Moving from one place to another is difficult, exciting, frustrating, expensive and fun all wrapped up - packed in the same box all together.   You maybe able to spell out Adventure for those who loves the unknown too.   To understand change itself is another space by itself.

Four(4) months back I was introduced to one of our new office mate and she manages Accounts for our company and it turns out that she was pretty much into this Muay Thai boxing sport.   It is one of those hand-to-hand or close quarter combat kind of a sports - much like a mix of boxing + kicking combinations.

It is said and believe to be a form of Martial Art many years ago, which became a form of sport after Thailand's first boxing ring was built in 1921 at Suan Kularp and is still a popular sports practice in Asia (perhaps with some exception - China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan where they practice something else).

Was originally called dhoi muay or simply Muay.   As well as being a practical fighting technique for use in actual warfare, Muay became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch for entertainment.

The word muay derives from the “Sanskrit mavya” which means "to bind together".   Muay Thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" or the "Science of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in other more regulated combat sports, such as kickboxing, boxing, and savate.


A bit of History then ?   As records shows - The most popular folklore regarding muay boran is that of Nai Khanomtom.   At the time of the fall of the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya in 1767, the invading Burmese troops rounded up thousands of Thais and took them to Burma as prisoners.   Among them were a large number of Thai kickboxers, who were taken to the city of Ava.

In 1774, in the Burmese city of Rangoon, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin (known in Thai as "King Mangra") decided to organize a seven-day, seven-night religious festival in honor of Buddha's relics.   The festivities included many forms of entertainment, such as the costume plays called likay, comedies and farces, and sword-fighting matches.   At one point, King Hsinbyushin wanted to see how muay boran would compare to the Burmese art lethwei.   Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against the Burmese champion.   The boxing ring was set up in front of the throne and Nai Khanomtom did a traditional Wai Kru pre-fight dance, to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors, as well as the spectators, dancing around his opponent.   This amazed and perplexed the Burmese people, who thought it was black magic.   When the fight began, Nai Khanomtom charged out, using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees to pummel his opponent until he collapsed.

However the Burmese referee said the Burmese champion was too distracted by the dance, and declared the knockout invalid.   The King then asked if Nai Khanomtom would fight nine other Burmese champions to prove himself.   He agreed and fought them all, one after the other with no rest periods in between.   His last opponent was a great kickboxing teacher from Rakhine.   Nai Khanomtom mangled him by his kicks and no one else dared to challenge him.

Photos here-in are shared by or are from http://sylelyn.blogspot.com/p/muay-thai.html and many Thanks to “Fight G MMA Academy” c/o Eileen.

I think any Art form that help improves one's health, clears the mind and so on is Good in general as long as it does help promote the whole well being of oneself or at times when you need to defend oneself.

There are a number of other form of Martial Arts or similar to so which one can learn.   Perhaps; it would depend on what one would prefer - unless; there was no other available choice (introduced).

But; again there are many evidence found of early civilization whom had adapted, practice a form or pattern of defending oneself.   Perhaps; influence by Inherent patterns of human aggression which inspire practice of mock combat(in particular wrestling like manner) and optimization of serious close combat as cultural universals are doubtlessly inherited from an acceptable-reference stage, and were made into an "art" from the earliest emergence of that concept as defined by many researchers alike and not exactly limited to a specific tradition or era.

One of my favorite reference is the one at Beni Hasan tomb # 15 which is the depiction of wrestling techniques in a tomb of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2,000 BC).   My memory could be fuzzy and I could be wrong - but; I do remember a former team mate of mine who is still working somewhere in Dubai as a developer(at the time she flew for a vacation) had visited the said place and SHE had a photo taken at the entrance(outside) as it is not allowed to take any form of photos inside or any form of recording either.

But, again I could be wrong as it could be another Tomb somewhere in Egypt - sometime mid this year.

Well, that's it for now . .. I got to run as tonight I have a TOY exhibit to attend to . ..