The Ultimate Form of Defense – The Art of Eight Limbs – Muay Thai

If you are interested in getting in shape, then that’s a great start, if you know a little bit about Muay Thai, even better. Perhaps you know very little, but, seen it on TV and been captivated by its relentless style, many a person has seen a movie such as ‘Ong Bak’ and been inspired instantly and never left the gym since! More recently, a movie called ‘A Prayer Before Dawn’ which offers a more graphic insight into the world of Muay Thai, there’s something raw that has grabbed the attention of many a newcomer, keen to learn.

Getting in shape

You will be hard pushed to find any other kind of sport that gives you the complete workout that Muay Thai gives you, if you train properly at least every other day. You should start by, warming up, shaking and stretching your muscles, it’s a good time to let your body relax, followed by a run, then straight to it nonstop technique, learning, bag banging and ring sparring followed by a warm down and, time to collapse.

If you are looking for the ultimate combat sport

Take a quick look on somewhere like YouTube at fights between fighters of different disciplines, you’ll find endless clips of fights that are beaten time and time again by trained Muay Thai fighters, if you search for Muay Thai Reading, you may even find some clips of local champions. The technique, style and power which uses punches, pushes, knees, elbows, shins, kicks, the teep and clinches simply cannot be matched by comparison.

A lot has to do with the heritage, for a lot of Thai Boxers, the sport is in their blood, in fact, it’s much more than a sport, it was and still is, a way of life for many poor families, some children are trained as soon as they can stand up, it’s bred into them at an early age and, many are prepared to die in the ring.

Honor

Honor and respect are a huge part of the sport which was devised as a method of hand-to-hand combat to defend Thailand against intruders many, many years ago. To this day, Thailand has not been colonized, which says a lot for their methods of defense. Often the families in Thailand are large and, if you there is a boxer in the family about to go to war, the chances are that, the fight is to honor the family and to help provide for the family in terms of financial reward. So, remember, if you choose Muay Thai, you are representing something far greater than a Hollywood movie.