The combat sport of Muay Thai has been featured in media, including film, television, manga, anime and video games.[1] It gained international attention when Yodtong Senanan led the Nak Muay Team against Osamu Noguchi's Kickboxer Team on October 16, 1972.[2] It has heavily influenced the sport of kickboxing, and is used in mixed martial arts (MMA), where athletes train in its techniques.
Martial arts movie about an underground fighting tournament, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme in his break-through role. The film features a formidable Muay Thai Fighter named Paco, played by a career Thaiboxer Paulo Tocha, who serves Van Damme's opponent in the tournament's semi-finals.
After his brother, an American heavyweight kickboxing champion, is crippled by a vicious Thaiboxer Tong Po (Michel Qissi) in the ring, Kurt Sloane (Jean-Claude Van Damme) seeks out an elusive Muay Thai Kru to teach him the art to avenge his brother.
Taking place in 1920s, Christopher Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) ends up stowing way on a boat and ends up being imprisoned by the boat's men. He is later acquired by a mercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs (Roger Moore), who sells Dubois into slavery on an island off the coast of Siam, where Dubois is trained in Muay Thai fighting. After six months, Dobbs and his partner Harry Smythe find Dubois fighting in a Muay Thai match and see that Dubois has become a skilled fighter. Thus, he is subsequently chosen by Lord Dobbs to participate in a grand martial arts tournament, held in the Lost City of Tibet.
A documentary that follows a group of orphans in northern Thailand that take refuge in a Muay Thai boxing camp managed by Jawee Sukantha, and the improvements it makes to their lives. Narrated by Stephen Haynes. With a special guest appearance by Tony Jaa
Television
Muay Thai has been featured in television series from reality show contests to documentary episodes.
A reality-basedtelevision series that follows 16 aspiring Muay Thai middleweight fighters from 12 countries as they compete in a series of outdoor challenges and sanctioned matches.
Kit Cope and Ben Garcia travel overseas to make their mark in the brutal world of Muay Thai ring fighting. They are scheduled to compete in bare-knuckle fights that will be broadcast on Thailand television.
A reality show similar to The Ultimate Fighter, where ten female fighters live together and train with a Muay Thai instructor in Las Vegas for six weeks in an effort to fight for a Muay Thai championship in Thailand.
A reality show similar to The Ultimate Fighter, where ten female fighters live together and train with a Muay Thai instructor in Las Vegas for six weeks in an effort to fight for a Muay Thai championship in Thailand.
Robert "R.J." James, the Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger who wears violet, is a Muay Thai practitioner. He wears prajed (dual elbow bands) uses elbow and knee attacks, including a flying knee strike.
The show's protagonist, Thai-American Anne Boonchuy, is a Muay Thai practitioner. She states she was enrolled in lessons by her mother to fit her "spirited" personality (and get her out of her kitchen), and offers to teach her amphibian friends the martial art.
Fictionalized retelling of real-life Tadashi Sawamura's kickboxing career. Features Sawamura's fights against various kickboxers, including the fight against Thaiboxer Samarn Sor Adisorn.
Manga about Women's MMA. One of the key characters is Maki Kamiya, a high school girl-age kickboxer who transitioned to Women's Shooto, after she was unable to find adequate challengers in her Kickboxing weight class.
Debuting in the original Street Fighter, Sagat is depicted as a renowned Muay Thai expert known for his incredible power and height. He is often called the "Emperor of Muay Thai" in his home country. He was possibly named after Sagat Petchyindee.
Muay Thai warrior and a disciple of Sagat. He appears in the original Street Fighter game as the second-to-last opponent before the final match against Sagat. In later games, he is characterized as a former pupil of Sagat, seeking to surpass his disgraced master.
In Virtua Fighter 4, Vanessa Lewis used both Vale Tudo and Muay Thai move sets until Brad Burns was added in Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, making her solely a Vale Tudo fighter.
Debuted in Tekken 7. Spiritual successor to Bruce Irvin, who fights with a Filipino variant of Muay Thai known as Yaw-Yan, combined with elements of Arnis.
R.A.X. Coswell is an American cyber-kickboxer from 2345 AD. His trainer programmed a virus into his R.A.X. exoskeleton software to ensure he lost an important match. Coswell died during the match as a result.
In the Zodiac Tournament Pack DLC the game introduces 12 Fire Opal Statue collectibles. Collection of all 12 statues unlocks two outfits, one of which is a traditional Muay Thai outfit. When equipped, Wei's fighting style then switches to Muay Thai.
Higashi is one of the protagonist's companions who fight by his side in several instances, most notably during the Long Battle sequences towards the end of the games. His moveset features elements from both Muay Thai and Tae Kwon Do.
Other
Lumpini Gundam is a Gundam plastic model dressed in a Muay Thai outfit.
Jamie, a Progressive Insurance associate who is considered dull by his coworkers, is revealed to be a devotee of Muay Thai (among other exciting pursuits) while showing slides of his vacation in a 2020 Progressive commercial.
↑Hion, Jeffrey. "Muay Thai". Defcross.be. Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
↑Bill Palmer, Karen Palmer, Richard Meyers (1995). The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN9780810830271. 711. Duel of Fists (1971)[...]The martial arts consist mostly of Thai boxing...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑Adam K. Raymond (February 27, 2018). "10 Gut-Punching Facts About 'Bloodsport' on Its 30th Anniversary". MAXIM. Feb 23, 2023. Among the pro fighters in Bloodsport are[...]and Paulo Tocha, a Muay Thai expert who played Paco. Tocha has credited the role with helping to legitimize Muay Thai in the West.
↑Bill Palmer, Karen Palmer, Richard Meyers (1995). The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 183. ISBN9780810830271. 1502. Kickboxer (1989)[...] Heavyweight kickboxing champion Eric Sloane (Dennis Alexio) goes to Bangkok to prove his fighting superiority over Thai boxing. He fights the Thai champion, Tung Po[Sic] (Michel Qissi), and is intentionally crippled. Eirc's brother, Kurt (Jean-Claude Van Damme), swearing revenge, goes to study from Thai boxing master Xian (Dennis Chan).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑Bignell, Darren (January 1, 2000). "The Quest Review". Empire Online. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Chris embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery that spans the globe. Kidnapped and enslaved by gun smugglers, sold by pirates and thrust into the murky underworld of gambling and kickboxing, Chris' journey takes him to forbidding Muay Thai Island where deadly martial arts are taught.
↑Esther M. K. Cheung, Gina Marchetti, Esther C. M. Yau (2015). A Companion to Hong Kong Cinema. John Wiley & Sons. p. 284. ISBN9780470659281. In A Fighter's Blues (Daniel Lee, 2000), Andy Lau plays a Hong Kong kickboxer in Thailand...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 2010. ISBN9781441155696.
↑Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy (2015). The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation. Stone Bridge Press. 9781611729092.
↑Karri, Siri (June 25, 2018). "Here's why All-Rounder Meguru is must-read MMA manga". The Body Lock. Retrieved March 2, 2023. There's Maki Kamiya, a towering Muay Thai practitioner who switches to mixed martial arts to find herself better competition.
↑ล่าขุมทรัพย์สุดขอบฟ้าในไทย. สำนักพิมพ์นานมีบุ๊คส์ (in Thai)
↑ZZZ (January 10, 2008). "Fatal Fury (Intro / Characters)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Andy and Terry's Muay Thai-practicing friend wears nothing but shorts and sports a huge hairstyle. Joe Higashi was born in Japan, but has spent most of his life training in Thailand. As Fatal Fury's comical relief character, he is known to pull down his shorts and taunt his opponents with his bare behind.
↑Stenbuck, Kite (February 11, 2021). "Joe Higashi Is Ready To Bring Muay Thai Into KOF XV". Siliconera. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved March 2, 2023. The Japanese fighter, Joe Higashi, spent most of his training time in Thailand to master Muay Thai. He followed the steps of his father, who was also a Muay Thai champion. As one of the starting characters in the inaugural Fatal Fury title in 1991, Joe has been available as a playable character in most KOF games released to date.
↑"『ネオジオフリーク』1998年8月号 132頁。" ["Neo Geo Freak" August 1998 issue 132 pages.]. Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). August 1, 1998.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑ZZZ (January 10, 2008). "Fatal Fury (Intro / Characters)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Hwa Jai is a Muay Thai fighter on steroids. He is not actually playable in the [arcade release of first Fatal Fury] and only appears as a boss in the original Fatal Fury, with cameos in a couple games after that. He is finally reintroduced in The King of Fighters XIII, becoming a playable character for the first time.
↑Lacroix, Maxim (April 2, 2021). "King voor The King of Fighters XV aangekondigd" [King for The King of Fighters XV announced]. PlaySense.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved March 6, 2023. We hebben het einde van de week weer bereikt, dus jullie weten wat dat betekent. SNK kondigt dan een nieuw personage voor The King of Fighters XV aan. Ditmaal is het de beurt aan King, welk personage gebaseerd is op de voormalig Nederlands kampioene full contact karate, wereldkampioene Muay Thai en actrice, Saskia van Rijswijk. Translation: We've reached the end of the week again, so you know what that means. SNK then announces a new character for The King of Fighters XV. This time it's King's turn, which character is based on the former Dutch champion full contact karate, world champion Muay Thai and actress, Saskia van Rijswijk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑Scheld, Casey (April 1, 2021). "King Coming to The King of Fighters XV". Gamers Heroes. Retrieved March 2, 2023. Also known as the Beautiful Kick's Illusion, King was inspired and modeled after Jamaican singer Grace Jones. This recurring member of the King of Fighters' Womens' [sic] Team uses a Muay Thai fighting style that features several acrobatic jumping and high kick maneuvers.
↑Lanci, Rich (2019-03-24). "Noob, Shang Tsung Among Four Revealed for Mortal Kombat 11". KeenGamer. Retrieved March 2, 2023. Jacqui Briggs was another character introduced in Mortal Kombat X as part of the new protagonist group. She's the daughter of Mortal Kombat veteran Jax, and was a more divisive new character in Mortal Kombat X. Thankfully, they did revamp her design and moveset to stand out more. While she still has a "tech" inspired moveset, she now uses many Muay Thai related strikes as well as utilizing force fields either on the ground over widespread areas or making thin square-shaped vertical barriers.
↑"Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution". GameRevolution. 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2023. [...] and the Muay Thai boxer Brad Burns. With the addition of Brad Burns, Vanessa Lewis's alternate Muay Thai style from Virtua Fighter 4 was removed and replaced with a Vale Tudo "Offensive" style; making her a solely Vale Tudo brawler.
↑Bramwell, Tom (December 4, 2002). "PS2 VF4 evolves". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 24, 2023. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, the arcade update to Sega's beat 'em up, included two new characters (Muay Thai kickboxer Brad Burns and judo guru Goh Hinogami)
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Luis Correa (Dec 8, 2019). "Tekken 7 Reveals Brand New Fighter Fahkumram". Game Rant. Retrieved March 9, 2023. The trailer was only released a few hours ago, but fans are already drawing comparisons between Fahkumram and Bruce Irvin, another Tekken character who also practices Muay Thai style fighting. Ever since the character's introduction in Tekken 2 and return in Tekken 5 and 6, fans have been asking for Bruce's return in this newest installment. While Fahkumram is clearly a much more brutal character, hopefully, his release should be enough to tide over Muay Thai fans.
↑Saarenoja, Panu (March 19, 2020). "Thainyrkkeilyn voima laajentaa Tekken 7 -mättöjä ensi viikolla – trailerikin julkaistiin" [The power of Thaiboxing will expand Tekken 7's brawls next week - the trailer was also released]. Pelaaja (in Finnish). Retrieved February 24, 2023. Fahkumram luottaa taistellessaan thainyrkkeilyn voimaan ja tämän voikin nähdä toiminnassa tuoreella trailerilla. (Translation:Fahkumram relies on the power of Thai boxing when fighting, and you can see this in action on the new trailer){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
↑Good, Owen S. (Dec 8, 2019). "Tekken 7's next DLC fighter is muay thai champ Fahkumram". Polygon. Retrieved February 24, 2023. The newest character in Tekken 7 is Fahkumram, and he briefly caused Sagat from Street Fighter to trend on Twitter because of their, hrm, close resemblance and muay thai origins. Fahkumram (his name means "roaring sky", or "thunder") is also a giant like Sagat (7-foot-5, canonically).
↑Hurwitch, Nick (2019). The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History. Dynamite Entertainment. p. 148. ISBN9781524113087. Josie fills the Muay-Thai-sized hole left by Bruce Irvin in Tekken 7. But Josie's kickboxing is styled after Eskrima, or Arnis, a weaponsbased Filipino martial art mostly focused on defense and counterstrikes.
↑Sam Derboo (January 24, 2014). "Dead or Alive (Introduction / Characters)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Zak; The Dennis Rodman lookalike is a self-taught Muay Thai kickboxer looking for fame, money and women. [...] It appears he was first conceived as a ripoff of Street Fighter's Adon before getting a redesign that for once doesn't match the cliché associated with his fighting style.
↑Russell (May 25, 2012). "Two new characters revealed for Dead or Alive 5". Gaming Nexus. Retrieved February 24, 2023. Zack, also known as "The Crazy Climber", is a funky DJ with a positive attitude and a very original sense of style.[...] He has incredible fighting instincts, and taught himself Muay Thai just by imitation. His unorthodox style of Muay Thai has become so unconventional that no one can predict what comes next.
↑Bobinator (May 2, 2014). "Eternal Champions". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved March 6, 2023. R.A.X. Coswell; A cyborg Muay Thai kickboxer. Ended up killed by a virus implanted by his manager, who bet on another fighter. He plans to return kickboxing to its human roots if he wins the tournament.
↑Michael Plasket (November 27, 2013). "Battle K-Road". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Shinsaku Maekawa & John Anderson[...]Yet another conventional fighting game archetype in the form of Muay Thai kick boxers...
↑"Biography". cmpunk.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2012-11-07. His style is an assimilation of fighting styles he has learned from his travels around the world including Muay Thai Kickboxing and Brazilian Jujitsu.