Learning Muay Chaiya: Class details in Phuket

I have been reminded that I haven't got any details of my classes here on mymuaythaichaiya.com, which I admit is a bit of an oversight... so here we go:

Each class is 2 hours long and follow a similar format as classes in Baan Chang Thai taught by my teacher Kru Lek:

• 40 min exercise set (including 10 min break)
• 10 min break
• 40 min technique practice
• 30 min technique application practice

Pad work and sparring after classes for those who want it.

Classes come in 3 different groups; weekday, weekend and extra. Standard (weekday and weekend) classes are held Mon-Fri evenings and Sat&Sun morning and evening. Extra classes require advanced booking, and are 1on1 classes.

		Weekly	Monthly	3 Months	6 Months	Yearly
Class 1	Mon/Wed : 17:30-19:30	480	1,700	4,800	9,000	17,000
Class 2	Tue/Thu : 17:30-19:30	480	1,700	4,800	9,000	17,000
Class 3	Sat/Sun : 09:00-11:00	600	2,100	6,000	11,500	21,500
Class 4	Sat/Sun : 16:00-18:00	600	2,100	6,000	11,500	21,500

Remark
Day pass 500 Baht/time (can enter standard class)
12 times day pass 4,800 Baht (valid 3 months)
Extra classes are 1,500 Baht

How much for 1 month?
If you'd like to attend all the standard classes in a month, then it would work out as follows:

Weekday classes: 1,700 x 2
Weekend evening and morning classes: 2,100 x 2
Total: 7,600 Baht

Accomodation
We can arrange a variety of accomodation depending on the length of your stay, budget and requirements, but please give use advance warning so that we can make arrangements and inform you of costs (which vary according to season).

Guiding prices:

• A studio appartment with bathroom: approximately 7,000 Baht per month.
• A two bedroom appartment: 9,000 Baht per month.

Yok Khao Guard compared

My second article now for www.mymuaythai.com this time about the Yok Khao Guard (raised knee guard).

Head on over to Nopstar's blog for all the latest on Muay Thai.

Muay Chaiya: Key fundamentals

Muay Thai Chaiya is an old style of Muay Thai, with its roots based on the battlefields of ancient Thailand.

An effective form of self defense, Muay Chaiya is a full martial art with a level of detail not to be found in the popular modern Muay Thai sport. Often described as the ‘Turian Style’ after the prickly fruit, due to the emphasis on blocking with the elbows and knees, Muay Chaiya concentrates on damaging the opponents weapons (arms legs etc) whilst blocking.

Muay Chaiya is taught differently from modern muay thai, with more emphasis on technique and form instead of the concentration on pure body conditioning (although this is important for any serious fighters). The classes include challenging exercises that help the student practice key movements that are used within the style.

Muay Chaiya can be learnt by people of all ages, both men and women, for exercise, self-defense and competitive fighting.

It is a striking style, therefore most of the moves involve strikes from various weapons of the body. These include:

• Fists
• Elbows
• Knees
• Shin/Feet

These are the same weapons that can be found in many martial arts, and similarly, Muay Chaiya has a underlying systems that trains the practitioner to have a strong foundation of techniques. These foundations are devised to ensure that a Muay Chaiya fighter protects himself at all times, whilst dealing maximum damage to their opponent, ultimately finishing a fight as quickly and 'safely' as possible. Another important point is that Muay Chaiya doesn't favour a side, and all moves are trained on the left and right stance equally.

These foundations include:

Tha Kru

The Tha Kru is the standard guard of Muay Chaiya. All style of Muay Thai havea Tha Kru, and you can easily identify the style being used simply by looking at the guard being employed. The Muay Chaiya guard is primarily used to guard the face, covering it at all times, but with both arms angled at 45°, the elbows are exposed and readily available to block incomming attacks. Most techniques in Muay Chaiya start from the Tha Kru, ensuring that there is minimal telegraphing ('show' or 'tell') of moves.

Phan Mut

This fundamental technique plays a vital role in both the Muay Chaiya defense and in the mechanics of more advanced moves. Phan Mut literally means 'Pass fist' and primarily employed when changing guard (e.g. from right to left), but is also used to parry incoming attacks. A fundamental technique, it is practiced throughout training, including most of the Borihaan Feug Rang-gai (10 moves to train power).

Yang Sam Khum

The cornerstone technique of Muay Chaiya the Step of the Three Treasures, teaches many of the main aspects of Muay Chaiya defense including:

• Footwork
• Posture
• Yok Khao (rising knee)
• Tha Kru (Guard)
• Phan Mut

Used constantly in training, it is a technique that must be mastered, missing the details of this technique leads to bad form and bad habits. Taught in stages (feet first then hands) there are several variations including the long step and the hop step.

Prik Liam

Something like a cross better Wing Chun's body swivel and boxing's rotation from the feet, Prik Liam is essential for getting maximum speed and power for all of the Chaiya hand techniques, attack and defense alike. Muay Chaiya is effective for people of all body types, and Prik Liam enables power and speed to be developed from the use of good technique and not just size and strength, by using the weight of the body as a driving force behind both attack and defense.

The four Baw Blaa's of Muay Chaiya

Baw Blaa is the Thai character ป (blaa means fish) and is the first character of the 4 main techniques for defense in Muay Chaiya:

1. Bong - Guard
   
2. Bat - Slap/swat
3. Bit - Close
   
4. Beurt - Open

These techniques are used throughout training, and can often be seen being utilised in the training Bat Malang Waan (swatting flies) and Dop Hoo (slapping ears), which train students in correct timing and distancing so that they can guard themselves from a wide variety of attacks.

New website for Baan Chang Thai - www.samkhum.com

Great news, Kru Lek's (Baan Chang Thai) new website is pretty much finished (there's a few links that are still not working) so get on over and check it out at www.samkhum.com.

The bad news, it's only in Thai so I'm afraid for most of you it won't make a lot of sense. I'm finishing up a few things of my own, and then I'll be translating it into english, so stay tuned.

But for now, there are plenty of pictures and a few videos to check out.

For pictures of Muay Chaiya follow this link.

For the videos, follow this link and then scroll to the bottom of the page. There's four videos:

1. Montage of Tae Chaiya in training (see if you can spot me in there)
2. A video of one of the choreographed sequences that Kru Aof and K.Tae perform (Muay Chaiya vs Knife).
3. A video of Baan Chang Thai's recent visit to Spain, showing them teaching some of the Chaiya Look Mai to some spectators
4. Footage of k.Tae and Kru Aof demonstrating some Muay Chaiya combinations if the kick pads

There's lots of information on this site, but for now, you'll have to get a Thai friend to translate for you. I'll let you know when it's available in English.

As a side note, check out the video on the home page. This features footage of Kru Lek and Tae Chaiya 'playing' at a recent visit they made to Spain. They playing the Dopp Hoo game (slap ears) which is one of the basic training methods that we use for reactions and timing. I spoke to Ajarn Lek shortly after they got back from Spain, and he told me that his body was soar all over. After seeing this footage, I can understand why!

The dopp hoo game is fun, but if you play it hard and fast, then it can really hurt... not the person blocking, but the person hitting! K.Tae is very good at this, and when you go full force, you will come away with your forearms fully bruised, and your thighs smarting (trust me I know). But it's all good fun, and a great way of training.

Close Relatives

If anyone was wondering where I got the idea for the name of this blog from, then you should check out mymuaythai.com. It's a great blog which keeps up to date with the main events of the Muay Thai world, and has a good following of great fighters.

It's creator Nopstar recently asked me to write a post for the site on Muay Chaiya, and I was happy to oblige. So surf on over to mymuaythai.com and check it out!

Making friends

I had a little time in between classes at the beginning of the week and decided to take a road trip to Had Yai to meet Ajarn Chiwin, who teaches Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Muay Thai and Thai sword work. Ajarn Chiwin is a past student of Kruu Thong, and studied Muay Chaiya alongside my teacher, Ajarn Lek.

It's a long drive, so I invited my new friend George who is training at Suwi Gym in Phuket, and will soon be partaking on his own journey of discovery, venturing in to Iisan to train in another old style of Muay Thai (details to folow!).

I heard about Ajarn Chiwin through Federico, an Italian who is dedicating his free time to learning Thai swordwork Muay Thai (apart from other styles). I met Federico through defend.net's forums, and decided to take the trip to Had Yai so I could meet both Federico and Ajarn Chiwin.

After a greuling 7 hour drive (and getting lost on the way!) we found Ajarn Chiwin's school of Tai Fu Do, and were met by the Ajarn and his wife Cat, who welcomed us in and provided us with a room.

My time was short (I had a class to teach the following evening) and so we wasted no time, first A.Chiwin showed us around his school. The ground floor is for general training, with several punch bags, Mook Jong (wooden dummies) and plenty of sticks! The second floor has a small shrine, a variety of traditional swords (including several authentic antiques) and is has a padded floor. The third floor has rooms for students to stay, with lots of room, showers etc. I can imagine training here being very comfortable and relaxing experience. A.Chiwin offers very cheap room rates, and welcomes anyone who shows a desire to learn.

After the tour, we sat down and talked for nearly three hours (in Thai, respect for George who sat through this and showed great patience!) about teaching in Thailand, muay thai chaiya and traditional Thai swords. Ajarn Chiwin has an impressive collection of authentic Thai swords, and is extremely knowledgable about their history and use.

A martial artist with plenty of experience in a variety of martial arts, he had plenty of great advise for me to help me in my new path of teaching.

After a short break for lunch, we returned to find students at the school warming up for classes. He has some very capable students, and I really enjoyed the variety of forms and exercises in the class, some of which I recognised from many years of watching old kung fu movies :).

Then followed the Muay Thai Hadpayud class, which has it's roots in A.Chiwin's time learning with Kru Thong, and has evolved with his experience in his other martial arts.

After a great evening meal, we got an early night, as I new I would have a full day of driving if I was to get back to Phuket in time for class.

Many thanks to A.Chiwin for welcoming us into his home, and giving me lots of great advice. My only regret is that I didn't have more time to spend, but I know I'll be seeing him soon in Phuket, as he's keen to try some of the local sea food!

Thanks again to Federico, I hope you have a safe trip back to Phuket!

Check out more details and information at www.taifudo.com.

Is the style effective?

Yes, very much so. I've spent most of my life studying one martial art or another, and many of the concepts in Muay Chaiya are very progressive and sometimes almost beautiful in their simplicity. The basic guard is strong, a lot of emphasis is put on footwork and the style of fighting is very pragmatic. One of the basic principles is to hurt the opponent's weapons (e.g. arm leg etc) at any given opportunity, hence the focus on blocking with the elbows and knees. The elbows and kicks are the bread and butter of Chaiya, but a huge amount of work goes into developing a student's 'boxing' skills. Many techniques have a feel of western boxing and Jeet Kune Do concepts mixed together, and quite often the shortest, most simple route is the best (no superfluous moves).
In recent years, Baan Chang Thai have produced several capable students, including Tae Chaiya (as seen in the ‘Chaiya’ movie who is one of the best stand up fighter’s I’ve had the pleasure to know) and has proved himself in the ring on many occasions, Kruu Aof is Baan Chang Thai’s main teacher (under Kruu Lek of course!) who is also a very capable fighter, great teacher and close friend. Kruu Pedro who’s persona reminds me a stalking tiger, has proven himself on many occasions. And there is also young Yao (sorry, not sure of surname who has had little problem proving herself in the ring (check out the youtube video YouTube - (Female fighter) Yao fights Muaythai @ Phuket Thailand for a nice example of the Muay Chaiya ram muay and a good fight).

A lot of the footage you see is of the more ‘flashy’ moves which are called the Look Mai (I believe this is why this was thread started) which are mostly advanced moves, and should only be used by experienced fighters. The core of the art is the basics, and the advanced Look Mai should be reserved for ‘the right moment’ in a fight, as they can be vulnerable to counter attack by competent, fresh fighters. To pull these moves of correctly when fighting a ‘real’ fighter, lots of practice and experience is required.

Fight!
When fighting in Muay Chaiya, the range is primarily controlled using fast and hard kicks to the lower and upper legs and knees. Higher kicks are reserved for ‘the right moment’ as any proficient fighter knows that high kicks can put you in a very vulnerable position. Once the range is closed, the elbows really come into play, and Muay Chiaya has a variety, each with their one usage for both attack and defense.

Obviously, sparring is tricky in any martial art, and certain restraints have to be put down. When we spar at Baan Chang Thai, the only thing we remove is any dangerous Look Mai, and the elbows. Heaviness of sparring is up to the students! It’s important to note that we do learn to fight! Not the showy style that you’ve probably seen on a lot of online videos. Sometimes we enjoy western boxing if we feel lazy or just to preserve our shins, as attacking someone who blocks with the elbows and knees can be very painful! Experienced fighters (with the right attitude) are welcomed, as it gives our students the opportunity to gain variety in their training.

Muay Chaiya and Groundwork
Some people think that Muay Chaiya should have groundwork, and this I disagree on. Martial arts have this striking/groundwork 'separation' because each area is vastly different in style and concept, and there is a huge amount of detail to be learned within each style. Coming from a Jeet Kune Do background, I feel that if you want to be a fully rounded fighter, then you should mix the styles you learn, but the styles shouldn't be mixed for you to learn (if that makes sense). Find a great master in each field, and then master them to your own capabilities. Gone are the days where you had to sign your life to a single master!

I would like to mention the venerable Kruu Pedro who runs a Muay Thai school in Chiang Mai. Kruu Pedro as a wonderful person who has taken the task of seeking out as many of the authentic SEA martial arts to combine them into his own style Muay Sangka. Kruu Pedro has a great amount of experience in both Muay Thai and ground fighting and has practical experience in the ring, both in Muay Thai and MMA. If you want to learn a more ‘full’ system, then please check out his website www.ancientmuaythai.com to learn more.