Muay Thai Kickboxing is often referred to as the science of 8 limbs. The reason for this title is the fact that you use almost every part of the body as a weapon. You can strike with your forehead, elbows, fists, knees, shins, and feet. Muay Thai Kickboxing was invented over 2,000 years ago and is recognized as one of the oldest martial arts known to man. Although records of Muay Thai fighting only go back 700 years, there is a general consensus that Muay Thai originated over 2,000 years ago in the part of Asia that is now inhabited by China.
Muay Thai is known as the martial art of “kings” because in 1411 when a king named Sen Muajng Ma died, his sons literally fought to the death for his throne using Muay Thai techniques. Many kings were known to not only train in the martial art of Muay Thai, but also compete. The only problem is that it was considered improper to touch an emperor, much less hit him. Then, a king named Phra Buddha Choa Sua used to participate in various Muay Thai tournaments dressed as a peasant to fool both the audience and his opponents. He not only won all of his matches, but ultimately defeated the national champion.
Most of the world refers to Muay Thai as Thai boxing. Although Thai boxing’s most recent claim to fame is from John Claude Van Dam and other films, this martial art is considered one of the most brutal forms of self-defense. Thailand is known to have open challenges facing other forms of stand up fighting against their Thai boxers. Most of the Thai wrestlers are heavily outmatched in these matches but still manage to destroy their opponents due to the various ways of attacking. No other martial art trains you to use each limb to attack and most other martial arts limit their striking area to above the waist. In Thai boxing, you can kick, punch, and knee your opponent’s legs. Many opponents who are not used to being kicked in the legs literally lose the match due to the excruciating pain that results from the technique.
Thai boxing is not known as the most vicious martial art for no reason. Thai boxers train their kicks in such a way that when they hit you, it literally feels like someone has swung a baseball bat. Thai boxers tend to focus on a few effective techniques and master them rather than expend energy on some of the flashier techniques found in other martial arts. In addition to being an effective martial art and the official self-defense system of the Thai National Army, Muay Thai is one of the best cardiovascular exercises you’ll ever participate in. Many aerobic studios incorporate Thai boxing techniques into their workouts. As you can see, if you want to kill two birds with one stone by learning to defend yourself and getting in good shape, Thai boxing is a martial art that is definitely worth checking out.