We would practice it, get better at it than you, and beat you with it… That was until I encountered Muay Thai head on.
My first experience with Muay Thai came at an early age.
Muay Thai – the art of 8 limbs, incorporates devastating striking techniques of hands, knees, feet and elbows.
Thai fighting is rich in history and is considered the national sport of Thailand.
A straight one, two, and a hook were widely considered the limit to hand strikes in Muay Thai for hundreds of years.
Some Thai schools still consider an uppercut a dirty move.
Side kick, a staple of most traditional styles of martial arts, and a very effective technique is also considered dirty of most Thai purists, along with many of the spinning kicks made popular in Hollywood movies.
Thai fighters train at a very young age to literally deaden the nerves in their legs by kicking bamboo reeds, in order to keep them from feeling any pain in such a battle.
The end result? Thai fighters that can barely stand upright at the age of 30.
You might ask, how much can they endure by the age of 30? Being that Muay Thai is a national sport, it is not uncommon to meet a ten year old with a hundred fights under his belt.
The knockdowns were a result of a well-timed sidekick when my opponent was winding up to deliver a powerful Thai kick.
In the end I found myself crawling on the canvas, looking for my glove-which was on my hand, at the feet of a far more skilled fighter than I. I later learned he was the Thai Champion with over 150 full contact fights.
Simply put, America is not ready to adapt Thai culture on many levels.
Former Thai champions are highly revered and are given a special place in their society.
Thai fighters are brutal, but as a result leave themselves open to being taken down.
Thai fighters have little defense, which makes for a short career.
Thai fighters have no answer for the wide array of kicks of Tae Kwon Do, etc.
For many years, Muay Thai was the striking style of choice for MMA fighters.
We deliver the devastatingly hard Kicks, knees, and elbows of Muay Thai, we use the highly effective hands of Western Boxing, and the diverse attacks of many of the traditional martial arts that we have respectfully ‘stolen’ from the various other styles we have encountered.
Muay Thai is still the devastatingly effective striking art it has always been.
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