Muay Thai has a difficult history to trace, nearly as difficult as the Thai people themselves. This is because when the Burmese sacked razed Ayuddhaya to the ground the majority of the Thai archives were lost along with the history of Muay Thai.

What little we do know comes from the early Burmese, Cambodian, early European visitors and some of the chronicles of the Lanna Kingdom - Chiangmai. What they all agree on is that Muay Thai started as a battlefield form of combat but has now become the hardest stand up martial art around.

There are several theories to where Muay Thai came from but only a few carry any real weight with historians, the first is that as the Thai people moved down from china they honed in the struggle for land. The other is that Thai people were already around and that they used it to defend from invasions, this theory comes with considerable academic backing and archaeological evidence.

Whichever theory you believe no one doubts that Muay Thai is and always has been the sport of kings in Thailand. The first great upsurge of interest in Muay Thai as a sport, as well as a battlefield skill, was under King Naresuan in 1584, a time known as the Ayuddhaya period. During this period all Soldiers were trained in and used, as did the king, Muay Thai.

The change in the art was to continue under another fighting King - Prachao Sua - the Tiger King. He loved Muay That so much that he often fought incognito in village contacts, boating the local champions. During the reign of the Tiger King the nation was at peace. The King, to keep the army busy, ordered it to train in Muay Thai. The interest in the sport was already high but now it took off yet again.

Fast forward a few hundred years and now Muay Thai is becoming one of the most recognised and talked about forms of hand to hand combat in the world and will continue to grow in strength as long as people keep showing the respect and admiration that this sport truly deserves.