Muay Thai, sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "Art of eight limbs", as it is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the late 20th to 21st century, when Westernised practitioners from Thailand began competing in kickboxing and mixed-rules matches as well as matches under Muay Thai rules around the world. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand (P.A.T.), sanctioned by The Sports Authority of Thailand (S.A.T.).
Krabi-Krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Silat, Burmese banshay and Cambodian kbach kun boran. The royal bodyguard corps of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej were said to be highly trained in krabi-krabong.
Muay Boran or originally Toi Muay is an umbrella term for the ancient unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.
Banshay is a weapon-based martial art from Myanmar focusing primarily on the sword, staff and spear. Influenced by both Indian and Chinese sources, it is closely related to similar Southeast Asian systems such as Thai krabi krabong, Cambodian kbach kun boran and Malay silat.
Lerdrit, Muay Lert Rit or, Leert Rit is the generic name attributed to the set of principles and fighting techniques employed by Siamese warriors for centuries on Southeast Asian battlefields. This form of Muay has been used primarily by the Royal Thai Army’s Palace Guard, the Capital’s Defense Corps, war elephants’ Defense Units and Special Infantry Corps. Siamese Lert Rit was based on a clever combination of the Nine Natural Weapons (Nawarthawooth), i.e., hands, feet, knees, elbows and head, which were used to attack and defend. It was also based on the four ancestral strategies used by Special Infantry Corps: Tum, Tap (crush), Chap (grab), Hak. Muay of today is a traditional martial art born from the ancestral precepts of Siamese warriors, adapted to the self-defence needs of modern practitioners, regardless of their physical characteristics and the conditions under which its techniques are applied. However, several Western martial arts practitioners have developed modern adaptations that combine elements of Muay Thai with those of other martial arts which they now market as Muay Boran.
Kun Khmer, or Pradal Serey, is a combat sport that originated in Cambodia. The sport consists of stand up striking and clinch fighting, where the objective is to knock an opponent out, force a technical knockout, or win a match by points. The sport was codified in Cambodia by the French colonial administration in the early 20th century, and was derived from centuries-old traditions, namely Bokator, the close-quarter combat system used during the Khmer empire. The official Khmer name of the sport is Kbach Kun Pradal Khmer.
An elbow strike is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow. Elbows can be thrown sideways similarly to a hook, upwards similarly to an uppercut, downwards with the point of the elbow, diagonally or in direct movement and in several other ways, like during a jump. Elbow strikes are native to traditional Southeast Asian martial arts, traditional Chinese martial arts and traditional Okinawan martial arts.
Dha is the Burmese word for "knife" and "sword" similar term to daab or darb in Thai language for a single edge sword. The term dha is conventionally used to refer to a wide variety of knives and swords used by many people across Southeast Asia, especially present-day Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Yunnan, Laos, and Cambodia and Northeast India.
Bokator or Kun L'bokator is an ancient Cambodian battlefield martial art. It is one of the oldest fighting systems existing in the world and is recognised as intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO.
Dance in Thailand is the main dramatic art form in Thailand. Thai dance can be divided into two major categories, high art and low art.
The origins of Asian martial arts are diverse and scattered, having roots in various regions of Asia. Various Asian martial arts reference the study of animal movements as inspiration for martial arts techniques.
Cambodia has increasingly become involved in sports over the last 30 years.
Kbach Kun Dambong Veng is a sub-discipline of Bokator. It involves the use of long staffs. In Cambodia, the discipline has historically been used to protect the country and villages from potential enemies.
Muay Lao is an ancient combat sport from Laos. It incorporates punches, kicks, elbow, and knee strikes. It can be traced back to the 15th century when it was used for military combat during the Lan Xang dynasty. It is similar to Muay Thai from Thailand and Pradal Serey from Cambodia. Muay Lao was an event at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane.
Musti-Yuddha is a traditional combat sport originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term literally means "fist combat", from the Sanskrit words muṣṭi (fist) and yuddha. While this would originally have been used as a general term for any boxing art, today it usually refers to muki boxing from Varanasi, the only surviving unarmed style. In the Punjab there still exists an armed form of boxing called loh-musti in which the fighters wear a kara on one hand, although it is no longer used for sparring.
Kbach Kun Khmer Boran is the umbrella term encompassing all Khmer martial arts. Among them, figure Bokator, Kun Khmer, Baok Chambab and Kbach Kun Dambong Veng. Cambodian martial arts are a thousand-year old tradition, as evidenced by archeological vestiges.
Antonio Graceffo is an American economist, China analyst, martial artist, and author who has lived in several Asian countries. He is a frequent guest, providing analysis of the Chinese economy and geopolitics, on various shows on New Tang Dynasty Television, including Talking Points, The Wide Angle, China in Focus, and Forbidden News. He is also the host of the web TV show, Martial Arts Odyssey, which traces his ongoing journey through Asia learning martial arts in various countries. Graceffo is credited with helping to revitalize the lost Khmer martial art of Bokator by being the first to report on it in English in the post-Pol Pot era. Beyond martial arts, Graceffo is also a student of multiple languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, German, Spanish, Italian, and French.
Martial Arts Odyssey is an American web TV show with a martial arts travel theme. Created and hosted by Antonio Graceffo, the series has run more than 180 episodes shot in Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia. Martial arts featured on the show include: Muay Thai, Muay Chaiya, Pradal Serey, Bokator, Filipino Kuntaw, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Kung Fu, Silat Kalam, Silat Melayu, Tomoi, boxing, Muay Lao, Ziyou Bodji, urban combat, Lai Tai, Muay Boran, military hand-to-hand combat, Silambam, and others.
The mai sok is a traditional weapon from the Thai martial art of Krabi-Krabong. It is a forearm shield made of wood, typically used in pairs, that can be used for both offense and defense at close range.
