For me, it started with a bootleg VHS tape of fights at Lumpinee Stadium in 1992. Then, a couple weeks later I caught Paulo Tocha in Bloodsport on HBO, and in my teenage mind I was convinced. I didn't know what they called it, but whatever this fighting system was two things were certain: i. the style looked both brutal and at the same time elegant, and ii. those shorts with the writing on the front looked really, really comfortable. Hence begun my search to learn what was to be introduced to me as muay thai.
For the better part of the 1990's (and even today to a large extent) I'd get blank stares if/when I tell people that I train muay thai. Top three typical responses are "What's that?", "Mai tai?", or "Is that like kickboxing?". The system has been on the outside of the stable of popular martial arts until MMA came along and has made the name muay thai more common (I would largely disagree with the application of muay thai being used in MMA as an accurate representation of muay thai). K-1 popularized muay thai in Europe and Asia in the early part of the twenty-first century, but the USA has football and the NBA, oh well, call us late adopters.
Outside of the occasional episode of Human Weapon on the History Channel, or the occasional documentary about the exploitation of children through muay thai in Thailand (which I agree and yet, disagree with), mainstream media never covers the Thai national sport, and its official martial art.
This is beginning to change, however. CNN recently did a little spot on the growth in popularity of muay thai on the international stage. It's good to see this kind of exposure for the sport version of muay thai. Watch the short segment below.
The History Channel produced the series, Human Weapon where the two hosts traveled around the world receiving crash courses in martial arts from various masters or well known practitioners.What I did like about this episode is that they touched on a few of the various branches of muay thai. They trained for modern ring style muay thai, the covered lerd rit, the militarized application of muay thai, and they also went up north and got some exposure to one of the older system, Muay Chaiya.
Here's the full episode, but the commercials can get annoying.
I'd still like to see more exposure of the older systems such as muay chao cherk, lerd rit, and chaiya - which BTW, are lumped under the umbrella of muay boran. If someone opens up a muay boran school in your area and markets it as a single martial art, they're simply marketing it to you. Tony Jaa has done a great job of including the various subsets of muay thai in his Ong Bak and The Protector movies.
If you're lucky enough to find and train at a school that covers one of the older systems, be prepared to have others in the outside world (retail thai boxing gyms) say that your techniques are wrong. Not to worry, I've been training and teaching muay chao cherk, lerd rit and a subset of the Burmese system (boar bando) for 18 years (half my life, ugh I'm old). Just know that what's taught at the typical modern muay thai gym is a watered down version of what only scratches the surface of what a muay thai practitioner would have learned over a hundred years ago. You are among the lucky few burdened with the responsibility of continuing a dying tradition.
Hopefully the continued growth in muay thai's popularity will bring about a renaissance for the older systems used for the purposes of combat instead of sport.
For the better part of the 1990's (and even today to a large extent) I'd get blank stares if/when I tell people that I train muay thai. Top three typical responses are "What's that?", "Mai tai?", or "Is that like kickboxing?". The system has been on the outside of the stable of popular martial arts until MMA came along and has made the name muay thai more common (I would largely disagree with the application of muay thai being used in MMA as an accurate representation of muay thai). K-1 popularized muay thai in Europe and Asia in the early part of the twenty-first century, but the USA has football and the NBA, oh well, call us late adopters.
Outside of the occasional episode of Human Weapon on the History Channel, or the occasional documentary about the exploitation of children through muay thai in Thailand (which I agree and yet, disagree with), mainstream media never covers the Thai national sport, and its official martial art.
This is beginning to change, however. CNN recently did a little spot on the growth in popularity of muay thai on the international stage. It's good to see this kind of exposure for the sport version of muay thai. Watch the short segment below.
The History Channel produced the series, Human Weapon where the two hosts traveled around the world receiving crash courses in martial arts from various masters or well known practitioners.What I did like about this episode is that they touched on a few of the various branches of muay thai. They trained for modern ring style muay thai, the covered lerd rit, the militarized application of muay thai, and they also went up north and got some exposure to one of the older system, Muay Chaiya.
Here's the full episode, but the commercials can get annoying.
I'd still like to see more exposure of the older systems such as muay chao cherk, lerd rit, and chaiya - which BTW, are lumped under the umbrella of muay boran. If someone opens up a muay boran school in your area and markets it as a single martial art, they're simply marketing it to you. Tony Jaa has done a great job of including the various subsets of muay thai in his Ong Bak and The Protector movies.
If you're lucky enough to find and train at a school that covers one of the older systems, be prepared to have others in the outside world (retail thai boxing gyms) say that your techniques are wrong. Not to worry, I've been training and teaching muay chao cherk, lerd rit and a subset of the Burmese system (boar bando) for 18 years (half my life, ugh I'm old). Just know that what's taught at the typical modern muay thai gym is a watered down version of what only scratches the surface of what a muay thai practitioner would have learned over a hundred years ago. You are among the lucky few burdened with the responsibility of continuing a dying tradition.
Hopefully the continued growth in muay thai's popularity will bring about a renaissance for the older systems used for the purposes of combat instead of sport.
When i began training Muay Thai in the mid-80s no one here (US) knew what it was, it was referred to as Thai boxing or Thai kickboxing, it came to us through the French (Gerard Finot) and the British Thai Boxing Association. I think my first exposure to the older styles was through Ong Bak. I'm grateful to have Donnie and MTAI teaching these older systems.
ReplyDeleteI just moved to vegas and id love to continue my training here. Would you happen to know of a combatives gym that teaches here in vegas? would appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first learning my round kick in 1993 at the old facility in San Jose, I would practice it in front of friends and they would laugh at the spin, calling it "ballet karate." NOBODY with whom I interacted at the time was aware of this fighting art, much less its status as a national sport and the rich culture that accompanies it.
ReplyDeleteThose of you who have been fortunate enough to encounter Muay Thai as you have learned it through MTAI, IIPEP or Henley-Putnam University, I truly hope you cherish the rich education that you've received through these institutions. They will bless you for a lifetime as an art form, as the most effective means of protecting oneself and others, and as a way of life that is compatible with most everything else that comes along in life.
A dying tradition? Yes. A dead tradition? ANYTHING but that. -Tom
When I was first learning my round kick in 1993 at the old facility in San Jose, I would practice it in front of friends and they would laugh at the spin, calling it "ballet karate." NOBODY with whom I interacted at the time was aware of this fighting art, much less its status as a national sport and the rich culture that accompanies it.
ReplyDeleteThose of you who have been fortunate enough to encounter Muay Thai as you have learned it through MTAI, IIPEP or Henley-Putnam University, I truly hope you cherish the rich education that you've received through these institutions. They will bless you for a lifetime as an art form, as the most effective means of protecting oneself and others, and as a way of life that is compatible with most everything else that comes along in life.
A dying tradition? Yes. A dead tradition? ANYTHING but that. -Tom
Kru Donnie, do you know anything about the Muay Laos, My Ajarn is from Laos, and teaches Muay Thai, when I ask him whether it is muay laos or muay thai he just tells me that it is muay thai,or that it is all the same. However when I watch you move, I see more of what Ajarn Song teaches than when I watch modern muay thai. I believe what he is teaching is old style but do not know much about the history but would like very much to learn more.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully,
Joel Huncar
There's a huge gray space when it comes to muay thai, muay loas, leithwei, and kun khmer. Geographically, Loas, Cambodian and Burma (Myranmar) all surround Thailand. We could go into a whole history lesson about who each country influenced each other through centuries of warfare, but when we look at the influence of Westerners in Thailand and the modernization of muay thai for sport promotion purposes by British and American boxing you can see the differences in modern muay thai from the other marginalized styles.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Burmese lethwei is closer to the sport muay thai seen in the 1800's. They lead with elbows, the use the :take your opponent's territory, and the fights are more intense. I see the similarities with muay laos and kun khmer and it reminds me of the battlefield muay thai, which is probably due to a lack in popularity of the style. It's closer to its source. Interesting bit of trivia: some believe that muay thai concepts derived from India. Here's a lethwei fight as an example.. no first round feeling the other guy out, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak0PVifBaoA
I really don't know what the differences between the various styles of muay thai are as martial arts. It would be interesting to learn more. Are there any good books that talk about them?
ReplyDeleteOld is Gold. I personally and professionally think that traditional muay thai styles are and will remain as solid weapons for a fighter forever. Muay Thai Shorts
ReplyDeleteI would also be very interested in any books about the older styles of muay thai, lethwei, and bando. books giving actual instruction on teqniques would be awesome. Any recomendations?
ReplyDeletei'm think older muay thai systems is good and it have many style but like Bruce Lee say: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvuKiQlDNDw
ReplyDeleteolder muay thai systems
I remember when I trained Muay Thai when I was there in Thailand.
ReplyDelete