Muay Thai ¿martial art or martial sport?

[seth]

There are many arguments about this subject. ¿Is Muay Thai considered a real martial art? I am very fond of it and i don´t like it to be called a "sport".

[Khun Kao]

There are many arguments about this subject. ¿Is Muay Thai considered a real martial art? I am very fond of it and i don´t like it to be called a "sport".

You'll need to get over that, unfortunately. MuayThai is a sport.

[chalambok]

I disagree with Khun Kao. Maybe when he does it it is a sport, but there are obviously muay Thai practitioners who do it as an art, from the wai kru to the way they perform in the ring. I think it depends more on the person doing it than on the perceptions of spectators. Where is the sport in doing a beautiful historically accurate ceremony that honors your religion, your country, your family and your ancestors? It might also explain why so few Americans can compete successfully on the International stage. Seems to me if your life is on the line it is hard to think of it as a mere sport. I am willing to bet there are many who have watched Khun Kao fight who think of him as an artist. And no, I do not believe he denigrates himself at all believing he is doing a sport. There are legions of art critics who think Jackson Pollock couldn't paint.

[Britt]

You could choose to call it a martial art with sport aspects or a martial sport with combat applications, and I don't think you'd be detracting from it either way. Boxing and Judo could both be called sports, and they both have very practical combat applications (some would even say because they are sports).

[Shoot]

Yes, no, and it depends

“Martial” pertains to combat. “Art” pertains to self expression in performance. So, yes Muay Thai is a martial art. It is also a martial science, sport, and exercise. The same can be said of Karate, Thai Chi, Boxing, Judo, BJJ. Military combatives are probably not “arts” in most circumstances. Ironically, many systems considered “Martial Arts” today were nothing more than old military combative systems e.g. various forms of Jujitsu. Some military combative systems became expressed in an artful way and hence became a “martial art.” Modern military combatives are probably better characterized as “martial sciences.” Muay Thai has been incorporated into most modern military combative programs. So, the answer is “what is in a name? A rose by another name would smell just as sweet.” I suppose many hand to hand combat systems can be expressed as an art and many martial arts can be practiced as only a sport or as only martial science.

[muaythaiguy15]

Tae kwon do and judo are sports cause theyre in the olympics...

To be blunt Muay Thai is fighting. Martial arts is fighting. Muay thai is martial arts.

In competition, some aspects of Muay Thai are prohibited. The more deadly moves you cant do in competition. Also, Muay Thai goes back in history as a way of defending yourself without a weapon.

[aseepish]

I think Muay Thai (in its modern form) is a martial sport, but not in the sense that Wushu forms competition or karate one-step kumite is a sport. The sport aspect of Muay Thai is one of the factors in its practicality (the idea of training for competition, training more or less how you would fight in the ring, limitation of techniques to ensure safety (a relative term in Muay Thai ), etc.).

But I also agree that Muay Thai has a much deeper cultural component than boxing, wrestling, or fencing. You can't very well call Sado (Japanese tea ceremony) a sport.

So, uh, my answer is that it's Muay Thai. Muay Thai is Muay Thai. Don't worry about it.