Muay Boran

Muay Thai Boran (traditional Thai fighting) is the mother Martial Art that has recently developed, from 1932, into a combat sport known as Thai Boxing or Muay Thai which is nowadays appreciated worldwide.
Originally Muay, มวย was the art and science of fighting the fight, as visualized and developed by the ancient Siamese Masters. Traditional Muay owes its origins to ancestral fighting methods of the people of Siam, elaborated and refined thanks to a continuous process of trial and correction. Pichaiyuth, Dti Muay, Pahuyuth, Sillapha Muay, Mai Muay Thai and Muay Kard Chiek: under these and other labels the gruelling Siamese bare handed techniques of hand to hand combat have been practised for centuries, unified today under the umbrella name of Muay Boran.
Muay is a Siamese martial art that developed during more than 1000 years, going through different “eras” (Pre-historic, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Thonburi, Rattanakosin). Along the years it has been practised as a hand to hand combat system, a popular past time and a professional sport.

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That is to say what is generally labelled as Muay Boran is actually a masterly mix of elements characteristic of different technical settings defined by scholars as Regional Styles (i.e.Muay Chaiya, Muay Korat, Muay Lopburi, Muay Uttaraditt or Muay Ta Sao) and fighting principles that follow a common logic (like the deceptive techniques of the Monkey Style or Muay Wanorn) made actual and usable by a modern western student thanks to a well-structured system of teaching. In this sense it is correct to say that present-day Muay Boran is at the same time both an ancient and modern discipline: ancient because of its combat strategies and traditional techniques which date back to ancient times and modern due to the codification of a varied and structured technical background created in modern times by experts and scholars of Siamese martial traditions, totally immersed in the reality of today and directed towards future developments.

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Contemporary Muay Boran adapts traditional Siamese Martial Arts to the realistic requirements of western practitioners: self-defence, fitness, self-confidence building, Thai culture learning. When East and West meet, with mutual respect, the best of both worlds emerges.
From a technical stand point Muay Boran is based on the scientific use of the nine body weapons or Nawarthawoot(2 fists, 2 legs, 2 knees, 2 elbows and the head) to attack and defend. Attacks are executed by striking all parts of the opponent’s body, moreover additional techniques include grappling maneuvers (Kod Rad Fad Wiang), throwing and pinning (Tum Tap), gripping and twisting the opponent’s limbs to break or damage his joints (Chap Hak).