What Is Krabi Krabong Exactly?
Krabi-Krabong is a martial art from Thailand. It is a weapons-based fighting art. It is very similar to other Southeast Asian styles of fighting such as Malay silat, Burmese Banshay, and Cambodian Kbach Kun Boran. The royal bodyguard corps of the legendary King Bhumibol Adulyadej was rumored to be highly trained in Krabi-Krabong.
It started with the Siamese military and it was used by the warriors on the battlefield, along with Muay Boran. Warriors would fight for their survival, so the combat techniques at the time were very deadly, they used spears, swords, knives, and arrows. The main weapons that are used in Krabi Krabong are actually the name–curved sword(Krabi), and the staff (Krabong).
There are actually several more traditional weapons used in Krabi Krabong and they would include the Daab (single-edge sword), Loh (shield), Plawng (long staff), Ngaaw (glaive), and Daaab Song Mue (two-handed swords). The most effective way of fighting in Krabi Krabong is to combine both weapons use and striking. Each of the weapons has its own attacking style, combined with kicking for a much more effective attack and defense. Each weapon also has its own dance, there are 108 dances in Krabi Krabong. The dancing with weapons teaches grace and elegance, flowing movements, with all the effective movements of combat.
Unarmed Krabi Krabong.
When the warrior is unarmed, Krabi Krabong uses a variety of hand strikes, kicks, elbows, holds, and throws as well. If weapons were damaged, for example, the battle would continue using these deadly unarmed techniques. Krabi Krabong is not just a weapons style, but it is a complete battlefield art teaching principles of deadly combat. It can also be applied for everyday self-defense, you can use everyday objects as weapons. It’s a complete and battle-tested fighting art.
