Interested in picking up a few books for my holiday vacation reading. Ran across this book on Muay Submissions, breaks, and locks by master lee Anybody read this yet? Any opinions? Read some of the stateside amazon comments and went to one thread recommended on a review there: http://defend.net/deluxeforums/forum/martial-arts/thaiboxing-and-kickboxing/567743-muay-book-review Think it might be a british author so I know some of our forum members are from the UK and might know the person or book Many thanks!
Hi Jag After reading those reviews on Deluxe I wouldn't touch that work with a bargepole. I also stay clear of anything billing itself as <Muay Boran>. Boran is just a general cultural term meaning old or 'home' When someone says they do Muay Boran ask them to clarify which system exactly? Elsewise it's just like saying 'I do old style kung fu' (meaningless). Of course the Thai Cultural Ministry formed a system they call Muay Boran. It's a comglom of bits and pieces from the older muay systems. Yu can get certified in it. And dress up in a red t-shirt and headband and pretend to be fighting the Burmese at Ayutthaya... Saying that. The illustration on the book's front is authentic. You'll see that motion in most of the Mae Mai and Luk Mai in Thai Martial Arts. The writeups on ama zon in the uk are all good. Though they may be by Master Lee's friends. I might get it just to see the what's what. Lemme know if you get it. Good Luck
Thanks as always Sok Klab. I was curious you know but the whole thing as evidenced by the defend post really says it all!
You're welcome. I looked at the book's contents page. I recognise some of the technical descriptions. But the book's blurb doesn't tell you what the '10 Thai Arts' are that are used in it. I'd hazard a guess at 4 types of muay (chiaya, korat etc), lerd rit, maybe 'ling lom', perhaps some wiang (wrestling) and some unarmed techs from the weaponsd systems like Krabi, Awud Thai etc. So I'll keep an open-mind about this one at the mo. I placed it on a potential buys list. I might buy it. I figure if it's rubbish. Or worse, made-up crap. I can always get my money back... Good Luck
Problem I have from my own experience is that who taught them 10 arts? Its mostly miss mash and a total misunderstanding of each old art so its often a confusing compendium of clashing elements and not very functional without a root or a strong core element.
True. It's really difficult to get authentic teaching of the older Thai Martial Arts. I was in Thailand, Malaysia etc in later 2005. The amount of fraudsters and dollarsignmoneyeyes I met was phenom. One guy told me he'd teach me Ling Lom. Big faff about. Come meet the master etc. All show no go. 5 minutes training with him told me it was bs. Bad jujitsu mixed with ring rules muay. Another time I met a 'Lerd Rit' Master - 30 minutes of bad taekwondo later I made my excuses and left. I was though fortunate to meet a couple of authentic folk. But it was like sifting through a sewerage works to find a wedding ring. Go figure. This is why most folk are better off learning muay thai and getting a good grounding in it. Then if they want to transfer to something that's more blade aware. Then either find a legit Muay Chiaya etc instructor. Or do Krabi for which you'll need to know a trad muay before you get to waft swords around. And which also has a lot of empty-hand techniques in it too. Good Luck
I am in agreement with you and its unfortunate. I would have hoped the people who crafted this muay boran would have been happy to save the older systems in their entirety but it seems they only want things they can salvage from wherever they are getting it from i assume books or making it up then grafting them together in hodge lodge for the farang to eat up.
Muay Chiaya's doing a good job of keeping itself real. Just that it's really stringent. So most folk don't possess the gumption to keep at it. Some of the others > muay korat etc are going alright. It's in the more obscure older systems that the bs is rife. If you can find authentic and good instruction in any of those you lucked in. Cheers
