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Muay Thai EN ไทย

The eight limbs

Two fists, two elbows, two knees, two shins — and what each one is worth.

Muay Thai competitor attempts a high kick but it is blocked by his opponent.Eric Langley · CC BY 2.0

The phrase that names the sport in English — the art of eight limbs — is a count: fists, elbows, knees and shins, two of each.

Boxing has two. Kickboxing has four. Muay thai counts eight, and the count is the whole argument: it is not that a Thai fighter has more weapons, it is that the elbow and the knee are legal, and being legal changes every distance in the fight.

Work it forward. If the elbow is legal, the inside is dangerous, so nobody hides there. If the knee is legal, holding the head is worth doing, so the clinch is not broken up. If the clinch is not broken up, a fight has a wrestling phase, and a wrestling phase means conditioning decides the fifth round. Each rule pulls the next one along.

Inference — the head is the ninth thing people ask about. Headbutts are not legal; the count stops at eight.

Full record — The eight limbs

The part that is not kickboxing

Nobody pulls them apart

Legal knees make the clinch worth having; an unbroken clinch gives the fight a wrestling phase; a wrestling phase is where the fifth round is decided.

superwebdeveloper · CC BY 2.0

The eight weapons

Two fists, two elbows, two knees, two shins. What each one is for, what it costs to throw, and what it scores.

500px provided description: Muay Thai Fight Us Vs Burma [#Thailand ,#Bangkok ,#Boxing ,#Men ,#Muay Thai ,#Thai Boxing ,#World Championship ,#Kick Boxing ,#Burma vs. USA]

The elbow

ศอก

A short bone with no padding on it, swung horizontally, diagonally, upward, downward, off a spin, or in the air.

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500px provided description: Muay Thai Fight Us Vs Burma [#Thailand ,#Bangkok ,#Boxing ,#Men ,#Muay Thai ,#Thai Boxing ,#World Championship ,#Kick Boxing ,#Burma vs. USA]

The fist

หมัด

Punches. Historically the thinnest part of the Thai arsenal, and still the part a stadium judge values least.

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Muay Thai knee on pads

The knee

เข่า

The point of the thigh bone driven into ribs, liver, sternum or face, usually with the other man's head pulled down onto it.

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Fighter throwing a lowkick during an amateur muay thai competition.

The shin

แข้ง

The front edge of the lower leg, swung on the end of a turning body. The round kick is the sport's signature, and the shin is the part that lands.

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