Muay Thai Rules Explained. Interesting Information on Peculiar Martial Art

Muay Thai was popular a few centuries ago; that is why it is difficult to say what was the beginning of the given kind of sport. As for its popularity in the West, it started increasing in the middle 20th century, when Muay Thai athletes showed decent results in fights against representatives of other martial arts. At present, the given kind of sport is so popular in Thailand that they even have a special holiday dedicated to the given martial art. The going article is going to explain the most important elements of the sport of Muay Thai.

General Rules

In modern Muay Thai, it is allowed to beat an opponent with fists, soles of feet, elbows, and knees. It is this rule that makes the people call this sport as “fight of eight limbs”.

At the same time, the official rules prevent the fighters from using holds that can result in serious injuries or opponent’s death. Even despite this fact, it is estimated that a single lethal outcome happens over 500 bouts. In addition, it is prohibited to perform low blows, kicks with the head, and submission holds. There are weight classes to prevent fighters of significantly different weight from competing against each other.

A Muay Thai bout consists of three 3-minute rounds with one-minute intervals between them.

Equipment

Taking into account the fact that Muay Thai is a kind of martial arts, it is clear that we will not speak of a few pieces of equipment. Roughly speaking, Muay Thai equipment consists of the following:

• wrist wraps (4-4.5 meter long);
• mouth guard;
• trunks;
• shin bandage.

In addition, there is also the mongkhon i.e. a traditional head bandage. This piece of equipment does not contribute to any practical significance, performing only a traditional function. It is a rope consisting of 108 (this number is said to be spiritual in the Buddhist religion) separate strings. A fighter should braid this item by himself; only after that, he can be blessed by his master. The mongkhon is worn by the fighters only before a bout begins; actual fighting happens without it.

Traditions

From the case with the mongkhon, it should be clear that Muay Thai is something bigger than just a simple martial art. It pays significant attention to a spiritual constituent and history. That is why there are a lot of traditions in the given kind of sport.

Wai Kru Ram Muay

Every Muay Thai bout begins with the traditional prayer (Wai Kru) and the ceremonial dance (Ram Muay). As for the prayer, each fighter takes his corner, faces his coach, and tell the necessary words.

The dance, in its turn, is a way to honor and return thanks to the coach and the parents that have played a significant role in the fighter’s life. In addition, the dance is a particular pre-bout warm-up for legs, hands, and the body. Finally, the Ram Muay helps a fighter to tune up for the upcoming bout.

Pra Jiad

This is a traditional Thai amulet in the form of a shoulder bandage. It has two free ends, and its main task is to protect his owner. As distinct from the mongkhon, the Pra Jiad should be present on one or both hands during the whole bout. This piece of equipment is made of cloth stripes bearing magical formulas, prayers, and incantations. This tradition has come from Thai history: its warriors tied this item around their shoulders and went into battles. The bandage was thought to protect them from death and wounds.

Music

Every Muay Thai bout is accompanied by traditional Thai music that is said to set a necessary pace. It is believed that this instrumental music transfer magical phenomena, which helps the fighters to free their mind from all the unnecessary thoughts. In addition, the given rhythm is said to bring the fighters into a particular furor contributing the fighters’ better focus on the bout, which allows them to show better results.

Honor Code

Like any other kind of sport, Muay Thai makes all the fighters have respect for their opponents. Thus, all the verbal and physical abuses are prohibited prior to, during, and after a bout. If this rule is violated, a guilty athlete will be punished in a corresponding way.

Now, let us consider those peculiarities that are natural to the given Thai martial art only. Thus, it is the human’s head that is considered to be the most honored part of the body because it is higher than everything. That is way no Thai fighter will enter the ring under its ropes; it will jump over them because nothing can be above his head.

In addition, it is a great humiliation when a fighter manages to kick the opponent’s face with his sole of the foot that is considered to be the most contemptible part of the body. This hold literally tells that the opponents head is lower than the first fighter’s sole. Even a greater humiliation arises when a fighter manages to slightly touch his opponent’s face with his sole of the feet. This is similar to slap in the face.

Scoring System

When determining a winner, only those kicks and hits with hands, feet, elbows, and knees count that have reached the target (reached an opponent without his blocks) and shocked or imbalanced him. If a bout comes into a clinching stage, a particular scoring system should be applied. Also while in clinching, the opponents should perform kicks and hits; otherwise, the bout will be stopped by a corresponding command.

If it happens that a fighter manages to get a skillful advantage over his opponent (a higher number and quality of performed kicks and hits that imbalance the opponent) but these kicks and hits fail to meet the above mentioned scoring requirements, every particular stage of a bout is estimated as a kick or hit that has reached the target.

When a fighter manages to catch the opponent’s leg while he is performing a kick, the fighter should immediately perform a counter-attack. The kicks and hits in the opponents’ legs and hands do not count if these body parts are used as blocks.

Over every round, the judge estimates the nature of fouls. After that, he may subtract a certain amount of points even if the referee did not pay attention to this fact. When the referee gives a warning to a fighter, the judge should subtract one point from the sum of points earned by this fighter over a single round. In the case, if a fighter gets two warnings for one and the same foul, the third warning for the same foul will result in one point being subtracted from the sum of points earned by this fighter over a single round. Depending on the severity of a foul, even the first foul can result in one point off (intentional low blow, ignoring the referee, and so on).

At the end of every round, a fighter that has managed to perform a greater number of kicks and hits that have reached the target and imbalanced the opponent bets 10 points. 9 points are given to his opponent who has managed to perform fewer successful kicks and hits. If there was a significant difference between the opponents’ levels and the difference in the number of successfully performed kicks and hits is above 8, 8 points are given to a losing fighter. Even 7 points can be given to a fighter if there is a huge difference of 15 and more successfully performed hits and kicks. With this, 6 points cannot be given because the given difference would mean the great advantage that would result in the end of a bout. When the fighters manage to perform the same amount of successful kicks and hits, they can get 10 points each.

When a bout is over, the judge should summarize all the points scored by the opponents over three rounds and make a corresponding decision of who is said to be a winner. If it happens that a bout ends with an equal number of points scored by the fighters, one of the following scenarios can arise:

• the victory is given to a fighter who has shown a better way of fighting according to the Muay Thai specifics and performed various kicks and hits with his knees, elbows, feet, and hands;
• if the above mentioned conditions are also the same, the victory is given to a fighter has managed to better in placing blocks.

Every official Muay Thai event should have its own winner. Finally, a knock-down does not result in additional points; it is considered only as a successfully performed hit or kick.

History

As for Thailand, the given kind of sport became popular there yet in the 16th century. Nevertheless, it was not until the late 20th century when Muay Thai started gaining popularity all over the world when Muay Thai fighters managed to get a significant advantage over representatives of other martial arts. The popularity of the given kind of sport in its home cannot be overestimated because there is even the Muay Thai Day. As for its role in other countries, Muay Thai is developing thanks to the fact that its technique is widely applied by representatives of mixed martial arts.