Different styles of fighters in Muay Thai

Discussion in 'Thai Boxing' started by fire cobra, Dec 31, 2011.

  1. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Thanks Jaggernautico,

    Im happy you have enjoyed the fights.

    Im not sure how many people really appreciate how good Muay Thai is! its bloody dangerous:).

    Also Im not sure how many people know that there are various types of fighters in Thailand such as Muay Maat,Muay Kow,Muay Liam Kow,Muay Tae,Muay Femur and of course the use of the elbow!.

    My favourite is Muay femur but I love all the styles.

    Songchai made so many good matches years ago didnt he,pitting the various stylists against each other.

    Im lucky in that I have managed to spar and train with a lot of these fighters so I have a first hand appreciation of just how good they are,Hippy Sigmanee, Burklerk Pinsinchai and Lerdtoranee Petwiiharn being 3 of my favourites.

    Happy new year brother:)
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2012
  2. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    fire cobra - Can you explain more about what each of those mean? I imagine as you said before it's due to their best techniques but I'm just interested to see what all the different types are.
     
  3. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    This thread is brilliant! Thanks a million fire cobra! I've got some real gems to post up when I get a bit of time to sort through them! :D
     
  4. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Kuma yes sir I will certainly try,Im pushed for time at the mo so will do either this eve or in the morning sir.

    Slip Im happy someone with your experience can gain something from what I post:)
     
  5. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Here goes at a attempt to breakdown the styles of Nak Muay I mentioned in a above post.

    First thing to keep in mind is that all stylists know the full range of Muay Thai weapons and then specialise in various methods.

    Muay Maad..

    A boxer of this style is a puncher(maad)..this type of fighter usually has a heavy punch and can knock out a opponent,he wouldnt use the punch in order to score points as knows he will be outscored by other weapons/tactics,rather he uses either the punch to the chin to gain a ko or the punch to the body to wear down the opponent,this type of fighter often has a good low kick as part of his arsenal,he will use the low kick to slow down the footwork of a moving opponent in order to line up the punch,he also will use heavy punches to make the opponent cover and then he can use his heavy low kick to hurt the leg of the opponent.

    This style of Boxer usually has a great chin and a big heart as he knows he often will have to take punishment in order to gain his knock out,his nemesis is the Muay Femur or the technical fighter who uses thew full range of weapons:)

    A good percentage of this type of fighter have come from the North East of Thailand(Issarn) where it is said the people have very good bone structure,having strong hands and a strong jaw helps with giving and taking punches.

    A good modern day example of this type of fighter is Anawat Kaewsamrit...see highlight below:)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne4RFJLWYEU&feature=related"]Anuwat Kaewsamrit Highlight - YouTube[/ame]

    A older Boxer of this style that is one of my personal favs is Superlek Sor Issarn who it is said could ko someone with a tap on the chin!:)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmPencmBYA"]Superlek Sor Isarn vs Neungsiam Kiatvichian Muay Thai - YouTube[/ame]
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2012
  6. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Muay Kow.

    This type of fighter uses the knee(kow) as the main tactic to win the fight,he uses the knee mainly entering into and from the clinch position,a knee fighter will lock his arms around his opponent in various ways(not just around the neck as is commonly thought) after he has gained the lock he will proceed to use the bone of his knees to the bladder,abdomen,solar plexus,ribs,legs and head of the opponent,knee techniques score highly in the modern Muay Thai game and the knee fighter will use his knees both to score and to wear down the body of his opponent,he tries to take away the power from his opponent so he is less effective from the outside,the knee fighter has strong arms,neck and body and can absorb body punishment and come back stronger to win the fight most often over the distance but also by ko with knees to the body.

    His nemesis is the Muay Maad (puncher)fighter,he knows that the punch and knee are used in a similar range and a heavy punch can be sent over to his chin during a exchange,he needs to lock on and keep locked on to his opponent in order not to be hit with a hard punch.

    Examples of this fighter are Lanmanmoon and Langsuan shown in a video in one of the above posts on this thread.:)
     
  7. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Muay Liam Kow..this style of fighter/tactic uses his knees but differently to the Muay Kow fighter,Liam kow is to off balance and knee your opponent not only to just lock on and knee,this style of fighter will pull,push lift and turn you in order to off balance you in the clinch and then he will follow the off balance with his other weapons usually the knee but also the punch, the shin and elbow,off balancing scores highly in modern Muay Thai and even more so when followed up immediately with a attack.:)

    I will(hopefully) show this type of fighter or tactic in action later on in this thread:)
     
  8. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Muay Tae.

    The Muay Tae fighter is a kicker,he uses his round kick to head body arms and legs to great effect.

    This type of fighter knows that kicking the body scores highly for him and that is the base for his strategy,he knows that the kick doesnt have to land with full power to score and that kicking the body over and over can wear the opponent down.

    There have been many great examples of a Muay Tae fighter one of my favs is Samkor(see clip below)

    Yodsanklai Fairtex also uses his kicks to great effect:)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q54aeH0IJ4k"]Samkor vs Kobayashi - YouTube[/ame]
     
  9. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    and last but not least we come to Muay Femur(Professional) or Muay Classic as some people say in Thailand.

    This type of fighter is really considered the best in Muay Thai,or should I say he is the type of fighter people would pay to go and watch.

    The Muay Femur is a stylish fighter,he uses all the weapons of Muay Thai to great effect,he has a good brain and great eyes,this type of fighter uses his techniques with great balance and poise,he can win the fight in various ways and adapts his tactics and techniques to his opponent.

    His nemisis is the clincher or Muay Kow fighter as he can be closed down and worn out by this type of tactic.

    two of my favourite Muay Femur fighters are Hippy Signanee and Karuhat Sor Supawan who fight each in the vid below(Hippy is in the red shorts):)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmvjTeDccD8&feature=related"]Hippy Singmanee vs Karuhas Sor Supawan - YouTube[/ame]
     
  10. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    This is cracking stuff for a MT idiot like me fire cobra, excellent thread.

    Mitch
     
  11. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    I hope this breakdown of the various styles of boxers help some of you guys have a greater appreciation of just how much of a craft Muay Thai is.

    I know everytime I sit and think about it, or train it teach it or watch it I get a even greater appreciation of just how good this art and the fighters past and present have been and are now.

    Something to maybe keep in mind when thinking about the various stylists is that gyms often make the styles,to elaborate Ill take a gym called Jockey Gym in Bangkok as an example,Jockey gym is around 60 years old and has created more than 30 champions of the major stadiums in Thailand,now thats some consistant champion making! over all those years they have aways had the style of Muay Femur,this is because that was the style the first coaches had all those years ago,as the first lot of fighters retired some in turn became coaches in the camp and taught the young boys the same style they had learnt themselves,this was then repeated over the years until the modern day(actually I think the Jockey gym may now either not exist or be very run down:( ).

    Managers and camp owners etc also looked for boys that would suit their style and be easy to teach,ie had good iq and perhaps were tall fighters.

    This happens in a lot of camps,some will look for the heavy punchers with the strong bones and turn them into Muay Maad etc.

    In the present day especially in Lumpinee there tends to be a lot of Muay Kow and Liam kow fighters,and perhaps less Muay Femurs than say 15 years ago.

    All of the above info is what I have either been taught(usually thats the case) or is opinions I have formed from my teaching and training in Muay Thai over the last 30 yrs or so.

    If any of you guys disagree with what Ive wrote Im cool on that as I know I dont know everything about this great sport and Im always prepared to change my opinions in order to grow further.

    All the best fo 2012 guys.

    Peace:)
     
  12. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    And finally...A most beautifull Wai Kru:)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAXaDcNnxBg"]Namsaknoi Wai Kru, Ram Muay. - YouTube[/ame]
     
  13. jaggernautico

    jaggernautico Valued Member

    Great work we should archive this thread.
     
  14. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Cant thank you enough for all the great vids!
     
  15. Taizu

    Taizu Valued Member


    Seconded. Great thread, thanks a million for sharing.
     
  16. Matt F

    Matt F Valued Member

    Brilliant thread. I love these kind of threads and think it shows how Forums can be used well.
    Im going to copy and steal as much as possible from these clips.
     
  17. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I've taken the liberty of stickying this, but people should feel free to add to it, it's an excellent thread :)

    Mitch
     
  18. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Very kind thank you Mitch:)
     
  19. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    What category does THIS fall under?

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbfzCvdvkGY"]MUAY THAI: Dwarf vs Old lady Beatdown - YouTube[/ame]
     
  20. fire cobra

    fire cobra Valued Member

    Lol MB,

    I think Muay Khon Kaeh .

    Did you see Lak Hai fight before? excellent Dwarf Boxer.:)
     

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