Muay Thai or Thai boxing as it is also called is a Thai martial art form that has a very long tradition, while its source it thought to return to the Sukhothai Kingdom from the 13th century. King Suriyenth rathibodi reined 1703-1709, also known as the Tiger King allegedly loved Thai boxing so much that he disguised himself as a normal fighter and fought against local champions in Thai villages. The Tiger King is also thought to dictate training to his troops who employed this martial art form when they dropped their weapons on the battlefield.
Both Thailand at the time known as Siam and the game reached their golden era during the reign of Chulalongkorn, also called Rama V reigned 1868-1910. Throughout his reign it became the favourite sport of both poor and rich, and old and young. Training camps arose all around the country and virtually every village coordinated its own championships. Betting on the outcome become a valuable part of Muay Thai and the gambling tradition still accompanies this martial art form regardless of the fact that most types of gambling in Thailand are prohibited. Thai boxing went through a few changes from the first half of the 20th century although the game itself has not changed radically.
From the 1920’s, the fighters started to wear gloves rather than rope wrappings and groin guards. At precisely the exact same time were also introduced referee and timed rounds. However, the majority of the fitness camp thailand tradition remained unchanged for example pre-fight rituals. Today it is practiced all around the world. Rules of fighting vary From country to country but there are a few general rules that are followed by most of boxers.
The fighting technique is called the Science of Eight Limbs or theatre of Eight Limbs since it bases on usage of eight points of contact including punching, kicking, knee and knee strikes unlike two points in classic boxing fists and four points in different kinds of kickboxing fists and feet. The techniques are divided into major techniques or made May and Minor technique or luck may but almost all foundation on use of the full body. Thai clinch technique or chap kohl is utilized only in Thai boxing.
Along with learning fighting techniques, training too targets body conditioning including running, weight training, stretching, Rope jumping, shadowboxing, calisthenics and several other types of conditioning which assist the fighter achieve fitness and toughness necessary for fighting, while Thai pad training is the most important technique in Muay Thai conditioning, The mat coaching is used for practicing all the fighting techniques including punching, kicking, and practicing knee and elbow strikes.