Muay Thai

Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, rtgs: Muai Thai,  [mūaj.tʰāj]) is a combat sport of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This physical and mental discipline which includes combat on shins is known as "the art of eight limbs" because it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, shins, being associated with a good physical preparation that makes a full-contact fighter very efficient. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the twentieth century, when practitioners defeated notable practitioners of other martial arts. A professional league is governed by the World Muay Thai Council.

History

Muay Thai is referred to as “The Art of Eight Limbs”; and using eight points of contact the body mimics weapons of war. The hands become the sword and dagger; the shins and forearms were hardened in training to act as armor against blows, and the elbow to fell opponents like a heavy mace or hammer; the legs and knees became the axe and staff. The body operated as one unit. The knees and elbows constantly searching and testing for an opening while grappling and trying to spin an enemy to the ground for the kill.

Indochinese martial arts

The traditional martial arts of the Indochinese peninsula are related to one another, and as a group to Indian martial arts.

The most salient common feature is Indochinese kickboxing.

Burma (Myanmar)

Thaing (Burmese: သိုင်း, pronounced: [θáiɴ]) is a Burmese term used to classify the traditional martial systems of Myanmar. Systems of thaing include bando, lethwei, banshay and naban.

Thai

When used as an adjective, Thai refers to anything that originates from Thailand. As a noun it may refer to:

See also

Thai people

The Thai people, formerly known as Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China and northeastern India. Their language is the Thai language, which exists in different regional variants, and is classified as part of the Tai–Kadai family of languages, and the majority of Thai are followers of Theravada Buddhism.

"Thai people" usually includes central and southern Thai (Siamese proper, or Tai Siam), northern Thai (Lanna) and Isan people.

The term Thai people has a loose meaning and sometimes also refers to the population of Thailand in general, and not only to ethnic Thais.

History

There have been many theories proposing the origin of the Tai peoples, of which the Thai are a subgroup. Especially the association of the Tai people with the Kingdom of Nanzhao that has been proved to be invalid. Linguistic studies suggested that the origin of the Tai people lies around the Chinese Province of Guangxi, where the Zhuang people are still a majority. The ancient Tai people should be the part of Chinese Nanyue, referred to by Han leaders as "foreign servant" (Chinese: 外臣), synecdoche for a vassal state. The Qin dynasty founded Guangdong in 214 BC, initiating the successive waves of Chinese migrations from the north for hundred years to come.

Tamil calendar

The Tamil calendar is a sidereal Hindu calendar used in Tamil Nadu, India. It is also used in Puducherry, and by the Tamil population in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu farmers greatly refer to this. It is used today for cultural, religious and agricultural events, with the Gregorian calendar largely used for official purposes both within and outside India. The Tamil calendar is based on the classical Hindu solar calendar also used in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Manipur, Nepal, Odisha, Rajasthan and Punjab.

There are several festivals based on the Tamil Hindu calendar. The Tamil New Year follows the nirayanam vernal equinox and generally falls on 14 April of the Gregorian year. 14 April marks the first day of the traditional Tamil calendar and this remains a public holiday in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Tropical vernal equinox fall around 22 March, and adding 23 degrees of trepidation or oscillation to it, we get the Hindu sidereal or Nirayana Mesha Sankranti (Sun's transition into nirayana Aries). Hence, the Tamil calendar begins on the same date in April which is observed by most traditional calendars of the rest of India - Assam, Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Manipur, Punjab etc. This also coincides with the traditional new year in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Nepal and Thailand. The 60-year cycle is also very ancient and is observed by most traditional calendars of India and China, and is related to 5 revolutions of Jupiter according to popular belief, or to 60-year orbit of Nakshatras (stars) as mentioned in Surya Siddhanta.