Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
354 Muay Thai Ron Smith emphasizes kicking an opponent’s legs. These techniques are called cut kicks, because by using them you can cut out the legs from under the opponent. Cut kicks are sweeping, low-line leg attacks or round kicks with the shins against either the inside or outside thighs of an opponent. These kicks can be countered by using footwork to evade the attacks, by lifting the leg out of harm’s way, or by toughening the legs to permit them to resist the blows of the other fighter. The use of this array of kicks to the legs helps Muay Thai techniques negate most of what other striking arts (e.g., taekwondo, European boxing, and karate) offer to the combative martial artist. Moreover, Muay Thai competitors have demonstrated success using Western rules as well. For example, Khaosai Wanghompu (who fought professionally as “Galaxy” Khaosai) was the longest-reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight champion in history, with a record of fifty wins and one loss and nineteen title defenses. He was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition, when his twin brother, Khaokor, later won the WBA bantamweight title, they became the first twin brothers to ever win World Boxing titles. In 1995, Saman Sorjaturong won the WBA and International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight titles, and with his brother Chana’s subsequent win they became the second twin Muay Thai– trained fighters to win international titles in Western boxing. Finally, topranked no-holds-barred (NHB) fighters, especially Brazilian Marco Ruas, in the final years of the twentieth century utilized a blend of Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (and other grappling systems) to achieve success in mixed martial arts competitions. Ronald Harris See also Southeast Asia References Draeger, Donn F., and Robert W. Smith. 1981. Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. New York: Kodansha. Kraitus, Panya, and Pitisuk Kraitus. 1988. Muay Thai: The Most Distinguished Art of Fighting. Bangkok: Asia Books. Lanna Muay Thai Boxing Camp. 2000. http://lannamuaythai.com. Praditbatuga, Pop. 2000. Muay Thai: The Belt Is in the Ring. http://www.themartialartsschool.iwarp.com/thai.htm. Rebac, Zoran. 1987. Thai Boxing Dynamite: The Explosive Art of Muay Thai. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press.
Ninjutsu Ninjutsu is the Japanese martial art of espionage, called in English the “techniques of stealth” or the “arts of invisibility.” Practitioners were trained to sneak into enemy territory to learn and report on troops, arms, provisions, and fortifications. The techniques developed further to include active attempts to alter the course of battles, such as arson, assassination, intercepting and/or destroying arms and supplies, and the like. Practitioners were commonly known as ninja, but there were numerous alternative terms: shinobi (spy), onmitsu (secret agent), rappa (wild wave), suppa (transparent wave), toppa (attacking wave), kasa (grass), monomi (seer of things), and nokizaru (monkey under the eaves). Although earlier Japanese chronicles suggest ninjalike activities, ninjutsu developed primarily during the Sengoku period (late fifteenth to sixteenth centuries) when warfare was endemic. Ninjutsu became organized into schools (ryûha) and its techniques systematized. According to Fujita Seiko, there were seventy-one different ryûha, but the three most well known were the Iga-ryû, Kôga-ryû, and Kishû-ryû, others being derivative of these. In Tokugawa times (1600–1867), during two centuries of peace, ninjutsu lost most of its practical value, although some ninja were employed by the Tokugawa bakufu for surveillance and police purposes. The practice of ninjutsu was transformed into one form of martial arts. Due to the secrecy associated with their activities, ninja were often perceived as mysterious and elusive. During the Tokugawa period, after they had virtually passed from the scene, ninja were being portrayed as supermen in drama, art, and literature. Their reputed ability to disappear at will, or leap over walls, or sneak undetected into a castle captured the imagination of people. That image remains strong today. Ninja were already popular in the era before World War II, in fiction and in the films of such directors as Makino Shôzô. Then, during the 1960s, the Daiei Series of Shinobi no mono (Ninja; Band of Assassins) films, starring Ichikawa Raizô, ignited a N 355
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354 Muay Thai<br />
Ron Smith emphasizes kicking an opponent’s legs. <strong>The</strong>se techniques are<br />
called cut kicks, because by using them you can cut out the legs from under<br />
the opponent. Cut kicks are sweeping, low-line leg attacks or round<br />
kicks with the shins against either the inside or outside thighs of an opponent.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se kicks can be countered by using footwork to evade the attacks,<br />
by lifting the leg out of harm’s way, or by toughening the legs to permit<br />
them to resist the blows of the other fighter. <strong>The</strong> use of this array of kicks<br />
to the legs helps Muay Thai techniques negate most of what other striking<br />
arts (e.g., taekwondo, European boxing, and karate) offer to the combative<br />
martial artist.<br />
Moreover, Muay Thai competitors have demonstrated success using<br />
Western rules as well. For example, Khaosai Wanghompu (who fought professionally<br />
as “Galaxy” Khaosai) was the longest-reigning <strong>World</strong> Boxing<br />
Association (WBA) bantamweight champion in history, with a record of<br />
fifty wins and one loss and nineteen title defenses. He was elected to the<br />
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition, when his twin brother, Khaokor,<br />
later won the WBA bantamweight title, they became the first twin brothers<br />
to ever win <strong>World</strong> Boxing titles. In 1995, Saman Sorjaturong won the WBA<br />
and International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight titles, and with his<br />
brother Chana’s subsequent win they became the second twin Muay Thai–<br />
trained fighters to win international titles in Western boxing. Finally, topranked<br />
no-holds-barred (NHB) fighters, especially Brazilian Marco Ruas,<br />
in the final years of the twentieth century utilized a blend of Muay Thai<br />
and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (and other grappling systems) to achieve success in<br />
mixed martial arts competitions.<br />
Ronald Harris<br />
See also Southeast Asia<br />
References<br />
Draeger, Donn F., and Robert W. Smith. 1981. Comprehensive Asian<br />
Fighting <strong>Arts</strong>. New York: Kodansha.<br />
Kraitus, Panya, and Pitisuk Kraitus. 1988. Muay Thai: <strong>The</strong> Most<br />
Distinguished Art of Fighting. Bangkok: Asia Books.<br />
Lanna Muay Thai Boxing Camp. 2000. http://lannamuaythai.com.<br />
Praditbatuga, Pop. 2000. Muay Thai: <strong>The</strong> Belt Is in the Ring.<br />
http://www.themartialartsschool.iwarp.com/thai.htm.<br />
Rebac, Zoran. 1987. Thai Boxing Dynamite: <strong>The</strong> Explosive Art of Muay<br />
Thai. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press.
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