Buakaw is possibly the best pound-for-pound Thai boxer in today's world. He has an astounding official fight record of 358-45-5, and has won two K-1 Grand Prix titles, as well as a WMC World middleweight title and an S-1 World Superwelterweight champion title. He's also, I've been told, a scary motherf***er to stare down in the ring - supposedly, he mutters and laughs to himself when he fights.

Buakaw trains in Muay Thai, a striking-focused martial art and the national sport of Thailand. It is known as the Art of Eight Limbs due to the eight points of contact generally used to strike in fights - fists, elbows, knees, and shins. This video includes the traditional and translated names of different strikes used by Buakaw in his fights.

Muay Thai has been well represented in mixed-style striking competitions like K-1 as well as mixed martial arts competitions partly due to the wide range of situations covered by the art. For example, boxers only train punching, kickboxers neglect knees, Tae Kwon Do practitioners generally only train kicks, none allow for leg kicks, and all of the three do not practice active clinching, which is a significant control method in Muay Thai.

Clinching is when an opponent grabs the other opponent in an effort to control his movement and even guide him into strikes, especially knees. In boxing, boxers will often clinch after getting dazed, since it is difficult to punch at such close range and with the ability to tie up arms with overhooks or underhooks. In Muay Thai, however, fighters are generally allowed to clinch for as long as they want, using a variety of holds (behind the neck, or the plum clinch, is the most powerful), and then whip an opponent's head or body into a knee strike, making the hit much more damaging. As such, the clinch becomes a dangerous place to stay in.

Another area of training in Muay Thai neglected by other striking arts include leg kicks, where a fighter will throw a kick to his opponent's leg. If such kicks go unchecked (blocked with the shinbone), a fighter will often be left unable to stand after only a few kicks. Another such area in Muay Thai is kick-catching and leg sweeping - if a fighter can catch a leg and hold it up, he can sweep or kick out his opponent's other leg, which wins the fighter points during the round. In fact, fighters can also perform kicks, like the cut kick or teep kick to the inner thigh, intended to knock his opponent off-balance without catching a leg.

One interesting thing to note is that Muay Thai generally trains fighters to use their shins when kicking, and only use their instep when they aim for a head kick and cannot raise their shin high enough to connect. The shin is used because it is much stronger than the instep, which will often bruise or break from a hard elbow or shin block and will also cause the ankle to bend dangerously. Also, the Muay Thai kick is not chambered as in many traditional Asian martial arts. Instead, the Muay Thai roundhouse/round kick swings the leg slightly bent straight from a regular stance, so that the shin impacts like a baseball bat. The Muay Thai front kick, traditionally called the teep, is not a snap kick using the instep, but rather a push with the ball of the foot intended to push an opponent backwards, knock him off balance, or impact strongly.

Contrary to what many people may believe due to Tony Jaa's recent popularity, Muay Thai does not involve much flashy acrobatics or leaping about, and it does not have many complex moves or techniques, and it does not have joint breaking techniques. In fact, Tony Jaa's acrobatics don't look much like real Muay Thai at all. There are six standard punches, six standard elbows, four standard knees, and two standard kicks (push/teep kick), and although there is the occasional flying knee or punch, this highlight video is very representative of what Muay Thai actually is - simple, effective, and dangerous.