To say that Tony Jaa is “the real muay thai” is like saying Jet Li is a genuine Shaolin monk. Yes, Tony Jaa has studied muay thai, but he was never a fighter and it shows. Khruu Praeng, one of Thailand’s last teachers of Muay Boran, the “old” muay thai style on which Tony relies for some of his choreography, says Tony’s not the real thing, says there’s too much gymnastics.

Probably one of the most glaring make-believe aspects of the movies is the use of repeated elbows to little effect. I have seen top-ranked fighters get dropped with a well-timed elbow. And the blood gushes. It doesn’t open little cuts; it goes to the bones beneath. The moves Tony performs– such as the one where he brings his elbow down into the top of his opponent’s skull–is a kill-blow. It caves in a person’s skull.

Muay Boran is vicious and meant for merciless damage and death. But to have Tony spattering blood, brains and broken bone all over the screen does not endear an audience to his character. Modern ring muay thai has only about 20% of this original system.
That said, Tony is an entertainer, and an excellent one. I have great respect for him; he taught himself a lot of the flips and fancy stuff as a poor farmboy in Isaan, Thailand’s Northeast. I love his movies, but just understand that what you see in the movies is not real.

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