There is a reason why some folks look at Muay Thai as one of the more dangerous forms of fighting, and the Muay Thai champion in this video confirms it while pointing out the inaccuracies in various movies. She does go light on the movies to be fair, but she does manage to pull out the stops when needed as she describes how various kicks and punches are meant to be executed, and how they’re not supposed to be blocked. For instance, in the Fast and Furious movie, she watched, seeing someone blocking a kick with their hand wouldn’t turn out all that well. But her estimation of the movies is interesting since it brings to mind the realism of this fighting style, and even the culture of Muay Thai, which is something that a lot of people might not have known. The headband they wear, the mongkhon, is something that a lot of people have seen but might have known next to nothing about. The heavy-hitting sport is the type that isn’t meant for those that are faint of heart and don’t like to be hit.
From knees to elbows, to kicks and punches, Muay Thai is one of the most brutal sports around, even though it is carefully regulated and kept competitive in a manner that has made it one of the more popular sports to watch. In the movies, however, it’s one of the sports that gets a definite facelift as the style kind of goes by the wayside at times. As it’s noted in this clip though, some techniques are accurate and moves that can take on the real look of this deadly fighting style. Some movies do a great job of bringing in the Muay Thai style, while others take a lot of liberties that give people the wrong impression of how Muay Thai really looks when the moves are being performed correctly.
One of the most impressive people in this clip is Tony Jaa by far since this is another guy that does several of his own stunts and really knows what he’s doing. Even some of his fights kind of devolve into scenes that aren’t exactly traditional when it comes to Muay Thai however, but it’s not too surprising. A lot of what Hollywood does when it comes down to fight scenes is to make it look as good as it can without getting into every technical detail that often. There are technical fights that come off looking great, but a lot of times the best way to get the audience involved and impress them without missing the moment is to make kicks and punches far wider than they have to be and to give each movement a look that is more appealing to the eye rather than technically sound. This is something that doesn’t necessarily need an expert to point it out but can be seen by those that have watched enough real matches and know what to look for when it comes to how a fight should go. Some might want to say that a real-life fight might not follow the rules of a match, and that’s true, but then again, real fights aren’t exactly what we’re seeing in Hollywood.
Kickboxer is a good example of this since Jean Claude Van Damme, despite being an actual martial artist, did manage to follow this trend since he’s been doing it for many years now and knows how to show off for the camera. In the movie, he’s a young American attempting to avenge his brother after a Muay Thai champion paralyzed him, and he ends up going to a reputed master of the style. But while his training and his conditioning aren’t horrible, there are a few things that might either be archaic in nature or questionable at best regarding the training methods used. But where Kickboxer gets things right is that the conditioning and training, not to mention the toughness, needed for Muay Thai can make a big difference between a person walking away after a fight, or being carried out on a stretcher. Watching a single match will give anyone the idea that this sport is not meant for those that are fragile in any way.
Much like any sport, those who find their way into Muay Thai are likely going to be told that there is no halfway measure for this sport, that it’s not something to take up for a hobby like Zumba or aerobics. But if one can manage to condition their body and train themselves to withstand the kind of pain they’ll find in the ring, then they’ll likely find out what it’s like to be truly tough. I’d even wager that a Muay Thai fighter might do well in a few different fighting venues against fighters of different disciplines.
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