First you have to know what these two word mean. Wai is a posture of putting your hands together to pay respect to the person in front of you. And Khru literally means teachers, here can also means the living and the dead ones, parents, monks, Buddha and even the spirits, all of them actually.
You can see Wai Khru or Ritual Dance of Homage prior to the start of the first round. It is one of the Muay Thai regulations that Wai Khru must be performed. It’s one of the most significant traditions of Muay Thai accompanied by 3 Thai instruments: Ching, Klong Khaek and Pi Java. Actually pretty much all of ancient martial arts have some sort of ceremony to pay respect to their teachers and to realize of how great the knowledge got from the teachers is.
If you notice this, both fighters don’t dance the same identical way and it’s impossible to see one, why? Each of them got their own styles. Their different styles tell us that they have different teachers. And real sportsmanship boxers don’t fight if they both are students of the same teachers.
As far as I know there are 5 styles which are called
- Hong Hern,
- Yoong Fon Hang,
- Yoong Ram Pan,
- Phra Rama Plang Sorn and
- Payak Dom Kwang
You might think that Wai Khru is all about spiritual thingy. Actually, to be sensible, it gives the fighters some time to warm up and to concentrate and clear their minds and put themselves together before the fight.
There are 3 main sequences of Ritual Dance of Homage
- The royal homage sequence: this show is devoted to the King. It has three subsections: Prostration, Outstretched Arms and Act of Homage.
- The kneeling sequence:
- The standing sequence
Fairtex Wai Kru Ram Muay Pre-Fight Dance VDO from YouTube.com