Happy Muay Thai Day!

**scorchedearth** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 12:29pm

http://www.thai-boxing.org/2006/03/1...muay-thai-day/

National Muay Thai Day

Today (17 March) is The National Muay Thai Day .

This Day is dedicatd to Nai Khanom Thom, who according to legend defeated 10 Burmese fighters to win his freedom from captivity around the year 1774 .

Nai Khanomtom

A very famous fighter was Nai Khanomtom. Around 1774, he was captured along with other Thai prisoners, either in a skirmish or at the fall of the ancient capital of Siam of Ayutthaya.

He was brought to Yangon in Burma, where the Burmese king Mangra was holding a festival .

The festivities included many forms of entertainment. King Mangra was reported to be curious to see how the various fighting styles of Burma and other countries would compare. At one point, he wanted to see how Muay Thai (or Muay Boran) would compare to the Burmese art .

Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against the Burmese champion.

Nai Khanomtom did a Wai Kru (wai khru ram muay) pre-fight dance which puzzled all of the Burmese. When the fight began, he charged out and using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, quickly pummelled the Burmese.

The referee was reported to have stated that the Burmese opponent was distracted by the Wai Kru, so the knockout was invalid.

The King then asked if Nai Khanomtom would fight nine other Burmese champions to prove himself.

He agreed and fought them all, one after the other. The last Burmese was reputed to be a great boxing teacher. Nai Khanomtom defeated them all in a superior fashion.

Other variations of this story had him also winning the release of his fellow Thais. His feat is celebrated every March 17 as “Boxer’s Day” or “National Muay Thai Day” in his honor and that of Muay Thai’s.

Now get out there and train! :)

**han090** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 12:33pm

Originally Posted by scorchedearth

http://www.thai-boxing.org/2006/03/1...muay-thai-day/

Now get out there and train! :)

**** that, it's already St Patrick's Day!

**Kid Miracleman** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 12:38pm

Originally Posted by han090

**** that, it's already St Patrick's Day!

Cool, now we have an even better excuse to get drunk and beat people up!

**scorchedearth** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 12:40pm

Originally Posted by Kid Miracleman

Cool, now we have an even better excuse to get drunk and beat people up!

Could there ever be a better day?

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 1:38pm

It's spelled Muaythai http://www.k-1fans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45809

:P

**tim_n** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 1:49pm

Did anybody else catch the Dhani Tackles the Globe Muay Thai episode last night? I enjoyed it.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 3/17/2009 1:52pm

Originally Posted by KidSpatula

It's spelled Muaythai http://www.k-1fans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45809

:P

Weird thing about that name. The term "Muay Thai" came into use in the 20's, but the name "Thailand" doesn't come into use until June 23, 1939. This leads me to believe that the intended meaning of "Thai" was "Free", and that Muay Thai means the same thing as Lute Livre and SanDa: "Free Fighting".