Nawa is an old Pali word for the number nine. It may sound unfamiliar even to some Thai people today, yet it has lived alongside Thai culture since the Kingdom of Sukhothai — folded into language, belief, and ceremony long before it was ever written down as a page like this one.
You have likely brushed against it without noticing. It survives in royal titles, in temple counting, in the quiet arithmetic of ritual — a thread that grows clearer the further you study the Thai language.
The official title of King Rama IX begins with "Nawa Min" — Nine, King. On the endurance of an old word
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This weapon is the most important. It separates us, moral, from other animals — and with it, we are powerful beyond measure.
My master's words
There are two hands, two elbows, two knees, two legs, and the most important weapon is your head.
Head butt? Though ancient Muay Thai used head butts until changing the rules in King Rama 5 era (Including name changing to Muay Thai, and from Kard Chuek to boxing gloves) around the 1920s, BUT head butt is not exactly what ancient people meant for head to represent.
For those who have been studying some Thai culture or legitimate Muay Thai Kru. Would realize that the arts are very spiritual. That’s because in ancient day Thai fighting style commonly taught in temple and most of the time, by Bubhism monk. The nith weapon were to mean your spirit and some masters refer also as knowledge, or spirit.
