Muay Boran/ Muay Thai

Hello earth and all who inhabit it!

We forgot to add an introduction to this whole assignment we're doing. We've set-up a blog, and twitter, facebook group and youtube channel will be coming up soon! We've chosen the topic Martial Arts, as we all agreed that Martial Arts was what we all liked.

So back to what I'm going to talk about today! We've split up the work so that we'll all do research on the martial arts we prefer, out of the few I've picked, today I'll be talking about Muay Boran, or what is more known to us as Muay Thai.

Muay Thai is not just a different name for Muay Boran. Muay Thai as we know, is the "Art of Eight Limbs, using your hands, legs, elbows and knees. Muay Thai isn't just another name for Muay Boran, because it was derived from Muay Boran. Muay Thai is sort of a cleaned up version of Muay Boran, similar to martial arts from around the region as well, from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Muay Thai is the National Sport of Thailand, so be prepared if you ever go to Thailand. Do not be surprised when you see trucks carrying a young man in shorts, and handwraps or gloves, with another man screaming into a loudhailer next to him. Muay Thai fights are big in Thailand and children train from as young as 7 years old ( any younger and they could do some serious damage to themselves).

Muay Boran has weapons unlike Muay Thai, because Muay Boran was used when the soldiers had to go for war, every move they created was to cause serious harm or kill. Muay Thai then turned into a spectator sport. Muay Thai was used to entertain instead of warfare.

Before every fight, you've probably seen Thai Boxers perform a dance in the ring. It is not just a dance, it's a dance to show respect to the coaches/teachers, before a fight. This dance is called,"Wai Khru Ram Muay". Wai is the action of your two palms put together like in prayer( Thais do this to show respect to others). Khru means teacher. Ram means dance, in the old traditional Thai style. Muay means boxing. Some of the movements they use come from the wars the soldiers have fought.

Now, Muay Thai is a sport, that even I have decided to take up. Sport Muay Thai allows people to experience the martial arts in a safer environment. Competitions for Muay Thai are held all over the world. Some pretty famous people you may want to look up, Tony Jaa and Buakaw Por Pramuk.

Alright! That's all for today! I'll talk more about Muay Thai and some other stuff the next time I blog.



CASSANDRA, OVER AND OUT!