Does Muay Thai Have a Belt or Ranking System?

Muay Thai is one of the most popular martial arts sports. This martial art originates from Thailand. Many Muay Thai athletes from all over the world took part in the Muay Thai competition. We can see many action movies that feature Muay Thai. Now, it is becoming the fastest growing martial arts on earth even though Muay Thai is still relatively new to some circles.

You might be more familiar with taekwondo and karate. Padalah, Muay Thai is also one of the martial arts which is quite impressive. Some martial arts use the grading system or championship belts. Martial artists must also wear a mouthguard. The question is “does Muay Thai have a belt and ranking system?

Muay Thai Grading System

If we look at it from the perspective of traditionalism, Muay Thai does not use a belt grading system. The rule of grading syllabus is determined by several western organizations in Muay Thai schools. How long does it take to become a black belt in Muay Thai?

If we look at Muay Thai in its home country, Thailand, Muay Thai is just like normal boxing and sports. They joined Muay Thai for a living, not for earning a champion belt. However, some Muay Thai trainers will tell Muay Thai students to wear prajead or pre-tricks when they enter a ring. Prajead is a kind of armband and headband

Meanwhile, the rank of the Muay Thai fighter depends on the fight record, skills, winning quality, and the number of championship titles and belts. It does not matter what color of the belt you get, but you just go for the championship belt. In Thailand, the grading system on Muay Thai is just a funny thing. Pro gyms in Thailand will even laugh at this system because Muay Thai fighting only requires headband and armbands for good lucks and protection, not for rank.

Modern Muay Thai Grading System

We know that Taekwondo, Karate, and other martial arts use grading systems using colored belts. However, Muay Thai also seems to have started using the champion belt system. For example, the World Thai Boxing Association in the United States use the armband system starting from white armband to black armband. It also provides gold that is used for any affiliate schools.

WTBA Muay Thai armband rank comes with a lot of color armband with three different categories. The first is for beginners that come with three armband colors including orange, yellow, and white. Then, for advanced members, they need to wear green, blue, purple, red, gray, and black armbands. The third category is for instructors that come with red-black, white-black, black-gray, and yellow black armbands.

So, how long does it take to become a black belt in Muay Thai? Anyway, if you want to get a black belt in Muay Thai, you might need to practice and level it up for a few years. This depends on the results of the rank test that you must take while training. You have to be patient because you will get championship belts from the lowest level. Over time and you master many techniques in Muay Thai battles, then you will get a higher armband so you can get a black armband. You can even become an instructor with a different armband. In summary, those are the explanations about grading systems on Muay Thai. Traditionally, the grading system is not used in Muay Thai, but today the modern Muay Thai organization begins to use this system. Instead of wearing an armband for grading systems, the members also need to wear a mouthguard for more safety.