Muay Thai actually invented by Cambodians?

[Sam]

I think thats a fair point with a lot of martial arts- they end up getting basedo n one another - just becuaes of the proximity of the coutries and the exchange of information / techniques / ideas between the people.

[Goju_boi]

how come thai is the only popular one of these if they are all very similar?nobody ever hears about the other ones

[elbows_and_knees]

I thought the Thai's stole Muay Thai from the Bando/Thaing of Burma???

There are a lot of different stories, especially among the burmese and thai. for example, you know the story of prince narassuen, who the thais say defeated like 12 burmese warriors in consecutive matches, and that's how he earned his freedom (he was taken captive)? Well, according to the burmese, that is a lie. They say that he was an excellent diplomat and befriended everyone. They thought that he would be a prime candidate for helping to improve relations between burma and thailand, which is why they let him go... We will never really know, I guess..

It's the same with the history of muay thai. during the wars, most of the writings were burned, and what is left is a mix of mainly thai, cambodian, burmese and european accounts of the art. Once again, we may never really know.

[elbows_and_knees]

how come thai is the only popular one of these if they are all very similar?nobody ever hears about the other ones

because we intentionally tried to popularize it. muay thai is the national sport of thailand. it's like baseball is in america. it's been like that since the 1920's when they officially coined the sport format and the name muay thai. It was brought to the US, mainly via adjarn chai sirusute with the same intention - and he succeeded. Muay thai is now a household name, pretty much. bando does not seek this popularity, nor do any other thai arts.

[TigerHeart]

Muay thai did came from Thailand these two country are so close so you must expect them to train the same art.

[elbows_and_knees]

not necessarily. The other theory is that it was developed while they were migrating from southern china... Like I said, nobody will ever know.

It doesn't matter though. Since being in thailand it's undergone so many changes from what it originally was that it is completely thai now. Bando has undergone alot of changes, making it completely burmese, etc.

[ItalianMuayThai]

lol. in no way was Muay Thai created by the cambodians do a little bit of research and youll find out muay thai has been a system of defense for the thai military and thai people for 100's of years

[elbows_and_knees]

No, if YOU do some research you will find that the history of thai boxing is very vague. Too many of the records were destroyed during wars with burma. Some say it was created by the southern chinese as they migrated. Some also make a claim that it is a distant desendant of wing chun. Some say it was actually created by the burmese and others by the kmer.

When you think about it though, there wasn't always a thailand, was there? people immigrated there from other parts of asia. It therefore stands to reason that it was created by another culture and was changed over time.

That said, thai boxing IS thai - that is the sport that was created in the 1920's. It is the other ancient muay - thai boxing's predecessors - that are likely not originally thai styles.

[elbows_and_knees]

matter of factly, I have a pic in a book of a guy in a stance that for all practical purposes, was a back stance. One of his hands was also chambered low - it wasn't at the waist, but it was low. When have you seen thai boxers do that? That to me is an indicator of outside influence.

[ItalianMuayThai]

good point about the immigration thing!!! never thought of that