Rules on Thai Boxing.....anyone?

[jb2008]

Just a quick question for everyone. I currently live in Colorado and am studying Muay Thai. Now, here comes a question many of you will think is very stupid....How do you know if the actual Muay Thai rules for competition are legal in your state? I mean can you use elbows and knees in matches? Or is it more of a straight kick boxing
forum?
I am my only student for my instructor, and he doesn't know many of the rules of this country (U.S) being that he just moved into the country. He said that if we decided that I would try competition that he would find out the rules for me....his English isn't the best and gets frustrated often so I figured I would try to find out first......any help?
thx James

[Goddess]

You're question isn't stupid at all.

I believe every state has their own rules, governed by their respective athletic commission, as to what is allowable in fighting events.

Muay Thai competitons will most likely be put on by an oragnization like: Thai Boxing Association
of the USA http://www.thaiboxing.com/ , or The US Muay Thai Association http://www.usmta.com/ .

Check with them. I hope this helps.

::: Goddess :::

[Call Me Al]

Also Check the Ringside boxing site at:

http://www.ringside.com

They used to list all the different rules for the respective forms of Kickboxing and thai boxing in the US and Europe

[Tattoo]

General idea (or at least I think so) is this:
Elbows are so terrible weapons in close combat, so in certain matches (personally I call them "wuss-fights") elbows are banned.
But otherwise the rules are same everywhere, so just learn the rules (for example from International Amateur Muay Thai Federation's homepages http://www.iamtf.org) and START FIGHTING!!

[JKDFIGHTER]

jb2008,

Call your state capitol and try to contact your athletic commission, or do a search for them on the internet. Some states don't have one and you can have whatever you want!

Tattoo,

Out of curiosity, what's your record? I know that you must fight, WITH ELBOWS, to have the gall to call ANYONE that steps in the ring and fight a wuss or that they are just in a "wussfight" based on whether they choose to use elbows or not.

[Maxximus]

At least where I am, lower level amateur competition is kickboxing rules with leg kicks...but no knees or elbows. Some amateur title fights may have knees though. I haven't seen or heard of any sanctioned thai fights in the USA where elbows were also allowed. But don't worry, if you don't have much ring experience, amateur rules fights are still very rough...and with knees things can get VERY painful (they are hardly wuss fights).

[lperegri]

James,

Where in Colorado are you? I live in Colorado Springs and am in a Muay Thai class at my school. My instructor has competed here in Colorado and is awesome and can tell you everything you need to know. Stop by our school if you're in the area and take a free class or just get your questions answered.

Let me know,
Lisa

[Kyoshu]

Not too sure if it's the same in the US, but in NZ the rules can also depend on what's been arranged between the two parties, so when going to watch Muay Thai, you see different fights fight under different restrictions.

Kyoshu

[JoeStagner]

On R\Thai Rules

Goddess is correct.

The Boxing or Athletic Comission in each state sets the rules.

Trainers should understsnd the implications of this since Thai Boxing is new to many states and MMA is changing the way that athletic comissions look at non-Boxing events.

We have shown up to fights and had the comission change the rules the night of the fight.

-Joe

[DeeJay Dragon]

I've just heard of a state in USA (sorry cant remember which one) which has accepted elbowing in their Muay Thai fights, but you must wear elbow pads. I have no idea how thick the pads must be.

[Flash]

Elbows?

Originally posted by Tattoo
General idea (or at least I think so) is this:
Elbows are so terrible weapons in close combat, so in certain matches (personally I call them "wuss-fights") elbows are banned.

I worked out for a while with a guy who trained with ex-professional Muay Thai fighters in California and he told me that in bouts in Thailand, elbows are rarely used because they are so terrible - most of the fighters are friends or at least know each other so elbows (which apparently cause a lot of the fatalities in the sport) aren't used very often unless the two fighters involved really don't like each other OR they are in a serious championship fight.

[PentjackSilat]

rules

In the US the biggest sanctioning bodies are the IKF, ISKA, and WKF. In amateur fighting knees and elbows ARE allowed to the body only, unless there is some super liberal making the decisions. In pro, knees are allowed to the head, and the use of elbows is either up to A) the promoter, but usually B) up to the fighters. I know because I fight, and these are the rules I have fought under.