Muay Thai, An ancient Martial Art style
- A popular combat sport -
- Part 4 -

Dr. Hanjabam Barun Sharma *

The primary targets in Muay thai are the midsection, upper body & head; although low leg kicks are frequently used (to distract/distance/off balance the opponent, also are easier to execute, difficult to block, aiming at femoral nerve, leg, knee or thigh or popliteal fossa).

Another important technique is 'the clinch', a stand up partial grappling, used to strike or bind the opponent for offensive or defensive purposes. Nak muay often uses knee & elbow techniques in clinch. In offensive clinch, the clincher twist & apply pressure on the opponent's neck as he knees, bringing the head down to where it can be hit with a knee. Such pincer's grip works as a chokehold - pressing into the carotid artery in the neck, hampering blood flow to the brain - further weakening & confusing the opponent.

Along with the front clinch, they also use arm clinch, side clinch, low clinch & swan neck. Out of many techniques used to escape offensive clinch, one may stand as straight as possible, grabbing the opponent around the waist & pressing the body into him, thereby stopping his knee attack. His natural reaction will be pushing you off, giving enough room to throw your own elbow or knee.

The clinch is duplicated in Thai pad drills. The holder crosses the pads at his abdomen to accept the 'medicine ball training' of multiple knees, while resisting the hitter's downward pull, strengthening his neck against kicks & punches.

Head butts, hip & shoulder throws are prohibited. So are the wrestling, back or arm locks or any similar judo or wrestling holds. The Thai boxers are also prohibited from bitting, eye gouging, spitting, finger breaking or deliberately striking the groin area.

Like in full contact Karate (kyukushin), Muay thai heavily focus on body conditioning. From early age, nak muays started conditioning their sensitive shin by repeatedly striking banana trees, Thai pads & heavy bags etc. They also use many techniques of 'iron body training'. They train until they drop. They don't earn belts as a symbol of their progress or skills (as in many Japanese or Korean styles), instead have skills tested in the ring, they are concerned only with the championship belts.

They work hundreds of hard rounds to prepare for a five rounds bout. A professional boxer completes 5 to 7 miles of roadwork & a short shadow-boxing session every morning.

In the evening, he will hit training camp for heavy bag work & lighter freestyle sparring, moving constantly for 4 to 6 hrs, & resting only at 1 min intervals. Some work out for 4 or more straight hours as a marathon holder or hitter of Thai pads. Boxers rarely do hard contact sparring in training, as a Thai tradition forbids pitting fighters trained by the same kun khru in serious bout.

Due to the effectiveness & efficiency of Muay thai, it is becoming very popular among martial art community, gaining respect from other stylists. As it is the best & most effectively economical way to fight, It has been one of the basic components in MMA (Mixed Martial Art) training & competitions.

It is also increasingly being used now in many action films, video games etc with very high success - which were earlier always dominated by Chinese kung fu/acrobatic Taekwondo Kicking styles etc.



Recently, films like 'Ong-Bak, the protector; Tom-Yum-Goong; Born to fight & Beautiful boxer etc' have vigorously popularized Muay thai, specially among youngsters.

As most professional Thai boxers come from the lower socio-economic backgrounds & fight for money (No fight No money), they mostly belong to lighter weight classes (70% - fly & bantam weight divisions), & train very hard. It not uncommon to see such fighters engaging in local Muay kaad chuak fights.

In such match, in addition to the elbows, knees, punches, kicks & clinch currently used in Muay thai, head-butts & throws are also allowed. Instead of modern gloves, they wrap their hands with hemp rope, which provide little padding & cause frequent cuts & abrasions.

The contests are often wild & bloody, with no point system, so the victory comes by surrender or KO. If both the participants are still standing at the end of the bout, the fight is declared a draw (These brutally simple rules have already been abandoned in 1923).

Generally, such contests are held during the Thai Songkran festivals (beginning of the new solar year, on April 13, 14, 15 each year), honoring Nai Khnom Tom, the Thai soldier legend. They are usually paid $25/$26 for every match, which is considered worth the pain. Due to the rigorous fighting & training regimen, most nak muays have relatively short careers in the ring, & they shifted to teaching this deadly art.

Amateur Muay thai, on the other hand, are practiced mostly by higher economic strata Thais, under different international & national organizations. It is also most common (almost all) in India. Amateur Muay thai has grown into a very popular sport, specially over the last 20 years.

Thai boxing is becoming more & more increasing popular outside of Thailand. It has its enthusiasts & practitioners all over the world. Most of the credit goes to International federation of Muay thai Amateur (IFMA). Since 1990, IFMA has organized many Prince's/King's Cup World championships.

The competitions are growing bigger & tougher every year, inspiring everyone to train even harder for the next event. Another important contribution of IFMA was the introduction of female fights (Muay thai was traditionally a male sport) in 2000 (as a demonstration sport) & in 2002 where 20 countries were

represented by females fighters. Muay thai was a already a demonstration sport at the 1998 Asian Games. It is also on the panel of sports for the SEA Games, & was a full medal sport at the 2005 SEA Games in Manila. It has been included in 2005 Asian Indoor Games.

Moves are afoot to include it into the World University Games as well as the Indoor Asian Games. With such fast developments, it may be not far away that we see Muay thai as an Olympic event.

Manipuri players, no doubt, have always been good at martial arts & combat sports, Muay thai is no exception. Many players have fetched good positions, representing Manipur on various national & global stage, bringing glory, fame & respect.

This is possible due the selfless dedication, & persistent hard work of many martial artists, Muay thai enthusiasts & trainers. One among many giants in this field is Mr. Okenjeet Sandham, working to promote the sport not only in Manipur, but also in other states. My blessing & support to all the young nak muays of Manipur.

Hence, Muay thai is an amazing & excellent martial art style with equally long & amazing history, effective both in self defense or in ring, growing at a very fast pace, & having tremendous opportunity to earn name & fame for both oneself & more importantly, for the mother country.

Concluded....

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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 20, 2008.

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