Muay Thai, often referred to as "Thai boxing," is a striking combat sport with roots tracing back to the Sukhothai Kingdom of 13th century Thailand. Known as the "art of eight limbs", it utilizes fists, legs, elbows, and knees as points of contact.
Beyond being a mere combat sport, Muay Thai embodies values, symbols, culture, and traditions. Today, Muay Thai is not only the national sport of Thailand but also a significant industry, offering a livelihood for many. Skilled Thai fighters are celebrated as heroes in their country.
Muay Lertrit: A Distinct Style Within Muay Thai
What is really interesting about Muay Lertrit, as far as I've been able to witness, is that the entire fighting style is organized around invading the no-mans-land between fighters, and fighting there. Even Muay Khao fighters sometimes ignore this zone, rushing in for the clinch. This is, in some Muay Thai, a neglected area of attack and defense, and for that reason your opponent is probably uncomfortable in this zone.
Muay Lertrit is a detail-oriented martial art where everything comes down to the basics. If one of your basics is lacking or incomplete, then the rest of your technique will be less effective.
What I find really fascinating about the General's Muay Lertrit, from the Muay Thai perspective, is that it adds an entirely distinct and new vocabulary of strikes to an already pretty potent vocabulary in Ring Muay Thai. The truth of the matter is that ring Muay Thai, even at its best - and I consider it the best fighting art in the world in the hands of the Thais - still becomes cul-de-sac'd by aesthetics over time.
Read also: The Significance of the Mongkol
All fighting arts become aesthetisized. Ring Muay Thai is no different. The aesthetic does become refreshed because fighters are always looking for "what works", but still there are era-specific channels through which it all flows. What is really cool about Muay Lertrit from this perspective is that one discovers not one, not three, but an entire family of strikes and defenses that can operate withing ring Muay Thai, because they are ancestrally related. They fit within the fighting program of Muay Thai, because they are evolutionarily related.
As we enter the home stretch of my stay in Thailand, the General has introduced, “The Mothers Moves” or the Muay Thai tricks, as he sometimes refers to them. The mother moves are counter attacks seemingly applied to end a fight. From these mother moves, there are exponentially more offspring moves which make up the other styles fo Muay Thai. All of the basics we’ve learned till now make up the foundation for which the mothers moves should rest. Without the basics, the Mother Moves will be less effective, meaning not effective at all. Pretty much all of the training leading till now has lead to this point. If I am remembering correctly, there are 15 mother moves.
Today the General continued to add yet another Muay Thai Mother Move. While it is sometimes frustrating to practice, the overall experience is fun, because you can see the progression of all of the basics we’ve been taught over the last few weeks. While there are official names for each mother move, they are in Thai and I can neither say nor spell them. But what we practiced today was a counter to a kick. Although not sport legal from what little I know about sport.
The beautiful part about the General teaching us this lesson today, was how we needed to call on three separate basics, and be able to execute almost simultaneously to make them one smooth motion. The move involves blocking or dissipating the force of the incoming kick, catching the opponents leg, then finally elbowing their leg. Each one of these steps involves a basic the General showed us leading to day, easy enough each in their own right. The difficult part was stringing them together.
Key Techniques in Muay Lertrit
- Hook Punch to Back-Hand: A Lertrit variation of the back-hand, thrown after an opponent dodges a hooking punch. As their head returns to center, you step forward, narrow your stance, and strike with the back hand.
- Half Kick: A mid-range kick that makes contact with the upper part of the shin. It is used when the opponent is too close for a standard shin kick but too far for a knee.
- Straight, Down Elbow: Often practiced with a jump, emphasizing a soft landing to maintain balance and flow.
The General often speaks in terms of making thing happen naturally. He often uses this idea interchangeably with flow. I like the concept of flow much better. This is something close to my heart and was cemented into my brain in San Soo. Much like San Soo each move - each punch, elbow and/ or knee - should flow effortlessly into the next. Rather I missed my target, my opponent moved away or I am fighting multiple opponents, I should be able to recall anyone of my techniques and pick the one which is most appropriate for the situation. It's much like freestyle rapping versus writing out your bars for a song or performance - think like improve. Similar in dance: choreography is much easier to me than to social dance, where I have to come up with the right step in order to let my partner know what I am doing.
Read also: Authentic Muay Thai Training
Flow to me, is the mastery of your style. There is no thinking involved. It has become natural, as the General will say.
Muay Thai vs. BJJ: A Comparison
To compare Muay Thai to BJJ is like comparing apples to oranges. Muay Thai is fundamentally stand-up striking combat while BJJ is ground fighting grappling combat. In terms of techniques, while there may be a long list of submissions in BJJ, Muay Thai can be very technical in the right hands (and legs) with infinite combinations of strikes and movements.
They are both most effective in their respective arenas under their respective rules. For anyone with even a passing interest in MMA, they are surely familiar with BJJ moves like armlocks chokes, and leg locks.
Muay Thai, on the other hand, is a very candid fighting system. It is designed to hurt the opponent, in the most direct manner and in the most painful way. The training itself is cardio-intensive and involves a lot of conditioning and rote learning. To an audience not trained in martial arts, Muay Thai can appear brutal and devoid of any technicalities.
While some fighters do adopt a forward-pressure strategy, favoring unrelenting punches and kicks, there are actually different styles of fighting in Muay Thai. For example, there is the Muay Khao who fights with his knees as the main weapon; the Muay Sok who likes to use the elbow; and the Muay Femur (technical fighter) who is an all-rounder adept with all weapons of Muay Thai.
Read also: Choosing a Muay Thai Gear Bag
For anyone who is still undecided at this point on which martial art to pick, the best way is to simply go for trial sessions for both and then see which is more appealing. Almost every fight gym caters to beginners and with more MMA gyms are offering both of these classes.
Ultimately, there is no barrier preventing anyone from pursuing the 2 martial arts all at once. Many mixed martial artists train both of these to develop a well-rounded game. But if you can only pick one, consider the points brought out in this article and decide only after attending a few trial sessions.
Best For Self Defense | MMA? BOXING? MUAY THAI? KICKBOXING?
