Thai Boxing

About Thai Boxing

Thai Boxing or ‘Muay Thai’ is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. Considered to be the toughest and most effective form of kickboxing, it forms the basis of many MMA fighter’s striking skillset and is thought to blend well with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in particular, with many Brazilian fighters  such as Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo using the two together very effectively.

Thai Boxing has incorporated Western Boxing punching and footwork techniques to become more rounded and effective against other martial arts and in self-defence situations,  fighters using either the Western or Thai stance which allows for either long range or short range attacks to be used effectively without opening themselves to counter-attack.

The devastating Thai round kick – similar to a karate roundhouse kick but thrown from a narrower stance and with full hip rotation – and an  array of vicious elbow strikes thrown from all angles and distances are the key Muay Thai striking techniques used by MMA fighters, but the ‘plum’ or Thai Clinch, where the fighter controls the head of their opponent and attacks with knee and elbow strikes to the head and body is also extremely important.

Muay Thai has a heavy focus on body conditioning, fitness and live sparring in training. Punches, kicks, knees, and elbow strikes are practiced with a trainer wearing thick pads which cover the forearms and hands. These special pads are used to absorb the impact of the fighter’s strikes and allow the fighter to react to the attacks of the pad holder in a live situation.