| Muay Thai, with its emphasis on both offense and | | | | a very important role, since boxer's safety depends on |
| defense as well as on stamina, is a martial art anyone | | | | his decision. |
| can learn: men, women, young or old. With the interest | | | | To one side of the ring is the band section, comprising |
| in Muay Thai growing fast, martial-art schools in | | | | a Javanese clarinet, drums and cymbals. They |
| Europe, America and Asia have added it to their | | | | accompany the fight from the homage dance to the |
| curricula. To learn it well, the player should know some | | | | conclusion. The tempo goes up as the action inside the |
| basics of Muay Thai. | | | | ring intensifies. The musicians are mostly old-timers |
| Muay Thai is fought in five three-minute rounds with | | | | who have seen just about anything, yet their music |
| two-minute breaks in between. The fight is preceded | | | | always makes the heart race faster. It is said that the |
| by a wai khru dance, in which each contestant pays | | | | tune is a siren song that the true Muay Thai devotee |
| homage to his teachers. Besides the symbolic meaning, | | | | can never resist. |
| the dance is a good warm-up exercise. You will notice | | | | Equipment that is necessary for Muay Thai matches |
| that each boxer wears a headband and armbands. | | | | must be provided by the stadium. There are a |
| The headband, called mongkhol, is believed to bestow | | | | stopwatch, a signal gong, a warning bell, and boxing |
| luck to the wearer since it has been blessed by a | | | | gloves of various sizes according to the rules, |
| monk or the boxer's own teacher. Since Buddhism and | | | | equipment to provide water for boxers, and other |
| the teacher play important roles in the life of Thais, the | | | | additional personal accessories for boxers who have |
| headband is both a lucky charm and a spiritual object. It | | | | not prepared their own such as boxing shorts in red or |
| will be removed after the wai khru dance, and only by | | | | blue, jock straps, surgical tape, or sacred cords. Thai |
| the boxer's trainer. The armbands, meanwhile, are | | | | boxing can be classified into two major types, the first |
| believed to offer protection and are only removed | | | | is muay lak which puts the emphasis on caution and |
| when the fight has ended. | | | | patience, and is very rare nowadays. The second is |
| A match is decided by a knockout or by points. Three | | | | muay kiew which is full of tricks and feints performed |
| judges decide who carries the round and the one who | | | | to catch the opponent off guard. |
| wins the most rounds, win the fight. The referee plays | | | | |