On Grand Master Kyet Sriyapai's death-bed, he asked his student Acharn Panya Kraitus to write a manual on the art of Muay Thai. After many years of writing columns on the subject of Muay Thai in Thai newspapers, collecting information and photographs and with the knowledge that had been passed on to him by Grand Master Kyet, Acharn Panya Kraitus began to put together the manual, a text-book of Pahuyuth Muay Thai. This took ten years to complete and all of Acharn Panya's financial resources. His aim was to help the people from around the world understand the art of Muay Thai. The text-book was first written in the Thai language and then translated into English. It is a manual that no self-respecting Muay Thai instructor would be without and is known in the West as the 'bible' of Muay Thai.
To celebrate the fact that one of Thailand's greatest Muay Thai teachers and historians is coming to Calgary in August 1999, at the request of his student and only certified Muay Thai and Muay Chaiya instructor in Alberta Mr. Mike Miles. Here is an interview with that gentleman and Muay Thai ambassador Acharn Panya Kraitus.

Mike Miles: Why did you originally get involved in Muay Thai?

Panya Kraitus: Before I got involved in Muay Thai I used to do many other sports such as running, basketball and football (soccer). Because I found all these activities dangerous, I decided to change to Muay Thai.

Mike Miles: Many would argue the point that Muay Thai is a far more dangerous past time than Football (soccer)...

Panya Kraitus: Muay Thai is not dangerous, when you learn authentic Muay Thai you will learn how to protect yourself. When you are playing football you are not thinking about protecting yourself, just kicking the ball, sometimes someone kicks you instead of the ball. Football is more dangerous than Muay Thai.

Mike Miles: How old were you when you started learning Muay Thai?

Panya Kraitus: I was 8 years old and I used to practise by myself. My parents did not like me training, so I had to practise covertly. I would spend many evenings practising my kicks against a heavy bag of rice and for a time, that was the only training aid I had. Then I went on to learn from Master Tavorn Kliengkaew who was a very famous boxer of the Phuket Vittayalai School. From there I trained with the late Master Sudjai Charalrat, who was the head of the Kessongkram Boxing Camp. Eventually I ended up with the greatest master of them all, Acharn Kyet Sriyapia who was the head of the Chua Chaiya Camp.

Mike Miles: Was it not Master Kyet who gave you encouragement to produce your Muay Thai book?

Panya Kraitus: Yes, he told me that for many years, he had wanted to write a book on authentic Muay Thai before he died and so I made him a promise that if he taught me all he knew, I would produce a manual.

Mike Miles: The book contains some intriguing pictures. Even some of the most famous fighters from Thailand demonstrate techniques including Dieselnoi and Narongnoi Kiatbandit, the athlete whose controversial bout with Benny Urquidez ended up as a controversial and legendary bout. Where did the pictures come from?

Panya Kraitus: The drawings are now from a ancient text-book I now own. I paid a great deal of money for it and it is the only one of it's kind in existence. It dates back to 1824 and the source from which it was taken even dates back further. It describes the fighting methods of the Mai Si Sok and as such, it is probably related to the modern form now known as Muay Thai.
The pictures of all the fighters are of friends and peers that I have known throughout my Muay Thai career.

Mike Miles: Have you seen people plagiarize your book at all?

Panya Kraitus: I have seen my book and parts of it used without my consent. The book is copyrighted. An example of the book being used without permission was April 1st to April 4th in Bangkok, Thailand at the 2nd IAMTF World Muay Thai Championships. The organization held an 'International Seminar on The Preservation and Promotion of The Art of Muay Thai'. They handed out a book which included Mae Mai and Luk Mai Muay Thai tricks directly from my book. I have seen this type of thing happen elsewhere also.

Mike Miles: What was your first impression of Muay Thai?

Panya Kraitus: Thirty years ago Muay Thai was much different than it is today. Thirty years ago we learned authentic Muay Thai. When you learned it, you did not learn it for fighting outside the ring but for self-defense, for art's sake, for sport and for good health.

Mike Miles: Does the Muay Thai you teach differ from the one taught in Bangkok?

Panya Kraitus: Muay Thai differs from region to region and even between camps. Basically there is southern Muay Thai (which I teach), but there are also northern, western, eastern and Bangkok Muay Thai. I combine southern with Bangkok style because doing so enables the boxer to combine tactics and techniques. I believe a good boxer has competent technique mixed in with good tactics. I want my students to think as well as fight. Good technique means relaxation, so the better the technique, the more you relax. And the more relaxed you are, the more easily you can out think your opponent!

Mike Miles: Your book does not cover clinching. Why is that?

Panya Kraitus: My teacher used to describe clinching as dancing. You are a boxer but Muay Thai is now full of dancers. We learn to avoid the clinch, control the opponent and then launch a counterattack. In the 60's and the 70's there was hardly any clinch work because the referee would break the fighters apart so they could get on with fighting rather than dancing together. Your opponent is not your girlfriend, so why do you hug him? Also, people pay good money to watch a fight and they don't want to watch a whole lot of clinching.

Mike Miles: What would you like to see for the future of Muay Thai?

Panya Kraitus: I'm not sure how many years it will take but I would like to see Muay Thai competition in the Olympic Games. But before that I would like to see outside countries both practising and understanding Muay Thai, as it was supposed to be practised and understood.