I had been a serious devotee of Muay Thai for about five years. (I have been doing other martial arts for the past several years) I even studied a little bit when I was in Thailand. I will say this: the depth of the art is far beyond what many people would believe. There is a lot to Muay Thai that is not taught commonly taught publicly. The intricacies of the clinch are stunning and the ability to control and manipulate the body via the "Thai plum" is a lot different than other clinching methods. Probably the most unique aspects to Muay Thai is the attacks on the nerves. Some assume that all the attacks to the leg solely impact larger mass areas but this is not the case. The ability to pinpoint the nerves on the leg with small fractions of the shin is a skill long time ring practioners can do very well. A few shots to the nerves on the leg can make mobility next to impossible. The precision required to do this is really amazing. (No, I do not have such skill...lol) There are a lot of subtleties many are not aware of. When you see a lot of the shin blocks, many wonder why no one is screaming from the "bone on bone" contact. It is because a lot of the contact is not even contact. The incoming foot can be hooked upwards and moved slightly off its trajectory so that the impact is completely difused. The timing needed to do this is stunning. Honestly, the really great Thai boxing people in Thailand, the US, the Netherlands, and the UK are really amazing.
