From a technical standpoint, there is no doubt that the unknown creators of Muay observed monkeys and their way of fighting very carefully, trying to steal their “secrets.” They are very intelligent creatures; their way of fighting is based on the unpredictability of their movements: a monkey jumps, rolls, spins on itself and strikes by surprise from all directions. The mythical Hanuman brings together all the characteristics of the animal he is inspired by, amplified by his semi-divine nature. Hanuman Tawai Waen represents one of the favourite attacks of the son of the God of wind, who strikes with both fists by leaning forward or leaping upward thanks to the explosive movement of the entire musculature of the body, from the legs to the arms; the Muay Lopburi style has made this technique its own by developing it down to the smallest detail to make it an ultimate strike. Among the many devastating actions used by the Nak Muay over the centuries, a large family of techniques was inspired precisely by Hanuman’s agile movements and has characterized Muay Boran, helping Siamese warriors survive in countless confrontations. The particular techniques we are talking about are commonly grouped together under the term “Hanuman techniques”; their defining characteristic is that they are attacks carried by jumping.
A good warrior skilled in Muay had to be able to face any kind of opponent, whether alone or in a group, and what better system than a flying assault carried with the ferocity of an aggressive monkey to surprise and defeat the most powerful enemy with a single blow or to quickly break the encirclement of multiple attackers?
In Muay almost every part of the body is employed for jumping strikes: the head the shoulders, the fists, the forearms, the elbows, the hips, the knees, the shins, the feet. Targets can be virtually any sensitive area of the opponent, from the head to the legs. The various natural weapons then are often combined and used in conjunction with one another (e.g., a knee and an elbow) to make offensive actions even more difficult to block. Only those who have suffered a sudden and violent attack with a flying blow thrown from an “impossible” distance (i.e., either from very far or very close) can fully appreciate the dangerousness of such extremely effective techniques.
