At Spartan Fitness MMA Birmingham, AL we encourage a well-rounded mixed martial arts practice, which includes Muay Thai kickboxing, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Wrestling. Some of you joined the Tribe to train Muay Thai, others are too busy choking your friends to realize that chopping them in half with a switch kick or finally mastering one of Coach Ethan’s 15-piece reps is equally as fun and addicting (I promise). Wherever you fall on the spectrum, there’s a lot to be learned about the “Art of Eight Limbs”. Muay Thai goes beyond boxing to include vicious blows from knees and elbows, utilizing the entire body and making a “limb” of hands, elbows, legs and knees. As you might have guessed, the fighting style originates in Thailand where there remains a vast population of practitioners, and was brought to the West during WWI. Thai soldiers were stationed in France where the commander organized Muay Thai bouts to boost the morale of the servicemen. From there, the art spread to the rest of the world. One element specific to Muay Thai that you’ll see in MMA is The Clinch. This is a position where a fighter will dominate their space, gain control of their opponent, and be able to strike or sweep with ease. This fighting style recognizes the amount of technique and potential damage that can happen in/from the clinch and allows fighters to remain working there, where other striking styles would consider it stalling or the ref would separate the fighters. We frequently practice the clinch at Spartan Fitness and all the possibilities there are from the position. Coordination. Balance. Mobility. Power. Strength. Do any of these sound like your goals? If I can’t convince everyone to get on the mat for Muay Thai with history and technical aspects of the game, hear me out about the health benefits. Everywhere you look is an opportunity for a “Full-Body Workout”, but nothing embodies that term quite like a Muay Thai class. Throughout your training, you will master these aspects that will then translate to the rest of your life. Get out there and check it out. 
