7. Wai Khru, Ram Muay, and Guarding
Wal khru (paying respect to teachers) , and ram muay (prefight ritual dance) are performances expressing gratitude and respect to boxing teachers (khru, which is derived from Sanskrit word guru). They also cleverly serve for warming up mentally and physically and for intimidating the opponent. The detailed instructions of the performance are as follows:
1. Kneel down with the back straight UP, sitting on the crossed feet with the right foot over the left one. Both hands are Pressed together at the chest. Meditate on the reminiscence of boxing teachers.
2. Bow down to prostrate, forehead touching the hands which are laid bare on the ground.
3. Raise up both hands and press the palms together at the chest again, then raise the pressed palms overhead while the face is looking up and elbows spread out. Both thumbs touch the mid-eyebrows for a while before lowering the hands back to the chest.
4. Half-sit with the right knee up one \ step ahead. Lean forward with the eyes looking straight ahead.
5. Stretch the left leg to the back and curl its ankle up. Splay the elbows up horizontally to the floor, the right fist being held-up at the chin and the left elbow bending at right angle. Swing both fists around each others.
6. Retract the left leg back to sit on its heel and stretch the right leg ahead, pointing up the tip of the right foot. Keep the left fist at the chin and over the right fist before swinging them around each other with head up high. Then stand up on both feet and hold up guards, ready to perform the yang sam khum footwork.
8. Delivery of strikes
Four weapons of the Muay Thai arsenal are :
Foot
Foot is the long range and most powerful weapon. There are several ways to strike with feet. For kicking, there are low kick, high kick, straight kick, round kick, and turn-round kick, to name a few. For foot-thmstmg, there are peeking foot-thrust with curled toes, sideways flicking heelthrust, as examples.
Knee
Knee can be either a long range weapon like throwing a knee bomb, or close range weapon like a knee strike while clinching the opponent’s neck.
Elbow
Elbow is a dangerous close range weapon, which can be executed in five ways :
1. Elbow strike : pressing the tip of elbow forcibly.
2. Round elbow strike : throwing the elbow honzontally
3. Elbow uppercut : swinging the elbow upward.
4. Shooting elbow strike : throwing the elbow straight toward the opponent.
5. Reverse elbow strike : turning the body around to throw the elbow backward.
Fist
The use of the fist in muay Thai is richer than the western boxing. Aside from straight punch, hook, and uppercut, Muay Thai has, pitching swing and overhead swing, for example.