thaibxr

just curious on what it takes? or how long.I can tell there is a lot more experienced people than myself on this site and just figured I could find out here. I love muay thai and just want to know.

Damian Mavis

Well.... what I would consider a master of Muay Thai is one of the old dudes in Thailand that have fought around 300 times. Those guys certainly know their stuff. As an example there is an old instructor named Tiger that trains people at the gym I workout at, he has had something like 325 fights, was champion of this and that many times and in several countries and knows alot of the old school Ram Muays that are quickly disappearing and becoming extinct. He is truly a master of Muay Thai. And a real nice guy too!

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

seany85

how does Ram Muays differ from ordinary Muay Thai?

Is Muay Thai a general term, like Silat?

Does each region have its own form of muay thai, like muay boran (sp?)?

Damian Mavis

Ram Muay is the traditional dance fighters do before a fight. Muay Thai is Muay Thai but each camp will specialise in something different and that might make the style a little different but basically it's the same.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

thaibxr

what is the differance between a muay thai camp and a class personaly im in a class never been to a camp.

silapathai

You should ask your Kru for the Muay Thai class you're in what Camp he's under. He might have broke off and started his own camp/gym which is most likely. I remember about 6 years ago I was the Assistant Trainer at the gym I was at and literally had no challenging sparring partners AT THE TIME and was getting bored by the ones I had been sparring for years so I looked in my phone book and called up an Instructor that shall remain nameless and asked what camp he was from. To make a long story short he took my question as an Insult and asked what camp I was from and who my instructor was, etc. etc. I told him everything calmly and he proceeded to call me a liar saying my instructor wasn't even in the U.S.A. anymore even though I just saw my instructor earlier in the day since I taught the morning classes for him at the time. Suffice to say this Instructor is a knowledgeable instructor of Arnis and JKD but not really for Muay Thai. He's an instructor that did some sort of MT certification course under Chai Sirisute but really didn't even seem to know what I meant by asking what camp he was from. Suffice to say I never went to this school to train because the Instructor called me a liar and didn't seem to understand my question about what camp he was from.
To get back to your orginal question a camp basically is something like Fairtex, Jockygym, even Chakuriki and Vos(Holland) that specialize in something like tiip, dtae, sawk, kao and/or ...for every step backwards, two steps forward... etc. etc. Last but not least the ram muay which is a preritual dance that represents your camp, trainers, and fighters from that camp in the past, animalism, sometimes religion. You wear the Mongkon, flowers, and prajiat while doing this and only wear the prajiat(s) while fighting not the mongkon(usually) and flowers. Usually only a traditional Thai style Muay Thai camp does the ram muay and/or wai kru. I have seen some European gyms that do modified wai kru which really seems to only involve sealing off the ring and bowing. I myself do the wai kru and ram muay out of tradition and respect to my instructors that taught me.

verc

There are many, many good articles written by martial artists on "what it means to be a master", just google it and you'll find a treasure trove of information.


To me, after studying a bit of zen philosophy for a class, I've altered my personal perception greatly. I think a master is a person who exemplifies the attributes of that which he/she practices. There's a good quote from The Last Samurai where Tom Cruise remarks: "Never have I encountered a people so devoted to the perfection of everything they do" (paraphrased)

__________________
speak softly and carry a big sharp
thingmajiggy

verc

Also,
the greatest misconception of any novice undertaking a journey is the conception of time.

You ask, "How long?"

In not only martial arts, but life itself, things are driven by processes, not time. The journey is a distance, not a time you must travel. And only as you travel the journey will you realize how far you've come, how far you have to go, etc. The process is not comprehendable from an outside perspective.

__________________
speak softly and carry a big sharp
thingmajiggy

sherwinc

It is an equal distribution of both...... balanced........

meaning:
When you know how to kill, you also know how to heal......

1. you will become a true master if you know 5 or more sets of KungFu weapon....
2. you will become a true master if you know how to win a battle without fighting - and not just by hurting someone to earn money......

note:
it sounds hurt but its true... its really hard to accept what is right.... just think of it.....

martial arts to help the weak, to protect the innocent - and not just by hurting someone thru commercialization and earning money, the root of all evil.....

and also not by learning how to speak bad words when you comment my qoute..... cause it will make you to a low level minded person (like a grade 1 section 11)

__________________
"When your hand meets my hand, your hand is already my hand"

Question: What are the principal characteristics of a good fighter?

Answer: A good fighter has a lot of tricks, but doesn't play games

Lesson: More Techniques learned are better than Few

OctaviousBP

If you search even this forum, Chalambok has written a piece on what it is to be Ajarn, if I recall.

verc

Interesting enough, Chinese believe that someone who has truly mastered something has already "learned through it", that is, extracted all of life's lessons to be gained from that thing, and may no longer even do it. This still makes a little sense; in modern times fewer and fewer people see martial arts (this includes Muay Thai) as a 'way of life', only as a way to whoopass. Sad but o well

__________________
speak softly and carry a big sharp
thingmajiggy