Muay Thai, An ancient Martial Art style
- A popular combat sport -
- Part 2 -

Dr. Hanjabam Barun Sharma *

Muay thai has lost none of its appeal in Thailand. It is loved & enjoyed by people of all sections. The T.V. fight broadcasts rate among the Kingdom's most popular programmes. Even in the most remote village, people cluster around local fights or available T.V. to watch - all the four Thai T.V. stations broadcasts free Muay thai fights four night a week.

The glory could also be found at Stadiums like Rajdamnern & Lumpinee (Stadium establishment began during the reign of the King Rama, the 7, before 2nd world war). The two main centers for the Muay thai study are the capital city Bangkok & the northern capital Chiang Mai. Thai military cadet schools also teach a modified Muay thai called Lerd Rit (meaning extreme power), an unarmed combat art used in conjunction with Krabi-Krabong, & incorporates breaking boards, glass bottles with elbows etc.

Contribution of Buddhist monks in the history of Muay thai is huge. Since 14th century, the Buddhist monks in the world famous 'Buddhai Swan temple' (much like the Chinese 'Shaolin temple' with similar ancient tradition) have been teaching martial art as a philosophy & as a way of life. The Buddhist monks have been keeping the practice of Muay thai for hundreds of years. Its popularity was spread to the common people by young men who have learnt the art from these monks, since each Thai man is urged to live as a monk at least once in his life.

Muay thai is considered as one of the world most deadliest & brutal combat sports by some. As in other martial art styles, it was originally meant for the battle field - with survival as the only rule. Upto 1920s, it was a part of school curriculum in Thailand, but was withdrawn as the injury rate was too high. In olden days, combatants wore horse hide thongs wrapped around the fists & forearms to slash

the opponent's skin. Such thongs were soon replaced by hump rope, wound around the fists & wrists, then layered over the glue soaked cloth strips that hardened into stone gauntlets. Some fighters even used ground glass or pebbles mixed with the glue. There were no weight categories - larger fighters fought smaller ones & the bout went on until a fighter could not stand, with the loser horribly maimed or even killed, or the fight continued as long as a holed coconut shell placed in a water tube immersed completely into it.

There were apparently no rules in the ring. After one such death in a ring, the King Rama the 7 codified rules for the Muay thai & were put into place around 1920s. But the matches were still brutal & violent, with head butting, kicks/knee to groin etc, perfectly legal moves.

This carnage continued until the late 1930s, when the Thai government intervened & forced to adopt international boxing rules, weight divisions, padded gloves etc, & prohibiting many illegal moves like groin attacks etc.

Thai people have a great respect for the art & its teachers (Kun kru). Thai boxers do this through the ancient tradition of Wai khru/Bucha kru/Ram muay/Wai khru ram muay (Wai: action to show respect/pray/apologize with folded hands in front of the chest, like 'Namaste' in India; Khru: teacher; Ram: traditional Thai style dance; Muay: boxing), a pre-fight ceremonial dance to show respect & gratitude to the Kun kru in submission to his teaching & training, to summon up good, powerful spirits & scare away bad spirits from their corners.

The fighter seeks God blessing for himself & for his opponent, & for an honorable fight or victory. Among enchanting traditional Thai music, the fighter, wearing Mongkon on head (said to possess the spiritual power of the Kun kru & all the fighters in their camp) & Krung Rangs on biceps (for extra protection & good luck), does Ram muay, demonstrating control, style & his prowess to the audience, some times taunting or scaring each other by stomping around his

opponents etc (but no blow is allowed in anger). This ritual has been developed in different ways, in different regions, under different teachers, so usually no two fighters perform identical Wai khru (preventing fighters trained by the same Kun kru from fighting each other).

A Muay thai expert, just by watching the Ram muay, can easily tell about the trainer & the region the fighter belongs, or whether he may lose or dominate in the ring!

The Wai khru is a graceful & aesthetic ritual both spiritual & practical.

Dancing & rehearsing 'Kon Muay' (movements/styles of Muay thai) before a fight, warms up one's body, helping the body & the mind to be ready to get into the battle.

It is the most effective aid to limbering up, & marshalling the fighter's concentration, serving to bring to remembrance everything that the fighter has been taught. In order to become a fully-fledged Muay thai fighter, a person must pass through a series of ceremonies of Wai khru:

(a) Kuen khru, teacher's acceptance of students & passing the combat knowledge.
(b) Wai khru prajam pee/Yohk kru, annual homage-praying ceremony to teachers or souls of the teachers long passed away, usually on 17 March or mostly on Thursday, which is believed to be the teachers' day.
(c) Wai khru ram muay, ritual dance of homage to teachers by the fighters.
(d) Khrob khru, initiation as a teacher ceremony, bestowing the rank of Khru muay to the fighter.

To be continued....

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* Dr. Hanjabam Barun Sharma is a regular contributor to e-pao.net .
He is at Martial Art & Combat Sports Club (MACC), Raipur (C.G.) also Secretary, Raipur Taekwondo Vikash Samiti, Raipur(C.G.).
The writer can be contacted at wang_fei03(at)rediffmail(dot)com
This article was webcasted on December 03, 2008.

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