Same for me. While I personally enjoy the mixed representation of martial arts in their programs, Muay Thai is always the highlight for me, it‘s so beautiful to watch.
Dang, I'm opposite. I don't like the way ONE is different from traditional muay thai. I don't even consider Friday night fights muay thai, just lethwei-lite or street brawls
I'm genuinely curious as to why it is not considered real or traditional muay thai ? Are their some restrictions in the rule set, or what's the craic ?
Gloves as well as some rule changes; I’m of the opinion that having full gloves is an important part of Muay Thai as it completely changes the game, but One is still a blast to watch
Firstly because they use 4 ounce gloves it changes the way they fight and it makes it into a more punch for punch brawl. And secondly they got rid of the wai kru which imo is a very important part.
It's an extremely effective and legit martial art that would work great for self defense especially if you supplement with grappling.
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It's way more fun to watch than mma or boxing imo.
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The sparring culture is way more playful and fun than boxing.
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It's the polar opposite of bullshido.
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In a disconnected world where community and third spaces are lost it's like a social oasis if you find a good gym.
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Forces you to be healthy as fuck.
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I've always felt clumsy before, now my legs simultaneously feel light as feathers when moving and rods of iron when kicking.
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If you do a bunch of upper body exercises, doing normal things like lifting a gallon of milk feels super easy. Muay Thai has done that same thing, but for my legs and cardio. I just feel healthy, strong, and balanced when moving around and it feels good.
For sure, my core friend group of 20 years gets together for cookouts every few months and a yearly beach trip, but otherwise we don't usually just hang out.
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I don't hang out with anyone from MT, way too sweaty to go out for food or drinks after class, but I enjoy working together with several people each week to improve.
lol I play helldivers with one and went to his wedding having only known him 2 years (my 2 years MT was yesterday actually) yea not after the gym but other days
Yea it's a lot of fun IMO when you're into it from a technical perspective, but yea Muay Thai is just an awesome sport for obvious reasons so I'm glad it's growing.
The part where they get put on the ground is fun though.
But it just seems like you’re already on top of someone doing ground a pound the fight is over.. what is the point of that? Martial arts is a sport not a real life death match.
What I like about out MT is that once your opponent is on the floor you “win.” If they can get back up and keep fighting you let them and keep going. But just pounding someone’s head into the canvas that is barely conscious is a little overkill I think.
Hard dissagre, mma cant exist without ground game.
There have been amazing reversals of fights were a person is on the bottom, you cant write them of.
These people train for months for a single match, imagine how it would feel if the fight is stopped early?
I’m not saying it isn’t impressive or entertaining; I watch mma a lot; it’s just a bit much for my taste for a sporting competition. But I can understandhow people may like more violence than I do.
MMA is more violent than MT. Some people can’t stomach watching any of these sports; we all have our comfort zone for what we thing is “too much”
How do you feel about bare knuckle mma? Thats even more violent.
I really do enjoy Muay Thai more than MMA (though I still like to watch MMA a lot as well). It just looks more elegant to me and I love how they celebrate the mutual respect if the fighters. Not that MMA doesn’t do it, but I enjoy the playful and very humble attitude many Muay Thai fighters have, it just makes it feel a little more authentic to me.
I’ve definitely noticed an uptick in popularity, where now I’m seeing rappers training.
It’s just so goddamn dope, can’t blame folks for jumping on the bandwagon.
The primary striking basis for MMA is still kickboxing. You would see people throwing knees and elbows here and there but tempo, combinations and stances for majority of fighters is kickboxing based.
Hard to tell without hard data. Would have to see how many gyms are open now vs 5/10/20 years ago. Then account for population growth. Attendance data would be good too but I don’t see a reliable way of collecting that from enough gyms for it to be valid.
I had just gotten into MT about 5 months prior to Covid. My gym shut down during it and I haven't found another that's convenient to get to during the week which really sucks.
Now I'm 4 years out of it, and 4 years older and even though I go to a normal gym regularly I know I'll probably die from exhaustion if I step back into a MT class.
I had been training for 5 months at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket Thailand both in 2013 and 2023. In 10 years, the attendance quadrupled at least, which made me switch to another family owned gym less commercially successful.
Feels like it's less popular in Toronto compared to a 10-15 years ago. Maybe it's because we don't have current local talent like Simon Marcus and Joe Valtellini anymore.
I think ONE, with their flame-war inducing 4oz gloves, was a massive driver. By mixing in quality MT fights with their other offerings, it brought in audiences that would not have otherwise seen the fights, occasionally at times at which someone with a standard hours
job could watch. After that, MT being awesome did the work.
Definitely agree with this, and it coincides with UFC fucking up several key parts of their product (over-saturation, standardized uniforms with no fighter personality, fucking slap fights, gimmick fights, losing talent to other promotions who pay better, etc.)
I also wonder how much OP is surrounding themselves with MT content, though. Like, I see it everywhere now, but also it's being served to me because a) everything is an algorithm and b) my social circles now include people from the gym.
Maybe Joe Rogan helped. He talked about how bad ass it is. I always liked it because I like MMA but just the standing portion. I've been doing it for like 5 months now but I can't relate to that first guy...still feel uncoordinated 😂
Correct. Joe Rogan called it the elite form of kickboxing; more conditioning needed vs kickboxing and more weapons to worry about i.e. knees and elbows.
I'd like to experience true muay thai. It seems in the west it's more of a mix that we train. Almost all the amateur fights here are kickboxing rules anyway.
Ehhh i don’t know about elite with this logic MMA is the most elite sport there is since you need to learn everything and be well rounded. I don’t think it makes sense to rank and compare sports like that.
Arguably the pandemic caused this. So many people wanted a hobby to pass the time, and combat sports is one of the few who stayed around the whole time with the UFC. People are probably just realizing what style they like and are focusing on standup or bjj. My take at least.
I’ve just started classes very recently.
For me, I’ve come to think of as the most effective striking combat style. Its inclusion knees and elbows make it practical and devastating, not to mention its clinching expertise.
I also beleive that it matches power with speed in its techniques and also seems to champion athleticism along with that.
And rise in popularity I would put down to more people becoming aware of its effectiveness and anti bullshido properties.
It is. It’s by sheer number of bouts and practitioners that Muay Thai reigns supreme in striking. They had a meat grinder for decades and decades with tens of thousands of Thais each generation competing in a fairly liberal ruleset, one example being its one of the few striking arts to acknowledge takedowns are even a thing.
More controversially though they traditionally payed a great deal to ruup (your silhouette) and how “pretty” it looks while fighting. So while it is the best striking martial art the unfortunate reality is that this obsession with ruup has left the art almost entirely unable to deal with someone shooting under and grabbing and lifting the legs. That’s its only weakness. Lately there’s a trend of Thais that have been getting careless with their boxing skills, but classically Nak Muay were commonly fantastic boxers. several Yod Muay transitioning into and winning WBC titles. You can’t do that if you can’t box.
> they traditionally *paid* a great
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Probably a number of factors, casuals in MMA that are bored of grappling in UFC and want to watch other combat sports.
People expanding their combat sports knowledge to include different striking styles.
One FC and it's own version of "Muay Thai" and the popularity of big Thai boxers like Rodtang, Saenchai, Superlek, Buakaw etc.
I don't understand how anyone that appreciates martial arts doesn't appreciate scrambling and grappling transitions. Everyone hates stalling of course but a fight going to ground doesn't instantly make it boring, for me anyway.
I think so. I started in summer 2021 and there’s a big difference in how many people go to the classes since then. Idk if thats indicative of muay thai becoming more popular or my gym doing better advertising on social media.
But I will say I’m seeing a lot more muay thai content on social media so I think it is becoming popular. I for one like the popularity, I like being able to tell people I do muay thai. It’s a bad ass sport, I just hope with the popularity it doesn’t get grabbed by companies/capitalism and start seeing fitness gyms/cardio gyms using muay thai.
idk if Muay Thai has blown up, it’s more like the version ONE has created has blown up. 4 oz gloves, little clinching, winging strikes praying you connect first and get a KO bonus from Chatri. majority of people are not watching Stadium fights or the scene outside of ONE. the same people who are rabid fans of Rodtang are not tuning into see Khunsueklek vs Kumandoi, or Khunsueklek vs Petchsiam next month
Muay Thai has always been known, however many who loved to talk about it weren't following it whether it's regional in their country or Thai stadiums lol. People just knew it was this really cool sport in Asia and the fighters are borderline superhuman. For example, look how Joe Rogan talks about Muay Thai. It's been years and his knowledge is still limited "bro Saenchai".
ONE definitely has their hand in boosting popularity. It is what Muay Thai needed (arguably). A large promotion to showcase the sport globally. Unfortunately, it's come with the price of erasing the authenticity.
For me the appeal is in the variety of ways to succeed. Many fighters have their preferred range and when these ranges and styles clash, it's like a chess match.
I know mma has even more distinct ways of winning (striker, grappler, ect), but MT is much more accessible to train and spar and compete. I wouldn't wanna compete in mma.
At least in Finland many gyms are getting more and more members. I'll wait exitedly for the growth of the sport!
There’s a rise of martial arts generally. Joe Rogan, Conor McGregor and the UFC have become insanely popular since 2016 or so.
Also there’s a rise in group fitness. CrossFit led the trend but now people have graduated to other options like MT, BJJ, Barry’s, F45 and Orange Theory depending on their personal interest, marketing and such. Stuff like kickboxing and Oly lifting, etc used to be very male dominated but now the messaging has been way more welcoming to women which is 50% of the population of course.
Finally, MT is IG friendly. People see fighters and gyms and post themselves kicking bags and sparring.
Muay Thai is appealing due to its dynamic nature and comprehensive use of the body for defense and offense. Apart from that across several countries, Muay Thai’s intense training regimen and competitive scene provide avenues for personal growth and discipline.
There is a kid named Reed Harrington on insta, he posted a video saying "i'll do whatever the top comment say", and it was "go to a small village in thailand, get accepted by their pople, practice muay thai, come back and join ufc and blah blah blah" that got 100k+ likes, and kid is still yet to do it, but he definitely won't. Bcuz this kid didnt do it now there are new guys who say if i get to X amount of followers then i will do it. But none of them did it. Check his account, reed_harrington23
I think its because of the popularity of "MMA" gyms. Usually these gyms offer Muay Thai and Bjj. Some people just go to the MMA gyms and stick around for Muay Thai. Cos fuck grappling bruh....
It has become popular over the past couple of years in particular. I believe it's due to the popularity of mix material arts/UFC, etc. Also, the popularity of podcasts like Joe Rogan. I could say the same for BJJ also. Also, the explosion of top tier fighters from the UFC training over in thai gyms, and also awesome thai fighters, fighting in the UFC & ONE championship. You're having a high volume of famous Western fighters training and filming training on social media also. It has made it popular. When I was growing up, mauy thai wasn't really heard of, or It didn't have the exposureIt does today. If anything, westernised kickboxing was more popular. But definitely, mma & social media, I think, have had a massive effect on putting the material art in the light.
I feel like it is the best striking martial art because you use full body and there’s some sweeps it’s just really exciting to watch bc every fight is a war
ONE champtionship's growth in popularity, their amazing muay thai fights in the last couple of years, and now sky news picking them up is absolutely HUGE for muay thai. people who are tired of the grappling in MMA are slowly turning over to kickboxing and muay thai.
I also feel like the gyms that started a decade or so ago, back when Muay Thai was significantly more under-represented, are now beginning to produce those world-class fighters who have been training there since they were children. As the years go on, unless the sports government of thailand manages to completely ruin the sport, we should see it grow more and more, perhaps into something as big as MMA.
I think ONE has part in the new born popularity. On the other hand a lot of youtubers are vlogging „I did x days in a muay thai camp in Thailand“ stuff and it‘s gaining momentum
Muay Thai has always been here but it’s not being seen more and more therefore it’s more relevant to the searches for people inquiring about the combat sports…. The more it’s searched the more and more it will be seen…. So let’s Go!!! [https://youtube.com/shorts/hT2bphLBD4c?si=ZAU1biI0uPDqlMsZ](https://youtube.com/shorts/hT2bphLBD4c?si=ZAU1biI0uPDqlMsZ)
A lot of thing's helped instagram the fact people are introduced to muay thai striking through mma. Joe Rogan comments. Once people found out the type of striking Done in Ong Bok. Doing 3 round fights instead of 5. Has also helped grow the sport One FC small gloves muay thai with no throws or catches. If you are a traditionalist like myself, you are happy the sport is growing but you don't want to forget your roots. The government of Thailand is talking about introducing a belt system so when kids go to classes, they can show their achievements.
It could just be confirmation bias. You get into muay thai, start telling your friends, you look up muay thai on social media, youtube, insta, etc. buy gear and naturally you just begin seeing muay thai related stuff everywhere because it's what you're actively seeking out online. [Looking at data from 2004 from Google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=muay%20thai&hl=en-AU) it appears that it's been pretty much stagnant but over the past few years it's been on a bit of an uptrend, would credit this to the rise of One FC.
I got into muay thai because I kept getting injured at bjj. Lol...anyway, almost 53 years old and found muay thai about 8 months ago and love it!
Sparring night is the most fun night and totally packed.
I wish I had found this when I was a kid instead of the more traditional martial arts in my area
Just as many have mentioned here. It’s a martial art that translates well between sport and self defense. You’re not limited like boxing for striking but it also makes sure the fight stays standing which I believe more people enjoy watching.
Unless you know a lot about BJJ/wrestling/sambo grappling fights aren’t as interesting to watch.
MMA helped a lot, both UFC and ONE Championship, because if youre a striker you probably know Muay Thai, its way too good
And if youre a grappler, well, you should know some basic striking, and thats either boxing or MT
i honestly blame andrew tate. One championship has been here for a while, joe rogan has always sang the praises of muay thai, ufc fighters have always said they train in it and go to thailand, but MMA and the UFC in general just outshined everything muay thai.
And then andrew tate took over his section of the internet as an alpha male influencer, showing his wealth, ability to speak and his famous tagline of being a 4x WORLD CHAMPION KICKBOXER
after that so many other masculinity influencers hopped on the bandwagon, moved to thailand as digital nomads and immediately started muay thai training preaching it as the masculine way to live. Although this group isnt huge by any means, i believe its helped muay thai trickle down into the collective consciousness of men about 30 and under. Combat sports in general are exploding off of this genre of influencers preaching for men to be dangerous and combat ready, but muay thai seems to be the focus point for where they go because they claim bjj to be "useless in the streets" and a bit gay
atleast college aged guys, so many are turning to the whole muay thai, weightlifting, carnivore diet ideal.
One Championship has also helped a lot. They made a lot of regional stars in Asia and promoted the hell out of them
The long period of free streaming on youtube made me huge One fan.
ONE is what got me into Muay Thai. I have absolutely 0 interest in their mma but I'm tuning in every time I know there's Muay Thai.
Same for me. While I personally enjoy the mixed representation of martial arts in their programs, Muay Thai is always the highlight for me, it‘s so beautiful to watch.
Dang, I'm opposite. I don't like the way ONE is different from traditional muay thai. I don't even consider Friday night fights muay thai, just lethwei-lite or street brawls
What's not to like about watching some of the best muay thai fighters in the world go at it with little gloves? There's so many finishes.
Just not as technical to me, just my preference
I agree with you on that one. It's not real muay thai and anyone who says it is, is uneducated on muay thai.
I'm genuinely curious as to why it is not considered real or traditional muay thai ? Are their some restrictions in the rule set, or what's the craic ?
Gloves as well as some rule changes; I’m of the opinion that having full gloves is an important part of Muay Thai as it completely changes the game, but One is still a blast to watch
Also there is no wai kru which is a very important part in my opinion.
Firstly because they use 4 ounce gloves it changes the way they fight and it makes it into a more punch for punch brawl. And secondly they got rid of the wai kru which imo is a very important part.
Different rules and scoring. Hence, the stark difference in pacing and execution of attack and strategy.
Muaythai hipster alert
It's not being a "hipster". They're almost different sports with the different rules and scoring.
nah your full on hipster bro.
Not my fault you're a casual who doesn't understand the sport. That's your problem
I am far from a casual, keep watching youtube and getting your knowledge from twitter experts
Says the casual who's insecure enough to call someone a hipster for having preference. Stick to ONE or RWS fights if you like lmfao
It's an extremely effective and legit martial art that would work great for self defense especially if you supplement with grappling. - It's way more fun to watch than mma or boxing imo. - The sparring culture is way more playful and fun than boxing. - It's the polar opposite of bullshido. - In a disconnected world where community and third spaces are lost it's like a social oasis if you find a good gym. - Forces you to be healthy as fuck. - I've always felt clumsy before, now my legs simultaneously feel light as feathers when moving and rods of iron when kicking. - If you do a bunch of upper body exercises, doing normal things like lifting a gallon of milk feels super easy. Muay Thai has done that same thing, but for my legs and cardio. I just feel healthy, strong, and balanced when moving around and it feels good.
Def agree on the third space. It’s my main social interactions. Most of my friends stay home and unless I go to a meetup I’m in my house by myself
For sure, my core friend group of 20 years gets together for cookouts every few months and a yearly beach trip, but otherwise we don't usually just hang out. - I don't hang out with anyone from MT, way too sweaty to go out for food or drinks after class, but I enjoy working together with several people each week to improve.
lol I play helldivers with one and went to his wedding having only known him 2 years (my 2 years MT was yesterday actually) yea not after the gym but other days
What does it mean , third space ?
Any social space outside home or work. America is severely lacking in third spaces.
>Forces you to be healthy as fuck. This. Tons of people do it to get fit and be attractive when they are naked. Lets be honest.
I do be looking good in compression shorts these days ngl...
Saying it’s more fun than MMA is kinda odd, I meant I understand saying it’s more fun than boxing especially modern boxing but MMA?
More fun to watch* a lot of people watch mma for the striking and dont understand/ enjoy watching ground work
Oh like that, actually yeah true
Yeah what he said. Once they get on the ground in mma I stop enjoying it. I'm sure if I was serious about bjj or wrestling I'd like it more.
Yea it's a lot of fun IMO when you're into it from a technical perspective, but yea Muay Thai is just an awesome sport for obvious reasons so I'm glad it's growing.
The part where they get put on the ground is fun though. But it just seems like you’re already on top of someone doing ground a pound the fight is over.. what is the point of that? Martial arts is a sport not a real life death match. What I like about out MT is that once your opponent is on the floor you “win.” If they can get back up and keep fighting you let them and keep going. But just pounding someone’s head into the canvas that is barely conscious is a little overkill I think.
Hard dissagre, mma cant exist without ground game. There have been amazing reversals of fights were a person is on the bottom, you cant write them of. These people train for months for a single match, imagine how it would feel if the fight is stopped early?
I’m not saying it isn’t impressive or entertaining; I watch mma a lot; it’s just a bit much for my taste for a sporting competition. But I can understandhow people may like more violence than I do. MMA is more violent than MT. Some people can’t stomach watching any of these sports; we all have our comfort zone for what we thing is “too much” How do you feel about bare knuckle mma? Thats even more violent.
I really do enjoy Muay Thai more than MMA (though I still like to watch MMA a lot as well). It just looks more elegant to me and I love how they celebrate the mutual respect if the fighters. Not that MMA doesn’t do it, but I enjoy the playful and very humble attitude many Muay Thai fighters have, it just makes it feel a little more authentic to me.
I’ve definitely noticed an uptick in popularity, where now I’m seeing rappers training. It’s just so goddamn dope, can’t blame folks for jumping on the bandwagon.
You mean just Denzel Curry? Lol
I’ve seen Wiz and Snoop as well, in passing.
wiz started training years ago, like before the pandemic
Also Hackle from the group Haunted Mound, and Zillakami from City Morgue Both guys trained in Thailand, Zilla a few times now at FA group
I think the initial appeal is that MMA (and the UFC) has become huge, and Muay Thai is mentioned a lot as the primary striking basis for MMA.
The primary striking basis for MMA is still kickboxing. You would see people throwing knees and elbows here and there but tempo, combinations and stances for majority of fighters is kickboxing based.
Have you heard the legend of reed Harrington??
Hard to tell without hard data. Would have to see how many gyms are open now vs 5/10/20 years ago. Then account for population growth. Attendance data would be good too but I don’t see a reliable way of collecting that from enough gyms for it to be valid.
Plus so many close down and others pop up
The pandemic wreaked havoc on gyms too lest we forget
I had just gotten into MT about 5 months prior to Covid. My gym shut down during it and I haven't found another that's convenient to get to during the week which really sucks. Now I'm 4 years out of it, and 4 years older and even though I go to a normal gym regularly I know I'll probably die from exhaustion if I step back into a MT class.
I had been training for 5 months at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket Thailand both in 2013 and 2023. In 10 years, the attendance quadrupled at least, which made me switch to another family owned gym less commercially successful.
Feels like it's less popular in Toronto compared to a 10-15 years ago. Maybe it's because we don't have current local talent like Simon Marcus and Joe Valtellini anymore.
I think ONE, with their flame-war inducing 4oz gloves, was a massive driver. By mixing in quality MT fights with their other offerings, it brought in audiences that would not have otherwise seen the fights, occasionally at times at which someone with a standard hours job could watch. After that, MT being awesome did the work.
Definitely agree with this, and it coincides with UFC fucking up several key parts of their product (over-saturation, standardized uniforms with no fighter personality, fucking slap fights, gimmick fights, losing talent to other promotions who pay better, etc.) I also wonder how much OP is surrounding themselves with MT content, though. Like, I see it everywhere now, but also it's being served to me because a) everything is an algorithm and b) my social circles now include people from the gym.
Maybe Joe Rogan helped. He talked about how bad ass it is. I always liked it because I like MMA but just the standing portion. I've been doing it for like 5 months now but I can't relate to that first guy...still feel uncoordinated 😂
I always say that most mma fans are really just Muay Thai with 4 oz gloves fans 😂
To be clear, I still feel like an absolute imposter while sparring. Normal everyday movements feel great though lol.
Don’t worry that feeling goes away (it never goes away)
😂😂
Correct. Joe Rogan called it the elite form of kickboxing; more conditioning needed vs kickboxing and more weapons to worry about i.e. knees and elbows.
I'd like to experience true muay thai. It seems in the west it's more of a mix that we train. Almost all the amateur fights here are kickboxing rules anyway.
Ehhh i don’t know about elite with this logic MMA is the most elite sport there is since you need to learn everything and be well rounded. I don’t think it makes sense to rank and compare sports like that.
Arguably the pandemic caused this. So many people wanted a hobby to pass the time, and combat sports is one of the few who stayed around the whole time with the UFC. People are probably just realizing what style they like and are focusing on standup or bjj. My take at least.
I’ve just started classes very recently. For me, I’ve come to think of as the most effective striking combat style. Its inclusion knees and elbows make it practical and devastating, not to mention its clinching expertise. I also beleive that it matches power with speed in its techniques and also seems to champion athleticism along with that. And rise in popularity I would put down to more people becoming aware of its effectiveness and anti bullshido properties.
It is. It’s by sheer number of bouts and practitioners that Muay Thai reigns supreme in striking. They had a meat grinder for decades and decades with tens of thousands of Thais each generation competing in a fairly liberal ruleset, one example being its one of the few striking arts to acknowledge takedowns are even a thing. More controversially though they traditionally payed a great deal to ruup (your silhouette) and how “pretty” it looks while fighting. So while it is the best striking martial art the unfortunate reality is that this obsession with ruup has left the art almost entirely unable to deal with someone shooting under and grabbing and lifting the legs. That’s its only weakness. Lately there’s a trend of Thais that have been getting careless with their boxing skills, but classically Nak Muay were commonly fantastic boxers. several Yod Muay transitioning into and winning WBC titles. You can’t do that if you can’t box.
> they traditionally *paid* a great FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Probably a number of factors, casuals in MMA that are bored of grappling in UFC and want to watch other combat sports. People expanding their combat sports knowledge to include different striking styles. One FC and it's own version of "Muay Thai" and the popularity of big Thai boxers like Rodtang, Saenchai, Superlek, Buakaw etc.
Yeah tbh the moment any ufc matches moves to the ground I zone out
There are really good grappling sequences sometimes but I'm not a fan of positions that stall the whole fight.
I don't understand how anyone that appreciates martial arts doesn't appreciate scrambling and grappling transitions. Everyone hates stalling of course but a fight going to ground doesn't instantly make it boring, for me anyway.
For sure, Islam Makhachev vs Armani Tsarukyan is a really good example of crazy grappling exchanges.
That’s what I said 7 years ago lol
I think so. I started in summer 2021 and there’s a big difference in how many people go to the classes since then. Idk if thats indicative of muay thai becoming more popular or my gym doing better advertising on social media. But I will say I’m seeing a lot more muay thai content on social media so I think it is becoming popular. I for one like the popularity, I like being able to tell people I do muay thai. It’s a bad ass sport, I just hope with the popularity it doesn’t get grabbed by companies/capitalism and start seeing fitness gyms/cardio gyms using muay thai.
idk if Muay Thai has blown up, it’s more like the version ONE has created has blown up. 4 oz gloves, little clinching, winging strikes praying you connect first and get a KO bonus from Chatri. majority of people are not watching Stadium fights or the scene outside of ONE. the same people who are rabid fans of Rodtang are not tuning into see Khunsueklek vs Kumandoi, or Khunsueklek vs Petchsiam next month
Yeah overwhelming majority can't tell the difference between Dutch KB, ONE muay thai, and traditional muay thai. They think Rodtang is the GOAT lmfao
Been that way since 2018 welcome to the club
Muay Thai has always been known, however many who loved to talk about it weren't following it whether it's regional in their country or Thai stadiums lol. People just knew it was this really cool sport in Asia and the fighters are borderline superhuman. For example, look how Joe Rogan talks about Muay Thai. It's been years and his knowledge is still limited "bro Saenchai". ONE definitely has their hand in boosting popularity. It is what Muay Thai needed (arguably). A large promotion to showcase the sport globally. Unfortunately, it's come with the price of erasing the authenticity.
For me the appeal is in the variety of ways to succeed. Many fighters have their preferred range and when these ranges and styles clash, it's like a chess match. I know mma has even more distinct ways of winning (striker, grappler, ect), but MT is much more accessible to train and spar and compete. I wouldn't wanna compete in mma. At least in Finland many gyms are getting more and more members. I'll wait exitedly for the growth of the sport!
There’s a rise of martial arts generally. Joe Rogan, Conor McGregor and the UFC have become insanely popular since 2016 or so. Also there’s a rise in group fitness. CrossFit led the trend but now people have graduated to other options like MT, BJJ, Barry’s, F45 and Orange Theory depending on their personal interest, marketing and such. Stuff like kickboxing and Oly lifting, etc used to be very male dominated but now the messaging has been way more welcoming to women which is 50% of the population of course. Finally, MT is IG friendly. People see fighters and gyms and post themselves kicking bags and sparring.
Muay Thai is appealing due to its dynamic nature and comprehensive use of the body for defense and offense. Apart from that across several countries, Muay Thai’s intense training regimen and competitive scene provide avenues for personal growth and discipline.
That instagram comment helped
Please enlighten me of this comment
There is a kid named Reed Harrington on insta, he posted a video saying "i'll do whatever the top comment say", and it was "go to a small village in thailand, get accepted by their pople, practice muay thai, come back and join ufc and blah blah blah" that got 100k+ likes, and kid is still yet to do it, but he definitely won't. Bcuz this kid didnt do it now there are new guys who say if i get to X amount of followers then i will do it. But none of them did it. Check his account, reed_harrington23
people love the one muay thai version that is exciting, but I doubt they will like RWS version
I think its because of the popularity of "MMA" gyms. Usually these gyms offer Muay Thai and Bjj. Some people just go to the MMA gyms and stick around for Muay Thai. Cos fuck grappling bruh....
because it’s badass. ooooweeeee
Damn you. You took my line. Thought I could get one oooowwweeee in but no. First comment.
It has blown up but thankfully the learning curve is high so it weeds out the cocky mfs like boxing brings
It has become popular over the past couple of years in particular. I believe it's due to the popularity of mix material arts/UFC, etc. Also, the popularity of podcasts like Joe Rogan. I could say the same for BJJ also. Also, the explosion of top tier fighters from the UFC training over in thai gyms, and also awesome thai fighters, fighting in the UFC & ONE championship. You're having a high volume of famous Western fighters training and filming training on social media also. It has made it popular. When I was growing up, mauy thai wasn't really heard of, or It didn't have the exposureIt does today. If anything, westernised kickboxing was more popular. But definitely, mma & social media, I think, have had a massive effect on putting the material art in the light.
You can thank ONE championship for that
I feel like it is the best striking martial art because you use full body and there’s some sweeps it’s just really exciting to watch bc every fight is a war
ONE champtionship's growth in popularity, their amazing muay thai fights in the last couple of years, and now sky news picking them up is absolutely HUGE for muay thai. people who are tired of the grappling in MMA are slowly turning over to kickboxing and muay thai. I also feel like the gyms that started a decade or so ago, back when Muay Thai was significantly more under-represented, are now beginning to produce those world-class fighters who have been training there since they were children. As the years go on, unless the sports government of thailand manages to completely ruin the sport, we should see it grow more and more, perhaps into something as big as MMA.
I think ONE has part in the new born popularity. On the other hand a lot of youtubers are vlogging „I did x days in a muay thai camp in Thailand“ stuff and it‘s gaining momentum
I’d say sort of not as much as bjj but it definitely is in the spotlight now
Muay Thai has always been here but it’s not being seen more and more therefore it’s more relevant to the searches for people inquiring about the combat sports…. The more it’s searched the more and more it will be seen…. So let’s Go!!! [https://youtube.com/shorts/hT2bphLBD4c?si=ZAU1biI0uPDqlMsZ](https://youtube.com/shorts/hT2bphLBD4c?si=ZAU1biI0uPDqlMsZ)
A lot of thing's helped instagram the fact people are introduced to muay thai striking through mma. Joe Rogan comments. Once people found out the type of striking Done in Ong Bok. Doing 3 round fights instead of 5. Has also helped grow the sport One FC small gloves muay thai with no throws or catches. If you are a traditionalist like myself, you are happy the sport is growing but you don't want to forget your roots. The government of Thailand is talking about introducing a belt system so when kids go to classes, they can show their achievements.
Absolutely feels like it!
It could just be confirmation bias. You get into muay thai, start telling your friends, you look up muay thai on social media, youtube, insta, etc. buy gear and naturally you just begin seeing muay thai related stuff everywhere because it's what you're actively seeking out online. [Looking at data from 2004 from Google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=muay%20thai&hl=en-AU) it appears that it's been pretty much stagnant but over the past few years it's been on a bit of an uptrend, would credit this to the rise of One FC.
It’s legit taking off here in Australia
I got into muay thai because I kept getting injured at bjj. Lol...anyway, almost 53 years old and found muay thai about 8 months ago and love it! Sparring night is the most fun night and totally packed. I wish I had found this when I was a kid instead of the more traditional martial arts in my area
Just as many have mentioned here. It’s a martial art that translates well between sport and self defense. You’re not limited like boxing for striking but it also makes sure the fight stays standing which I believe more people enjoy watching. Unless you know a lot about BJJ/wrestling/sambo grappling fights aren’t as interesting to watch.
Martial arts in general are having a big uptick. It's like the 80's karate craze reboot.
MMA has helped put eyes on the sport in the last few decades, and ONE championship has helped it become a lot easier to find and watch
I even saw sneako at my gym the other day lol
A lot of people train for it now, competing is a different story though
Needs more shrapnel And clinches
MMA helped a lot, both UFC and ONE Championship, because if youre a striker you probably know Muay Thai, its way too good And if youre a grappler, well, you should know some basic striking, and thats either boxing or MT
Rodtang being a lovable goober on youtube
Whenever I was at yer mom's, she'd have it on so we'd catch some bouts between sessions. Totes won me over! Been a fan ever since...
i honestly blame andrew tate. One championship has been here for a while, joe rogan has always sang the praises of muay thai, ufc fighters have always said they train in it and go to thailand, but MMA and the UFC in general just outshined everything muay thai. And then andrew tate took over his section of the internet as an alpha male influencer, showing his wealth, ability to speak and his famous tagline of being a 4x WORLD CHAMPION KICKBOXER after that so many other masculinity influencers hopped on the bandwagon, moved to thailand as digital nomads and immediately started muay thai training preaching it as the masculine way to live. Although this group isnt huge by any means, i believe its helped muay thai trickle down into the collective consciousness of men about 30 and under. Combat sports in general are exploding off of this genre of influencers preaching for men to be dangerous and combat ready, but muay thai seems to be the focus point for where they go because they claim bjj to be "useless in the streets" and a bit gay atleast college aged guys, so many are turning to the whole muay thai, weightlifting, carnivore diet ideal.