A Brief History of Thai Boxing
Muay Thai has a rich history as an integral part of Thailand’s culture. The nation has always taken pride in it’s best fighters. Although there isn’t a clear record of when the style was first developed, we know that it was created and evolved on the battlefield as hand to hand combat for Thai armies to protect against invading nations.
Royalty has long been known to watch, encourage and even participate in Muay Thai. As a representation of the strength of Thailand, the best fighters from outlying villages would travel to the capital to perform and fight in front of the king. The king’s personal body guards were also highly trained in Muay Thai (although it hadn’t been given that name yet).
The modern form of of Muay Thai began to develop in the 1920′s, as the name Muay Thai was first used to describe this fighting art. The martial art began to take shape as the nation sport as the first permanent area was built in Bangkok. Gloves were introduces and a more modern set of safety rules enforced to prevent casualties and minimize injuries to the fighters. Modern Muay Thai is an extremely popular combat sport around the world.