Muay Thai Kickboxing at SPMA

Learn the essential skills of Muay Thai Kickboxing, from punching, kicking, elbows and knees. Muay Thai Kickboxing is a system that emphasizes striking in and out of clinch.

In the Muay Thai Kickboxing class you will learn how to strike an opponent using your hands, feet, elbows & knees. You will also learn how clinch an opponent and use strikes from this position. You will then learn how to use the thai pads, focus mitts, kick shields and bags to increase your skills and fitness. As your skills improve you will learn to navigate the ring and improve your sparring ability. Muay Thai Kickboxing is a class that has a strong focus on fitness.

For information on classes and class times at each of your your SPMA locations please refer to the Timetable page.

There are various Kickboxing shows throughout the year. Your instructor will advise you of any shows.

SPMA has a grading syllabus and you can see the ranks below. If you have any questions about the gradings please speak to one of the Chief Instructors.

The History of Muay Thai Kickboxing

Muay Thai's Early Rise
The old Kingdom of Siam, as Thailand was once known, has from ancient times always seen trouble from its neighbours. Occupying the Southeast Asia peninsula, it has Burma on the west, Laos on the north and east, Cambodia to the southeast, and the Gulf of Siam and Malaysia on the south. Yet amazingly this "Land of the Free" has resisted all attempts to conquer it. One can only put this down to the fierce fighting spirit of the people. Muay Thai techniques were part of the military training system, which was greatly influenced by Chinese fighting methods in the beginning. It later underwent a marked change and developed independently, losing many of the Chinese boxing methods along the way. It is somewhat of a mystery how and why this happened, and for that matter why many of Muay Thai's special fighting techniques are not seen anywhere else outside Thailand.

The Tiger King
Because the Siamese people were combative by nature, the common folk picked up the military unarmed fighting methods and developed them into a sport, but they still retained all the lethal blows. Further skills were developed during the reign of king Pra Chao Sua, who was known as the Tiger King. Every village staged its prize fights, with young and old, rich and poor all taking part. The King himself was a high skilled boxer and was reputed to have trained with his soldiers six hours a day. He would often leave his palace disguised as a wandering peasant and enter boxing events, always defeating the local champions. The King would spend hours alone in his palace perfecting certain techniques, and then try them out in local contests. So skilled were some of his boxing strategies that even today they are still used and known as the Tiger King Style.

The Greatest Fighter of Them All
Perhaps the most famous of all Siamese fighters was Nai Khanom Tom. He was a brilliant athlete and a strong courageous man, holding the title of the best fighter in all Siam. During the many wars that Siam had with her neighbour Burma, Nai Khanom Tom was captured by Burmese soldiers. They had heard of his great fighting ability so they decided to pit him against 12 of Burma's top bando fighters (Bando is a martial art of Burma and similar to Thai Boxing), and if he could defeat all 12, Nai Khanom Tom would be allowed to go free. So the next day in a stadium packed with thousands of people, Nai Khanom Tom prepared to fight bare handed against the cream of Burma's top fighters. One by one they came at him, all out to hurt him and become heroes themselves for defeating the greatest martial artist in Siam. As each fighter pitted his skills against the great Nai Khanom Tom, they were dispatched with lighting elbow strikes and murderous knee blows. As the day wore on, the great Siamese champion had defeated all of his opponents. The spectators, who had been cheering fort their own men, suddenly began to cheer for this magnificent fighter from Siam. They were full of admiration for the prisoner who had fought and defeated several men without rest or being wounded himself. The King of Burma had no alternative but to let him go free.

No Rules or Regulations
In 1930, Muay Thai underwent a transformation. A number of rules and regulations were introduced including the wearing of boxing gloves and groin guards. Certain weight divisions were stipulated. Until that time, virtually anything was allowed in the ring. One favorite device used by the boxers was hemp tope bound around the fist to act as a form of glove. Then it was dipped in glue and rolled in finely ground glass. The establishment of time keeping, stadiums, instead of makeshift rings and courtyards, began during the reign of Rama VII before the Second World War. Before this period, time keeping was done by floating a pierced coconut shell on a boat of water. When the coconut piece sank, a drum signalled the end of the round.

Growth of the Art Today
With the spread of contact sports among martial artist throughout the world, Muay Thai has burgeoned all over the world. In Japan, Europe, Australia, and North America, Muay Thai has reached epic proportions in recent years. It is one of the most popular striking styles in the World today.