Muay Thai is the only martial art to include the countries name in the sport. You can not separate the uniqueness of Thai culture from the martial art.

There are very little documents that exist to give a true and factual account of how Muay Thai developed through the years thousands of years ago. Instead there are many oral traditions handed down which makes it hard to be completely accurate. However, we do know that the martial art began before the first capital town of Sukhothai in the year of 1238. Also, most agree that the word Muay comes from a Sanskirt word Mavya which means "pulling together" or "unity".

Muay is a practical fighting skill which pulls together the whole body: the head and mind, fists, elbows, knees, and legs as nine weapons. It was used on the battlefields at a time when hand to hand combat was the normal form of fighting. The different communities would use Muay in their military as their main way to protect themselves and would learn from one another. This explains why there are so many different techniques in the now a day sport of Muay Thai. They also used Muay Thai as their entertainment and exercise which is why in Thailand all festivals include a Muay Thai tournament as part of their culture and entertainment.

There is a very deep link between Muay and the temples of Buddhism. When Buddhism spread from India, it was embraced by the people of Thailand. The temples housed the community of Monks. The Monks were usually retired soldiers and high-ranking officials or men from nobility who were educated and successful in their secular lives. They were the leaders of their villages. The local people would send their sons to live at the temple and learn from the Monks not only religion, but to be fully educated including the martial arts. It was from the Monks, with their military knowledge of strategy, sociology, and psychology that the young boys learned the unique art of Muay Thai.

 Another reason that Muay Thai is considered one of the highest forms of martial arts and can not be separated from Thai culture is because even the king of Thailand, who is considered to have the status of a hero, to this day is very much involved with the sport. And in ancient times (around 1350) when the capitol town was Ayutthaya, the King Phrajaow Sua disguised himself as a local person and joined in with other locals to practice Muay Thai. He wanted to observe for himself how the local people lived,  to observe which Muay Thai fighters he should chose for the military and to continue to establish his own skills in the sport. This is just one example of how through the years the different Kings of Thailand have been devoted to Muay Thai.  

* Most information from: Muay Thai a Living Legacy by Kat Prayukvong and Lesley D. Junlakan

Wai Kru Music

Traditional thai dance performed before fight to show respect to teaches and parents

Fight Video

UNDER CONSTRUCTION