Muay Thai
The Ancient Techniques of Modern Forms of Thai Boxing
Ancient Thai boxing is also known as Muay Thai, or Muay Boran, and is a traditional martial art that is still taught and practiced in Thailand to this day. Formalized rules were introduced in the 1930s, but its tradition goes back much further though many records of the game throughout history have now been lost.
A study of the Thai empty hand system was carried out by Arjarn Samai Messamarn, taking him to Burma where there were limited historical records on the subjects of Siamese warfare. He was able to document around 60 traditional Thai boxing methods, though even now only two of these records still exist. The Siamese themselves may have had their own fighting methods which evolved over thousands of years.
In history, there was a long period of fighting against the Burmese where the invaders were finally pushed back and the Chakri dynasty began. The separate kingdoms of Siam finally united into what is now known as Thailand. When these wars finally ended, fighters (who wrapped their hands in cotton) began to compete to see who had the best technique – often before the king.
This period of fighting is now known as ‘Muay Kaad Chuak’ which ended in 1929 after a death in the ring. However, people continued to fight underground and eventually developed rules to make the art safer – resulting in the sport of Muay Thai.
Some of the techniques formalised as part of the system of Muay Thai include the Buddhai Swan where the fighter grabs their opponent’s neck and twists them to each side. They then throw a knee to their opponent’s body and this finishes with a high kick to the opponent’s neck. There are many techniques falling under the Buddhai Swan syllabus.
Biddhai Swan itself is a name for the action of only a part of that technique. In this case the action is breaking (hak) the neck (kor) in the move known as Hak Kor Erawan, or offering something in the action known as Hanuman Tawai Wen. There are many more minor techniques within this one syllabus with variations and different moves. For example, a jab in the technique ‘Gaa Jik Kai’ could be replaced with a number of other moves including a front kick, round kick, uppercut and many more.
There are several other techniques used besides the Buddhai Swan which were discovered in various places including the Arjarn Yodthong study, Arjarn Panya Kraitus and Khun Bunyuen Suvanatdha.
Muay Boran is extremely important for the history of the modern sport of Thai boxing. People are now looking extensively into the past to discover the ancient traditions of the sport, and to learn about the values of honour that these fighters held. It is a huge task to piece together all of the different techniques, moves and variations of these though this is slowly being done through the variety of sources that are available for reference of this ancient art.
