History UsefulNotes / MuayThai

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Foreign schools of muay thai often added influences from the native martial arts of their countries, resulting in related but distinct types of muay thai. This is most clearly seen in it's two largest derivatives, the Dutch and Japanese schools. Dutch muay thai is characterized by carrying heavy influences from European boxing and Kyokushin karate, and it places a huge emphasis on footwork, leg kicks and punching combinations. Japanese muay thai takes the heaviest influence from Kyokushin and other forms of karate and favors flashier kicks and longer combinations than what a traditional nak muay would consider practical. Both shy away from elbow strikes and prolonged clinching, often because the governing bodies of kickboxing in their countries don't allow them.

** Finally, Muay Femur are the technicians and stylists, using strategy, mind games and movement to outfox their opponents. They are popular with fans of technique and precision, but decried by some lovers of bloodsport for their clinical style. They are [[JackOfAllTrades well-rounded]] in their strike game, [[MasterOfNone rather than specializing in one area]].

Its origin can be traced to the ancient Siamese jungles, where a style called ''Muay Boran'' ("ancient boxing") was created for ceremonial purposes and self-defense. It was first highlighted in legendary battles against the nearby kingdom of Burma. The sport of muay thai as we know it came to be at the beginning of 19th century, when kings Rama V and VII codified its rules and introduced gloves and rings like in British boxing. By this way, muay thai became a very popular and culturally-tied form of prizefighting, and it built its center on UsefulNotes/{{Bangkok}}, where its violent and bloody matches started taking place on the now famed Lumpinee Stadium.

In our modern popular culture, muay thai became known mainly thanks to the rise of professional UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, in which it soon established itself as the crown jewel of striking styles due to its flexibility, efficiency and physical preparation. However, you may possibly know it thanks to film star and notable exponent Creator/TonyJaa, who gave us films like ''Film/OngBak'', or thanks to the ''Film/{{Kickboxer}}'' series.

Note that "muay thai" and "kickboxing" are often used interchangeably, but reality is much more complicated. While muay thai is a form of kickboxing, technically speaking, it contains a set of moves, rules and cultural practices that are tied solely to the style practiced in Thailand. The rising popularity of the art caused that many forms of Western kickboxing are called by this name, which adds confusion when said forms are dissimilar and/or unrelated at all to the Thai source (good examples are the Dutch, Japanese and Brazilian schools).

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Encouraged to some degree by Thai culture. In a muay thai match, it's correct and sometimes obliged to celebrate immediately after scoring a dump or a knockdown, as it eases scoring count by separating intentional techniques from accidental falls. It doesn’t extend to the Buddhist ceremonial performed before the matches, however.

** The Brazilian style (Or "Chute Boxe style", named after one of the most influential MT gyms in Brazil) is known for this. Aggressive, beserker, brawling style, with wild punch combinations and somewhat unsophisticated clinch game focusing on taking the double collar tie position in order to smash a knee into the opponents’ face. It was mostly used in UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts and used mostly by fighters such as Wanderlei Silva.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Muay Thai is an infamously flexible martial art and champion nak muay have been known to compete at the highest levels of other sports ranging from Kickboxing all the way to Marquess of Queensbury rules Boxing. In no particular order:

** Ciryl Gane is a French National Heavyweight Muay Thai champion who went on to compete in the UFC where he currently stands as #1 in the heavyweight ranking.

* ChallengeSeeker: Challenges to other striking disciplines were common in the 1970s when the muay thai community was internationalized. Especially notable were the challenge matches between Thai boxers and Chinese kung fu practitioners, in which the latter group ended up being wrecked in minutes.

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Foreign schools of muay thai often added influences from the native martial arts of their countries resulting in related but distinct types of muay thai. This is most clearly seen in it's two largest derivatives, the Dutch and Japanese schools. Dutch muay thai is characterized by carrying heavy influences from European boxing and Kyokushin karate, and it places a huge emphasis on footwork, leg kicks and punching combinations. Japanese muay thai takes the heaviest influence from Kyokushin and other forms of karate and favors flashier kicks and longer combinations than what a traditional nak muay would consider practical. Both shy away from clinch, elbow, and knee techniques, often because the governing bodies of kickboxing in their countries don't allow them.
** Brazilian Muay Thai is more wild and aggressive than the traditional variant from Thailand thanks to being influenced by the near rule-free "Vale Tudo" competitions of Brazil. Brazilian nak muay favor a constant offense with a focus on taking the clinch position to knee opponents into submission, a habit brought about by mixing Muay Thai with the native "Luta Livre" grappling styles of Brazil. Many of the instructors of Chute Boxe, the premier Muay Thai training center of Brazil, had also been Taekwondo blackbelts before falling in love with Thai boxing (though actually almost all the early Brazilian nak muay were Taekwondo practitioners). As a result many Brazilian nak muay pick up [[HurricaneKick complicated spinning kicks]] alongside the normal MT repertoire. While these kicks are [[AwesomeButImpractical normally low percentage moves]] Brazilian nak muay still manage to frequently land them by combining them with the more linear but practical tactics of Muay Thai [[DifficultButAwesome often leading to spectacular K.O.s]].
** Russian Muay Thai had a similar genesis to the Dutch school, being a formed by a bunch of Kyokushin fighters that added the "Soviet Style" of boxing to complete the package, though it is not shy in using elbows, knees and clinching like its Thai and Brazilian counterparts possibly due to the influence of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and later MMA. It also features the use of a rather distinctive stance resembling a boxing one and for this reason is why kicks are the least used weapon compared to the other schools of muay thai.

* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Professional muay thai matches are often battles of attrition: they go out and give and take until one of the two is too turned into pulp to continue fighting.

* UsefulNotes/MartialArtsBelts: Muay Thai has something called a Pra Jiad, an armband worn around the upper arm, traditionally to bring confidence and luck. Some schools use colour variation on these, though the meaning varies - sometimes it means the student has taken some number of gradings, sometimes a number of wins in the ring, and an instructor might wear one signifying that he's trained a fighter from scratch to his first ring win.

** A relatively new and informal category, Muay Bouk are [[TheBerserker the most aggressive fighters]], pressing forward with [[AttackAttackAttack constant pressure]] to overwhelm the opposition. Like Muay Femur, they do not prioritize any one attack, but use their entire arsenal to crush their foe.

Muay Thai (translated as "Thai boxing") is a Thai martial art and combat sport originating in UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}. Also known as "the art of eight limbs", it stands out as an aggressive style of striking based on the usage of fists, elbows, knees and shins/feet, complete with some throws and sweeps.

Muay Thai (translated as "Thai boxing") is a Thai martial art and combat sport. Also known as "the art of eight limbs", it stands out as an aggressive style of striking based on the usage of fists, elbows, knees and shins/feet, complete with some throws and sweeps.

Its origin can be traced to the ancient Siamese jungles (nowadays' UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}), where a style called ''Muay Boran'' ("ancient boxing") was created for ceremonial purposes and self-defense. It was first highlighted in legendary battles against the nearby kingdom of Burma. The sport of muay thai as we know it came to be at the beginning of 19th century, when kings Rama V and VII codified its rules and introduced gloves and rings like in British boxing. By this way, muay thai became a very popular and culturally-tied form of prizefighting, and it built its center on UsefulNotes/{{Bangkok}}, where its violent and bloody matches started taking place on the now famed Lumpinee Stadium.

'''Muay Thai''' (translated as "Thai boxing") is a Thai martial art and combat sport. Also known as "the art of eight limbs", it stands out as an aggressive style of striking based on the usage of fists, elbows, knees and shins/feet, complete with some throws and sweeps.

Its origin can be traced to the ancient Siamese jungles, where a style called ''Muay Boran'' ("ancient boxing") was created for ceremonial purposes and self-defense. It was first highlighted in legendary battles against the nearby kingdom of Burma. The sport of muay thai as we know it came to be at the beginning of 19th century, when kings Rama V and VII codified its rules and introduced gloves and rings like in British boxing. By this way, muay thai became a very popular and culturally-tied form of prizefighting, and it built its center on Bangkok, where its violent and bloody matches started taking place on the now famed Lumpinee Stadium.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/StreetFighter TIGER KNEE!]]]]

** Russian Muay Thai had a similar genesis to the Dutch brand, being a formed by a bunch of Kyokushin fighters that added boxing to complete the package, though it is not shy in using elbows, knees and clinching like its Thai and Brazilian counterpart possibly due to the influence of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and later MMA.

* MartialArtsBelts: Muay Thai has something called a Pra Jiad, an armband worn around the upper arm, traditionally to bring confidence and luck. Some schools use colour variation on these, though the meaning varies - sometimes it means the student has taken some number of gradings, sometimes a number of wins in the ring, and an instructor might wear one signifying that he's trained a fighter from scratch to his first ring win.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tony_jaa_muay_thai_2.jpg]]

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Foreign schools of muay thai often added influences from the native martial arts of their countries resulting in related but distinct types of muay thai. This is most clearly seen in it's two largest derivatives, the Dutch and Japanese schools. Dutch muay thai is characterized by carrying heavy influences from European boxing and Kyokushin karate, and it places a huge emphasis on footwork, leg kicks and punching combinations. Japanese muay thai takes the heaviest influence from Kyokushin and other forms of karate and favors flashier kicks and longer combinations than what a traditional nak muay would consider practical. Both shy away from clinch, elbow, and knee techniques, often because the governing bodies of kickboxing in their countries don't allow them.
** Brazilian Muay Thai is more wild and aggressive than the traditional variant from Thailand thanks to being influenced by the near rule-free "Vale Tudo" competitions of Brazil. Brazilian nak muay favor a constant offense with a focus on taking the clinch position to knee opponents into submission, a habit brought about by mixing Muay Thai with the native "Luta Livre" grappling styles of Brazil. Many of the instructors of Chute Boxe, the premier Muay Thai training center of Brazil, had also been Taekwondo blackbelts before falling in love with Thai boxing (though actually almost all the early Brazilian nak muay were Taekwondo practitioners). As a result many Brazilian nak muay pick up [[HurricaneKick complicated spinning kicks]] alongside the normal MT repertoire. While these kicks are [[AwesomeButImpractical normally low percentage moves]] Brazilian nak muay still manage to frequently land them by combining them with the more linear but practical tactics of Muay Thai [[DifficultButAwesome often leading to spectacular K.O.s]].
** Russian Muay Thai had a similar genesis to the Dutch brand, being a formed by a bunch of Kyokushin fighters that added boxing to complete the package, though it is not shy in using elbows, knees and clinching like its Thai and Brazilian counterpart possibly due to the influence of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and later MMA.

** In 1988, undefeated Kickboxing World Champion Rick Roufus challenged Muay Thai champion Changpuek Kiatsongrit to a non-title match, in other to prove Kickboxing was the greatest. Despite elbows and knees begin not allowed and having his jaw broken in the first round, Kiatsongrit just kept doing leg kicks until Rofus wasn't able to walk by the fifth round. After the match, Rofus went to train Muay Thai with Kiatsongrit and the fight introduced Muay Thai to the U.S.

** Buakaw Banchamek, Changpuek Kiatsongrit, and Kaoklai Kaennorsing all competed in K-1 with Buakaw becoming K-1 WORLD MAX champion in 2004 and 2006 and [[DavidVersusGoliath Changpuek and Kaoklai placing 3rd and 2nd in K-1's Openweight division despite being a middleweight and the lightest fighter in K-1 history respectively.]] Kaoklai takes up the page image in Useful Notes/Kickboxing, where he is seen knocking American kickboxer Mighty Mo in the K-1 Asia GP 2004 by a miraculous jumping head kick. Impressively he was the lightest fighter in that tournament whereas Mighty Mo was the heaviest.

** Buakaw Banchamek, Changpuek Kiatsongrit, and Kaoklai Kaennorsing all competed in K-1 with Buakaw becoming K-1 WORLD MAX champion in 2004 and 2006 and [[DavidVersusGoliath Changpuek and Kaoklai placing 3rd and 2nd in K-1's Openweight division despite being a middleweight and the lightest fighter in K-1 history respectively.]]

Muay Thai has cousins throughout Southeast Asia in the form of other stand-up, kickboxing styles with clinching and knee/elbow strikes, with similar but distinct techniques and rules. These include Tomoi from Malaysia (which is directly descended from Muay Thai as it was introduced by the Siamese communities in Kedah and Kelantan before the Islamization movement in the 80s), Muay Lao [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin from Laos]], Pradal Serey from Cambodia and Lethwei from UsefulNotes/ThatSouthEastAsianCountry, all of which appear to be related to Musti Yuddha, or ancient Indian boxing. The heritage and development of these related but unique styles are subjects of heated debate and national pride to some, but Muay Thai is indisputably the dominant style internationally.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Muay Thai is built around simplicity and practicality with it's most famous moves being fairly simple kicks and elbow attacks and using every limb as a weapon. It's generally considered one of the best and most practical fighting styles, both professionally and for self-defense, for this very reason.

* TykeBomb: Thai boxers usually learn muay thai from a very young age, in most cases in order to avoid poverty and secure an income. Many of them debut in rings with gloves and full contact rules when they have just learned walking, and some have ''hundreds'' of pro fights before they are teenage. Naturally, when they reach majority of age they are usually too brain-damaged to keep an active career.