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Thai Boxing - Siamese Fighting Arts |
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| Brief History: | ||
| The Siamese fighting arts can be traced back to the Mongolian invasion of China in the 12th century. The inhabitants of the southern Chinese provinces fled south for freedom from Mongolia's control and would settle in the territory that is known today as Thailand. The name Thailand, meaning "Free" land, is a place fit for those who would stand up against the threat of the Mongolian regime. But as free as Thailand was, it would still continue to go through conflicts of war with its neighboring countries in the 14th century with Burma, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It was during this time period that Thaiboxing was mostly developed, although its early roots can be linked to southern China. | ||
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| Thailand's early versions of self-defense were known as "Chupasart" which consisted of training with swords, sticks and shields, that were developed as the Thai culture settled in the Chao Phraya valley on the Mekong river. Later as more empty hand techniques evolved from this fighting defense, it would be known as "Dee Muay" and then eventually evolved into modern Muay Thai. | ||
| Known as the fighting art of eight weapons (fists,elbows,knee, legs,) Thaiboxing like some combative systems in the world evolved from conflicts of war. Muay Thai became part of military training to fend off invaders from its country. The style of Muay Thai today can be linked through past kings and warriors like Nai Khom Dom who defeated twelve Burmese warriors for his freedom, and a Thai prince named Naresuen who fought against a popular Burmese leader for the freedom of his country in 1590. In 1703 Thaiboxing reached great popularity during the regimes of the Pra Chao Sua, when a famous fighter named "Tiger King" would influence what Thaiboxing looks like today by defeating his opponents. | ||
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| In the 1930's, moderate padded gloves and equipment replaced the hemp shin and hand wraps that were used by the earlier fighters. These early fighters tied hemp to their shins and hands then dipped them in a mixture of crushed sea shells and pitched sap to harden them for deadly abrasive blows against their opponents. Regulations of weight class, rules and minute rounds replaced the fight bouts. Before this time Thaiboxing had no weight class or rounds as guidelines, and most of these bouts ended in serious injury or death. | ||
| Thaiboxing's related art of Krabi Kabrong consist of fending off opponents with weaponry such as swords, staffs, shields and wooden clubs. This ancient fighting art has it roots traced back to the Siamese military armies ancestors. As these weaponry techniques evolved with empty hand application of Muay Thai it created a complete self-defense system for the people of Thailand. | ||
| Thaiboxing and the local religion of Buddhism are brought into the ring and training camps with traditional Muay Thai fighters. This can be seen when a individual wants to join a Thai boxing camp or before the fight occurs in the ring. Known as the Wai-Kru, this dance like ritual is performed with a live orchestra of several Siamese instruments playing in the back ground to accompany the fighter's rhythm. The Wai-Kru is done to rid evil spirits, and pledge loyalty to his teacher. This can be seen as the fighter bows low and simultaneously touching the gloves to the canvas. This performance will continue into what is known as the Ram-Muay a pre warm up exercise that simulates movements of Thaiboxing. This dance like performance also serves as a meditation ritual to dissolve fear and allows prayer for ones protection while fighting in the ring. Each Ram-Muay ritual will differ from each training camp. | ||
| Although this ancient art is well
rooted in history, its popularity has changed it to more of a fighting
sport in the ring than its ancestors could have imagined, but one thing
that still remains the same about Thaiboxing is its basic function of defense.
Using front stances with forward punching and kicking techniques, it eliminates
the use of complex motions such as circular and spinning tactics or other
formulas for defense, making it easy to learn and apply in combat. |
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