Thursday night we all saddled up to go to the Patong Boxing Stadium for the fights that Bow (the owner of the camp) was promoter for. This was the first time I have seen a Muay Thai fight live so I was very pumped. Only two people from the camp were fighting this night but the whole camp saddled up and rolled to the stadium for the fights that start at 9 pm. Nothing like being part of a International Muay Thai scooter gang to get you pumped up for a nights at the fights. The stadium was honestly nothing like I expected it to be. They show fights on TV all the time here but I had no idea that the place was such a barn. Tickets are expensive for Thailand at about 1500 baht per for the cheapest seats and the place was fairly packed which made it hella hot in there.
The first thing that floored me is how young they start fighting here. The first fighters pictured above are 14 years old and they actually start as young as 8. In order to fight in this stadium you have to have at least 5 wins under your belt if you are under 18 years of age. Some of the trainers who are not much older than 22 have over 200 fights already. Its crazy but this is so normal to them that its not an issue at all. Its what you do to get good at the sport. These two little dudes in the ring above me would completely dominate me. Their skill and speed was incredible but they really lacked the power to hurt each other.
Each fight is 4 rounds of 3 minutes and the 5th round is 2 minutes. It doesn't sound like much after racing 5 hour bike races but holy crap does it wipe you out. The winner is chosen by either a knockout, ref stoppage which is basically a knock out or by score cards. The scoring system is complex and I am still trying to get my head around it. Kicks, knees, elbows and knock downs all score points while punching does not. The later fighters moved so fast it was really hard to see what was getting hit and what was getting blocked.
Before each fight the competitors perform the Wai Kru which is to respect their teachers. This is an ancient Thai custome and it is a demonstration of respect and gratitude. Each fighter seems to put their own spin on the dance (Guan, one of the trainers stamps in the other fighters corner.) It was cool to see and I want to get one of the trainers to teach it to me...when I feel less like gumby and more like a fighter which might not happen.
The other thing that floored me was the high level of sportsmanship that was displayed. In my head I was like "THEY ARE FIGHTING EACH OTHER" but the fighters would slap gloves after good exchanges and hug it out after rounds. They really respected each other and enjoyed the competition. It kinda made me mad at our rec league hockey games where guys are huge jerks for no reason at all.
The first to get in the ring from our camp was Marianna from the Greek team. Everyone was very excited to see her fight because she has held 2 belts and has a record 19 and 2. the picture to the left is her getting taped up before her fight. It was a hard fight that went the distance but in the end she was beaten in the clinch by her Thai opponent. It was rough because the stadium was filled with Greeks and she looked very very disappointed. This fight does not count towards her record but you could tell she was not used to losing. The next fight was one of the trainers named Lucky. Holy crap were these guys a different level than everyone else. Lucky has been a trainer in Bangkok for the last little while and has not fought in a good amount of time. The skill was there but his gastank fell short because he was up against a much bigger opponent. After watching that fight there is no way I will ever get into the ring. The punishment those dudes took and the speed at which the kicked and dodge was near super human. it was crazy. Lucky style had some funk to it with his head movements and how he attacked. I hope I can get a chance to train with him later.
As for this week I have been put on the bench for the last couple of days with a fat elbow. Its alright just need to ice it and I will hopefully be back at it Monday. I am going to leave you with picture of Ming's kid. Holy crap is he going to be a bad ass when he grows up.
Jordan
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