Tony Jaa – Muay Thai at Its Best

In the genre movie circle, Tony Jaa’s name is equivalent to Ong-Bak, the Thai action movie that catapulted him to stardom. Since the release of Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior in 2003, Tony Jaa has been acclaimed as the next big actor to watch for in the martial arts film industry.

Lifelong Dream

Born Panum Yeerum, on February 5, 1976 in a rural area of Surin, Thailand, Tony Jaa was introduced to the world of martial arts through the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Like so many other children who are fascinated by these legends’ slick stunts, he began imitating their actions when he was just 10 years old. Mixing play and practice, he would perfect his moves in the rice paddies or somersault from on top of the elephants his family herded.

“Making a movie is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream began when I was just a boy,” he explains through a translator in one of his interviews. He has been seeing and admiring karate and kung fu in lots of the movies he saw when he was still young but eventually was drawn to study Muay Thai.

This hard form of martial arts practiced in Thailand involves traditional fighting techniques with the use of what they call “eight points of contact.” The hands, shins, knees, elbows and forehead are extensively used as opposed to the styles of Western boxing and other martial art sports, where mostly the fists and feet are used.

Bigger Calling

He became a protege of well-known Thai film director and stuntman Panna Rittikrai. After studying at the Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education, he worked under the tutelage of Panna as a stuntman double. But soon, he found that his calling was for a much bigger venture.

Together with Panna and director Prachya Pinkaew, Jaa brainstormed for a movie that would be tailor-made specifically to showcase his incredible fighting ability and his one-of-a-kind muay thai style. Thus Ong-Bak was born.

The movie was the first Thai film to break the international martial arts market, receiving praise and approval for the film’s astonishing fight sequences. It is almost as close to reality since no wires and computer generated effects were used.

“I had to train as an actor and in choreographing the scenes with the actors who were starring in the movie,” Jaa says. There were times when filming would be deferred when the actors would actually injure themselves.

He is proud of the Muay Thai sequences in the movie. Ever since he started acting, his goal was “to be able to demonstrate the Muay Thai scenes, and the art of Muay Thai for the rest of the world to see.”

As proof of his dedication to this vision, he came back on screen in late 2008 with the sequel Ong-Bak 2 (Tom-Yum-Goong), this time also as co-director. In this movie, Jaa gets to display his childhood skills in doing elephant stunts.

Humanity and Humility

Far from the violence associated with him in his movies, Tony Jaa is actually a practicing Buddhist. In an interview with Brad Balfour, he intimates that, “Muay Thai is highly involved with religion and Buddhism because it’s tied to Thai religion and Thai culture. And with that it teaches the humanity and humility that is offered in the sport …It’s also important to have the inner strength within you and the meditation, which comes from the practice.”

With this kind of passion and determination, the future of Thai action films and Muay Thai is within reach. Tony Jaa is indeed a force to be reckoned with!

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