Muay Thai, the art of eight of limbs.

Muay Thai is a martial art that has its origins in East Asia, specifically Thailand. It was originally developed for military purposes, and is therefore very violent, lethal, and effective. Now a days, with the advent of UFC, muay thai has become the most popular form of stand up fighting for mixed martial arts fighters.

The martial art uses both hands, both feet, the elbows, and the knees of an individual as a striking surface. The basic stance is very similar to Western boxing: left foot and hand forward, and elbows tucked in. However, it differs in that the feet are wider apart, and the hands are slightly lower. The wider feet feet provide a stronger base that makes blocking kicks and absorbing their impacts without falling possible. Having the hands a bit lower, or off to the side or in front of you (it is a personal preference), makes it easier to see kicks coming. Mike Tyson’s peek-a-boo method is great for boxing, but impairs the vision of the lower extremities–a fatal error in muay thai. The elbows must remain tucked in to protect the ribs. As the elbows start to come up, gaps open in your defences, and you will get punched in the ribs.

Just like western boxing and kickboxing, the stance also has a mirror image southpaw stance which is a right lead as opposed to the left lead that is normally used. It is rare that fighters will mainly fight out of this stance, but the best fighters can fight out of both. Especially because of the kicking, you may find yourself a bit turned around and in the opposite lead. This is where practicing out of both comes in handy.

The basic attacks are the jab, the cross, the hook, the rear hook, the uppercut, the rear uppercut, the thai/right/whip kick, the switch kick, the foot jab, and the switch foot jab. More advanced are the use of the elbows and knees. However, without s certain degree of mastery over the hands and feet, the technique for the use of the elbows and knee will be booty.

When using your hands to punch in muay thai it is important to tuck your chin into your shoulder of the striking limb in order to protect yourself from listening to some sweet chin music. For the foot jabs it is important to bring the knee up high before extending the leg, and more importantly to generate power with the thrusting of the hips. The thai and switch kicks both require a 45 degree “triangle step” and aim to strike the rib cage.

Every attack has a defence. Head shields, parries, ducks, weaves, leans, elbow blocks, and pulling distance all defend against strike to the lead and body for punches. Head shields, knee shields, ducks (kinda sketch for kicks), and pulling distance (getting far back) are all used for defending against kicks.

I highly suggest giving this a try. If you live near State College (we all do), check out Titan MMA at Lionheart gym. It is a lot of fun and absolutely kickass.