OT: Muay Thai and Ong Bak.

[Mr Punch]

Saw it yesterday. Cheesy but good.

Qs:

1) He does some kata type malarkey. Do they do anything like this in muay thai? Ie, a kata, and specifically one like that?

2) The downward elbow to the head... is that legitimate? Is it common? Is it effective? I've never seen it before in competition, thai rules or MMA, but maybe that's a rules thing... it would seem to really hurt the elbower to me, but I don't know what I'm talking about!

3) The two elbowed-strike going inwards... same question. That looks like some really weak nonsense to me... but ditto with my qualifications! :D

4) Is there a tradition of Thai fighters using traditional drugs/herbal mixes? Obviously not like the multiple needle gag in the film but in any way? If so, anyone know what, just out of interest?

[FuXnDajenariht]

theres probably 4+ thread about Ong Bak and the forms that he did. do a search.

[Mr Punch]

Cheers, thought there prob were! Too lazy and rushed!

Plus I always forgot the release date is later over here, so the world and his dog has prob seen it by now!

[FuXnDajenariht]

i must be the goldfish cuz im still trying to get a copy.. :D

[Chang Style Novice]

1 - I have no idea

2 - I can imagine that in certain instances a downward elbow would be effective, but pretty rarely. Seems like you'd basically need to make it a full body drop move to get much force out of it, which would be all overcommitting and reliant on a lot of height relative to your opponent and so on.

3 - I think it's cr@p, too, but it sure was photogenic!

4 - I have no idea, but I'd be a bit surprised if there wasn't some medicinal tradition associated with muay thai. When people fight, someone gets hurt. When people get hurt, usually there's some healing done in connection with it. TCMA has TCM, western ma has sports medicine, etc. This is pretty universal stuff that just makes sense.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Mat

1) He does some kata type malarkey. Do they do anything like this in muay thai? Ie, a kata, and specifically one like that?

possibly in some older muay, like muay boran, but not in muay thai. There's probably similar things in krabbi krabong as well. The closest you'll see to in muay thai, IME, is the ram muay.

2) The downward elbow to the head... is that legitimate? Is it common? Is it effective? I've never seen it before in competition, thai rules or MMA, but maybe that's a rules thing... it would seem to really hurt the elbower to me, but I don't know what I'm talking about!

yeah, it's valid. not that common from what I've seen though. I mean, how often is it that you have the opportunity to pull it off? I've heard it's very effective, but I myself have never tried it.

3) The two elbowed-strike going inwards... same question. That looks like some really weak nonsense to me... but ditto with my qualifications! :D

my guess it that it's another of the more traditional techniques that you don't see much of anymore, if it's valid. The more traditional styles had things such as a double uppercut (which he uses in the movie) and several other strikes - even jumping/flying techniques. In muay thai, the only aerial technique you really see is a jumping knee. The traditional stuff even has the flowery name convention going on, for example, catching a roundhouse kick and putting your elbow into his caught knee is called "breaking the elephant's tusk". and the spinning hook kick is called "alligator whips its tail"

4) Is there a tradition of Thai fighters using traditional drugs/herbal mixes? Obviously not like the multiple needle gag in the film but in any way? If so, anyone know what, just out of interest?

no clue. What CSN said makes sense tho. I know they are very spiritual - the mongkong and paprachiat (the head and arm bands they wear) are blessed by monks and are supposed to protect trhem from serious injury. Some fighters wear other blesse items as well.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by FuXnDajenariht
i must be the goldfish cuz im still trying to get a copy.. :D

The local anime shop here has copies. If you have an anime store nearby, check them out. If not, you can check online...

[Shaolinlueb]

www.pokerindustries.com has a nice selection of import hk and foreign movies. my only hate about them with the new site is that they dont seperate the porn from the regular movies.

http://www.pokerindustries.com/poker.store?page=item&sku=ONGBAKHK-VCD
also ebay is great too. :D

[Mr Punch]

Cheers Seven and CSN.

I did actually search the forum and not find any answers.

Seven, do you know any good sites with the the history of Muay styles in general and other Thai styles?

[Mr Punch]

Seven
Some fighters wear other blesse items as well.Yeah, I'm trying to get someone to bless my cup, but no priest will go near it...:o

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Mat
Cheers Seven and CSN.

I did actually search the forum and not find any answers.

Seven, do you know any good sites with the the history of Muay styles in general and other Thai styles?


nah, but there is a book called "muay thai: a living legacy" that talks about a few different styles. I'm trying to find more info on them now. Among them are muay boran, muay kaad cheurk, muay chaiya, muay lopburi and muay kon.

you can also go here and look at the chapasarat and ramakien drawings:

http://www.usmta.com/Old-Modern-Muay-Thai-Frame.htm

There is one other book that I've heard alot about and intend on getting:

http://www.dcothai.com/product_info.php?products_id=186

[Mr Punch]

Ta.

[Cranestyle]

had my first Muay Thai fight this may, it was full thai rules in thailand organised by fairtex - In it i used the downwards elbow to the head 6 times in 2 rounds. Very nice.

cheers

[SevenStar]

looking at the pics of the old styles I saw and comparing them, adon from the original "streetfighter" game used a muay chaiya stance, while sagat uses a more modern one. one of the stances in ong bak was also in the book - it was from muay norak, or something like that - I'll have to double check the spelling.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Cranestyle
had my first Muay Thai fight this may, it was full thai rules in thailand organised by fairtex - In it i used the downwards elbow to the head 6 times in 2 rounds. Very nice.

cheers

excellent. where were the opportunities presented?

[Water Dragon]

clean out your pm box Sev

[SevenStar]

done.

[Cranestyle]

to be honest with you it was so much of a buzz in terms of the mis en scene that it made me have a bit of a hard time making out the exact details (thats adrenaline for you). But i think it was because he was dropping his head to protect from my punches to try and stop me from getting enough distance to get K.O. leverage.
another time we hit the clinch and he had one hand over the ropes, i pushed him forwards with his right arm outstretched, stepped outside to my left on the opposit side of his arm from his body and dropped 3 elbows on the top of the head, they didn't have enough distance to hit a K.O. though.