Glossary
The words you will hear in your first week
The words a trainer will actually say to you, not a dictionary. If you will not meet it in your first week in a camp, it is not in here.
30 terms
30 Thai and gym words you will hear in your first week in a camp, filed under techniques and styles, gym language and ritual and respect. 18 of them carry the other spellings you will meet the word under, because transliteration from Thai is not standardised and picking one would be pretending it is the only version. 19 carry the word in Thai script, and where no settled spelling could be established the field is left empty rather than filled with a transliteration of our own.
11 terms
Techniques and styles
Teep
The push kick. A straight kick with the ball or sole of the foot, used to stop someone coming forward and to break their rhythm rather than to hurt them.
ถีบRoundhouse kick
The signature Muay Thai kick, thrown with the shin rather than the foot, turning the hips all the way through so the whole body carries the strike.
เตะClinch
Close-range grappling with the arms and neck, used to control an opponent so you can land knees and elbows or throw them off balance. Thai gyms treat it as core, not as an extra.
จับคอElbow
A short strike thrown with the point of the elbow, usually from the clinch or off a slip. It is the strike Muay Thai is known for and the one that ends fights by cut rather than by knockout.
ศอกKnee
A strike with the point of the knee, thrown straight up the middle or driven in from the clinch. It is the scoring weapon Thai judges have traditionally rewarded most.
เข่าCheck
Lifting the shin to block a kick so the incoming leg hits bone instead of ribs or thigh. Done properly it hurts the person kicking more than the person blocking.
Sweep
Taking an opponent off their feet using their own momentum, usually by catching a kick or turning them out of the clinch. It scores, and it demoralises.
Muay femur
The technical style: a fighter who reads the other person, controls distance and wins on timing rather than volume or power. It is the style Thai crowds respect most.
มวยฝีมือMuay khao
The knee fighter: someone who closes distance, gets to the clinch and works with knees until the other person breaks. Physically the most demanding style to fight and to fight against.
มวยเข่าMuay mat
The puncher: a fighter built around heavy hands and low kicks, closing the gap to land power rather than to control. The style closest to what Western boxing gyms already teach.
มวยหมัดMuay bouk
The pressure fighter: constant forward movement, high volume, no interest in a measured exchange. Exciting to watch and hard to sustain past the middle rounds.
มวยบุก
9 terms
Gym language
Pad work
Rounds worked one-to-one with a trainer holding Thai pads, where you throw combinations and he corrects them as you go. It is the centre of a Thai session and the reason people fly there.
Also called pads, or holding padsShadow boxing
Working technique in the air with no partner and no bag, usually as a warm-up. It looks like the least serious part of a session and is where most technical correction actually sticks.
Bag work
Rounds on a heavy bag, usually after pads. It is where you get volume and conditioning, and where you practise the combination the trainer just corrected.
Sparring
Practising against a partner at an agreed intensity. Thai sparring is traditionally light and technical, closer to playing than to fighting, though how well that holds depends on the camp and on who else is training.
Private session
A paid session with a trainer to yourself, outside the group timetable. Usually an hour, usually booked directly with the trainer, and usually the fastest way to fix something specific.
Also called a private, or a one-on-oneNamman muay
The heating liniment Thai fighters rub into their legs and shoulders before training. It warms the muscle and it is the smell you will associate with every gym you set foot in.
น้ำมันมวยShin conditioning
The process of getting your shins used to hitting and being hit, which happens through kicking pads and bags over time rather than through any specific drill.
Roadwork
The run before the morning session, usually a few kilometres and usually early enough to beat the heat. Thai fighters treat it as non-negotiable; camps rarely force visitors to do it.
The morning runDrop-in
Paying for one session rather than a week or a month. Most camps allow it, and it is the only reliable way to find out what a place is like before committing.
Also called a walk-in or a single session
10 terms
Ritual and respect
Wai kru ram muay
The ritual a fighter performs in the ring before a bout, paying respect to their teacher, their camp and the sport. It is danced rather than fought, and it is not decoration.
ไหว้ครูรำมวยMongkhon
The braided headband a fighter wears for the wai kru, given by the camp and removed by the trainer before the fight begins. It is treated as sacred.
มงคลPrajioud
The armbands worn during a fight, historically tied by a family member or trainer. Unlike the mongkhon they stay on for the bout.
ประเจียดSarama
The live music played during a Muay Thai bout, built on a reed instrument, drums and cymbals. It follows the fight, speeding up as the pace lifts.
The fight musicKru
Teacher. Used as a title before a trainer name, and the word at the centre of the sport, since the wai kru itself is a bow to the teacher.
ครูAjarn
A senior teacher, a step above kru in seniority and usually applied to the person who runs the camp or who taught the trainers.
อาจารย์Nak muay
A boxer, in the Muay Thai sense. Used for someone who fights, not for everyone who trains. Foreign fighters are often called nak muay farang.
นักมวยFarang
The everyday Thai word for a Westerner. It is descriptive rather than an insult in normal use, and you will hear it constantly at any camp that takes visitors.
ฝรั่งSanam muay
A Muay Thai stadium. They range from the two famous Bangkok venues to a concrete ring under a tin roof at the edge of a provincial town, and both are worth going to.
สนามมวยWai
The Thai greeting: palms together, a slight bow of the head. At a gym you wai your trainer at the end of a session, and it is the single easiest piece of respect to get right.
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