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An Ancient Martial Art with Modern Applications – A History of Muay Thai

The martial arts world has been turned on its head.  These days, it’s hard to mention the martial arts without someone mentioning combat sports and mixed martial arts in the same sentence.  Long gone are the days when Karate and Tae Kwon Do were the sole styles available to the active martial arts enthusiast.  Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and many other combat style arts are the tough new kids on the block competing with the old guard of the traditional belted martial arts.  The current sentiment towards the martial arts is that styles should be “practical, simple, and truly protect me and be effective in a real world confrontation”. 

Martial arts practitioners no longer want to simply learn forms, they want to learn practical and modern applications.  Many martial artists now put the word “practical” over “traditional”.  It can be frustrating for many martial artists that enjoy the traditions and spirituality of their art and not only their fighting applications, to absorb and accept this new sentiment towards the arts. However, the unfortunate reality is that the old guard of traditional martial arts are seen, these days, as more of an “art”;  Beautiful to watch, but not practical or realistic when applied to the real world.  This is not to say that the more traditional, form based martial arts are going to be forgotten, only that martial arts enthusiasts are now seeking more than simple tradition.   

There is a glimmer of hope, however, for martial arts enthusiasts that are seeking a martial art that is both traditional and practical, ancient yet modern.  A new storm is brewing in the world of martial arts and one of the divine winds of change reshaping the landscape is Muay Thai.

Muay Thai or Thai Boxing is one of the few martial arts that so perfectly fuses the words “traditional” and “practical” together.  Muay Thai truly is “The Traditional Fighting Martial Art”; An ancient striking art that has modern applications.   It’s techniques, unchanged for centuries, have been proven in battle for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.  And although Muay Thai is thought of primarily as a “ring sport”, it is still heavily influenced by Buddhism, Thai animistic beliefs, as well as many historical and spiritual aspects that are appealing to those martial artists that want spirituality, with a little butt kicking on the side.

Muay Thai is commonly referred to as “The Science of 8 Limbs” because unlike western boxing that only uses the hands to attack, Muay Thai uses 8 “points of contact”, which include the hands, legs, knees, and elbows.  Ancient Muay Thai also used the head as a weapon, but for obvious sportsmanship reasons, these techniques have since been discarded.  The art of Muay Thai is thought to have been established over a thousand years ago, however, because of ancient Thailand’s (historically referred to as Siam) conflicts with its neighbors, few written documents remain on the history of Muay Thai.

Thailand, like many of its South East Asian neighbors, is heavily influenced by the cultures of India and China, as well as Theraveda Buddhism.  Besides culture, these South East Asian nations also shared an interest in hand to hand combat,  and as a result each country has its own style of kickboxing.  Thailand’s Siamese warriors used Muay Boran, an ancient form of Muay Thai, and Krabi Krabong (the weapon based version of Muay Thai) to fend of potential invaders and protect their kingdom.  Muay Thai shares similarities to other kickboxing styles in South East Asia, such as Khun Khmer in Cambodia, Lethwei in Burma, and Muay Lao in Laos.  All of these styles are believed to descend directly from Bokator, a martial art created by the Khmer Empire, once based in what is now Cambodia, and ruling over parts of modern day Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.  Note: Controversy over this fact still remains as Cambodians believe that because Muay Thai’s roots are in the kickboxing styles of the Khmer Empire, the name Muay “Thai“ is inaccurate and should be changed because Thailand is not the true origin of the sport.  Thailand defends itself by saying that it is responsible for modernizing the sport and promoting it worldwide.  The Thais also contend that their style of kickboxing, although similar to other styles throughout South East Asia, has developed into its own art.     

Muay Boran, literally meaning “ancient boxing”, the precursor to Muay Thai, was also practiced as a spectator sport in addition to its use in battle.  In its infancy, fighters were bare-fisted, and bouts were fought until one opponent was either knocked out or unable to continue.  Later, practitioners began wearing rope on their hands and forearms.  Spirituality, always a part of Thai culture, was as much a part of Muay Boran as the fighting itself.  Fighters would wear amulets on their arms for good luck and protection.  Many amulets were woven from rope and sometimes interwoven with strands of hair belonging to the fighters mother or sister for good luck.  These armbands known as prajoud are still used by professional Muay Thai fighters all over the world.

Muay Boran practitioners also wore amulets around their heads called Mongkon.  These amulets were given to a fighter by his teacher to signify the step from student to experienced combatant.  The Mongkon is to be respected and should never come in contact with the ground.  Also to be respected are the tradtions of the Wai Kru and Ram Muay.   The Wai Kru is a traditional dance a fighter performs before a bout where he pays respect to his teachers, parents, and anything and everything he holds sacred.  He also takes this time to pray for victory and protection from injury.  The Ram Muay is the portion of the dance where by a fighter tries to intimidate his opponent by dancing towards the opponents corner and acting as if he were shooting an arrow at the opponent.  These are the traditions of Muay Boran, passed on to modern Muay Thai, that are still considered an integral part of the sport. 

During the mid 1800’s the art progressed rapidly due to King Rama V’s interest in the sport. Camps began to open all around Thailand in order to teach the art as a form of physical exercise and practical self defense.  This era is known as “The Golden Age” of Muay Thai.  In the early 1900’s after a practitioner died in the ring, King Rama VII pushed for a system of rules to protect the practitioners of Muay Thai during a bout.  It is during this time that the modern system of Muay Thai was introduced including the standard Western style boxing ring and padded gloves.  All forms of the art preceding it were from then on, referred to as Muay Boran.

Muay Thai has enjoyed much success in not only capturing the attention of the Thai people, but has also captured the attention of many fans worldwide.  The techniques of Muay Thai are straightforward and simple, but devastating.  Conditioning ones body is as much a part of Muay Thai as is the technique itself, shaping the bodies of its practitioners into hardened weapons able to withstand quite a bit of punishment. It is a beautiful art to behold, with its colorful amulets, spirituality, and dancing.  But when the fight begins, it can be bloody and brutal.  However, it is exactly the fact that Muay Thai has been proven effective so many times in the ring, for so long throughout history, that leads martial artists to flock to it. 

Since the 1970’s Muay Thai has enjoyed a lot of success in the U.S., appearing in film and in the ring.  But with the rise of mixed martial art’s in the early 1990’s, Muay Thai has enjoyed a second boom of popularity as some of the sports top competitors are practitioners in some form or another of Muay Thai.  It is the wide variety of striking tools in Muay Thai that make it such a devastating martial art and a favorite of practitioners wanting to find a style that can adequately protect them in a real world situation.  Law enforcement and military groups throughout the U.S. and the world, have added the elbows and knees of Muay Thai to their arsenal of defense tactics.  Thailand’s military forces have even implemented a military style of Muay Thai into their training called, Ledrit.  All of these events have helped spread the word about the toughness of Muay Thai. 

It is important to remember that although Muay Thai is a fighting sport it does contain traditions that should not be forgotten. Amazingly, these traditions have been followed by many of the foreign practitioners that now embrace the sport.  With thousands of years of tradition behind it proving its worth and very few changes made to the techniques that make it a devastating art; It is accurate to say, without question, that Muay Thai is an ancient martial art that truly has modern applications.  With its traditions intact and its fighting prowess proven, it is an art that can be enjoyed by both the traditional martial artist and the title belt seeking fighter at heart.