 If I were to say that Muay Thai was one of the most practical, toughest and competitive fighting arts out there, I don't think I would get much pushback from that. Featuring powerful and devastating blows and wicked speed, Muay Thai is also a favorite staple in many mixed martial artist regiments. However, it's more than just an exotic kickboxing sport and today we're going to look at the traditions of Muay Thai to find out what makes it the rich and unique art that it actually is. So is Muay Thai a traditional martial art? Honestly, not an easy question to answer, especially depending on how you define the word traditional. We often hear a lot of the debate between what is better, traditional martial arts or more contemporary martial arts with boxing and BJJ and Muay Thai usually grouped into latter, but we're going to table that question for now because we're actually going to tackle that shortly in an upcoming episode. Today we want to take a deeper look at Muay Thai itself, which will involve a quick summary of its origin, the spirituality and pre-fight traditions which has become integral to the art, and the typical rules found in Muay Thai competition and how they might differ from what we see in the MMA and UFC today. Many of the most popular martial arts styles say they have been modernized with the roots going back to the history of other arts. So for example, Taekwondo and Tangsudo come from Shodokan Foundation, which in itself is a mixture of Okinawan, Shorenru and Shoreiru. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu comes from Judo, which comes from Japanese Jiu Jitsu. American Kempo has mixed influences going back through Kara Ho Kempo and other arts often referred to as Chinese Krate. Muay Thai literally translates to Thai boxing, and some say that verbal history goes back to 1238 in Siam, known today as Thailand, although the origins of its ancestral art, Muay Boran, go back to over 2000 years. Now Muay Boran, roughly translated as ancestral or ancient boxing, was a brutal art developed for the purpose of self-defense and warfare. There was a long stretch of history in which Siam was heavily at war with neighboring Burma and Cambodia, so the warriors of the Siamese army were skilled in the handling of the spear, the sword and hand-to-hand combat with the latter using techniques based on kicks, fists, knees, and for short distance striking. Being a battlefield art, Muay Boran employed deadly tactics utilizing both aggressive takedowns and grappling along with a robust stand-up fighting style. Muay Boran also divided into slightly different flavors as it developed in different regions of the country. The country entered a period of peace in the 19th century and saw the ascension of a new king to the throne. He took a personal interest into the sport of Muay Thai, which had developed into a stand-up only competitive fighting system. Competition and training was also encouraged to keep fighters sharp, ready, and physically fit. Muay Thai became a professional national sport. Fighting was carried out in rope rings up to 24 feet wide, and the rules were simple. Fight until there was one left standing or one of the fighters surrendered. Today, Muay Thai has practiced worldwide and is one of the most popular contact sports, especially in MMA competitions. And even today, the best training gyms, or Kai Muay, are still considered to be in Thailand. The uniqueness and universal appeal of Muay Thai are a found in part in the fact that not only is it a very efficient form of martial art, it is also infused with the Thai cultural values that make Muay Thai a reflection of some of the most intrinsic qualities of Thai society. The Wai Kru, or ceremony of respect for teachers, is an ancient Thai tradition closely linked with the fundamental concept that all providers of knowledge, or Kru, are teachers and are worthy of utmost respect. That respect is expressed in the spiritual, elegant, and highly symbolic Wai Kru Ram Wai, or ritual dance of homage to the masters. It is accompanied by traditional music immediately before the fight. In a traditional competition, this music is often continued throughout the fight intensifying at times in an effort to motivate the fighters to push harder. During this ritual, upon entering the ring, each fighter will proceed to pray at each corner of the ring in a counterclockwise movement. The second phase of the ritual is the Ram Wai. The Ram Wai itself is a personalized ritual of movements, unique to each fighter, with motions often done in triplicate that can represent many different ideas such as their influences, their teachers, their land of origin, or other symbolic clues. It may also be used to help the fighter relax and release stress from the body. When opponents enter the ring, they are often traditionally seen wearing a mongkorn on their head and a pangmalai around the neck, which are ornamental floral necklaces given out as a gesture of good luck. The mongkorn is a special, carefully woven band that represents the gym where they came from. This is a very unique aspect of Muay Thai and this carries great symbolism for the fighters. A mongkorn is given to an individual fighter by the trainer after the teacher feels that the student has mastered the art enough to represent the honor of Muay Thai. Supercision often plays a heavy role in Thailand and this headpiece is believed to carry special powers and luck. The teacher or crew will often say a prayer when presenting the fighter with the headpiece. The mongkorn is to only be handled directly by the fighter or his trainer and be stored in high positions, never touching the ground, and a prayer to be said anytime it needs to be moved or handled. Any violation of these rituals is believed to strip the mongkorn of its powers. The Prajied are ribbons worn around the bicep and are also an old traditional symbol of luck. In modern Muay Thai gyms, these are sometimes used in place of colored ranks, but originally they held spiritual meaning. A standard Muay Thai competition will consist of five rounds lasting three minutes each. Fighters win by either knocking out their opponent or by winning on points. Now Muay Thai has a very unique scoring system which we'll cover in a minute. A Muay Thai boxer officially called Nak Muay has a variety of techniques at their disposal. Muay Thai is often referred to as the discipline of eight limbs which refers to the availability of the fists, the elbows, the shins, and the knees to be used as weapons. If you've ever seen a Muay Thai match or anyone experienced in the art, then you've seen the powerful round kicks they can deliver. These kicks are not like traditional or Thai Kwon Do kicks with clean chambers and snapping strikes. A Muay Thai kick is meant to swing and go through you. Their knee strikes are rapid and penetrating. The elbows fly furiously and bottom line, these are just well conditioned and tough athletes. Now as far as rules go, most strikes are valid. Front kicks are good as long as they're above the belt. No groin shots of any kind are allowed. Catching an opponent's leg and sweeping their other leg out and takedowns are allowed, but there's no grappling. Unlike boxing, fighters can still attack each other from the clinch position, typically with a series of elbows and knee shots. Good clean techniques are generally valid, however, there are still fouls to avoid. According to Muay Thai Fighting.com, violations include biting, eye gouging, spitting, or headbutting, back or arm locks for any similar judo or wrestling hold. Deliberately falling on your opponent, holding the ropes for any reason, swearing or the use of abusive language during the match, knocking out or injuring your opponent after the referee has ordered the match to stop for any reason, or deliberately striking the groin area. In the event of a knockout, the standing fighter is the winner of the match, which is standard for any knockdown karate or full contact sport. But in the event that the five rounds end and both fighters are still standing, how are the points tallied? You see, unlike Thai Kwon Do karate and other arts, individual techniques are not worth a predetermined amount of points. So if each successful technique itself is an award to the point, how does it work? Well, in a nutshell, Muay Thai fights are composed of five rounds, which is less than most other combat sports. In each round, the maximum amount of points a fighter can get is 10, so that's 50 maximum points for the entire fight. The kicker here is they judges have to award 10 points to one of the fighters for each round. What's interesting here is the judges rate the round as a whole, but it's not a matter of a front kick landing and earning X amount of points or a takedown worth Y amount of points. It doesn't work on individual techniques. The fighter who lands the most definitive, clean, and impressive techniques is determined the winner of that round. The winner of the round will get the 10 points put on their card. If there was a good trade-off and the round was deemed evenly matched, judges might award both fighters 10 points. So if one fighter is deemed the winner, he'll get 10 points and the loser of the round will typically get nine points. Unless perhaps he was knocked down during the fight in which he might only be awarded eight points. At the end of the five rounds, if both fighters are still standing, then the judges will tally up all the points and the winner is the combatant with the most cumulative points. It's a rather unique system and the winner could be decided in the context of which rounds they dominate. So as to how the judges seem the points and decide who the winner is, well, they're looking at three specific aspects of the fight, effective technical aggression, general ringmanship, and pure aggression. I would like to read an excerpt from combatgroup.com and the way they break this down. Effective technical aggression. Not too much different from other combat sports. The more clean, solid strikes landed, the better. This also accounts for roughly 70% of a judge's decision. Key word here is effective. Point boxing doesn't not work, but it doesn't necessarily work either. Simply landing the shot to an unprotected target won't sway the judges. Strikes need to do some damage. Judges recognize damage in a few different ways. Strikes that move an opponent, take them off balance, cause them to look hurt through the gesture or facial expression or an audible grunt. Draw blood or a marking or obviously by knocking them down. It doesn't matter if these shots are counters, being defensive, delivered moving forward, backwards or sideways or against the ropes. Knees kicks the bodies and kicks the head to get more attention. But again, it's all about the effectiveness in Muay Thai scoring. General ringmanship. This accounts for 20% of the judging and this has to do with the boxer's ability to dominate the opponent, defend his attacks, set the pace and ultimately control the fight. One way to think of this is to ask who seems to be in whose house? Who seems to be deciding what's gonna happen to that moment? You'll often see Muay Thai fighters stand and trade kicks one after another in an exchange. Each boxer is trying to get the last kick in as to say I was in control, I ended the exchange, I had the last word. Defensive prowess isn't scored as much in Muay Thai as it is in boxing, but this is where it applies. A strong defense demonstrates ringmanship. Pure aggression. Now, this only counts for 10% of the decision, but aggression is very important in Muay Thai. This is about who is forcing the action. Avoiding exchanges is looked down upon by judges. Muay Thai is so much about the heart. The practice of training Muay Thai starts when the fighters are youthful. A few kicks started at eight years old or even much more juvenile. Ordinary schedules are based on preparing, getting up on time and going through hours of wellness and battling strategies. There are numerous reasons youngsters may start Muay Thai, but ultimately they are grooming their youth to become victors and condition them to life's challenges. It is generally passed down from a master to a student. Contenders have a profound regard for their seniors. Mentors help to create fighting abilities, mental quality and self-conviction. They pass on devotion, responsibility and energy. Teachers favor understudies for wellbeing, achievement and battling well. Contenders honor coaches with a way cry custom before each battle. For many individuals, Muay Thai is not just a profession but a livelihood and social reputation. In the ring, warriors resemble machines. On the outside of the ring, notwithstanding, Muay Thai shows modesty, regard, sympathy, perseverance, honor and colossal discretion. We may only catch glimpses of it in MMA fights, but if we take the time to watch a pure Muay Thai match, then we can really get a sense of what a tough and incredible art it really is. I know a lot of our viewers out there have MMA experience, so I would love to hear about how the art differs from the perspective of a contender of the cage and that from a traditional Thai fighter. Thai fighter.