Tony Jaa uses a wide collection of martial arts in the Ong Bak trilogy. Tony Jaa began his career in action movies as a stuntman, before achieving his big break with 2003’s Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, which shot Jaa to international stardom. Ong Bak is widely beloved for Jaa’s showcasing of Muay Thai in the movie’s enthralling fight scenes, with Jaa and the cast also performing incredible stunt work throughout the film. Meanwhile, the Ong Bak franchise would later go back in time with two prequels, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning and Ong Bak 3.
Here are the martial arts that Tony Jaa uses in the Ong Bak trilogy.
5. Muay Thai:
The first and most obvious martial art Tony Jaa employs in the Ong Bak trilogy is Muay Thai. The native martial art of Thailand, Muay Thai is also referred to as “the science of the eight limbs”, with the practitioner relying not only on kicking and punching, but also heavy use of elbow and knee strikes as well. Muay Thai is the martial arts discipline used by Jaa’s protagonist Ting in Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, with Ting giving a glimpse into the training of the art early on in Muay Thai form in which he names off numerous techniques.
4. Kung Fu:
In the prequels “Ong Bak”, Tony Jaa really delves into other disciplines of martial arts, and his main character Tien established himself as a representative of several forms of kung fu. Instead of being a single martial art, kung fu actually means “hard work over time to achieve mastery,” and that’s why the term is applied to martial arts. This applies more specifically to combat, and this term literally translates as “martial arts”, and Tien can claim an extensive collection of Chinese martial arts in his arsenal. When Thien also fights a group of inebriated opponents in Ong Bak 2, he demonstrates the mastery of Zui Quan or Drunken Fist, which Jackie Chan famously used as the basis for the Drunken Master films. Thien also uses kung-fu hand techniques, both at long and close distances, which means that he also understands well both Choi Lay Fut and Wing Chun.RELATED:
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3. Silat:
Silat originates from Southeast Asia, with countless variations of silat existing in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and other countries of the region. Silat became famous thanks to Iko Uwais in the films “Merantau” and “Raid”, and Tony Jaa demonstrates numerous techniques of Silat in the prequels “Ong Bak”. This is especially noticeable in many of his open palm strikes against opponents from close range, while he also uses numerous stances and kicks based on Strength. In the scenes of Tyena’s fight in the prequels, it is also visible how he inflicts many blows with a tiger palm. Many of them are taken from his kung fu training, but also taken from his knowledge of Strength.
2. Jiu Jitsu:
Ong Bak 2 also shows that Tien is a representative of jiu-jitsu. Originally used as a hand-to-hand combat technique by the samurai of feudal Japan, jiu-jitsu focuses on restraint, strangulation and joint manipulations to subdue the enemy. There are as many variations in jiu-jitsu as in any other martial art, perhaps the most famous of them is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which the emphasis is on fighting the opponent on the ground. Although the prequels of Ong Bak take place several centuries before the creation of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Tyen still uses many techniques found in him. These include the use of takedowns and armbars. Although this makes it difficult to determine exactly what form of jiu-jitsu Thien uses in the prequels of Ong Bak, his mastery of this art nevertheless shows that he is very skilled in his fighting techniques.
1. Weapons:
In addition to the hand-to-hand combat scenes in the Ong Bak films, Tony Jaa’s incredible fighting skills are seen with a wide range of weapons. Ting only has one major weapon fight in Ong Bak, in which he uses a bo staff that cuts in half, and Ting uses the two halves in tandem. His skill in this arena is based on the Thai art of sword fighting known as krabi krabrong, with Ting also using the sword used in this art in cave fighting. In addition, Ting uses a pair of tonfas, a pair of sticks with handles borrowed from Okinawan martial arts.
Ong Bak’s prequels show that Tien is even better at weapon combat and Tien is early proficient with a Japanese katana, showing that he is well versed in the Japanese art of kenjutsu.
Tony Jaa in the Ong Bak films led them to rise to the heights of popularity that they have achieved. Overall, the range of different martial arts that Jaa uses in the films is equally important to their success, and Jaa will continue this practice in Tom Yum Goong films as well as other films.