DUSHANBE, December 14, Asia-Plus – Tajik athletes won seven medals in the Youth World Muay Thai Championships that took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from December 8 to December 12, Ms. Salomat Sharipova, a leading specialist with the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, said.

According to her, young fighters from the National League of Eastern and European Combat Sports represented Tajikistan in the championships in Tashkent.

“Nouriddin Saidov (67kg) and Nusratullo Ghayratov (63kg) won gold medals, while Odil Fozilov and Dilovar Nosirov grabbed silver medals for Tajikistan, finishing second in the 57kg and 86kg categories respectively,” said Sharipova.  “Parviz Zaydulloyev (75kg), Jamshed Sharipov (60kg) and Shohin Shamsiddin (71kg) won bronze medals.”

Athletes from 24 countries across the world participated in the Youth World Muay Thai Championships in Tashkent.

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.  It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos.  Descended from muay boran, muay Thai is Thailand''s national sport.

Formal muay Thai techniques are divided into two groups: mae mai or major techniques and luk mai or minor techniques.  Muay Thai is often a fighting art of attrition, where opponents exchange blows with one another.  This is certainly the case with traditional stylists in Thailand, but is a less popular form of fighting in the contemporary world fighting circuit where the Thai style of exchanging blow for blow is no longer favorable.  Almost all techniques in muay Thai use the entire body movement, rotating the hip with each kick, punch, elbow and block.