History
Many forms of Kickboxing have been practiced throughout several countries of the mainland in South-East Asia. Muay Thai is based on a combination of Burmese, Chinese and Indian martial arts and many practitioners claim they date back two thousand years and more.
Most of the records of the Thai-Boxing history of Thailand have been lost and much was destroyed during the war by the Burmese in the 18th century. But even though many of the historical records have been lost, Muay Thai is, and has always been, a major part of Thai culture so that the stories of Thai Kick Boxing heroes will never die and the history of Thai Boxing can’t ever get lost.
Then name Thai Kick Boxing originated from Krabi Krabong, an ancient Thai weapons art, roughly translated in “stick and sword”. The story goes that when the Thai worriers lost their weapons, they used their elbows, their knees, feet, fists and their head buttings to fight. Soon they became famous for their toughness in battle with the Burmese.
The name of this martial art has also changed over the years along with the rules and the tactics. Muay Boran or Muay Thai, was originally called Dhoi Muay or just Muay. It was a practical fighting technique for the actual warfare, muay then became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch the fights for entertainment. These muay contests became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations in Thailand often held in temples.
Later, the originally bare fisted Muay Boran fighters started to tie lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This altered type of Muay was then called Muay Kaad Cheuk. Thai Boxing soon became a substantial part of the social life in Thailand. It went so far that a whole kingdom could be won or lost in a Thai Boxing Fight. Muay Thai was also quickly included in military training and became very famous by King Naresuan around 1560. There are thousands of stories going around Thai boxing camps, telling about the heroism of the Thai war heroes and Muay fighters.
The biggest Muay Thai hero of all times is of course Nai Khanom Dam, the ‘Black Prince’. The legend has it that he was captured by the Burmese during the war and he had to fight against 12 of the best Burmese fighters before he was released with honor. The Burmese crowd had forced the King of Burma to set Nai Khanom Dam free. When he returned to Thailand he was hailed as a hero and Siamese Style boxing, how Thai boxing was called at the time, was soon recognized as a national sport all over Thailand. Yearly Thai Boxing events are still hold in his name until today.
At the end of the 18th century King Pra Chao Sua trained religiously in the art of Thai boxing. His majesty trained six hours a day with his soldiers to perfect the art of Muay Thai. around this time, many villages organized regularly Thai boxing prize fights where everyone could compete, no matter if his was rich or poor, young or old. During this time, King Pra Chao Sua disguised himself as a peasant and wandered from one village to the next, entering the Muay Thai tournaments where he defeated all his opponents. He has spend hours by himself perfecting his techniques. The village tournaments had become his ‘test ground’ and he was soon known as the “Tiger King”. His legend was so great that even today his techniques are still practiced and are well known as the “Tiger King Style”.
The year 1868 ushered in a golden age for Muay Thai and for the whole Kingdom of Thailand. Muay Thai progressed greatly during the reign of Rama V as a direct result of the king’s personal interest in the art. The country was at peace and Thai boxing functioned as physical exercise for the troops, for self-defense practice, recreation, and for personal advancement. Masters of the art began teaching Muay Thai in training camps where students were provided with food and shelter. Trainees would be treated as one family and it was customary for students to adopt the camp’s name as their own surname.
The original Thai Kick Boxing fights lasted until one of the fighters was dead or so seriously injured that he was unable to continue. Fighting rounds where unknown and the fights lasted sometimes for many hours. There was no protective gear used at this time.
Many years later, King Rama the VII pushed for codified rules for Muay Thai. Thailand’s first Thai boxing ring was built in 1921 at Suan Kularp. Referees were introduced to the martial art sport and rounds were now timed. Fighters at the Lumpinee Kickboxing Stadium began wearing modern gloves during their training and in Muay THai boxing matches against foreigners. Rope-bindings were still used in fights between Thais but after some fighters died in the ring, it was decided that all fighters should wear gloves and cotton coverlets over the feet and ankles. It was around this time that the term Muay Thai became commonly used while the older form of the style is still referred today to as Muay Boran.
Finally, in 1929 Thai Boxing was reformed with a few more rules to help protect the fighters. The Thai government had become concerned about the high number of fatalities in the ring and forced the rules to be used in all fights. From this time on the Muay Thai fighters gave up their groin shots and eye pokes. Thai-Boxing officials started to implement weight classes and boxing gloves. Fighting rounds of three to five minutes where now the rules. With the international success of Muay Thai in the mixed martial arts, Muay Thai has become the choice for competitive stand-up fighters in many countries. As a result, Westerners have incorporated many powerful hand striking techniques, coming from boxing; nevertheless, some Thai fighters and Muay Thai fans believe this is diluting the martial art of Muay Thai. Thai Kick Boxing is since a while discussed to become an Olympic discipline of mixed martial arts.