Essentials o Thai Boxing !

[marino13]

With all the mcdojos out there in every style, and especially a lot of schools now trying to capitalize on Thai boxing's popularity and claiming to teach it. What do you guys think is a few things that have to be in place in order for it to be considered authentic ?

Take Jun/Fan Gung Fu ( OJKD ) Wing Chun is its core, so in order to say you teach it you have to have some knowledge of WC. So how is a novice supposed to know Thai Boxing from the pretenders ?

Richie

[JIMI]

Trace thier lineage. Who were they certified from? Who was thier trainer certified from? Do they have any fights under thier belt? How long have they been teaching? What organizations are they affiliated with?

[HtTKar]

What do you guys think is a few things that have to be in place in order for it to be considered authentic ?

Success.
Thats about it.
If they are producing good fighters then what else matters?

[silapathai]

hard question...

I would probably go with success...what produces more fighters. The question you should ask yourself is does it matter if you learn Authentic Muay Thai or a kickboxing style that has fighters compete in Muay Thai fights?
There are many great kickboxing gyms that have fighters compete in Muay Thai rules fights...but aren't teaching Muay Thai. Some of these schools are honest at stating that what they do isn't Muay Thai but some say they are teaching Muay Thai.
One way to tell is...do they perform a ram muay/wai kru before they fight? These kickboxing styles obviously have a muay thai influence but aren't Muay Thai. I know of a lot of Kickboxing gyms that have some world champions in Muay Thai fights..so there is obviously some good stuff being taught at these gyms.

[marino13]

Hi, thanks for the replies. Let me give you an example of what I meant.

There is a Karate school about a half hour drive from my house and he claims to be teaching Muay Thai as well as Karate. So I went to this class and to tell you the truth I couldn't tell the difference between his karate class and his Muay Thai one.

So what I mean is how does one know if it is Muay Thai or just Karate or any other art ? There has to be some key things involved, such as form,stance, or even theory. If people can throw a punch or a kick they claim there teaching muay thai, karate, or whatever. Thanks again !


Richie

[Hardball]

Look for the greats. The American Thai Boxing Association was founded by Ajarn Chai Siriustie (sp}. Check him out on the internet. (google.com) He also gives a seminar twice a year in Princeton new Jersey at the Hun School. There are other greats in Thai Boxing but he is the one that I know of. Muay Thai.....................I once witness an instructors exam and it was awesome.

[Jeremy Lobdell]

This is a really good question. As others have stated, tracing lineage and doing your homework on the instructor will help you to hopefully avoid training at a less than desirable school. Ultimately you need to find somewhere that is enjoyable to you.
As far as separating Muey Thai schools from Karate or kickboxing, watch the class sparring or pad work. Muey Thai will use a lot of clinch work with knees and elbows while a more "Karate" style will stay strictly at the kick-punch range.
Mahalo, Jeremy

[marino13]

another question to be asked is, What is unique to Muay Thai that no other art has ?

Richie