletes. Some Muay Thai fighters prefer to wear one Pra Jiad, while others wear two. In some Western Muay Thai gyms colored Pra Jiad are used to show rank, much like the colored belt system used in Karate, Taekwondo, etc., although other methods of showing rank are used, as well.
Mong Kon - Headgear worn by Muay Thai fighters to signify those athletes whom their teachers feel have learned many of the skills and techniques of Muay Thai. They are presented at ceremonies honoring the fighters and are to be worn only in the ring during fights. However, they must never fall on, be close to or held near the ground as doing so will cause the Mong Kon to lose its magic. The student is never allowed to touch or handle the Mong Kon. Only his Kru or Ajarn may handle it. The trainer will take care of the headgear, will present the band to the fighter just before a competition and will recover it from him at the conclusion of the match. In the past, one could tell the school from which a fighter originated based on the color and style of his Mong Kon.
Krang Ruang - A Pra Jiad that has special meaning to the person wearing it. It could be anything from a piece of their father's hair to a swath from their mother's sarang.
Puang Malai - Floral wreaths that are given to a fighter before a fight by friends or fans. They look somewhat like the Hawaiian Lei.
Pre-fight rituals
Two young fighters doing the pre-match ritual.Even before entering the ring many fighters perform rituals. Some may kneel before the ring, others might pray with their coach or by themselves or perform a series of repetitive movements, such as touching the ring ropes 3 times. Thai boxers always climb over the top rope when entering the ring, because in Thai culture the head is considered to be more important than the feet, which are thought to be dirty. It is therefore important to always have the head above the feet while entering the ring. Once in the ring, a fighter might go to the center and bow to each side.
Now begins the Wai Kru ritual or (Wai khru ram muay). The Wai Kru usually starts with the fighter walking around the ring, counter-clockwise. This could be described as "sealing the ring", showing that the match is between only these two combatants. The ritual is both practical and spiritual. In a practical sense, it prepares the body for combat. During the Wai Kru there are many different movements and steps that a fighter might perform before the match, along with stretches. Some motions imitate, for example, a swallow, a hunter, a soldier or an executioner. Some fighters use this ritual to attempt to scare their opponents, commonly by stomping around them. But in a deeper sense, the fighter is expressing religious devotion, humility and gratitude. Transcending both physical and temporal limitations, he opens himself to the divine presence and allows it to infuse his heart and soul. In ancient times, the ritual was intended to show devotion to the King and the fighter's mentor. Today, that devotion is given to the organizer of the match and the fighter's trainer.[1] The ritual also gives the fighter some time alone before the fight to collect his thoughts and concentrate on the task ahead.
After this dance, the fighter walks over to his coach who removes the Mongkon and the Pong Malai. The match begins after a review of the rules by the judge and a glove shake.
Techniques
The basic offensive techniques in Muay Thai use fists, elbows, shins, feet, and knees to strike the opponent. To bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used: the clinch. 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 in order 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.
The Clinch
The fighter on the left has the dominant position in the Thai clinch, although both fighters should have their heads pulled as high as possible to prevent themselves from being pulled down and kneed. (Note that the proper grip is shown by the fighter on the left; intertwining fingers is impossible with boxing gloves on. )The clinch is applied by holding the opponent either around the neck and head or around the body, although clinching around the body is rare and is usually avoided. The neck hold is usually called the Thai clinch. Clinching is used extensively in Muay Thai and sometimes goes on for a whole round, although it is very rare. 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 techniques are used. The clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other and not as shown in the picture.[citation needed] There are two 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 clinch involves pressing the forearms or elbows together to get control of the opponents head or neck and move him around. Intertwining the fingers makes it much harder to apply the amount of pressure on the neck needed to gain control.
A correct clinch also involves your forearms pressing against the other fighters collar bone while your hands are around the opponents head rather than his neck.
Defense against 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 his 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, knee/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.
Elbow techniques
The elbow can be used in seven ways: 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 your 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. That's 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 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 opponents head.
Kicking techniques
The teep (literally "foot jab," similar to a front kick) and the roundhouse kick are the two most common kicks in Muay Thai. The Muay Thai roundhouse kick has been widely adopted by fighters from other martial arts. The roundhouse kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body. 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. The foot contains many fine bones and is much weaker. A fighter may end up hurting himself if he tries to attack with his foot.
Muay Thai also includes other varieties of kicking, such as the crescent kick, side kick or spinning back kick. But these are rarely used compared to the teep and the roundhouse kick.
Knee techniques
Some knee techniques ("kao")
Kao Dode (Jumping knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up on one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
Kao Loi (Jumping or Flying knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up or takes step(s), springs up off one leg and in mid-air switches to the other knee to strike. A quite spectacular sight when it connects.
Kao Tone (Straight knee strike) - the Thai boxer simply thrusts it straight upwards. According to one written source, this technique is somewhat more recent than Kao Dode or Kao 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 or sometimes by the glass glued onto the "rope-gloves". This explanation also holds true for some of the following knee strikes below as well.
Kao Noi (Small knee strike) - the Thai boxer hits the inside upper thigh (above the knee) of the opponent when clinching. This technique is used to wear down the opponent or to counter the opponent's knee strike or kick.
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.
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 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, counter-punching and are also 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. 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 practise the sport as amateur Muay Thai boxers.
History
A thaiboxer praying during the Wai Kru before match.Muay Thai is considered by some to be a derivation of a general indigenous martial art style native to Southeast Asia. Muay Thai was the first of these styles to be popularized outside of Southeast Asia.
Muay Thai began as Krabi Krabong, the Siamese weapon-based style. When disarmed, Krabi Krabong practitioners resort to unarmed fighting techniques centred on kicks and wrestling -like throws. Developing through time and natural evolution of the art, it gave birth to Muay Boran, ancient style Muay Thai. As the basis of battlefield warfare evolved technologically, hand-to-hand combat was no longer required within the military. Muay Boran was divided to Muay ThaSao (North), Muay Thai Korat (Esarn or Northeast), Muay Thai Lobburee (Center region) and Muay Thai Chaiya (South).
Muay Korat emphasizes strength. There is one technique called "Throwing Buffalo Punch", called this because it can supposedly defeat a buffalo in one blow. Muay Lobburee emphasizes clever movements. Its strong points are the straight and turned punches. Muay Chaiya emphasizes posture and defense, as well as elbows and knees. Muay Thasao emphasizes in speed, particularly in kicking. Because of their faster speed, this Muay Boran was called "Ling Lom" (windy monkey or Loris).
Muay Thai became a sporting martial art, kept alive in Thailand as a competitive sport, and for many, a way of life.
Traditionally in the past, Muay Thai was used as entertainment to kings. It is thought by some sources that the gloves were made out of wrapped twine, tar, and broken pieces of glass to ensure a bloody event, however it is still a subject of debate. Some argue that the notion of incorporating broken glass into the gloves of a Muay Thai fighter could have been taken from a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. Others suggest it was abrasives such as ground glass and sand that covered the gloves, rather than actual pieces of broken glass.
Muay Thai has a long history in Thailand. Today, the Thai military uses a modified form of Muay Thai called Lerdrit. Traditional Muay Thai, as it is practiced today, varies slightly from the original art and uses kicks and punches in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing. Muay Thai is referred to as "The Science of Eight Limbs", as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A master practitioner of Muay Thai thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight "points of contact," as opposed to "two points" (fists) in Western boxing and "four points" (fists, feet) used in the primarily sport-oriented forms of martial arts. Muay Thai is an especially versatile, brutal, straightforward martial art.
Nak Muay - A Muay Thai fighter
A pair of Muay Thai shorts, note the Thai text that translates to Muay Thai in English.Nak Su - Thai word for Muay Thai warrior (in Muay Thai term)
Kru - Instructor or trainer
Ajarn - Master or instructor (more advanced than kru)
Wai Kru (also transliterated as Whai Kru) - A ritual before a competition. The fighter performs three bows, on the third one the fighter concentrates, thinking about someone who is very dear to them. This ritual is meant to show respect toward family, gym and teacher.
Ram Muay - The Ram Muay is the pre-fight ritual conducted after the Wai Kru. It is a dance that the fighter performs to traditional music. In ancient times, the Ram Muay was used as a warm-up before a fight, but it is now performed prior to the beginning of a Muay Thai match.
Pra Jiad - A type of armband worn by Muay Thai fighters. The Pra Jiad gives good luck and confidence to the athletes. Some Muay Thai fighters prefer to wear one Pra Jiad, while others wear two. In some Western Muay Thai gyms colored Pra Jiad are used to show rank, much like the colored belt system used in Karate, Taekwondo, etc., although other methods of showing rank are used, as well.
Mong Kon - Headgear worn by Muay Thai fighters to signify those athletes whom their teachers feel have learned many of the skills and techniques of Muay Thai. They are presented at ceremonies honoring the fighters and are to be worn only in the ring during fights. However, they must never fall on, be close to or held near the ground as doing so will cause the Mong Kon to lose its magic. The student is never allowed to touch or handle the Mong Kon. Only his Kru or Ajarn may handle it. The trainer will take care of the headgear, will present the band to the fighter just before a competition and will recover it from him at the conclusion of the match. In the past, one could tell the school from which a fighter originated based on the color and style of his Mong Kon.
Krang Ruang - A Pra Jiad that has special meaning to the person wearing it. It could be anything from a piece of their father's hair to a swath from their mother's sarang.
Puang Malai - Floral wreaths that are given to a fighter before a fight by friends or fans. They look somewhat like the Hawaiian Lei.
Pre-fight rituals
Two young fighters doing the pre-match ritual.Even before entering the ring many fighters perform rituals. Some may kneel before the ring, others might pray with their coach or by themselves or perform a series of repetitive movements, such as touching the ring ropes 3 times. Thai boxers always climb over the top rope when entering the ring, because in Thai culture the head is considered to be more important than the feet, which are thought to be dirty. It is therefore important to always have the head above the feet while entering the ring. Once in the ring, a fighter might go to the center and bow to each side.
Now begins the Wai Kru ritual or (Wai khru ram muay). The Wai Kru usually starts with the fighter walking around the ring, counter-clockwise. This could be described as "sealing the ring", showing that the match is between only these two combatants. The ritual is both practical and spiritual. In a practical sense, it prepares the body for combat. During the Wai Kru there are many different movements and steps that a fighter might perform before the match, along with stretches. Some motions imitate, for example, a swallow, a hunter, a soldier or an executioner. Some fighters use this ritual to attempt to scare their opponents, commonly by stomping around them. But in a deeper sense, the fighter is expressing religious devotion, humility and gratitude. Transcending both physical and temporal limitations, he opens himself to the divine presence and allows it to infuse his heart and soul. In ancient times, the ritual was intended to show devotion to the King and the fighter's mentor. Today, that devotion is given to the organizer of the match and the fighter's trainer.[1] The ritual also gives the fighter some time alone before the fight to collect his thoughts and concentrate on the task ahead.
After this dance, the fighter walks over to his coach who removes the Mongkon and the Pong Malai. The match begins after a review of the rules by the judge and a glove shake.
Techniques
The basic offensive techniques in Muay Thai use fists, elbows, shins, feet, and knees to strike the opponent. To bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used: the clinch. 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 in order 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.
The Clinch
The fighter on the left has the dominant position in the Thai clinch, although both fighters should have their heads pulled as high as possible to prevent themselves from being pulled down and kneed. (Note that the proper grip is shown by the fighter on the left; intertwining fingers is impossible with boxing gloves on. )The clinch is applied by holding the opponent either around the neck and head or around the body, although clinching around the body is rare and is usually avoided. The neck hold is usually called the Thai clinch. Clinching is used extensively in Muay Thai and sometimes goes on for a whole round, although it is very rare. 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 techniques are used. The clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other and not as shown in the picture.[citation needed] There are two 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 clinch involves pressing the forearms or elbows together to get control of the opponents head or neck and move him around. Intertwining the fingers makes it much harder to apply the amount of pressure on the neck needed to gain control.
A correct clinch also involves your forearms pressing against the other fighters collar bone while your hands are around the opponents head rather than his neck.
Defense against 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 his 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, knee/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.
Elbow techniques
The elbow can be used in seven ways: 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 your 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. That's 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 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 opponents head.
Kicking techniques
The teep (literally "foot jab," similar to a front kick) and the roundhouse kick are the two most common kicks in Muay Thai. The Muay Thai roundhouse kick has been widely adopted by fighters from other martial arts. The roundhouse kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body. 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. The foot contains many fine bones and is much weaker. A fighter may end up hurting himself if he tries to attack with his foot.
Muay Thai also includes other varieties of kicking, such as the crescent kick, side kick or spinning back kick. But these are rarely used compared to the teep and the roundhouse kick.
Knee techniques
Some knee techniques ("kao")
Kao Dode (Jumping knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up on one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
Kao Loi (Jumping or Flying knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up or takes step(s), springs up off one leg and in mid-air switches to the other knee to strike. A quite spectacular sight when it connects.
Kao Tone (Straight knee strike) - the Thai boxer simply thrusts it straight upwards. According to one written source, this technique is somewhat more recent than Kao Dode or Kao 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 or sometimes by the glass glued onto the "rope-gloves". This explanation also holds true for some of the following knee strikes below as well.
Kao Noi (Small knee strike) - the Thai boxer hits the inside upper thigh (above the knee) of the opponent when clinching. This technique is used to wear down the opponent or to counter the opponent's knee strike or kick.
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.
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 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, counter-punching and are also 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. 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 practise the sport as amateur Muay Thai boxers.
History
A thaiboxer praying during the Wai Kru before match.Muay Thai is considered by some to be a derivation of a general indigenous martial art style native to Southeast Asia. Muay Thai was the first of these styles to be popularized outside of Southeast Asia.
Muay Thai began as Krabi Krabong, the Siamese weapon-based style. When disarmed, Krabi Krabong practitioners resort to unarmed fighting techniques centred on kicks and wrestling -like throws. Developing through time and natural evolution of the art, it gave birth to Muay Boran, ancient style Muay Thai. As the basis of battlefield warfare evolved technologically, hand-to-hand combat was no longer required within the military. Muay Boran was divided to Muay ThaSao (North), Muay Thai Korat (Esarn or Northeast), Muay Thai Lobburee (Center region) and Muay Thai Chaiya (South).
Muay Korat emphasizes strength. There is one technique called "Throwing Buffalo Punch", called this because it can supposedly defeat a buffalo in one blow. Muay Lobburee emphasizes clever movements. Its strong points are the straight and turned punches. Muay Chaiya emphasizes posture and defense, as well as elbows and knees. Muay Thasao emphasizes in speed, particularly in kicking. Because of their faster speed, this Muay Boran was called "Ling Lom" (windy monkey or Loris).
Muay Thai became a sporting martial art, kept alive in Thailand as a competitive sport, and for many, a way of life.
Traditionally in the past, Muay Thai was used as entertainment to kings. It is thought by some sources that the gloves were made out of wrapped twine, tar, and broken pieces of glass to ensure a bloody event, however it is still a subject of debate. Some argue that the notion of incorporating broken glass into the gloves of a Muay Thai fighter could have been taken from a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. Others suggest it was abrasives such as ground glass and sand that covered the gloves, rather than actual pieces of broken glass.