page_title: Muay Thai
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Muay Thai / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Local school children demonstrate Muay Thai during the Baan Pong Wua School dedication ceremony Feb. 15, 2011. The school was constructed during an engineering civic assistance project with U.S., Republic of Korea, and Royal Thai Marines during Exercise Cobra Gold 2011. Cobra Gold 2011 is a yearly multinational, joint training exercise designed to improve partner-nation interoperability.
context_page_description: Muay Thai, or referred to as 'Thai boxing', is a combat sport of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs" as it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, and shins. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the late-20th to 21st century, when Westernized practitioners from Thailand began competing in kickboxing and mixed rules matches as well as matches under muay Thai rules around the world. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand, sanctioned by The Sports Authority of Thailand.
  Muay Thai is related to martial art styles of the Indian cultural sphere such as Musti-yuddha, Muay Chaiya, Muay boran, Muay Lao, Lethwei, Pradal Serey, and Tomoi. Muay Thai developed from the traditional Muay Boran. A practitioner of muay Thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang, meaning 'foreign boxer'.
context_section_description: The history of muay Thai can be traced to the middle of the 18th century. During battles between the Burmese of the Konbaung Dynasty and the Ayutthaya Kingdom Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) Muay boran, and therefore muay Thai, was originally called by more generic names such as toi 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. These muay contests gradually became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations, especially those held at temples. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This type of match was called muay khat chueak (มวยคาดเชือก). Kickboxing was also a component of military training and gained prominence during the reign of King Naresuan the Great in 1560 CE.
caption: Local school children in Thailand demonstrate muay Thai
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