MUAY THAI

A descendant of muay boran, a combat sport from Thailand and its national sport, muay thai uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.

The word muay is derived from the Sanskrit term mavya, meaning boxer. Muay Thai is considered as "the art of Eight limbs" or "the Science of Eight limbs."

Unlike boxing which only uses fists (two points) and other martial arts sports such as kickboxing and savate that uses hands and feet (four points), muay thai uses punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes, the eight points ofcontact.

Muay Thai practitioner is called nak muay while Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang, which means foreign boxer.

There are two groups of formal  Muay Thai techniques, a.) mae mai or major techniques and b.) luk mai or minor techniques.

Punching (Chok)

English	Thai	Romanization	IPA Jab
Cross	หมัดตรง	Mat trong	[màt troŋ]
Hook	หมัดเหวี่ยงสั้น	Mat wiang san	[màt wìəŋ sân]
Swing	หมัดเหวี่ยงยาว	Mat wiang yao	[màt wìəŋ jaːw]
Spinning Backfist	หมัดเหวี่ยงกลับ	Mat wiang klap	[màt wìəŋ klàp]
Uppercut	หมัดเสย/หมัดสอยดาว	Mat soei/Mat soi dao	[màt sɤ̌j], [màt sɔ̌j daːw]
Cobra*	กระโดดชก	Kradot chok	[kradòːt tɕʰók]

Elbow (Ti sok)

English	Thai	Romanization	IPA
Elbow Slash	ศอกตี	Sok ti	[sɔ̀ːk tiː]
Horizontal Elbow	ศอกตัด	Sok tat	[sɔ̀ːk tàt]
Uppercut Elbow	ศอกงัด	Sok ngat	[sɔ̀ːk ŋát]
Forward Elbow Thrust	ศอกพุ่ง	Sok phung	[sɔ̀ːk pʰûŋ]
Reverse Horizontal Elbow	ศอกเหวี่ยงกลับ	Sok wiang klap	[sɔ̀ːk wìəŋ klàp]
Spinning Elbow	ศอกกลับ	Sok klap	[sɔ̀ːk klàp]
Elbow Chop	ศอกสับ	Sok sap	[sɔ̀ːk sàp]
Double Elbow Chop	ศอกกลับคู่	Sok klap khu	[sɔ̀ːk klàp kʰûː]
Mid-Air Elbow Strike	กระโดดศอก	Kradot sok	[kradòːt sɔ̀ːk]

Kicking (Te)

English	Thai	Romanization	IPA
Straight Kick	เตะตรง	Te trong	[tèʔ troŋ]
Roundhouse Kick	เตะตัด	Te tat	[tèʔ tàt]
Diagonal Kick	เตะเฉียง	Te chiang	[tèʔ tɕʰǐəŋ]
Half-Shin, Half-Knee Kick	เตะ ครึ่งแข้ง ครึ่งขา	Te khrueng khaeng khrueng khao	[tèʔ kʰrɯ̂ŋ kʰɛ̂ŋ kʰrɯ̂ŋ kʰàw]
Spinning Heel Kick	เตะกลับหลัง	Te klap lang	[tèʔ klàp lǎŋ]
Down Roundhouse Kick	เตะกด	Te kot	[tèʔ kòt]
Axe Heel Kick	เตะเข่า	Te khao	[tèʔ kʰàw]
Jump Kick	กระโดดเตะ	Kradot te	[kradòːt tèʔ]
Step-Up Kick	เขยิบเตะ	Khayoep te	[kʰa.jɤ̀p tèʔ]

Knee (Ti khao)

English	Thai	Romanization	IPA
Straight Knee Strike	เข่าตรง	Khao trong	[kʰàw troŋ]
Diagonal Knee Strike	เข่าเฉียง	Khao chiang	[kʰàw tɕʰǐəŋ]
Curving Knee Strike	เข่าโค้ง	Khao khong	[kʰàw kʰóːŋ]
Horizontal Knee Strike	เข่าตัด	Khao tat	[kʰàw tàt]
Knee Slap	เข่าตบ	Khao top	[kʰàw tòp]
Knee Bomb	เข่ายาว	Khao yao	[kʰàw jaːw]
Flying Knee	เข่าลอย	Khao loi	[kʰàw lɔːj]
Step-Up Knee Strike	เข่าเหยียบ	Khao yiap	[kʰàw jìəp]

Foot-thrust (Thip)

The foot-thrust or literally "foot jab" is one of the techniques in Muay Thai. It is mainly used as a defensive technique to control distance or block attacks. Foot-thrusts should be thrown quickly but yet with enough force to knock an opponent off balance.

English	Thai	Romanization	IPA
Straight Foot-Thrust	ถีบตรง	Thip trong	[tʰìːp troŋ][10]
Sideways Foot-Thrust	ถีบข้าง	Thip khang	[tʰìːp kʰâːŋ]
Reverse Foot-Thrust	ถีบกลับหลัง	Thip klap lang	[tʰìːp klàp lǎŋ]
Slapping Foot-Thrust	ถีบตบ	Thip top	[tʰìːp tòp]
Jumping Foot-Thrust	กระโดดถีบ	Kradot thip	[kradòːt tʰìːp

Clinch and neck wrestling (Chap kho)

• arm clinch: One or both hands controls the inside of the defender's arm(s) and where the second hand if free is in the front clinch position. This clinch is used to briefly control the opponent before applying a knee strike or throw
• side clinch: One arm passes around the front of the defender with the attacker's shoulder pressed into the defender's arm pit and the other arm passing round the back which allows the attacker to apply knee strikes to the defender's back or to throw the defender readily.
• low clinch: Both controlling arms pass under the defender's arms, which is generally used by the shorter of two opponents.
• swan-neck: One hand around the rear of the neck is used to briefly clinch an opponent before a strike