Well according to Lateef Crowder it is. Check this sequence out from Tom-yum-goong. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8514518157668120764&q=capoeira+fight
Actually, a lot of his stuff is gymnastics, taekwondo, etc etc etc... Nothing of that fight was strikingly muay thai.
I don't know enough about Muay Thai to comment - but I'm pretty certain he comes from a traditional MT background - doesn't he? Very cool clip BTW - if Ong Bak's anything to go by the film should be awesome!
Incredibly low budget and bad movie. Good fight scenes is about all there is. The plot sucks, no developed characters, poor lighting in many scenes, all Tony Jaa does is break arms in half the fights. Sometimes its just the same thing over and over. I would say if you are going to see this, try not to pay for it.
My understanding is does train MT but also things like Wushu and in his fight scenes he says he does whatever he thinks looks cool. And Clem, does Lateef show up in any more scenes? He was awesome, I loved how cocky he was. He'd make a great reocurring villian throughout the movie.
Well, that was visually wonderful, but I don't think validates Capoeira as a fighting style and more and Crouching Tiger validates Kung fu. -- Everytime someone starts a "usefulness of capoeira" thread, god kills a kitten.
Tony Jaa does Muay Thai Boran mainly, but adds a lot of flashy gymnastics and TKD and crap into it to make it more appealing. Muay Thai Boran is to modern Muay Thai as Jujutsu is to Judo Muay Thai and Muay Thai Boran are completely different animals, and most MT guys would claim that MTB sucks.
I think that clip actually shows that it isnt, as soon as Tony jaa figures the other guy out (and it would take about 15 seconds in a real situation) he takes him down fairly easily. Capoeira is best left for the dance floor
These things are relative. Capoeira was likely a useful skillset against those untrained in MA, and not expecting it - And I'm sure is just as useful in such situations today. From what I understand, Capoeira was developed in an environment where there were many constraints upon training. With that in mind, it makes sense that it would be at a disadvantage against an art that developed without those contstraints. Also, I think it's both unfair and unrealistic to judge capoerira strictly on it's martial value...
I think that Tony Jaa's movements were supposed to be emphasizing Capoeira as well. Just look at the way he evades the other guys kicks, or when he was fighting on the floor. I personally think it would've been cooler if they had choreographed as a "Muay Thai vs Copoeira" fight rather than a "Capoeira vs. Capoeira" fight (kind of like the "Muay Thai vs. Tae Kwon Do" fight in the first movie). But hey, it was still pretty cool to watch.
I haven't trained in Muay Thai, but I've seen Muay Thai. From what I seen in the video showed some muay thai in the beginning, namely the kicking. Then (2 mins. 23 secs into the video) he starts to act like the capoeirista after the capoeirista taunted him.
You gotta love the music man! Great clip in my opinion, The capoeria fighter did well and fought like I would have expected. SOMEHOW Tony Jaa manages to figure him out and beat him at his own game however. So much for not boxing a boxer..
Is it wrong I rooted for the bad guy?? I was hoping he'd just straight arm Jaa to the groin after doing that one handed bicycle type kick to his head.
Nah I was rootin for him too Great clip though music was awesome. and im not going to dwell on wether it was traditional MT or not. who cares? its a movie enjoy it for wats its worth
