Muay Thai originally is a national form of martial arts fought with bare hands. It is a tradition to organize various Muay Thai matches during festivals.
Today, Thai boxing is a globally known sport practiced by thousands of people. In Thailand, it is an extremely popular sport, and every province has a large stadium where matches are held.
A Muay Thai match is held in an almost square ring that is no more than 120 cm above the ground.
Each side of the ring must be between 5.70 and 8.20 meters. The ring must be enclosed with 4 ropes that may be between 4.90 and 7.30 meters long on each side of the ring.
The ropes must be supported by 4 corner posts and may have a maximum diameter of 2 cm. The ropes must be wrapped with leather or soft linen to protect the fighters.
Outside the ring, the floor must be covered with soft mats. Within a radius of 1 meter outside the ring, no one is allowed except the corner men, judges, and doctor.
Thai boxing equipment:
If a match is held in a stadium, the following must be present:
- stopwatch
- gong
- alarm bell
- boxing gloves of various sizes that meet the guidelines
- water bottles
- shorts, handwraps, mouthguards, and headbands
Rules of Muay Thai matches:
- Matches in Thailand must always have government approval
- A Muay Thai match lasts no longer than 5 rounds, and each round lasts a maximum of 3 minutes
- There is a 2-minute break between rounds
- Fighters must wear boxing gloves that may not weigh more than 6 ounces (172 grams) - Exceptions:
- Fighters must have a medical certificate
- Fighters must weigh in naked and are classified into a weight class based on that
- Fighters are not allowed to use vaseline
- Fighters are not allowed to wear shoes or t-shirts, but wearing a toque is mandatory
- Each fighter may have 2 corner men in their corner
Decision of a Muay Thai match:
The outcome of a match can be decided in five ways:
- KO (when a fighter is knocked down by a blow from their opponent and cannot get up within 10 seconds)
- TKO (a referee decision if a fighter is no longer able to continue fighting)
- Forfeit (if a fighter stops the match)
- Disqualification (if a fighter commits a serious foul)
- The judges give their points and the fighter with the most points wins
Scoring points in thai boxing:
Judges have the difficult task of awarding points for punches and kicks. Awarding a point depends on the effectiveness, target, power, and impact of the punch or kick.
Points are also awarded for defensive strength but also for offensive power. If both fighters have the same number of points, the most aggressive fighter wins.
Assigning faults in thai boxing:
There are a large number of things forbidden in the ring:
- inappropriate talking or behavior
- deliberately using the head to hit the opponent
- attacks to the eyes, hair pulling, and spitting
- intentionally knocking down the opponent and kicking him while doing so
- intentionally kicking a downed opponent
- hitting an opponent who is hanging on the ropes
- dodging attacks by hiding behind the referee
- intentionally kicking the opponent in the groin
Weight classes thai boxing (Thailand):
- Mini Flyweight not heavier than 105 lbs. (47.6 kg)
- Junior Flyweight not heavier than 108 lbs. (49 kg)
- Flyweight not heavier than 112 lbs. (50.8 kg)
- Junior Bantamweight not heavier than 115 lbs. (52.2 kg)
- Bantamweight heavier than 118 lbs. (53.5 kg)
- Junior Featherweight not heavier than 122 lbs. (55.3 kg)
- Featherweight not heavier than 126 lbs. (57.2 kg)
- Junior Lightweight not heavier than 130 lbs. (59 kg)
- Lightweight not heavier than 135 lbs. (61.2 kg)
- Junior Welterweight not heavier than 140 lbs. (63.5 kg)
- Welterweight not heavier than 147 lbs. (66.7 kg)
- Junior Middleweight not heavier than 154 lbs. (69.9 kg)
- Middleweight not heavier than 160 lbs. (72.6 kg)
- Light Heavyweight not heavier than 175 lbs. (79.4 kg)
- Heavyweight heavier than 175 lbs. (+79.4 kg)
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