How did Muay Thai develop?

Muay Thai has been popular all over the world since 1970s, and its unique fighting, competition and even training methods have greatly influenced and promoted the development of modern boxing and practical self-defense in world martial arts. Such as Japanese Taekwondo, American Taekwondo, and European Free Fight. They are all copies of Thai competitions. As one of the strongest martial arts in the world, how did it form and develop?

1. Modern Muay Thai was gradually formed and developed on the basis of ancient Muay Thai.

The ancient Thai Boxing came into being in the historical process of long-term war with neighboring countries in the ancient struggle for existence between the ancestors of Thailand and nature. There is no history in Thailand to prove who created the systematic ancient Thai boxing that formed modern Thai boxing and when it originated, only various folklore. Among them, one with higher credibility thinks that the ancient Thai boxing evolved from an ancient boxing called "Lan Fan" (also translated as "Ben Nan"). In A.D. 15 18, King Siam reformed the military system and issued an order to compile Thailand's first military work, The Art of Winning. In addition to the contents of military equipment and weapons, this book was included in the ancient boxing "Lan Fan" for the first time. During the period of Panna Li Xuan, from 1555 to 1606, "Lan Fan" was officially included in Thailand's military training plan.

It is said that "Lan Fan" ancient boxing is a truly infinite fighting skill, and people think that any part of the human body can be used as an attack weapon. Actions include hitting the head, biting the mouth, grabbing, pinching, gouging eyes, hitting the shoulder, hitting the hip, wrestling, punching, kicking, hitting the knee, hitting the elbow and so on. These are extremely vicious and greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of soldiers. Therefore, since then, the ancient Muay Thai has been studied as a good supplement to the fencing and fencing of Thai soldiers. They think that Muay Thai is a self-defense weapon that is always ready. If a soldier is good at fighting with good weapons (fists, feet, elbows, knees, etc.). ), he can defeat the enemy who is only good at one method of warfare. For example, the famous boxing genius Nai Tongli in Broken Arrow is a typical figure. It is said that after winning an important Muay Thai competition, he was appreciated by Zheng Zhao, King of Thailand in China at that time, and was awarded the title of "Mampichai" and promoted to general. Man Pi guessed that he had been fighting with Zheng Wang all his life and made great achievements. Legend has it that in a certain battle, he bravely killed the enemy with his sword, so that the sword broke in two. The broken arrow was immediately thrown away by the brave artist Barbie Chai. He used his good Thai boxing as a weapon to continue fighting with his bare hands, and finally returned in triumph, which was widely praised by the Thai people.

Secondly, the formation and development of modern Muay Thai is the result of the exchange and integration of ancient Muay Thai with foreign martial arts, especially with China martial arts.

The Thai people are connected with China by blood. According to relevant historical data, the main source of the Thai nation today is a branch that migrated from ancient Yunnan to the prosperous northern border area of Thailand. The ancient history of China shows that from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, military fighting and folk martial arts spread to Nanzhao (now Jinghong-Changsheng area in Yunnan, China, then called Nanzhao, later called Dali Kingdom, where the ancestors of Thai people lived today) in the southwest mainland with Han immigrants and soldiers. In the19th century, the Qing Dynasty had closer contacts with all nationalities in Siam (formerly known as Thailand). At that time, there were 70 million China people living in Siam, and many of the guards and mercenaries around the king were from China. As early as Zheng Zhao, King of Siam, China, the Siam-China Allied Forces had been established, so the boxing exchange between Siam and China has a long history and has a very close melting pot and smelting relationship with each other. In other words, the formation and development of ancient Muay Thai has a subtle relationship with the influence of China Wushu. This can be seen from the fact that the heritage of Muay Thai is the same in today's mainland Thailand and China Dai areas.

Thirdly, the formation of modern Muay Thai and its high development today are closely related to the vigorous implementation of Thai kings and rulers in past dynasties, and the emphasis on actual combat exchanges and competition norms.

In Thailand, both ordinary people and a powerful king are extremely fond of Muay Thai. For hundreds of years, its popularity and development level can really be called "national technology". Muay Thai has been widely popularized among the people, and eventually developed into a professional modern ring fighting technique, which is also inseparable from the attention and active promotion of Thai kings for hundreds of years. In their view, vigorously promoting Muay Thai is not only an inevitable need to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the army and safeguard national security, but also the best way to cultivate people's virtues such as obedience, sincerity, courage, restraint, gratitude and integrity. A few decades ago, King Bhumibol of Thailand visited the Lumpini Boxing Hall and spoke highly of Muay Thai in his speech, which can be seen from the fundamental views and attitudes of Thai kings and rulers on the implementation of Muay Thai for hundreds of years. He said: "Teacher Muay Thai is a resolute and successful fighter. Muay Thai benefits the country and the people, and it is also good for the body. I hope our people will make every effort to promote the traditional skills of this nation. " Because of this, Muay Thai has developed rapidly in hundreds of years of uninterrupted actual combat, and it has become extremely powerful in the ring, with few opponents.