The history of Muay Thai and how it has evolved into what it is today There are a number of theories on the origins of Muay Thai, this is because most of the records were destroyed by the invading Burmese. Muay Thai as it is known today originally evolved from battle field techniques taught to Siamese soldiers, one version of events credits the beginning evolution from battlefield fighting system to King Naresuan in 1584, during the time known as the Ayutthaya Period. During one of the many battles between Burma and Siam he was captured, and was forced to fight one of the best Burmese Lethwei fighters for his freedom, the king won and was released, upon his return to Siam, the king was proclaimed a hero, and arranged for entertainment, Siamese style boxing matches, as it was then known, Muay Thai was then adopted as the Siamese national sport. The Thai army style of Muay Thai is called Lerdrit, and the Thai army still train their soldiers in this art to this day. Muay Boran, which translates to Ancient Boxing, was the predecessor of Muay Thai, originally fighters would would fight bare knuckle, but during the Ayutthaya period hemp ropes or Muay Kaad Chuek were introduced and used to wrap the hands, this served to protect the hands, but often inflicted serious cuts on the opponent, opponents were not matched by weight or size, and would fight until knockout, some moves that you would not see today were also perfectly acceptable, such as head butting or a knee to the groin. In the 1920’s the Thai government stopped Muay Thai contests due the perceived high injury rate. In the 1930's the rules of Muay Thai were overhauled, and Muay Thai was again allowed, as well as new rules, weight classes were also implemented but this did not develop into a fully fledged system until the 1950’s, boxing gloves replaced the old style wraps, and there were now 5x 3 minute rounds. Since then up to present day, all fights are fought under these existing rules.