Watch Thai Boxing in Thailand

Female: Formerly known as Siam. The word Thai means free thus Thailand means land of the free and with good reason. It’s the only nation in all of Southeast Asia never to have been colonized by European power and its magnificent cultural heritage has been retained through a deep love of tradition and religion. As with all things Thai, even the national sport of kickboxing involves ritual and etiquette. Each of them starts with the fighters giving thanks to their trainers through what is called Wai Kru and then the actual boxing begins.

At first glance, the sport appears to be a free for all where anything goes. Pushing, kicking, shoving its all fair game but it is in the ceremony which precedes each fight that the etiquette of kickboxing can fully be seen.

Male: The dance that you see before the competition, that is the dance that the boxer will keep the respect to the teachers and they will dance and face, they will turn their face to vow directions to the north to the south, to the east and to the west. And you will see something around their head that is the sacred thing that we believe that there is some spirit inside and the spirit will give you a good luck and you will win that competition.

Female: After five 3-minute rounds, the judges tally up the scores and the winner both fierce in competition is humble in victory.

Clarence Gilyard, Jr.: Kickboxing is an intense, in more ways and just for the fighting. They pray all most to their trainer and to Buddha before they fight and then they kick the crap out of each other and then after the five rounds, the guy who wins just kind of says appreciated and its over. It’s no big celebration or anything like that.