Namman Muay Boxing Liniment
Namman Muay is ingrained into Thai Boxing culture
Available direct from:
Review:
Namman Muay Boxing Liniment
If you’ve ever had the privilege to attend a live Muay Thai tournament in person, your senses will have been aroused not only by the visual spectacle but also by the sounds and smells of Thai boxing competition!
Traditional Thai music accompanies Muay Thai fights, building the fighters and spectators into a frenzy. And the atmosphere hangs thick with the aromatic scent of Muay Thai oil aka Namman Muay. These sounds and smells are ubiquitous at any Muay Thai fight event.
One brand of Muay Thai Oil, Namman Muay, is so commonplace in Thailand it is nowadays used as a wide-ranging household remedy. The manufacturer even states that if you are a Thai citizen and are over 20 years old, you will already be familiar with Namman Muay, perhaps first starting to use Namman Muay during P.E. classes at school.
For sporting applications, Namman Muay liniment is used by not just Muay Thai boxers but by athletes competing in other sports too such as running, cycling, badminton, and football.
So what is Namman Muay and why is it so popular?
What is Namman Muay?
Namman Muay is a topical liniment created for use by athletes. Specifically, the active ingredients contained in Namman Muay are claimed to:
- Provide pain relief in muscles, tendons, and joints
- Reduce strains and inflammation
- Prevent and relieve pain for people with active lifestyles
Who makes Namman Muay?
Namman Muay is produced by a company called Devakam Apothecary Hall Co. Ltd which dates all the way back to 1937.
The pharmaceutical company was first founded by physician Thai Major Sit (aka Thongmuan Inthararat) and was involved in developing and running clinical trials of wide-ranging pharmaceutical products through their clinic.
Some years later, Thongtos, son of Major Sit set up Kingpetch boxing gym in Petchaburi Road, BKK, training both western-style and Muay Thai fighters.
Historically, Muay Thai boxers’ pre-fight warm-up routine involved massaging their muscles using Stoke Oil. But Stoke Oil had an oily, messy consistency, was unpleasant smelling, and caused eye irritation.
So in 1958, Devakam Apothecary Hall’s pharmacists set about trying to formulate an improved product to help improve martial arts fighters’ warm-up process. Hence Namman Muay came into existence and was registered as intellectual property in 1962.
Over the following years, Devakam Apothecary Hall Co. Ltd expanded significantly, now offering a portfolio of pharmaceutical products manufactured to international standards.
The company migrated from its original location in Phetchaburi Road, downtown Bangkok to an improved custom-built facility in Bangpakong Chachongsao. This comprises 9 buildings covering almost 4000 sqm. With on-site manufacturing, quality control, GMP compliance, offices, raw materials warehousing, packaging plant, and finished product storage. The company performs modern QC lab analysis using HPLC, GC, and FTIR technologies.
Namman Muay supports sporting events throughout Thailand including not just Muay Thai but also marathon and trail running events, soccer, and badminton.
Namman Muay Products
At the time of writing, Namman Muay is available in two popular products:
- Original Namman Muay Liniment
- Namman Muay Cream
The active ingredients and intended use of each vary slightly:
Namman Muay Liniment:
Active Ingredients and Intended Use
Price starts from just 27baht (less than 1USD) in Thailand!
Namman Muay liniment is aimed at athletes and people with an active lifestyle.
Namman Muay’s claimed benefits include helping prevent injuries, pain relief, assisting warm-up before exercise, and can even increase exercise performance as the liniment continues to be gradually absorbed through the skin for an extended period.
The liniment is supplied in bottles as an emulsion with separate oil and water layers.
To use Namman Muay liniment shake the container well. Then liberally massage the emulsion into muscles and joints before exercise. The applied product is non-greasy and easily worked into the skin.
Active ingredients:
- Methyl salicylate aka ‘Wintergreen Oil’ | 31%
Relieves joint pain & muscular pain. - Eucalyptus | 5%
Reduce pain and inflammation for some diseases. - Menthol | 1%
Anti-inflammatory. Also triggers cold receptors and delivers a cooling sensation.
Namman Muay Cream:
Active Ingredients and Intended Use
Namman Muay liniment found popularity amongst a much wider demographic than the originally intended audience of Thai boxers.
So in 1988, the manufacturer launched the second variant of Namman Muay, aimed at better catering to the needs of a wider customer base.
Namman Muay Cream was created as a non-irritating cream with slightly revised active ingredients, using Eugenol rather than eucalyptus.
The manufacturer says that Namman Muay Cream is well suited to alleviating office ailments (such as cramping, and numbness of hands and feet) plus treating insect bites.
When to use Namman Muay Limiment for Muay Thai:
The primary purpose to Namman Muay is to assist your warm up for any sporting activity.
So you’ll want to massage Namman Muay liniment into your muscles prior to Muay Thai training or competition.
You can also repeat the process post fight / workout to try to help alleviate any lingering aches, pains and soreness.
Where to buy Namman Muay Boxing Liniment
If you are participating in Muay Thai training & competition in Thailand, it’s super easy to find Namman Muay.
You can find Namman Muay liniment stocked on the shelves of any decent pharmacy (for example Watsons or Boots) and even in bigger general purpose supermarkets such as Tesco (now Lotus’s) and Big C.
Plus countless vendors are offering Namman Muay through the big online comparison shopping sites including Lazada or Shopee.
Internationally, the manufacturer has established an overseas distribution arrangement called NMM Inter with offices in the EU (Slovenia), China (Hong Kong), and Myanmar (Yangon).
Even outside of official distribution channels the Namman Muay liniment is widely available online – just try searching Amazon.
Verdict: Namman Muay Boxing Liniment
Namman Muay boxing liniment is a cheap, easy-to-apply emulsion that helps you warm up for Muay Thai training and competition. It may provide some degree of performance enhancement, is sure to offer pain relief, and can speed up post-fight recovery by helping manage inflammation and soreness.
Given the low cost, easy availability, and hassle-free application, you’ll want to use Namman Muay liniment pre-training and pre-fight.
In Muay Thai culture, Namman Muay is much more important than being a mere topical ointment. It goes way beyond helping soothe aching muscles.
Namman Muay is part of the fabric of Thai boxing. The cooling feeling on the skin and distinctive menthol smell has become part of the essence of Muay Thai tradition.
