I'd like to say that this is one of the most respectful martial art Internet communities. Wonderful to read thoughtful discussions. I have learned a lot of interesting stuff here.
Few days ago I found some nice video of muay thai and started to read some comments (my mistake). There of course was a lot of bashing of different muay thai schools in world and how Thais have only real style. This is nothing new; however it made me think about what really is Muay Thai.
Today we hear Muay Thai both in MMA and K1 mentioned as a main or only striking style, but is it? I understand that different arts and styles often overlap and there are a lot of gray areas. However there should be some set of core principles, techniques and strategies. Lets say a fighter is light and bouncy on feet avoiding most damage by foot work and slipping and weaving, he/she is chambering kicks and using mostly snap, but most of the time using advanced punch combos. Is he/she really Thai fighter just because sometimes uses double collar tie clinch? Is person really prominently using Muay Thai if he/she just spars with MT fighters?
As I understand Thais already added some Western boxing techniques in 30ties, and that before even straight punches where more swing-like. Also there was some boxing footwork borrowing and later some Karate influences. And now when I watch MT fighters from Brazil or Holland I notice a lot of techniques and strategies that even today I rarely seen among Thai fighters and probably wasn't used at all before global commercial boom of MT in 90ties, but very common among other arts. It seems that everything standup related is called Muay Thai nowadays.
At the same time other aspects are forgotten or neglected. Muay Thai historically contains a lot tricky sweeps and throws and it's funny that when great MT guys use them in MMA often are credited to wrestling, judo or BJJ.
So my rant is over, here comes the questions.
What would you call true MT techniques, like kicks, punches, strikes, sweeps, throws, footwork? Things that are documented and widely used in MT throughout its history or at least since 30ties.
How Muay Thai guys would execute them, like no chambering, using shin, or sometimes ball of foot, full commitment?
What are core strategies of MT? Stable and attritional style with emphasis on attacking legs and getting in dominant standup grappling positions?
What would you say are new techniques or strategies that are probably borrowed in few last decades? axe kicks, spinning back kicks, uppercuts, bob and weave, heavy use of instep?
I think that knowing core principles and techniques of the art helps to appreciate it's true combat and cultural value.
Few days ago I found some nice video of muay thai and started to read some comments (my mistake). There of course was a lot of bashing of different muay thai schools in world and how Thais have only real style. This is nothing new; however it made me think about what really is Muay Thai.
Today we hear Muay Thai both in MMA and K1 mentioned as a main or only striking style, but is it? I understand that different arts and styles often overlap and there are a lot of gray areas. However there should be some set of core principles, techniques and strategies. Lets say a fighter is light and bouncy on feet avoiding most damage by foot work and slipping and weaving, he/she is chambering kicks and using mostly snap, but most of the time using advanced punch combos. Is he/she really Thai fighter just because sometimes uses double collar tie clinch? Is person really prominently using Muay Thai if he/she just spars with MT fighters?
As I understand Thais already added some Western boxing techniques in 30ties, and that before even straight punches where more swing-like. Also there was some boxing footwork borrowing and later some Karate influences. And now when I watch MT fighters from Brazil or Holland I notice a lot of techniques and strategies that even today I rarely seen among Thai fighters and probably wasn't used at all before global commercial boom of MT in 90ties, but very common among other arts. It seems that everything standup related is called Muay Thai nowadays.
At the same time other aspects are forgotten or neglected. Muay Thai historically contains a lot tricky sweeps and throws and it's funny that when great MT guys use them in MMA often are credited to wrestling, judo or BJJ.
So my rant is over, here comes the questions.
What would you call true MT techniques, like kicks, punches, strikes, sweeps, throws, footwork? Things that are documented and widely used in MT throughout its history or at least since 30ties.
How Muay Thai guys would execute them, like no chambering, using shin, or sometimes ball of foot, full commitment?
What are core strategies of MT? Stable and attritional style with emphasis on attacking legs and getting in dominant standup grappling positions?
What would you say are new techniques or strategies that are probably borrowed in few last decades? axe kicks, spinning back kicks, uppercuts, bob and weave, heavy use of instep?
I think that knowing core principles and techniques of the art helps to appreciate it's true combat and cultural value.