MY Evolution of Muay Thai

As a young Martial Artist, I was very successful in competing in different styles of Martial Arts. The style that I practiced was touted as the very first American style of Karate, Karate Shin-Toshi.

Shin-Toshi was founded by the late, Mickey Fisher. Fisher was the youngest (at the time) person to have received his Blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do from the man considered the father of TKD in America, Jhoon Rhee. Fisher later would receive blackbelt ranking in Kenpo by the man considered the father of Kenpo in the US, Master Ed Parker. Throw in an Okinawan Karate Blackbelt, and Fisher held legitimate rankings in styles that came from the three major hubs of traditional martial arts, Korea, China, and Japan.

Fisher blended what he felt were the strengths and eliminated the weaknesses of the different styles, and Karate Shin-Toshi was born. This occurred years before Bruce Lee established Jeet Kun Do.

This bit of history is important so the reader will understand the roots from which my version of evolution of Muay Thai has come.

I enjoyed great success competing in tou
aments and fights hosted by different styles of martial arts. I would read up on their rules, make the necessary adjustments to my strategy, and compete successfully under THEIR rules. The diversity of Shin-Toshi's background made this possible. We were not bound by traditional constraints to our fight style. If we went to one of your tou
aments and saw something we liked, we stole it, and used it as our own. We would practice it, get better at it than you, and beat you with it... That was until I encountered Muay Thai head on.

My first experience with Muay Thai came at an early age. I had just won a National Championship in Tae Kwon Do. A group form Thailand wanted to challenge the top competitors from different fight styles to see how they measured up to Muay Thai. (Much to the chagrin of those who worship the UFC, this predated them. The so called 'Gracie Challenge was not a novel concept.)

Being young and full of piss and vinegar, I accepted their challenge, not knowing what I was getting myself in to.

Muay Thai - the art of 8 limbs, incorporates devastating striking techniques of hands, knees, feet and elbows. Thai fighting is rich in history and is considered the national sport of Thailand.

Often times, things that are 'rich in history' are often slow to change. This is certainly the case with Muay Thai. A prime example of this is demonstrated by their lack of a word for 'Uppercut' in their native tongue. They refuse to acknowledge the influence of Western Boxing into Muay Thai. A straight one, two, and a hook were widely considered the limit to hand strikes in Muay Thai for hundreds of years. In fact, some Thai schools still consider an uppercut a dirty move. Hand strikes, for the most part were used to set up more powerful strikes (kicks, knees, elbows).

Side kick, a staple of most traditional styles of martial arts, and a very effective technique (Not to mention one of my favorite techniques) is also considered dirty of most Thai purists, along with many of the spinning kicks made popular in Hollywood movies.

I want to take a brief diversion to explain why side kick is one of my favorite techniques, and is considered a signature move for students of mine. (If you fight out of my camp, you'd better have a good one). Side kick, thrown properly, incorporates the largest muscle group in your body. It is a powerful kick. I often refer to it as the great equalizer. Much like the premise of Jiu Jitsu having a smaller person attacking a larger person small body part, Side kick incorporates the large muscle group in a strike that can stop a larger person's momentum.

This was crucial to explain because the entire objective of Muay Thai is to inflict as much damage to your opponent through strikes with no regard to how much you are damaged in the process. Traditional Thai fighters use little defense. Most fights are nothing more than a battle of attrition.

Thai fighters train at a very young age to literally deaden the nerves in their legs by kicking bamboo reeds, in order to keep them from feeling any pain in such a battle. The end result? Thai fighters that can barely stand upright at the age of 30. They are crippled from all the abuse their bodies have endured over the years. You might ask, how much can they endure by the age of 30? Being that Muay Thai is a national sport, it is not uncommon to meet a ten year old with a hundred fights under his belt.

As I mentioned, my foray into Muay Thai was a result of naiveté. I had just beaten the best Tae Kwon Do fighters in the country, surely I could defeat some guy from a 3rd world country (That's how I perceived it at the time). He was just another fighter.

I could not have been more wrong.

I took my opponent off guard in the early rounds due to my 'unorthodox' fight style and even knocked him down twice. (By unorthodox, I mean by Thai standards.) The knockdowns were a result of a well-timed sidekick when my opponent was winding up to deliver a powerful Thai kick. I threw uppercuts, and spinning kicks, and most of all my Side Kicks. I took him out of his rhythm. (Rhythm is such a crucial element to Thai fighting.) It was difficult for him to set up for his power techniques. In the end I found myself crawling on the canvas, looking for my glove-which was on my hand, at the feet of a far more skilled fighter tha
I. I later learned he was the Thai Champion with over 150 full contact fights. I was nothing but a bump in the road.

The after party found me sitting on a couch with my leg propped up in a brace. My knee required full reconstructive surgery from the devastating leg kicks I received. While my opponent didn't know a word of English, we sat and enjoyed watching other people have a good time and got thoroughly intoxicated together. I was later told that he felt it was his responsibility to watch out for me that night. He did just that... not leaving my side until they closed the bar.

Simply put, America is not ready to adapt Thai culture on many levels. I know no American fighter that would have sat with his injured opponent all night. Similarly, I know no American fighters willing to cripple themselves for their sport. Culturally, Thai champions are treated as deities. They are willing to subject themselves to what is tantamount to torture because they will forever be able to provide for their families. In the US, once a fighter's career is over, they are yesterday's news. Former Thai champions are highly revered and are given a special place in their society.

Martial Arts Professional Magazine recognized me as the first to have created a 'system' of Kickboxing. John Graden, Editor of MAPM is highly regarded in the Martial Arts industry, and has his fingers on the pulse of the goings on in American Martial Arts. I believe I was the first to do so.

I had fallen in love with Muay Thai, yet I lived in a culture that I knew would never embrace the practices of it in it's purest form. I also recognized some weaknesses of the style, particularly in a Mixed Martial Arts setting. Thai fighters are brutal, but as a result leave themselves open to being taken down. Thai fighters have little defense, which makes for a short career. Thai fighters have no answer for the wide array of kicks of Tae Kwon Do, etc.

For many years, Muay Thai was the striking style of choice for MMA fighters. Now, you are seeing a great deal more diversity. Fighters like Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pier are bringing a multitude of other techniques to the fore, that are not only eye-catching, but effective.

My system of Kickboxing has long followed this way of thinking. We deliver the devastatingly hard Kicks, knees, and elbows of Muay Thai, we use the highly effective hands of Western Boxing, and the diverse attacks of many of the traditional martial arts that we have respectfully 'stolen' from the various other styles we have encountered.

With the popularity of MMA, many others have taken this tact. We all steal from one another. Once a move or technique is introduced into competition, it is out there for all of us to 'steal'.

I fear many of the modern day practitioners like to take shortcuts. They will attempt to 'steal' techniques, but lack the fundamentals that make them effective. Without understanding where those techniques began, and using the building blocks to help make them effective, they seldom will be.

I see many high-level fighters attempt jump, spinning techniques that sometimes land, and sometimes don't (More often than not, they don't), because they never took the time to learn them properly.

Muay Thai is still the devastatingly effective striking art it has always been. Combined with other styles it is an excellent method of striking. By itself, while you will never doubt you had been in a scrap against a top level Thai fighter, it will undoubtedly prove to be ineffective in the end.

I welcome the evolution of Muay Thai, but I sincerely hope those that do, take the time to learn both Muay Thai and the styles they are combining it with from the ground up.

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