Transport yourself back to Thailand, nearly 500 years ago, and you’ll witness the hand-to-hand combat of a Siamese fighter by the name of Nai Khanomtom. His style of boxing became popular both in serious warfare and also as a spectator sport. The very physical movements and techniques became adopted into cultural life and celebrations.
Sometimes called the ‘Science (or Art) of Eight Limbs,’ Muay Thai is based on 8 contact points, many more than in standard boxing or kickboxing. The whole body is involved in rotations and striking techniques, as hands, elbows, knees and feet are all used.
At an introductory level you’ll be learning the basic attacking and defensive moves as you build fitness and flexibility, as well as endurance. Right from the early sessions, you'll be working with a partner, using pads and punch bags. Muay Thai training sessions also tend to involve exercises such as skipping, squats, sit ups and interval training.
Don't worry, when you first start out, you won’t be doing much actual combat, and you'll learn the basics at your own pace. When you're ready, your Muay Thai tuition will begin to focus on combinations of moves that will be useful when engaging in fights with opponents. By the time you move into more experienced levels of the sport, you’ll be used to the technique and moves and it’ll be more about actual sparring.
What to wear? Traditionally, fighters wore rope on their fists, but nowadays modern gloves and coverings are standard requirements, which is much preferable from a safety perspective. The basic gear you need for Muay Thai includes, shorts, mouth guard, boxing gloves, shin pads and groin protector. The colours tend to be bright and showy, making Muay Thai a vibrant and challenging combat sport to watch as well as to participate in.
If you’re looking to stock up on your Muay Thai specialised clothes and equipment, see our range online, or contact us for more information. We're experts in Muay Thai and we're here to help.
