The Art of Muay Thai

The art of Muay Thai (which has a literal translation of Thai Boxing) originated in Southeast Asia, and is the national sport of Thailand. Muay Thai is also known as “the art of the eight limbs” because it incorporates both of the hands, shins, elbows, and knees as points of contact. Most of the techniques in Muay Thai use hip rotation and focus on the abdominal muscles in order to incorporate full body movement in every kick, punch, or block. The use of knees and elbows (especially from the clinch) gives Thai boxers a distinct advantage over other stand-up fighters. Thai boxers condition their shins extensively, this is so they can be used as the point of contact for kicks. In Thai Boxing, the shin is used instead of the foot because the foot contains many small bones which could easily be broken.

Muay Thai has emerged as the striking art of choice among most MMA fighters. Although MMA fighters usually incorporate more Western style boxing then in traditional Muay Thai, using knees and elbows while in the clinch as well as leg kicks, is a very common practice in Mixed Martial Arts fights. Such MMA fighters as Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva have dominated their respective competition using devastating Muay Thai strikes, just to name a few. However, these fighters as well as many others are also well-versed in other disciplines such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Freestyle Wrestling. A traditional Muay Thai fighter would need to incorporate other Martial Arts that emphasized takedowns as well as ground positioning and submissions in order to be competitive in the MMA events of today.