Muay Boran: Thai Style Of Martial Art

People who know the martial arts know about Muay Thai. You will frequently hear it referred to as the "art of eight limbs". Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing, is a well known sport in Thailand, being that nation's official sport. It is popular around the world. It's one of the widely used mixed martial arts events entrants. Additionally, you will see it used in kickboxing events and self-defense classes. While the majority of folks are familiar with Muay Thai, they aren't as familiar with the parent art to it: Muay Boran. This is a shame because Muay Boran could become a lost art if its heritage is not properly kept.

What is Muay Boran? The concept of Muay Boran as an old form of boxing makes far more sense when you keep in mind that the English translation of Muay Boran is "Ancient Boxing". A typical mistaken belief regarding Muay Boran is that it is just a bare knuckles variation of Muay Thai. Obviously, Muay Boran was executed without gloves. Nonetheless, there are more significant differences between the two in terms of the art form. The Muay Boran nickname wasn't the "art of eight limbs", it was the art of "nine weapons". The ninth weapon which isn't even allowed in organized Muay Thai events, was the headbutt.

One more common misconception about Muay Boran is that its techniques and performance reflects the striking style of Thai Boxing. This is only partially true since Muay Boran definitely had a standup style akin to Muay Thai. Many of the native fighting moves of the Indochinese region can be found included in Muay Boran. There are a lot of similarities in the training form to that of MMA training. MMA is a militaristic style. Muay Boran is very brutal. It deals with both offense and defense, but it does so in a freestyle way. It allows the fighter to compensate for naturally crazy fighting scenarios. So nowadays it would be something that is well suited for self-defense and military application.

Needless to say, in spite of this Muay Boran was used in competitive events. Muay Thai is in fact the art form that has developed as the result of adaptations made to Muay Boran for competitive events. Basically, two things contributed to the fall of Muay Boran. Although boxing gloves are now used in Muay Thai competitions, traditional Muay Boran competitive events used hemp-wrapped forearms. The second main change was the huge reduction of illegal techniques as the art became more of an honorable ring sport. This is not to lament the development of Muay Thai as the birth of the ring sport was basically the result of a natural progression of events intlmac.com . What's regrettable, however, is the fact that Muay Boran practically became a lost martial art style.

Fortunately, in recent times, the few instructors who do know the art have come forward to help preserve its teaching. There are also instructional Muay Boran DVDs available these days, and also traditional Muay Boran clubs.