Muay Pram: thai grappling from the battlefield to sport competition.
by Marco De Cesaris

Thai Boxing is known in the world of combat arts for its lethal array of attacks with the natural weapons of the human body, hands, elbows, knees, legs, and head. Whoever goes deeply into the technical study of the discipline with masters who are truly experts in the Siamese Art, realize that one of the peculiar characteristics of Muay Thai, especially in its traditional form, is really a fine mixture that is made between percussion techniques and fighting grips; the result is a “hybrid” discipline that creates fighters who are a mix between pure strikers and pure grapplers, exploiting in the best way the characteristics of the two big technical families.
While much has been written and filmed about the striking techniques of Muay Thai, the masses of practitioners are not familiar with the innumerable possibilities offered by Thai grappling, which is traditionally called Muay Pram.
Born as a way of fighting “tout court”, demonstrated in the rural festivals, Muay Pram has been partially incorporated in the techniques of Thai Boxing since the time of the “Kard Chiek” combats in which the fighters confronted one another with their hands protected with rope, without weight categories, without time limits, and with few technical limitations. With the passing of the years and with the introduction of the use of Western-style Boxing gloves, which goes back to 1930, the part of fighting techniques from the technical heritage of the Thai Boxers has been diminishing little by little, to the point of practically coinciding with Chap Ko or Neck Wrestling, being rewarded by the competition officials in professional fights, especially the use of knee strikes and neck grips, along with those particularly violent attacks that, in fact, have been converted into the principle aspect of hand-to-hand action, practiced and taught in virtually all of the Kai Muay, or Thai training camps. Furthermore, the use of gloves, if on one hand augmenting the protection of the fighters—especially regarding lacerations—on the other hand, it has made the grips far more difficult, and consequently, the fighting actions. In fact, all this has made the mortal techniques of Muay Pram antiquated as they have been progressively abandoned, and worst of all, completely forgotten by the majority of the professional trainers.
The techniques of dislocation and strangulation deserve special mention, nowadays totally eliminated from the technical knowledge of trainers and Thai boxers. In past times, Muay Thai being one of the principle elements of study for a Siamese warrior, the “definitive” techniques, like the breaking of joints, strangulations, and in particular cases, throws, were well studied and practiced, being able, in cases of need, of having a greater value than the percussion techniques, the absolute specialty of the Thais.
Most of all, in case of armed combat, the combined employment of strikes, takedowns, and rapid joint-breaking action offered the soldier the possibility of surviving even lacking his own issued weapon. The study of the military systems realized in the past years by the IMBA (see the articles that appeared in Budo International related to the system of the Thai Colonel Nophakao) and the incessant work of re-discovery of the ancient techniques carried out by the untiring Prof. Paosawath Saengsawan, have given a definitive impulse to the re-structuring work of an enormous body of technical knowledge that has been too long forgotten.
Furthermore, in order to make the study and practice of Thai fighting even more appreciable, the experts at the academy have registered a modern sportive application of Muay Pram that, as happened in past years with Muay Kark Chiek, is already bearing fruit in terms of results, participation, and technical level of the practitioners.
In sum, separating the fighting principles from the entirety of Muay Boran techniques, we have managed to give new life to a true Art within the Art. As a consequence, those athletes desirous of going deeply into the lethal techniques of hand-to-hand combat according to the ancient Thai style can orient themselves toward the three main components of Muay Pram, which the IMBA structures like this:
- the most “extreme” military applications in the way the Thai Rangers practice them, according to the Nophakao method;
- the study of the traditional technical forms, very effective in total combat with ropes (Muay Kark Chiek) and partially applicable, though to a lesser extent, in professional Thai Boxing (it’s worth mentioning that since a short time ago, in amateur Thai Boxing, by way of the sportive politics of the Thai authorities, practically all the fighting and throw techniques are considered actions not admitted);
- the modern sportive form of Muay Pram, excellent for training the psycho-physical qualities of the true fighter in conditions of controlled stress, which, as everyone knows, can make the difference in case of both real and sportive combat.