Tomoi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tomoi is a Malaysian name for the South-East Asian martial art known in Thailand as Muay Thai, in Cambodia as Pradal Serey, and similar to an art from Myanmar known as Lethwei. Tomoi refers to siku lutut, which in Malay is translated literally as "elbows knees".

It is not known exactly when Tomoi was first practiced but it is most widely practiced in northern Malaysia along the Thai border. The Terengganu state traded extensively with Angkor and was captured by Siam in the early 1800s. Tomoi was probably brought into what is now Malaysia long before this time since northern states like Kelantan have always been home to ethnic Thais. Even before British colonization it was a popular pastime among not only Thais but Malays and Chinese as well. It remained so until the year 1990 when the Kelantan government under the administration of PAS banned a number of traditional arts including Malay attire, dances and tomoi along with them. In late 2006 the ban was abolished and the art was again allowed to be practiced under the proposed name name of "Muay Kelate". The preferred name used by promoters is freestyle kickboxing while those from outside Kelantan often just call it Muay Thai.