What is muaythai? Thai boxing sport at South-East Asian Games
The Thai martial art is being contested in Hanoi at the regional multi-sport Games for the sixth time, but what is muaythai and what is its history?
Muaythai, or Thai boxing, gets its day in the major sporting spotlight once more when it is held at the 31st South-East Asian Games (SEA Games) in Hanoi, Vietnam, this month.
The combat sport and martial art, widely practised around the world as a fitness regime, is not often held at international sporting competitions but it will make a sixth appearance at the once-every-two-years regional SEA Games this month.
Some 11 events will be held across two disciplines in the sport in Vietnam.
But what is muaythai? What is the history of the sport and how often are international competitions held? What are the muaythai rules? Read on to find out.
History of Muay Thai
The word muay means “boxing”, leading to a direct translation of muaythai (also sometimes written as two words, Muay Thai) as “Thai boxing”. The sport has a history dating back to the 1600s, when it was first recorded in Thai history. However, it wasn’t until the 1930s that the rules of muaythai were finally written down.
International boxing influenced the first rules of muaythai, which included the introduction of rounds and boxing gloves. The sport’s popularity was high in Thailand but it took until 1993 for the creation of an international federation – now called the International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) – to govern the sport.
The first World Championships were held the same year, but it wasn’t until 2005 that it first appeared at a major multi-sport event, at the SEA Games that year. Since then, it has also appeared at the 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2019 Games – being dropped in favour of muay Lao (Laotian boxing) in 2009 and excluded completely in 2011 and 2015.
It made its debut at the World Games at Wroclaw in 2017 and is on the sporting programme again this year at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Different disciplines of muaythai
The IFMA recognises six different disciplines of muaythai, of which two have previously been contested at the SEA Games and will once again be on the competition schedule at the 2022 SEA Games.
The most well-known discipline is the combat one, which aside from at the SEA Games is also the principal version of the sport competed at the World Games, Universiade, European Games, and other multi-sport events.
At this year’s SEA Games, wai kru will be the second discipline alongside combat after a successful introduction in 2019.
Wai kru is the ceremonial and cultural introduction to each muay thai bout, and is performed by every muay thai boxer before a contest. However, it has also been turned into a standalone competition discipline, with athletes performing the wai kru ritual and being judged for it.
Muaythai rules and events at SEA Games
There are 11 muaythai events being contested in Vietnam this year – one in wai kru and 10 in combat.
No wai kru event had been planned but now, a women’s doubles event will take place after the success of the discipline during the 2019 Games in the Philippines.
The remaining events are combat events across five men’s weight divisions and five women’s weight divisions, running up to a maximum weight of 81kg for men and 63.5kg for women.
Round-robin bouts, if there are any, will be held over three rounds of three minutes; contests in knockout elimination phases are held over five rounds of three minutes.