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Honoring the ‘Wai Kru’ ceremony in " Muay Thai Day "
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15.02.2012
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Even though history does not mention the origins of muaythai, which is
the martial art of Thailand, the important ‘Wai Kru’ ceremonial event
has been preserved through several generations.
The Thai government has announced that February 6 of every year is to be recognized as national “Muay Thai Day” in order to honor “Lord Tiger” (Prajao Seur). Last Monday, February 6, the Ministry of Culture organized a special event at Thailand Cultural Center.
In this particular event, there were ceremonial activities to honor Prajao Seur, and a ‘Wai Kru’ event. For this Wai Kru event, several famous people were invited from the world of boxing, such as Vichit Cheechern, Seub Joontagaoson, Pranom Aumpin, and Yordthong Srivaralak.
Sukumol Khunpleum, the Minister of Culture, said that this event was a success and also very important because many people had shown respect to Prajao Seur. He also pointed out that everyone paid respect to the boxing teachers through the ‘Wai Kru’ ceremonies. The success of these events also helped create new understanding for people to know the importance of muaythai.
“Muaythai’s attraction is that it can teach discipline and improve people physically and mentally. Muaythai can make a person complete and help them fit in to society,” said the minister.
The different branches of muaythai all have similar styles of fighting. However, each style of boxing has its own identity in the Wai Kru ceremony. The most well known is the Wai Kru of the physical education branch of muaythai. There are several famous well known actions, for example, the four faces of Phrom and the Obeisance Wai Kru.
“The highlight of the Wai Kru ceremony in this branch is ‘Stepping with Khun Krai’s Pike in 8 ways’, in which the performer will manipulate and present the pike in 8 directions. The position of each of these 8 directions is believed to be sacred.”
Kru Jarasdech revealed that in terms of preserving Thai culture, the event on February 6 of this year was extremely good. He believes that it will help new generations of Thais become more interested in preserving muaythai. He mentioned that although it is the national martial art of Thailand, in the past, only foreigners seemed to be interested in it.
Prasert Ya and Kru Muay Thai Chaiya from the south of Thailand also said that the unique identity of Muay Chaiya is all about the ‘Wai Kru’ ceremony. The style of Wai kru in Muay Chaiya is different from others and also it is believed that the boxer can seduce and hypnotise his opponent while he is performing the Wai Kru.
Sorce: http://www.ryt9.com/s/tpd/1338361
Source: Elite Boxing
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