- published: 29 Nov 2013
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Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, RTGS: Muai Thai, IPA: [mūɛj tʰāj]) is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Burma and muay Lao from Laos.
The word muay derives from the Sanskrit mavya which means "to bind together". Muay thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" or the "Science of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in other more regulated combat sports, such as kickboxing and savate. A practitioner of muay thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang, meaning "foreign boxer."
Various forms of kickboxing have long been practiced throughout Southeast Asia. Based on Chinese and Indian martial arts, practitioners claim that these systems can be traced back to a thousand years.
The traditional martial arts of the Indochinese peninsula are related among one another, and as a group to southern Chinese and Indian martial arts.
The most salient common feature is Indochinese kickboxing.
Thaing (Burmese: သိုင်း, pronounced: [θáiɴ]) is a Burmese term used to classify the traditional martial systems of Myanmar. Systems of thaing include bando, lethwei, banshay and naban.
Pradal serey is an unarmed martial art from Cambodia. In Khmer the word pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Originally used for warfare, pradal serey is now one of Cambodia's national sports. Its moves have been slightly altered to comply with the modern rules.
Muay Lao is a traditional unarmed martial art from Laos. It incorporates punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. Muay Lao was an event at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane.
Tomoi is an unarmed martial art from Malaysia. It is practiced mainly in the northern states such as Kedah, Trengganu, and especially Kelantan.
Muay Boran (Thai: มวยโบราณ, RTGS: Muai Boran, IPA: [mūɛj bōːrāːn], lit. "ancient boxing") is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s. Its modern counterpart is now referred to as muay Thai or Thai boxing.
When used as an adjective, Thai refers to anything that originates from Thailand. As a noun it may refer to: