Glossary of Muay Thai terms
Forty-plus Muay Thai terms as they are used in a gym, from the eight limbs to the wai kru, with links to the studies that show them.
How to read this
Thai terms are given in a common romanisation; you will hear them pronounced differently in every gym and spelled differently in every book. The English term is what the studies use. Where a term has a study, the link opens it.
- Ajarn
- A senior teacher or master. Kru is the everyday word for a coach.
- Art of eight limbs
- Muay Thai's nickname: it strikes with two fists, two elbows, two knees and two shins.
- Body kick
- A round kick to the ribs or the arms covering them. The rear round kick study.
- Catch
- Trapping a kicking leg with an arm, usually under the armpit. The catch and sweep study.
- Check
- Lifting the shin to meet a kick on bone rather than on the thigh or ribs. The lead check and rear check studies.
- Chin down
- The habit of keeping the face pitched slightly down behind the gloves. Every standing study in the app measures it.
- Clinch
- The standing tie-up where knees, elbows, turns and sweeps happen. The clinch posture study shows one frame of it without a partner.
- Cross
- The rear straight punch, driven by the rear foot, hip and shoulder.
- Cup
- A groin protector, worn for all sparring.
- Curved knee
- A knee that swings around the side into the ribs, used chest to chest. The curved knee study.
- Diagonal knee
- A knee thrown on an angle between the straight and curved versions.
- Double collar tie
- Both hands cupped behind an opponent's head with the forearms on the collarbones, the basic clinch grip.
- Elbow, horizontal
- The elbow that crosses the centre line on a turning lead foot. The horizontal elbow study.
- Elbow, upward
- An elbow driven up past the chin line from the legs. The upward elbow study.
- Elbow, spinning
- A back elbow thrown after turning through your own back. The spinning elbow study.
- Guard
- The starting position: gloves at the head, elbows in, chin down, rear heel up. The guard and step study.
- Hand wraps
- Cloth strips wrapped around the hand and wrist under the gloves.
- High kick
- A round kick to the head. The rear high kick study.
- Hook
- A bent-arm punch that arcs across the target on a turning lead foot.
- Jab
- The lead straight punch, used to measure range as much as to score.
- Kru
- Coach or teacher.
- Lean back
- Evading a high kick or a teep by taking the trunk back with the feet planted. The lean back and counter teep study.
- Long guard
- A frame with the lead arm extended to an opponent's collarbone and the rear hand at the temple. The long guard study.
- Low kick
- A round kick to the thigh. The rear low kick study.
- Mongkol
- The headband worn during the pre-fight ritual and removed before the first bell.
- Orthodox
- A stance with the left foot forward. Every study is authored orthodox and can be mirrored.
- Pad holder
- The person holding mitts or shields for a striker; holding is a skill of its own.
- Prajioud
- Armbands worn by some fighters, traditionally for luck or to mark rank.
- Push kick
- Another name for the teep.
- Ram muay
- The dance performed before a bout after the wai kru, specific to the fighter's camp.
- Round kick
- The kick that turns on the support foot and lands with the shin; the roundhouse.
- Shield
- A large rectangular pad held for kicks, teeps and knees; a kick shield.
- Shin
- The contact surface of the round kick, not the foot.
- Southpaw
- A stance with the right foot forward. The switch step moves between the two.
- Spear knee
- Another name for the straight knee.
- Straight knee
- The knee driven forward and up from the hips, in or out of the clinch. The rear knee study.
- Sweep
- Taking an opponent's standing leg out from under them, often after a catch. The catch and sweep study.
- Switch kick
- A round kick thrown with the lead leg after a hop that swaps the feet. The switch kick study.
- Teep
- The push kick with the ball of the foot, used to control distance. The lead teep and rear teep studies.
- Thai pads
- A pair of long forearm pads used for kicks, knees and punches.
- Wai kru
- The ritual of respect to teachers performed before a bout.
- Whip
- The relaxed, snapping quality of a kick that comes from the hip rather than the leg.
- Wraps
- See hand wraps.
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