Muay Thai is a striking and clinching art. Muay Thai means Thai  boxing however, it is native to all of South East Asia where it exists in many forms, each called by a different name but similar in style. In Burma it is known as Lethwei, Malaysia as Tomoi, Laos as Muay Lao and in Cambodia as Pradal Serey. Generally the rules and techniques are the same in each area (Lethwei has the most different rules) however Muay Thai is most famous due to its popularization in culture through promotion via Thailand and the thriving Muay Thai scene that exists there. Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport.

The origins of modern Muay Thai lie in the Thai Burmese wars of  the 18th century. Thai soldier Nai Khanom Thom was captured by the Burmese and made to fight during a festival designed to see how the Thai boxing style compared to the Burmese. Nai Khanom Thom killed his first opponent. He was made to fight 9 more Burmese champions defeating them all. In respect to Nai Khanom Thom’s fighting spirit the Burmese king released him. Muay Thai used to be fought bare knuckle or with bound hemp ropes but in order to make it conform to international sporting standards they adopted the boxing ring, gloves and rounds in the 1920’s. Despite bringing a more formal sporting aspect to Muay Thai, the Muay Thai traditions remain strong.

Like boxing, a Muay Thai match can be won by knockout, technical knock out or decision. However, unlike boxing Muay Thai employs as its weapon more than just the fists. Muay Thai is known to many as the “art of eight limbs” due to the fact that fighters can use feet, knees, elbows as well as fists giving the fighter 8 weapons to mix and match. Muay Thai matches are 5 rounds, 3 minutes per round with a two minute rest. The first two rounds are generally used for the fighters to feel each other out and are not important in scoring. The fourth round is the most important because it decides whether or not a fighter can call it quits the 5th round and wait out a decision or go into desperation mode and go for the knockout. Also, the scoring system of Muay Thai is far more dependent on kick and knees which score far more points in the judges eyes than punches. For this reason, a fighter who lands 20 clean kicks in a fight against an opponent who lands 100 punches will win. Another aspect of Muay Thai is the clinch. Typically in a boxing match when two fighters clinch they are separated. In Muay Thai this is not so and some fighters specialize in this range of combat where they control their opponent in order to land strikes or throw the opponent to the ground which are big points in Muay Thai.

The training regimen of Muay Thai is well known through out the Martial Arts world. Muay Thai camps are known for having some of the most demanding training regimens. A typical training session at a top Bangkok gym consists of a 9 to 15 km run. Typically the longer runs are done in the mornings. Upon returning to the gym from the run 30 straight minutes of jumping rope. After this, 5 plus rounds of shadowboxing are done and during this time or shortly after students are called in to do pad work with a trainer. While others work the pads those waiting hit the heavy bags. Once every one has hit the pads, bag drills are done ranging from 50-100 round house kicks, possibly in a row, to 100 front kicks and one thousands knee strikes. After this 200 sit ups along with push ups and pull ups are done followed by stretching. This is done TWICE a day.

Many MMA trainers will tell you that if you had to learn one striking art for MMA it would be Muay Thai. The reason for this is that Muay Thai teaches you to use all your weapons and its techniques have been proven in a full contact environment. Also, the more squared stance of Muay Thai makes it more adaptable to MMA due to the threat of take downs. Another addition is the clinch game, which is second to none relative to other striking arts. That being said, Muay Thai does have some deficiencies for MMA competition such as lack of footwork and head movement. Also the punching of Muay Thai is generally not as crisp or utilized in the type of combinations as seen in boxing but this is something that is a result of the different scoring system used. Regardless some of the vest Muay Thai strikers in the world have Muay Thai as their base including Anderson Silva, Shogun Rua and Donald Cerrone. These  fighters are very Muay Thai based in a traditional way but it would be a fair assessment to say that EVERY MMA fighter receives Muay Thai training as part of their curriculum. An even bigger testament is that the K-1 competition in which the best Kickboxers of the world participate, most of its fighters are Muay Thai based or go to Thailand to increase their skills. This is in spite of the fact that elbows and clinching are not allowed in K-1.

For any striker who wants to be at the top of their game and be as versatile as possible Muay Thai is a must.

Here are some highlights from Muay Thai to show you its versatility.