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LandoMan: Muay Thai

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Muay Thai

In talking to people about my trip, I've found that very few people who aren't already into martial arts know what Muay Thai is. Literally transltated, Muay Thai is Thai Boxing. Though it is not quite as popular or as stylized as other arts such as karate, kung fu, or jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai is prevalent in Southeast Asia. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand -- similar to what baseball, basketball, and football are to the U.S.

Muay Thai has been practiced by the Thai people for centuries. One of the most traditional stories about its rise in popularity originated in 1774. In the Burmese city of Rangoon, the Burmese King Mangra organized a series of fights. One of these fights involved a Thai prisoner named Nai Khanom Tom and a Burmese champion. Nai Khanom Tom performed a traditional cerimonial ritual (Wai Khru) at the beginning of the fight to pay his respects to the King and to the crowd. When the fight began, Tom quickly leveled his Burmese opponent. The referee ruled that the champion had been too distracted by the pre-fight ritual and the King asked that Tom fight nine other champions to prove himself. One-by-one, and with no rest periods in-between, each champion fell. The King gave Nai Khanom Tom a choice of either women or riches -- being as awesome as he was, he chose the women saying money was much easier to find.
[Full History]

The biggest difference between Western boxing and Thai boxing is the amount of strikes. Known as "the art of eight limbs", Muay Thai makes use of hands, shins, elbows, and knees whereas traditional Western boxing uses only hands. The "clinch" also differs with Muay Thai. When opponents enter the clinch in Western boxing, they are seperated; Thai boxing allows opponents to continue fighting while clinched.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Stephen said...

That's pretty awesome! So you pretty much elbow a guy, then roll off into more of a punch, then shin/foot kick him. That sounds awesome. Let me know when you start doing MMA fights. I'll be in your corner dude!

December 30, 2008 at 5:53 PM  

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