What is Muay Thai?
Muay Thai is historically referred to as the “Art of Eight Limbs” or the “Science of Eight Limbs”. Muay Thai evolved in the midst of war as the Thai were on constant guard against the attack from their neighbouring countries including Burma and Cambodia.
Muay Thai became the primary part of life as they needed an efficient way to protect themselves. It is not only part of Thai culture, it became a mandatory training part of the Thai military.
Muay Thai with its rich history and culture is full of honour, respect and dignity. The Thai monarchy has always played a prominent role in the development of art and sport. One of the kings known as “The Tiger King” (infamous for disguising himself in a tiger mask while competing in tournaments to hide his royal heritage) wanted a fair and hard-fought match with each of his opponents.
Muay Thai is widely known as one of the most efficient striking martial arts because of its popularity in MMA. From there, Muay Thai grew to become a famous martial art globally and it became one of Singapore's most popular martial arts.
What does Muay Thai focus on?
Muay Thai embodies Bruce Lee’s statement “absorb what is useful and reject what is useless”. Muay Thai is in its own class when it comes to effectiveness. Muay Thai focuses on utilising punches, kicks, elbows, knees and grappling techniques that are used to stay disciplined, strong and most importantly cultural.
Some of the techniques in Muay Thai include jab to roundhouse, jab to switch kick, jab to slap hook to roundhouse, teep to jab to cross, jab to straight body to rear uppercut then to lead elbow, jar to body to rear uppercut then to lead elbow, cross to rear uppercut to switch knee, cross to hook to rear elbow then to switch knee.
Health benefits of Muay Thai physically and mentally
For this article, we will be focusing on eight health benefits of Muay Thai physically and mentally. Let's look at some of the health benefits of Muay Thai to your body and mind!
Enhance your health
Similar to any other sports form, Muay Thai also will help you to keep your body healthy. Practising and training Muay Thai will allow a person to burn up to 1000 calories per session (it is very intense!).
You get to burn calories from the tip of your toes and all the way up to your ears. This will help your body to be fit and healthy!
Get strong core muscles
Beginners in martial arts, sports, and bodybuilding frequently believe that core strength is solely concerned with training the abdominal region. Muay Thai's movements and nature necessitate repetitive and precise movements in order to improve.
Performing defensive movements, strikes, and conditioning exercises activates the muscles, resulting in a high-performing and stronger core.
Strengthen your cardiovascular system
Muay Thai will make sure your cardio improves together with your overall strength. Muay Thai forces your body to stay engaged throughout the class. This will increase your heart rate and help you maintain a consistent work rate.
Your ability to do more will increase as you improve your striking skills. Fighters with strong cardiovascular training can go up to 5 rounds without tiring. The body is repeatedly stressed in order to become accustomed to the demands of the sport.
Increased flexibility
If you have seen professional fighters that apply Muay Thai techniques in their matches, the one most dominant aspect that you can notice in all of them apart from their beast-like physique is their flexibility.
You'll become more adaptable as you practise different techniques, such as head kicks. The kneeing and kicking in Muay Thai improves hip mobility and makes your body more flexible!
Improve your focus
Martial arts are all about respect and discipline. Well-performing Muay Thai trainees and fighters are some of the most disciplined people on this planet as Muay Thai demands the utmost focus.
With the help of Muay Thai, you will develop a high level of mental clarity and focus through practice, which will be useful not only in combat situations but also in everyday life!
Become a more sociable person
Muay Thai makes you a more sociable person as it helps to build a bigger social group. You will have the opportunity to meet people from various backgrounds by learning Muay Thai.
Everyone is interested in learning Muay Thai; everyone is striving for the common goal of self-improvement; blood and sweat are shed during training; and this is how the deepest friendships are formed!
Training sessions that involve drills will help you talk to your partner and get to know them better and this will make you a person with a healthy social life and improve your state of mind in general.
Reduces stress and anxiety
Intense workouts such as Muay Thai will help relieve stress and anxiety as it is directly linked to stress hormones. It's a great feeling to be training with your friends! You'll enjoy your time in the gym as you work hard to improve your Muay Thai skills.
There's also a sense of accomplishment at the end of each class because you know you've challenged yourself and grown as a result of it which will help you distract from all the stress and problems in your life.
Improve your self-confidence
Your self-confidence will improve as a result of having more friends and being able to defend yourself. You can be confident in your ability to push yourself mentally and physically. The coaches will assist you in becoming the best version of yourself possible!
Conclusion
Muay Thai is more than just a sport; it is a complete workout that will have a significant impact on your body and mind. Enjoy all these benefits of Muay Thai at Tiger Muay Thai Singapore now!