Tony Jaa is arguably the most popular Muay Thai fighter to become famous in Hollywood and around the world, after the mind blowing Ong-Bak film series that won the hearts of many martial arts fans around the world. Often Tony Jaa is compared to legends such as: Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, but he brings a completely different style of martial arts, thanks to which the audience is even more interested
In his youth, Jaa watched films by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan at temple fairs, which inspired him to learn martial arts.
He practiced the techniques in his father’s rice paddy.[citation needed] “What they [Lee and Chan] did was so beautiful, so heroic that I wanted to do it too,” Jaa told Time in a 2004 interview. “I practiced until I could do the move exactly as I had seen the masters do it.”
Jaa began training in Muay Thai at his local temple at age 10. By 15, he was a protégé of stuntman and action film director Panna Rittikrai. Panna had instructed Jaa to attend Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education in Maha Sarakham Province from which he
graduated with a bachelor’s degree. His early martial arts experience included Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Muay Boran, and Krabi-Krabong, with an emphasis on gymnastics and acrobatics. His films have showcased various other martial arts styles, such as Kung-fu, Silat, and Jiu-Jitsu. … So let’s find out if we know everything about the favorite Muay Thai — Tony Jaa.
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