The History Of Thai Fights

By Wanda Rosner


Thai fights are a kind of sport in Thailand that involve stand up striking combined with different grappling techniques. This traditional Thailand combat of fighting is famously known as the art of eight limbs since it involves the use of all limbs: fists, knees, feet, and elbows. There is a professional league in Thailand organized and governed by the World Thai Council.

In the old days, the technique was traditionally used as an actual fighting combat in warfare, and was only later practiced as a sport. The opponents would meet in a ring in front of spectators gathered to watch the match as entertainment. As time went by, the fights became an integral part of the local traditions and celebrations of the people of Thailand, especially those organized in the temples. Later on, fighters were given hemp rope that they tied around their hands and forearms to protect themselves. This type of match was called the muay khat chueak.

During the 19th century, with the rise of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), muay advanced to a great height, and the country became at peace, using the technique mostly as a means of leisure and sometimes in self-defense. The first boxing ring in Thailand was constructed in 1921, where referees were brought in and fighters were clothed with modern gloves and hard groin protectors.

When knots were tied on the ropes on the knuckles, the strikes became more severe and damaging to the fighters. This was evidenced when an opponent was killed in the ring, prompting the use of gloves and cotton coverlets as replacements. The previous version known as muay boran became extinct, and is modernly used as a presentation form of art.

The latter is now practiced mainly as a presentation art form. There are two groups of muay Thai fighting combats: major techniques (mae mai ) and luk mai ( minor techniques). In any case, most of the techniques involve the movement of the whole body, circling the hip when taking every kick, punch, elbow or block.

Several techniques are used to prevent attacks. Redirection is used when a defender wades off an attack by changing its direction, making it to miss its designation, or blocking to prevent a strike by stopping it before it reaches him/her. The defender can also use avoidance, in which he/she moves his/her body or part to avoid being hit, and then finds space to counter attack.

The defender may also use the evasion technique, in which he moves the whole body out of the way, and then moves back again for a counter attack. Additionally, he may use disruption technique, by bridging an attack. Occasionally, the defender may find it useful to use the anticipation technique too. This could be in the form of countering a roundhouse kick to the body before it lands.

In the past, muay Thai was used to improve body fitness and toughness, which is required when participating in a match. The training can be in the form of running, jumping, shadowboxing, medicine ball exercises, weight training ,abdominal exercises, and bodyweight resistance exercises. These are useful to the health and fitness of the fighter.




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