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Brief History of Muay Thai/Thai Boxing

By Thawat Watthana

 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 extraordinary 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 nick-name 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 box-ing 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 de-vice, 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. Consequently, 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 former 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, Rachadamnoen 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 Lumpini Boxing Stadium near Lumpini Park. Major matches are often televised live. 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.



Muay Thai Techniques

 Unlike most traditional styles, Muay Thai does not contain many difficult or flashy techniques that take years of training to learn. The techniques of Muay Thai have been simplified for maximum efficiency. Primarily, a Thai Boxer will use the round kick, foot jab (or push kick), knees, elbow strikes and boxing hand techniques to inflict damage upon his or her opponent. Rarely (almost never) will a Thai Boxer leave the ground in a jumping technique and even more rarely will he turn his back in a spinning technique; these are not considered effective techniques by Thai stylists.

 In terms of power, the Thai round kick is nearly unequaled in any other art. Unlike Japanese or Korean styles, it does not 'snap' back from the knee after striking its target. Also, it does not employ the foot or instep as the striking surface. The Thai round kick is a powerful kick that gets its power from the torque of the hips and lower spine. The knee does not bend much and there is no 'chambering' of the leg as in other styles. As the hips rotate, the leg naturally follows, much like a baseball bat follows the turn of a batter's shoulders. When the kick connects, it does so on the Thai Boxer's shin, making for an extremely painful experience for the target. If this kick connects with the neck or side of the head, unconsciousness or even death can result. There is a myth that Thai stylists only kick to the legs. While the low kick is a characteristic of Muay Thai, a Thai Boxer is equally comfortable kicking to the ribs or the head.

 The Thais have raised elbows and knees to an art form and these two weapons are per-haps the signature of the style. The knee strikes come fast and hard, and if a Thai Boxer manages to clinch his opponent, the knees do significant damage to the opponent's mid-section. While el-bows are usually reserved for close-in fighting, they are just as devastating as the knees. A well placed elbow to the temple can seriously injure even the most robust fighter.

 Thai hand techniques are similar to Western boxing hand techniques, and in fact, many have been adopted from modern pugilism. It is another myth that the Muay Thai stylist cannot use his hands, nothing could be further from the truth!

 It is no wonder that with these brutal techniques, Muay Thai fighters are among the most feared in the world. Many Western kickboxers will not even step into the ring with a Muay Thai fighter, and with good reason. It should be noted that Muay Thai is NOT kickboxing. Kickboxing employs many karate and tae kwon do kicks and hands (such as the backfist or spinning-kicks), and is not connected to Muay Thai, a fact that many kickboxers seem to forget.



Training

 A typical Muay Thai workout is very different from other styles. Muay Thai has no forms, and punching or kicking the air has very little training value. Thus, unlike a karate class, where lines of students move up and down the floor, executing various techniques, a Muay Thai training session may seem more unorganized. Like many other styles, however, many of the training methods have their roots in the old ways. One such example is the kicking pad.

 In the past, the Thai would kick, knee, elbow and punch a young banana sapling until it became soft. Then the trainer would wrap the trunk of the sapling around his forearms, and the fighter would practice kicking and punching some more. Today, we use thick, hard pads to protect our forearms when taking a round kick from a training partner. This is perhaps the origin of the stereotypic tree-kicking scene in kickboxing movies.

 A Muay Thai workout is very intense and aerobic. After warming-up and stretching then techniques are practiced. One favorite drill is the minute round. In this grueling drill, a student must alternate round kicks, two kicks each leg, for a full minute. The focus is not form but power and conditioning. A student who can kick 80 - 100 times in a minute is in top shape. Other drills include heavy-bag work and focus pad drills for hand techniques.

 Sparring in Muay Thai is also very different from other styles. There is absolutely no point-sparring in Thai Boxing. Sparring must be approached very carefully. In Thailand, full-contact sparring (with the appropriate gear) is common. In other camps, sparring must be an exercise in timing and response, rather than power. Usually, shaddowing an opponent, coupled with medium contact, is sufficient. In all cases, sparring gear MUST be worn.



Traditions

 Approximately 90% of Thai people are Buddhist and thus much of Muay Thai has it's roots in Buddhism. Prior to each match, there is a warrior's dance, called the Ram Muay, where each fighter seals the ring from outside influences, pays tribute to his teacher, family, ancestors, and then attempts to purify his spirit. During the Ram Muay, the fighter will traditionally wear a mongkol, or headpiece. This was originally made by twisting a piece of cloth upon which had been written prayers of protection. The mongkol is of particular importance because it sits upon the head of the fighter, and in the Thai culture, the head is the highest point of the body; the most important part.

 Muay Thai does not have colored belts or uniforms as do other styles. The fighter typically wears brightly colored shorts with his name (or the name of his school) across the front. They wear boxing gloves, although, in the past, Thai Boxers would simply wrap their fists with coarse twine, but this proved to be too dangerous for a sporting event, so the gloves were introduced. Also in the past, fighters would dip their fists in resin, and then in broken glass, which added to the damage inflicted upon an opponent.

 Today the rules have changed but the focus remains the same.

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