Oh and as I understood it Muay Thai and Krabi-Krabong exist alongside one another rather than one being a portion of another... although of course there are similarities and elements common to each. I guess this suggests that they may stem from a common source. So perhaps: Common source (whatever it may be called) => Muay Thai (martial sport) + Krabi-Krabong (weaponry) + Muay Boran (martial art)? Again just postulation.
I'm interested in a little proof regarding the claims that Muay Thai was derived from the Khmer arts. I've heard this claim before, but aside from a few random posts on the internet, I have not seen any references to actual text. I truly don't care about the correct spelling of Krabi-Krabong b/c it is only correctly spelled in Thai letters. Any English (or other language) translation is purely subjective. But I am also interested in more information regarding the History of the Thai arts and how they all relate to one another. I have been coming more and more to the understanding that what the rest of us know as Muay Thai is merely a COMPROMISE of the wide variety of Thai arts for the sake of sport fighting (and safety). There are a wide variety of Thai arts: Muay Boran Muay Chao Cher Lerdrit Krabi Krabong Lim Lum Awud Thai Etcetera, etc, and so on... Now, my understanding is that all these wide variety of arts are often lumped under the name "Muay Thai", which is kind of like saying "Kung Fu" when referring to Chinese Martial Arts. Another thing I'm trying to understand is Krabi-Krabong's relationship to the other Thai arts. Apparantly, the Thai's view Krabi-Krabong as the base of all Thai martial arts. Perhaps Krabi-Krabong is the art that most closely resembles the battlefield arts of old? It is my understanding that one can view Krabi-Krabong in much the same way that we view traditional Jujutsu in Japan. Jujutsu is apparantly the "all-encompassing" martial art of Japan from which the remaining arts are all derived, such as Kendo, Judo, Aikido, Sumo, Iaido, etc. Each of the other martial arts specializes, and therefore has developed more advanced techniques within their specific areas of expertise... Kendo specializes in sword techniques Iaido specilizes in the specific sword techniques of drawing, cutting, and resheathing your blade. Judo and Sumo specialize in grappling techniques Ninjutsu specializes in stealth and trickery You get the idea. Perhaps Krabi-Krabong is therefore similar to Jujutsu, in that it, too, represents the "all-encompassing" Thai martial arts? Maybe each of the individual systems developed from certain fighters developing and teaching areas of specialization within Krabi-Krabong? Muay Boran is a style of bare-knuckle Muay Thai Muay Chao Cher is essentially like modern MMA fighting I am not familiar with Lerdrit, Lim Lum, or Awud Thai, though I've *heard* of them. I don't know what those styles teach. I have to admit that this is merely conjecture on my part. I have not researched this extensively, but it is just how I've pieced together what I have read. For a long time, I truly felt it was erroneaous to claim that Muay Thai was merely a derivative of Krabi-Krabong, because it had appeared to me that the two arts had actually been developing side-by-side for centuries. But the more that I learn, the more that my above idea seems to be closer to the truth. Khun Kao
