Head Butts

[Zepp]

I don't why I thought of this question, but know that I have, I'm curious: is head-butting legal in muay thai competition?

 

[J-kid]

I dont believe so?

 

[Angus]

Traditional Thai? Yeah, because basically anything goes. Nobody does it, though.

 

[Zepp]

So technically it is legal?
Vewy intewvesting...
Thanks.

 

[Damian Mavis]

No headbutts are not legal in Muay Thai fights.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

 

[Angus]

My mistake, then. I was under the impression that anything could be done that wasn't an attack to the front of the kneem but nobody does things like groin attacks, headbutts, etc anyway.

 

[Damian Mavis]

Head butts are great from a street defence perspective!

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

 

[lerdrit]

head-butting is not allowed in modern muay thai although it is part of the muay boran system.lethway the burmese martial art wich is very similar to muay thai is fought without gloves and head-butting is allowed.

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by lerdrit
muay boran system

What's this?

 

[Angus]

The system that predates Muay Thai that was the basis for it's creation.

 

[lerdrit]

angus is correct, muay thai is a modern martial art created from the older thai martial arts.Muay thai has rules and gloves muay boran has neither the reason muay thai as it's know today was created was because to many people were dying in bare knuckle or muay kaard chiek(fighting with bound fist)matches.these matches had few if any rules.it was ok to bite,head-butt and eye gouge.

 

[Zepp]

Originally posted by Damian Mavis
Head butts are great from a street defence perspective!

What makes you say that exactly? I can think of a million reasons why not to use your head as a weapon. The only reason I can think of as to why I might ever try to headbutt someone is because it would be unexpected. What other reasons are there? (Genuine curiosity.)

Anyone ever actually headbutted someone in a self-defense situation?

 

[lerdrit]

Zepp, not to speak for Damian but the head-butt can be very effective in a self-defense situation if done correctly.Also the head-butt fits perfect into thai style fighting where the plaum(neck wrestling) is used.Think about this,why are certain techniques banned in boxing and muay thai?i.e bite,eye gouge,rabbit punch and head-butts because they do a great deal of damage to the opponet and tend to have fight ending results.

 

[Damian Mavis]

Ya I've used a headbutt in a street defence situation and it ended the altercation immediately. From my perspective it is THE BEST close range attack available. After that comes eye gouges and elbows and knees for me. Why don't you like it? It doesn't hurt much at all if you use the correct part of your head. Punching someone in the face can break your hand, there's almost always going to be some pain involved in bone on bone contact.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

 

[Zepp]

Ok.
So what part of your head is best to hit with? The forehead?

 

[Damian Mavis]

No not the forehead, the hairline...almost the top of the head. Of course... some men have different hairlines than others! If I had to I would use the upper side of my head or back of my head if there was nothing else I could do or it just suited the situation perfectly. If someone is thinking of using it as a technique they should really practice it so they don't get excited and throw their nice soft face at someones head and hurt themselves. You don't have to hit heavy bags and targets hard but just to practice the angle of attack so you are using the hardest part of your head against the softest parts of someones face.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

 

[Johnathan Napalm]

Isn't the cranium (forehead) the strongest?

I don't think the top of your head is a good weapon.

To use the cranium, it is recommended to use your torso to drive the weapon. But of course, as a Muay Thai fighter, you already know this kinetics.

 

[Mormegil]

Originally posted by Angus
The system that predates Muay Thai that was the basis for it's creation.

Interesting. I was under the impression that Muay Thai primarily came from Krabi Krabong (sp?).

 

[Infight]

A great answer for your question are the Vanderlei Silva fights, among all the punchs and kicks he throws he uses in a very effective way his head.
I think even who dont pratice any martial art, uses his head in a fight ( specially if you have a hard one, lol ), but if you train some kind of martial art as Thai boxing, you can learn in which moment you should use your head.
So, as an animal who uses its mouth to fight, we humans have our head, and could be part of our arsenal for fight.
And about forehead, i think there is no other place on head that can be used to headbutt.

 

[Angus]

Originally posted by Johnathan Napalm
Isn't the cranium (forehead) the strongest?

I don't think the top of your head is a good weapon.

To use the cranium, it is recommended to use your torso to drive the weapon. But of course, as a Muay Thai fighter, you already know this kinetics.

Nooooo, forehead is HORRIBLE. It, like the top of your head, is a spot that causes a lot of extra trauma to the brain because it rattles it more. The very strongest points of the head (if I'm not mistaken, someone correct me if I am) are the area around the hairline to about an inch or so back and then the back of the head (that's bad for obvious reasons). The top is definitely strong, but like I said it rattles the brain more. The forehead is a badddd spot because it has no wear near as much bone/cartiledge. Like Damian said, go for the hairline. They'll say the same thing in any sport/activity that uses it, like Soccer.