The famous match between Yi Long (left) and Buakaw - Photo: PT
The Essence of Shaolin, Real Muay Thai Combat
Among them, Muay Thai is often chosen as the martial art to compare with Shaolin, because of the contrast in style, practicality, and equally famous.
On one side is Shaolin - the Big Dipper of Chinese martial arts, a symbol of tradition, philosophy and the mystical concept of internal energy.
On the other hand, Muay Thai - the national martial art of Thailand, stands out with its combat philosophy of practical combat, high efficiency and comprehensive attack.
When two martial arts schools with completely different identities confront each other, who will win? This is a question that is constantly asked, because it deeply reflects the conflict between the beauty of martial arts and the brutality of real combat.
In reality, there have been several real-life matches between Shaolin fighters and Muay Thai fighters. And the results have always favored Muay.
The most notable was the confrontation at the "Chinese Kung Fu vs Muay Thai" tournament in Foshan (Guangdong, China) in 2009, when boxer Zhang Kai Yin faced Lamsongkram Chuwattana - former WBC Muay Thai middleweight champion.
Lamsongkram knocked out his opponent within 40 seconds of the first round, a truly stunning result.
A similar fight took place in Chengdu when Lamsongkram defeated Xu Zhenguang in similar fashion, knocking him out in relatively short order.
It should also be noted that the blog The Science of 8 Limbs described the event in detail and emphasized that despite the rule changes, the victory was mostly in favor of the Muay Thai school.
There are also many performance videos such as “The King of Muay Thai versus a Shaolin Kung Fu Master” that attract a large number of viewers online. Although both are performances, martial arts fans who watch these videos all agree that Muay Thai is more practical.
Shaolin is too lacking in practicality.
The clearest example is Yi Long - the one known as "the number one Shaolin".
The 38-year-old boxer has faced Thai opponents many times in the kickboxing ring. The most notable of these were his two clashes with the "Muay Thai king" Buakaw Banchamek.
In the first match, Yi Long lost in China in 2015. 2 years later, he fought again in China and won thanks to the referee's "incomprehensible decision".
The entire match, the two fighters fought on the defensive, neither of them able to do anything to the other. But then Yi Long was declared the winner, a decision that martial arts fans believe was only intended to comfort Chinese fans.
However, just a few months after this controversial victory, Yi Long suffered a crushing defeat when he faced two Muay Thai fighters who were Buakaw’s juniors. They were Sitthichai (in 2017) and Saiyok Pumpanmuang (in 2018). In both of these matches, Yi Long was knocked out, and there was obviously nothing to argue about.
From the actual combat results, the trend is definitely leaning towards Muay Thai. Famous matches between the two schools have shown that Muay Thai fighters are overwhelming in speed, physical strength and effectiveness of attacks.
Yi Long (right) often gets beaten up when facing Thai opponents - Photo: KO
Although Shaolin has profound cultural and moral values, in real combat situations, Muay Thai is overwhelming. The reason Muay Thai wins in real combat is widely recognized by the martial arts community.
On Reddit, many members commented frankly that traditional kung fu - although refined, cannot compare to the practicality of Muay Thai, which is always trained in a harsh fighting environment and focuses on sparring, physical strength and real attacks.
MIguel Santi, a Spanish martial arts expert, said that Shaolin fighters often let go of their hands suddenly, without taking initiative. And that is a sign of lack of practice.
Meanwhile, Muay Thai is built on the philosophy of “Art of Eight Limbs” - using hands, elbows, knees, shins combined with clinch and full-body spinning kicks, always aiming at weak points on the opponent's body.
Martial arts circles have long asserted that Shaolin Kung Fu has a major deficiency in the sparring system (practicing in combat with different martial arts). This has caused the skill of responding to real combat in the commercial war to decline.
And clearly, when the debate between these two famous martial arts is brought to the stage, Shaolin is completely overwhelmed by Muay Thai.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thieu-lam-dau-muay-thai-tren-vo-dai-ai-thang-2025081722440542.htm
Comment (0)