Muay Chaiya
มวยไชยาSouthern line of Thai boxing from Chaiya in Surat Thani. Tight guard, elbows and knees up close, defense and attack in one rhythm, the principle of the four po: defend, deflect, close, open.
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About Muay Chaiya
Muay Chaiya is a southern line of traditional Thai boxing from Chaiya, today a district of Surat Thani province. Oral tradition says it was founded by a monk called Pho Than Ma, who came from Bangkok at the end of the reign of Rama III and became abbot of the temple Wat Thung Chap Chang. Ekchai believes he was most likely a warrior from Bangkok who taught central Siamese boxing, and that Chaiya boxing is young, arising with the revival of the town under Thonburi. Under Rama V the style was supported by the administrator of Chaiya, Phraya Wachi Sattayarak, born Kham Sriyaphai (1844 to 1914). His student Plong Chamnongthong received the title muen after winning before the king, and the administrator's son Khet Sriyaphai (died 1978) took the style to Bangkok, where his student Thonglor Yalae (died 1996) went on spreading it.
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Vat defines Chaiya as an attacking boxing built on the principle of the four po, that is defend, deflect, close and open, and on the Chaiya elbow, which serves both defense and attack. Older descriptions portray it as an inner-circle boxing with a tight guard, firm stances, short weapons of elbow and knee, defense and attack in one rhythm, and with throws, pressing, grips and locks that have vanished from modern muay thai. Students first learn the basic weapons with stress on the elbow, then the master techniques mae mai, for example the step yang sam khum. A handbook of the provincial cultural office from 2014 counts nine weapons, fifteen mae mai and 108 techniques. We have not found ranks or sashes in the sources. Matches were held at the temple festival at Phra Borommathat Chaiya until Buddhadasa Bhikkhu abolished them, and after the official ban on rope binding in the early thirties the style became more of a demonstration art. Today it is sustained by academic work, school curricula in Surat Thani, several camps in Chaiya and Bangkok, and tourism. IFMA lists it as one of five muay boran disciplines.
History
According to oral tradition, muay Chaiya begins with a monk called Pho Than Ma, who came from Bangkok to Chaiya at the end of the reign of Rama III and became abbot of the now vanished temple Wat Thung Chap Chang. Tradition does not know why he came. Ekchai believes he was most likely a warrior from Bangkok who taught central Siamese boxing, and reads the legend as a trace of Bangkok power spreading south. In his view Chaiya boxing is young: after the fall of Ayutthaya the Burmese army led off the old population of Chaiya and burned the town, so the style arose only with the revival of the town under Thonburi. Phothipanya, by contrast, calls Chaiya the oldest of the four regional lines, and a proverb about them says: heavy fist Korat, cleverness Lopburi, good execution Chaiya, speed Tha Sao.
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Under Rama V the style was supported by the administrator of Chaiya, Phraya Wachi Sattayarak, born Kham Sriyaphai (1844 to 1914), who became a student himself. His best student Plong Chamnongthong from the village of Lamet was sent to fight before the king at Sanam Luang and received the title Muen Muai Mi Chue, and winners from Lopburi and Korat were titled alongside him. In Chaiya, matches were held at the festival of the Buddha image procession at Phra Borommathat Chaiya and in the hall Sala Kao Hong in Phum Riang, built by the administrator. Ropes from the procession were stretched into a circle like a ring, and fights ran five rounds with pairs rotating, without weigh-ins and with hands wrapped in thread. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu later had the matches and entertainment at the festival abolished and kept only the religious rites. The administrator's son Khet Sriyaphai moved to Bangkok, taught at the Department of Public Works, spread the style with his student Thonglor Yalae and died in 1978. Thonglor founded a circle for the protection of Thai fighting and weapons with students from Ramkhamhaeng University and died in 1996. According to teacher Praeng, rope binding was officially abolished in 1931 to 1932, Chaiya boxers could not compete and the style came to be seen as a demonstration art. Vat divides history into three eras: until 1910 defense and the royal guard, 1911 to 2014 festival matches passed on orally, and from 2015 commercialization and tourism.
How it differs
The proverb cited by Phothipanya captures the four regional lines: heavy fist Korat, cleverness Lopburi, good execution Chaiya, speed Tha Sao. Ekchai explains the differences between the lines by difficult travel, legal limits on movement, the rise and fall of political centers in different periods and the difficult spread of textbooks. According to him rope binding in Chaiya does not reach far beyond the wrist, in Korat up to the elbow. According to Phothipanya the Chaiya wai khru has only four movements, is the simplest and the only one containing the breath control truat lom, while it lacks the bow to the king thawai bangkhom that Korat and Lopburi have, and it shares yang sam khum with Korat and suea lak hang with Tha Sao. Southern boxers, according to a study cited by Ekchai, prefer kicks and knees to hands, which does not agree with Vat's stress on the elbow.
Technique
Vat defines muay Chaiya as an attacking boxing built on the principle of the four po, that is pong, pat, pit, poet: defend, deflect, close, open, and on the Chaiya elbow, which serves for defending, deflecting, closing and opening alike. According to teacher Praeng, the four po protect the body from the big toe to the hair and teach how to deflect the attacker's force back against him. An older description in MGR Online portrays Chaiya as a very tightly closed style with firm stances and sharp short weapons of elbow and knee, where defense and attack run in one rhythm, and with throws, pressing, grips and locks that vanished from modern muay thai. Police general Khun Phan, according to Silpa Wattanatham, called it an inner-circle boxing with elbows and knees.
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Teaching starts with the basic weapons, fist, foot, knee, elbow and head, with stress on the elbow for blocking, and only then come the master techniques mae mai, for example yang sam khum, a step with a raised knee and a bound fist that is also part of wai khru. Ekchai lists as Chaiya mae mai pan mat, pan khaen, pan mat phlik liam, kradot top sok, ten raeng ten ka and yang sam khum. The technique suea lak hang, the tiger drags its tail, is according to Vat a throw, press, grip and lock combining a straight kick, a straight punch and a straight elbow. A handbook of the provincial cultural office from 2014 counts nine weapons: the head, two hands, two elbows, two knees and two feet, in all 108 techniques, fifteen mae mai and fifteen luk mai for each. Vat collected 72 names of Chaiya movements, of them 22 single techniques and 50 compound ones.
Training
The Surat Thani provincial cultural office published in August 2014 the handbook Knowledge of Muay Chaiya, 116 pages long, as an aid for local school curricula. Vat says the curricula are taught in several camps in Chaiya and Bangkok, in person and online, and teacher Praeng says teaching begins with the self-defense of the four po, and only after mastering it does the student stand before the gate of luk mai. Every year on Makha Bucha Day, boxers and students gather at the stupa of Pho Than Ma in Phum Riang and dance the Chaiya ram muay before it. Phothipanya says the boxer wears black shorts, a cloth groin guard krachap, a mongkhon on the head and prajiad on both arms, and recites before the match a prayer to four or five gods, accompanied by pi chawa, klong khaek and ching playing the song Sarahma. Phothipanya says wai khru has four movements: a bow with five touches, the breath control truat lom, yang sam khum and suea lak hang, while Vat gives eleven names. Teacher Praeng registered the Muay Chaiya foundation in June 2003 and continues the line of Khet Sriyaphai and Thonglor.
Ranks and progression
In the sources found, muay Chaiya uses no grades, belts or sashes, and mongkhon and prajiad are protective amulets, not ranks. Progress is given by the order of learning: according to Vat first the basic weapons with the elbow of the four po, then the master mae mai and only then the derived luk mai, and the 2014 handbook counts fifteen mae mai, each with fifteen luk mai. The historical royal titles muen, such as the one Plong Chamnongthong received, were honors for winners before the king, not grades of a school.
Today
Vat sums up that the existence of muay Chaiya today is kept mainly by academic work, that is handbooks, curricula and informants, then by tourism and new art: a statue of Pho Than Ma, amulets, performances and media. In 2015 Surat Thani province made Chaiya one of its strategic targets for tourism, the director of the provincial office then said the style is not yet national heritage, and in Chaiya district more than fifty young people trained the old rhythm of muay phleng. Vat mentions the tournament Muay Thai Chaiya to the World on a temporary ring in Phum Riang with eight matches. In Bangkok the line of Khet Sriyaphai and Thonglor continues in the foundation of teacher Praeng, who according to Posttoday speaks of a lack of sponsors after the end of temple matches and of a plan for MMA-style rules. At the Amazing Muaythai Festival 2023, Chaiya was one of three regional lines presented, alongside Tha Sao and Korat. IFMA lists muay Chaiya as one of five muay boran disciplines alongside Korat, Lopburi, Tha Sao and Pala Sueksa, and it is competed as a demonstration with minimal contact or in full contact. We have not found the line itself registered on the Thai list of intangible heritage. Muay thai is on it as a whole.
Did you know
According to Posttoday and Vat, Plong Chamnongthong knocked out a Korat opponent before the king with the hold suea lak hang and received the title Muen Muai Mi Chue. The handbook of the provincial office states that some boxers poured crushed glass into the ropes, reviewers called it unverified, and one informant said he had only heard of it but never seen it. According to Silpa Wattanatham, boxers selected for the royal guard received the titles khun, muen and phan and were exempt from taxes.
Frequently asked questions
How does muay Chaiya differ from other lines of muay boran?
It is an inner-circle boxing with a tight guard, elbows and knees up close, and the principle of the four po: defend, deflect, close, open. The proverb gives it good execution, Korat heavy fist, Lopburi cleverness and Tha Sao speed.
Who founded muay Chaiya?
According to tradition the monk Pho Than Ma, who came from Bangkok to Chaiya at the end of Rama III's reign. Ekchai thinks he was rather a warrior teaching central Siamese boxing. The administrator Kham Sriyaphai then developed the style, and his son Khet took it to Bangkok.
Where can muay Chaiya be learned today?
In Chaiya and Surat Thani, where the provincial office put it into school curricula, and in Bangkok in the line of Khet Sriyaphai and Thonglor. IFMA lists it as one of five muay boran disciplines.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.