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Muay Thai - the National Sport of Thailand
Muay Thai - also referred to as Thai Boxing, or "The Art of the Eight Limbs" - is the Thai name for a form of hard martial arts practiced in several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand. It is the oldest known form of kickboxing and is the primary building block of all other forms of kickboxing. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and is one of the most popular sports in the world today. The history of Kickboxing is clouded at best. Its origin in Thailand can be traced back to "Muay Boran" - ancient boxing. This was the form of unarmed combat used by Siamese soldiers in conjunction with "Krabi Krabong" - weapons style fighting. The first great interest in Muay Thai as a sport is documented to have come around the year of 1584 under the rule of King Naresuan, who was well trained in the art of Muay Thai as was his soldiers. Soon the art spread to the public and new fighting techniques began to evolve matches that were held in every town and village on a daily basis. Traditional Muay Thai practiced today varies slightly from the ancient art and uses kicks and punches in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing. A master practitioner of Muay Thai has the ability to execute strikes using eight "points of contact" - fists, feet, elbows and knees. This is opposed to "two points" - fists - in Western boxing and "four points" - fists and feet - used in other sports oriented forms of martial arts. One of Muay Thai's most important traditions is "Wai Khru" - or "Paying Respect to Teachers". In order to become a fully-fledged Muay Thai fighter, a person has to pass through a series of ceremonies. It is only when fighters have passed all three milestones - initiation, training, and participation in contests - that they are entitled to call themselves real Muay Thai fighters. The ceremony of "Wai Khru Ram Muay" is performed by the fighters prior to each fight as a mark of respect to their teachers, parents and things they hold sacred and to pray for their safety and victory. This is a tradition which goes back to ancient times, it is not an optional. Official Muay Thai regulations specify that both fighters must perform the "Wai Khru Ram Muay" before each bout. The ritual is individual to each fighter and therefore performed in different ways, and never identical for any two fighters. Like most competitive full contact fighting sports, Muay Thai has a heavy focus on body conditioning. Muay Thai is specifically designed to promote the level of fitness and toughness required for ring competition. Training regimens include many staples of combat sport conditioning such as running, shadowboxing, rope jumping, body weight resistance exercises, medicine ball exercises, abdominal exercises, and in some cases weight training. Muay Thai is practiced in many different countries. There are different rules depending on what country the fight is in and under what organization the fight is arranged. Starting in the 1990s, Muay Thai began a boost in popularity worldwide as its effectiveness in mixed martial arts competitions came to light, such as those held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and PRIDE Fighting Championships. |
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