Muay Boran Styles

Originally Muay Boran Styles were not differentiated, they were all under the names; Muay, Dtoi Muay, or Chok Muay. In 1909 King Chulalongkorn requested the governor of Chaiya, Kham Sryiyapai, and the governor of Korat, Phra Mesamahan, to bring skilled fighters to compete at the funeral of his son. Three fighters that dominated the bouts received the title of Muen; a fighter from Korat became known as Muen Changatchoengchok (effective tactic of punching), a fighter from Chaiya became known as Muen Muaymichue (elegant boxing style), and a fighter from Lopburi became known as Muen Maemahd (skillful and precise punches).
These titles gave the 3 boxers the duty of maintaining Muay camps in their hometowns to train and bring fighters for future fights in front of the throne.

A Muay Boran bout at the funeral of the son of King Chulalongkorn (1909)

After this event a saying emerged in Thailand, summarizing the main characteristics of the three fighters: "Hard Punch Korat, Wit Lopburi, Posture Chaiya".

These events led to the recognition of certain boxing trends and strategies in the regions of the Muen, thus starting the differentiation into three regional styles; Muay Korat, Muay Chaiya, and Muay Lopburi, to which Muay Thasao was later included, adding "Faster Thasao" as the final part of the saying.

Each style has its own terminologies, principles, stances, mechanics, movements, ways of training, striking, and rope wraps pattern.

Muay Korat

From the Northeast Province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Muay Korat is specialized in a wide arm swing, known as "Mahd Wiang Kwai" (Buffalo Throwing Punch), and powerful front snap kicks.
It is one of the styles with the greatest headbutts development, counting more than 5 variations.
Many blocks consist of strikes against the opponent's weapons and strikes with multiple weapons are often used. A distinctive feature of Muay Korat is punching with a vertical fist and impacting with the last three knuckles. According to the text of Phra Mesamahan, the first patriarch of the style, his line of Muay Korat has 5 Mae Mai and 21 Look Mai.

Muay Chaiya

From the Southern Province of Surat Thani, Muay Chaiya was a style used mainly by people of small stature and aims to fight defensively; the core of this style is precise footwork and avoiding strikes while waiting for the right moment to unleash powerful counterattacks.

Muay Chaiya fighters are said to be like a durian, solid and covered with thorns, in fact, the guard of this style is very compact, and aims to block the opponent's strikes with the elbows or shins, damaging his weapons. This style is maybe the only style of Muay Boran with an extensive ground-fighting system, which can be compared to the one of Japanese Jujutsu.
In Muay Chaiya there is only one Mae Mai, which is the Master Stance Yang Saam Khum Klum Dan Yak and it is said that all the other techniques come from a correct application of the latter.

Muay Lopburi

From the Central Province of Lopburi, Muay Lopburi is heavily inspired by the movements of animals, like elephants and monkeys, and mythical creatures like Giants and Deities. It focuses on agility, feints, and unpredictability, and makes extensive use of jumping attacks. A distinctive feature of Muay Lopburi is the stance with the palms facing up, to make the most of the style's signature weapon, the uppercut punch "Mahd Soei".
This style is defined as "wise" or "clever" because it is versatile.

Muay Thasao

From the Northern Province of Uttaradit, Muay Thasao or Muay Uttaradit focuses on speed and agility. The stance is wide and places most of the weight on the rear leg with the front foot only slightly touching the ground to be as far away from the opponent as possible, the front hand is raised and extended and the rear hand is lowered. The signature weapon of this style is a high diagonal kick called "Naka Sabat Hang", which, unlike the classical Thai round kick, ends with a Snapping motion.

Muay Thasao Phraya Pichai

The style of the hero Phraya Pichai Dab Hak, also known as Thongdee Fan Kao. This style was born from the union of Muay Thasao with Chinese martial arts and was later enriched with knowledge from other Muay Boran styles and Western Boxing. Many of the features of Muay Thasao are the same for this style as well. It is heavily focused on fast kicks which are thrown by keeping the arms close to the body for protection. The stance is almost identical to the Thasao one but the front arm is bent and held near the eyebrow, while the rear arm is held near the chin to protect it and to protect the neck. Practitioners of this style prefer to position themselves externally to the opponent, and not to face him frontally.

Muay Pranakorn

From the central province of Pranakorn, Muay Pranakorn is the style of Bangkok, it combines some of the features of the three main regional styles (Korat, Lopburi, and Chaiya).
Bangkok was the city where the various regional styles met and confronted each other, for this reason, the martial tendencies of the fighters from Bangkok were very varied since they could take inspiration from numerous fighters from every corner of Thailand, so it is not entirely correct to speak of a single regional style from Pranakorn with fixed characteristics. The style of Bangkok of the Sorn Kwai line has a stance that focuses on striking with the rear side, which results in being more powerful, to the detriment of the front side, which becomes slower.

Muay Thalengpol

The Muay of Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiativong, the Prince of Chumphon and father of the Thai Navy. The style uses the 9 natural weapons of the body and includes 147 techniques.

It was inherited by a Chinese doctor and boxing master, Master Lee (Kriangkrai Thalengphol), who teaches it under the name "Muay Thalengphol" since in Thailand to mention the name of a royal would be an impersonation and would be disrespectful.
This style has many similarities with Muay Chaiya, Muay Korat, and Muay Luang.

Muay Luang

Also known as Royal Muay or Tiger King Muay Thai, it is the style that supposedly was used by Phra Chao Seua (The Tiger King) and his bodyguards. The techniques of this style are called Kon Muay Kae, they consist of a series of defense-and-counterattack actions divided into groups according to the weapon they counter, plus a series of techniques defined as incursive and called Kon Jujom that aim to stop the opponent's action in advance. The information on this style comes from an old book from 1979 called "Tamrap Phra Chao Seua" by Yod Reungsa.

Muay Thaiyuth

Also known as Chaiyut, it is a Muay Boran style created by master Chakrabhop Charoenrat, born from a mix of ancient Muay Boran knowledge, with some influence from Judo, Aikido, and Karate. The son of Chakrabhop Charoenrat carried on his father's work, enriching it with his Thai and foreign martial arts studies. One of the most avant-garde styles, but with remarkable knowledge and respect for traditional styles. Muay Thaiyuth besides preparing their students in the physical department also proposes to do it in their mental attitude. It is one of the only styles which in the last decades developed its own original technique, called Buddha's Hand.

Muay Chaisawat

A style created by Grand Master Chaisawat Tienviboon that combines Muay Taweesit and Muay Chaiya with other Muay Boran styles and concepts, with some influence from Aikido.
Grand Master Chaisawat is one of the oldest and most knowledgeable Muay Boran masters still alive.

Muay Lertrit

Muay Lertrit, also known as Military Muay Thai, is one of the styles used by the Thai Army. It was created by the Navy Wisit Lertrit by combining Muay Korat with the martial arts he studied around the world, including Karate and Aikido. In Muay Lertrit the 9 natural weapons of the body are used for percussive actions, it also includes palm strikes, knife-hand strikes, slaps to the ears, fingers in the eyes, and wrestling techniques from Muay Boran, adapted to a military context. This stile makes largely use of aggressive blocks, which are basically strikes against the opponent's weapons.

Muay Nawarach

The ultimate form of the regional styles, it is one of the most advanced styles ever made, created by Colonel Amnat Pooksrisuk from the union of Muay Korat, Muay Lopburi, Muay Chaiya, Muay Taweesit, and Thaiyuth and enriched with the knowledge of the Thai Art of War (Pichai Songkram). Major Colonel Amnat was one of the most knowledgeable Muay Boran masters of our times, with a complete vision of the entire system of Thai Martial Arts, both with empty hands and weapons.

Muay Nam

Muay Nam ("Boxing of Water" in Thai) is a modern, scientific, and hybrid style of Muay Boran that I founded. It combines the best of many Muay Boran styles with principles and concepts from ancient and modern martial arts worldwide, with the aim of making the most effective, practical, and adaptable combat system for extreme fighting competitions or self-defense.  

Currently, Muay Nam is composed of 45% Muay Thai Boran and Muay Thai, 45% Historical European Unharmed Martial Arts and Croydon Boxing System, 5% Aikijujutsu, 3% Jeet Kune Do, and 2% other martial arts.  

This is an approximate division since, during my studies, I understood that if a martial art seeks maximum effectiveness in a fight without rules, universal solutions are inevitably reached, because the human body is always the same. I found much of what I learned in Muay Boran in other historical martial arts and vice-versa. 

Martial arts are a universal language spoken and understood worldwide, capable of breaking down barriers. They originated at the dawn of mankind, and are a World Heritage.