Clydebank Thai Boxing Club

S.T.B.A History

The Scottish Thai Boxing Association was first established in may 2000 by senior instructors John O'Brien, Bobby Quinn and Alan Currie. The S.T.B.A. has grown massively since that day. To date we have established 49 schools of Muay Thai throughout Scotland and have independent clubs affiliating to us on a weekly basis.

We have also opened 3 full time gyms: one in Renfrewshire one in Stirlingshire and one in Ayrshire and we plan to help our instructors open there own gyms whenever possible.

In four short years of our existence we have achieved much having a database of more than 2500 students. We have also built up a stable of fighters who are renowned not only for their fighting abilities but also their sportsmanship. the S.T.B.A. send fighters to compete throughout the U.K. and will take our fight teams to other european countries this year.

The S.T.B.A. are also at the fore front of the development of muay thai in Scotland regulary hosting meetings between Scottish Thai Boxing clubs and we are continually liaising with Sport Scotland and all reqional sports councils to ensure that Muay Thai is taught safely and continues to grow as a sport in Scotland.

The S.T.B.A. were also recognised by the World Muay Thai Council in 2002 for the work that we have done in promoting amateur Muay Thai in this country. We have been instrumental in sending Scottish national teams to compete in the last two World Amateur Championships and we have managed to achieve medal hauls in both these events.

The S.T.B.A. send teams of our students to train in Thailand each year to make sure that we are keeping up with the latest training techniques and to pass that knowledge on to our students.

We are also proud of our coach selection process all S.T.B.A. instructors have (as well as there muay thai training) First aid certificates, attended child protection courses, Muay Thai judging and refereeing courses and all our instructors are submitted to Disclosure Scotland checks.

As Muay Thai continues to grow so does our association, and we have established this web site to keep those involned in our sport informed of all our activities.

MUAY THAI HISTORY

All forty-nine clubs within the Scottish Thai Boxing Association proudly bare the name of Nai Khanom Tom who was one of the great heroes of the Thai nation, as William Wallace is a national hero to we Scots, Nai Khanom Tom is such a figure to the people of Thailand.

The legend of Nai Khanom Tom is taught to all children in Thai Schools and this is his story:

In the year of 1774, the lands of Burma and Thailand were constantly at war, in that year the Burmese started to gain the upper hand and seized control of the Thai capital, a city known as Ayutthaya. The Burmese proceeded to burn the city and loot it of its treasures. Those Thai soldiers that they did not kill they took back to Burma as prisoners of war. Nai Khanom Tom was one of these prisoners.

King Mangra (the then king of Burma) promised to release any of the Thai soldiers who could defeat his finest warriors. Nai Khanom Tom must have been a great fighter, as he stepped forward and used his Muay Thai skills to defeat the ten finest Burmese fighters one after another.

King Mangra was greatly impressed by the feat he had just witnessed stating "Every part of the Thai is blessed with venom, even with his bare hands he can fell ten opponents". Legend has it that along with gaining his freedom Nai Khanom Tom was offered a prize of either a purse of gold or two beautiful women, the warrior chose the women stating that wealth was easier to come by, he then returned to Ayutthaya to a hero's welcome.

To the present day Nai Khanom Tom is still honoured and a Muay Thai competition is held in his name in the Lumpini stadium on the 17th March each year.

Muay Thai History

Muay Thai boxing is the national sport of the nation of Thailand, just as most kids in our country aspire to be professional football players Thai youngsters dream of being great Muay Thai champions. When the art actually began is not quite certain as the Thai people were constantly at war with other nations and much of its historical records were destroyed, but there are records of Muay Thai competitions being held as far back as 1257 A.D. The art was sustained by successive royal families who ensured that the military trained in Muay Thai , and perfected the techniques in hand to hand combat on the battlefield.

Certain figures are always credited in Thai history in playing a vital role in it`s development such as the Tiger King who often fought in local village contests, beating the local champions and ensuring that the military continued training in the art in times of peace.

History shows that all Thai people young and old, male and female were encouraged to learn Muay Thai which ensured that it became a source of both local and national pride. Muay Thai is now practiced throughout the world and although Muay Thai technique has remained largely unchanged there have been great changes in both rules and equipment. Up until the year of 1923 fighters wrapped their knuckles in rope until the interior minister ordered that fighters should wear gloves and groin protection, even then groin strikes were still allowed until the 1930`s (how hard were these people!!).

In 1995 the International Amateur Muay thai Federation inaugurated the first world amateur Muay thai championships and in 2000 the International Federation of Muay thai Amatuer staged the world cup 2000 in which all fighters compete wearing protective helmets and vests. Muay Thai has evolved from a battlefield art into a world wide participant sport, it was recently accepted into the Asian games and hopefully will soon be accepted as an Olympic sport.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

 

What is:

1)   MUAY -THAI - Thai Style Boxing

2)   KRUANG RUANG / Ring of Charm -Armband worn round the bicep to bring good luck. Outside Thailand it represents rank or grade

3)   MONGKON - Ceremonial headband worn by the fighter while he performs his ritual dance.It is property of his camp and is thought to bring good luck and ward off serious injuries during combat.

4)   RAM-MUAY-THAI  Traditional pre fight dance. All movements performed have significance, mainly linked with the Thais Buddhist beliefs

5)   WAI-KRU  The bows done by the fighter before he performs his ritual dance, These are also linked with the Thais Buddhist beliefs

6)   HEROES OF MUAY THAI - Nai Khanom Dtom, Prince Naresuan These are the best known heroes . There is a fight night dedicated to these men each year.

7)   Where did MUAY THAI Originate ?  Thailand formerly known as Siam

8)   How old is MUAY THAI ?  No date is known as fact, but is thought to be approximately 3000 years old

9)   Thailand -  Land of the free

10)  Capital of Thailand - Bangkok.

11)  Main religion of Thailand - Buddhism

12)  Fighting Stadumd of Bangkok - The Lumpini and the Rajadamern

13)  Name of your Organisation - The Scottish Thai Boxing Association

14)  Camp name - Nai Khanom Tom