Editing Muay Thai (section)

===Clinch and neck wrestling (''chap kho'')===
[[File:Manachai yokkao.jpg|thumb|160px|Ram Muay, rituals before the match]]

{{See also|Muay Thai clinch}}
In Western boxing, the two fighters are separated when they [[Clinch fighting|clinch]]; in muay Thai, however, they are not. It is often in the clinch that knee and elbow techniques are used. To strike and bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of [[Tachi waza|stand-up grappling]] are used in the clinch. The front clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other. There are three reasons why the fingers must not be intertwined. 1) In the ring fighters are wearing boxing gloves and cannot intertwine their fingers. 2) The Thai front clinch involves pressing the head of the opponent downwards, which is easier if the hands are locked behind the back of the head instead of behind the neck. Furthermore, the arms should be putting as much pressure on the neck as possible. 3) A fighter may incur an injury to one or more fingers if they are intertwined, and it becomes more difficult to release the grip in order to quickly elbow the opponent's head.

A correct clinch also involves the fighter's forearms pressing against the opponent's collar bone while the hands are around the opponent's head rather than the opponent's neck. The general way to get out of a clinch is to push the opponent's head backward or elbow them, as the clinch requires both participants to be very close to one another. Additionally, the non-dominant clincher can try to "swim" their arm underneath and inside the opponent's clinch, establishing the previously non-dominant clincher as the dominant clincher.

Muay Thai has several other variants of the clinch or ''chap kho'' {{IPA|th|tɕàp kʰɔː|}}, including:
*Arm clinch: One or both hands controls the inside of the defender's arm(s) and where the second hand if free is in the front clinch position. This clinch is used to briefly control the opponent before applying a knee strike or throw.
*Side clinch: One arm passes around the front of the defender with the attacker's shoulder pressed into the defender's arm pit and the other arm passing round the back which allows the attacker to apply knee strikes to the defender's back or to throw the defender readily.
*Low clinch: Both controlling arms pass under the defender's arms, which is generally used by the shorter of two opponents.
*Swan-neck: One hand around the rear of the neck is used to briefly clinch an opponent before a strike.
{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}