Muay Thai was at the height of its popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Top fighters commanded purses of up to 200,000 baht and the stadia where gambling was legal drew big gates and big advertising revenues. As of 2016[update], a payout to a superstar fighter was about 100,000 baht per fight,[1] but can range as high as 540,000 baht for a bout.[2]
In 1993, the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur, or IFMA was inaugurated. It became the governing body of amateur muay Thai consisting of 128 member countries worldwide and is recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia.
In 1995, the World Muaythai Council, the oldest and largest professional sanctioning organisations of muay Thai, was established by the Thai government and sanctioned by the Sports Authority of Thailand.
In 1995, the World Muay Thai Federation was founded via the merger of two existing organisations, and established in Bangkok becoming the federation governing international muay Thai. As of August 2012, it had over 70 member countries. Its president is elected at the World Muay Thai Congress.
In 2006, muay Thai was included in SportAccord with IFMA. One of the requirements of SportAccord was that no sport can have a name of a country in its name. As a result, an amendment was made in the IFMA constitution to change the name of the sport from "muay Thai" to "Muaythai"—written as one word in accordance with Olympic requirements.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/THAI_FIGHT_2.jpg/150px-THAI_FIGHT_2.jpg)
In 2014 muay Thai was included in the International World Games Association (IWGA) and will be represented in the official programme of The World Games 2017 in Wrocław, Poland.
In January 2015, muay Thai was granted the patronage of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and from 16 to 23 March 2015 the first University World Muaythai Cup was held in Bangkok.
Some of basic rules use for most of Muaythai fight and tournaments.
According to IFMA rules and regulations, Muaythai is a martial art of using every part of your body limbs therefore making every strike including punch, kick, knee, and elbow are allowed.
The strike has to hit,cause-effect, and not be blocked or guarded against by the opponent to be able to count as a point score.[3]
Cases, when both Muaythai fighters have the same score by striking then the round, will be determined by which fighter has more powerful strike.
Cases, where the strike will not count as a point,
are when the fight strikes hit the other opponent's gloves, forearms, foot, and shin.
Special notes that strike to the groin are against the rules and if find intendente will be counted as fouls.[4]
- ^ Zandstra, Tate (13 October 2016). "Blood, sweat and debt". Southeast Asia Globe. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ Krausz, Tibor (15 October 2018). "Muay Thai child fighters put their health on the line for gamblers and hope of a better life". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Muaythai Rules – International Federation of Muaythai Associations". Retrieved 2022-02-18.
- ^ "Muaythai Rules – International Federation of Muaythai Associations". Retrieved 2022-02-18.