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The
Heart of the Matter: The Spirit of Thaiboxing m.scott
Training.
A Day in the Life m.scott
A
Trip to Thailand m.delreymundo
The
Heart of the Matter: The Spirit of Thaiboxing
What
is Muay Thai? First a little bit about me. I am not a world Champion
Thai boxer, I am not Thai and am not a historian. What I am is someone
who has over the course of five years lived, trained and fought in Thailand
against all Thai opponents. I have easily seen over 500 matches live
and have cornered twenty or so including the famous Thai vs. Burma bare
fist matches held upcountry every year. When I live in Thailand I stay
with the camp they are my family, I eat, drink, go out with them. I
am fortunate to include among my friends Lumpini and Omnoi Champions
(the same as a world champion). In fact I will most likely be back in
Thailand next week. First a bit about Thai Boxers, all these people
who do it are heroes. Most of them come from abject poverty, the sort
of poverty we can’t even imagine. They start training at a young age
around 10 or 11. By twelve they begin to fight and they fight every
three weeks or so for the next ten years of their lives that is why
Thai boxers have easily 150-200 fights in a pro career. They leave everything
behind to be a boxer, family, friends, and school. They are giving up
any chance if advancement in any other field to pursue this dream. The
Thai champions are national heroes, Thai boxing is shown on TV almost
everyday and everyone knows the names of the champions.
Many of
these kids have even been abandoned by their parents at the camp. I
have one friend who’s parents left him at the camp because fighting
was the only thing he was good at, they show up every few weeks to collect
portion of his winnings then off they go back into countryside. Thai
boxers train hard everyday they put in 5-6 hours of training up at 5am
to run 10kms and then bag work skipping and a light breakfast. They
run again in the afternoon and do yet more bag work and more skipping
and work the pads and spar. It is in the very simple existence that
the fighters are polished by shear repetition. Excuse my cheesy poetry
but it is like a jagged piece of glass on the beach made smooth after
years of having wave after wave crash upon it. The water over time smoothes
out the glass and the training after years polishes the fighters. Training
is crude by our standards, jab-elbow-kick, push kick-round house kick.
As well as the countless hours spent working the clinch. This is where
the differences really become apparent in the use of the clinch in MT
in Thailand. Very seldom do we see the same amount and degree of clinch
work that we see there, of course most Americans learn the clinch and
the knee but the don’t learn the elbows and the throws and the little
tricks that are passed down over the years from coach to coach. Of course
on reason for this is because of the lack of elbows in western MT. Understandably
so westerners are weary of the elbow, the elbow is the cause of most
of the cuts and scars you see on Thai boxers.
This is a starting
point of where the two styles Western and Thai Muay Thai begin to diverge.
Think of it the main reason Americans don’t like the elbow is because
of the ability is has to scar and injure us. Thai’s have no such worry
they realize that the rewards of winning the match are more important
than the chances of being hurt. We start to see actually philosophical
differences in the two styles. The ways they are actually approached
are different. We see it as a hobby something we do to make ourselves
feel better, more secure, more relaxed. They see it as WHAT they do,
it is how they are they are defined as people. When we add in the spiritual
side, which is missing from western style the rift becomes even greater.
I know that many schools in America teach the Wai Kru and Ram muay but
how many of them believe in the power behind the dances and the Wai,
for us westerners it is simply a custom for the deeply Buddhist Thais
it is part of their identity. When you fight in Thailand there is a
moment where you perform the wai (palms together, head bowed, and tips
of your thumbs touching the nose) with your coach, he says a prayer
for you to give you luck and protection. For the Thais this is real,
this is not some quaint custom this is an integral part of the fight
without it they will not fight this is how strongly they believe in
these things, not to mention magic spells, blessed charms, etc.
The spirituality
is a part of Muay Thai that cannot be stripped away if you see a fight
and there is no Ram Muay it is not a Muay Thai fight it is a Thai rules
kick boxing match. Muay Thai is combination of various factors, social,
religious, cultural, etc. Without these in place there is no Muay Thai.
What we are left with is an art stripped of the elements that make it
Muay THAI think of it what really is the difference between San Shou
and Muay Thai if you remove the high amplitude throws? Physically they
appear the same so are they? If I do a reverse punch can I say I do
Shotokan Karate? No you cannot, there is more to the art/sport than
just the outward appearance especially so in Muay Thai. I mean no disrespect
to any American or European fighters I do not question their skill in
the ring or ability to teach. There are awesome westerners teaching
out there but what they are teaching is thai rules kickboxing, very
few are teaching Muay Thai. If you asked me just after I first started
training in Thailand if I was a Thai boxer, I would have said yes. No
after a few more years I am not so sure if I could ever really become
Nak Muay(thai boxer).
TOP
Training.
A Day in the Life
The
day starts around 6am, this is when we get up and warm up for our run.
Normally it is the Thais and the bravest of the foreigner (known as
farang in Thailand), that means the farang who were not out drinking
the night before. The camp is off a main road tucked in lane that leads
to the jungle. We start out with a slow pace, it is early and everyone
is going to take it easy on the body. Slowly we start out towards the
main road, at this time there isn’t much traffic, we aren’t choked by
exhaust fumes and the temperature is bearable, very shortly it will
stop being so and the temperature will soar into the mid-forties. The
jog road leads up to Doi Suthep Mountain, as we start to warm up pick
up the pace, about ten of us in total running in line, half asleep wearing
our boxing shorts and t-shirts sweating just enough to be uncomfortable.
The street vendors setting up shop that know us wave at us as we pass
by. The ice cream on a bun vendor is particularly popular with the younger
guys at the camp. As we pass the Chiang Mai University campus the road
begins its slow incline, at this point we ran about 4 km’s and my calves
are beginning to feel it, the incline doesn’t help.
The sun has now risen and the heat is becoming noticeable. The road
turns from a major road into a small two lane road very soon the city
is left behind and jungle surrounds us. As we run up the mountain road
we start to pass the young novice monks who are going into town to receive
alms, and food from the believers who line the road to feed them. They
are about the same age as us but different in every way, they are barefoot
and wear the orange robe of a novice who are not yet a full monk. Both
their heads and eyebrows are shaved and they are thin and gaunt looking,
the antitheses of the young strong bodies of the boxers. Everyone is
careful not to touch them or get in their way. Soon we start to see
crowds of people, we have reached the halfway point of our run. In the
jungle a Buddhist temple stands, shining brilliantly in the morning
sun, gilded in gold and covered with ancient illustrations of the life
of The Buddha. The people are laying flowers at a statue of King Rama
IV, one of Thailand’s most beloved monarchs. Others are putting garlands
on the statues of the elephants that guard the temple gates. Even at
this hour old women are kneeling before the altar outside, burning incense
and laying lotus flowers praying for dead relatives and for good fortune.
We
turn around at this point and start to head down the mountain road our
calves thankful for the break. Taking a turn of the main road we go
down a small soi (side street) which after 500 meters or so leads us
into the jungle. We run along the dirt path. Every now and then passing
a now abandoned Thai jungle hut, or seeing some families who still live
in the traditional house on stilts. Roosters crowing and the occasional
stray dog coming out to bark at us. The dog upon seeing ten boxers running
in formation, changes it’s mind and retreats back into the thick jungle.
Eventually we make it back to the camp. Now is the time for us to stretch
out and do a little work on the pads. One of the farang a woman from
Denmark has a fight back home so she is working with one of the coaches
in the special women’s ring. Women are not allowed into the main ring
as a tradition. The rest of us do rounds on the bags or mill about.
Eventually everyone stops, the young boxers go and fetch rattan mats
and lay them out on the concrete. We all gather about, the young ones
have the responsibility of bringing us the food. Today it is mounds
of Northern Thai sticky rice and curries as well as a special delicacy,
laarb. Laarb is freshly killed deer served raw and covered in the most
unbelievable amount of spices and chili’s. If it wasn’t for the fesh
bile poured on top, I probably would have joined in. I make myself content
on the chicken curry and dried fish dipped in nahm prik (chili water).
After the breakfast is over we roll up the mats and the eleven or so
cats that live at the camp come out to clean up the scraps, noticeably
the cats don’t eat the laarb. It is time to sleep, for me more than
likely there is a small hangover to sleep off.
Waking
up again at about 1pm I set off with Duncan a half Maori Canadian oil
rig worker, one of those natural tough guys you just have to respect
and Sak one of the coaches from the camp, to the 'American'. I am not
sure if that is the real name of the restaurant but that is what we
call it, or if it even has a name. It is not a restaurant as we think
of it. Imagine an outdoor patio with old plastic chairs and creaky tables
that of the kind normally reserved for PTA meetings. The area is surrounded
with a metal fence and when they want to close up they just close the
gate. There are two women who run the restaurant; on any other day one
of them is the best cook in Thailand. We eat there often enough that
everyone knows us, we are neighborhood locals and spend a good portion
of life away from Training there. For me it is the usual Tom Kao Gai
(chicken rice soup with enough chilies to cause hallucinations). Sak
notoriously cheap con’s me into buying him a Thai omelet, and drink.
Duncan and I sit and shoot the shit while our friends slowly filter
into the restaurant. In the end there are about ten of us. Today’s conversation
centers on whether you are gay if you sleep with a girl who used to
be a man. Nicco, a Dane whose wife used to be a man, argues strongly
that he is as straight as they come (we are not so sure of that). Sean
and I disagree. Rass another Dane who accidentally slept with a former
man the week before is deadly quiet trying to be invisible with his
hooded sweatshirt up and trying to concentrate on his chicken salad.
Back to the camp
to hang out and read a little bit, I spend the better part of two hours
reading old magazines and writing letters. I am on the second floor
patio of the old house I live in. It is two floors and the older fighters
live there along with some foreigners. Downstairs is where the TV and
VCR are set up, the fighters spend the day watching fights and Thai
game shows. Upstairs is the quiet place. Sometimes you will come out
and fight a fighter who will be fighting later that night, curled up
asleep in the sofa on the patio trying to get some sleep in the shade
and prepare himself mentally for tonight’s battle. If I look straight
ahead I see the jungle and the Buddhist temples glistening in the sun,
it causes a feeling of contentment and relaxation I seldom find at home
in Tokyo.
Soon three o’clock
rolls around and it is time for the day's real training. Today it is
busy and there are more than twenty people at the camp warming up and
getting ready for their run. I choose not to run a second time today
and instead head straight to skipping. We skip for about twenty to thirty
minutes; Rass still a little embarrassed about his little indiscretion
is skipping off to the side. It probably doesn’t help that we tell everyone
we see about what happened. From skipping it is time to stretch out,
some of us head to the main ring we wai, as a sign of respect, and then
bound over the ropes to stretch out. It takes me about ten minutes to
feel loose in my hips. Now is time to shadow box, at this point there
are fewer people skipping and I take my place in the mirror and start
shadow boxing. Around me everyone seems to be working different things.
Some of the Thais have a rubber cord clenched in their mouth’s attached
to twenty pound weights doing neck raises. Meanwhile, one of the Thais
does crunches on the bench as a ten year old, who will start training
soon, slams a Thai pad down on the older fighter's stomach with every
crunch. After shadow boxing I head to work the bag for about three rounds
when my turn in the ring comes up. For the next four rounds I am worked
to death, punch-elbow-kick-kick, punch-elbow-kick-kick. Push-kick-right
kick-leg shield block-kick. I am dead when it is over I cannot lift
my leg. Time to grab some water and recoup. Taking about a five-minute
break I sit down on a bench and try to catch my breath. The sun is setting
now over Doi Suthep Mountain and the sky had turned a purplish red.
Everyone is starting to relax a bit and wind down, some people are off
sparring in the ring while others sit and talk to each other. Pretty
soon I started hearing the familiar cries of "owayyy" and "lao lao lao"
(which means faster in Thai) coming from the ring. I stroll over to
see what is happening. There is a crowd gathered and now I know why.
Chun the northern Thai champion all 5’ of him and the much larger coach
Sak are going at it and sparring. Chun keeps coming in with devastating
leg kicks and peppering Sak with punches. Sak, a former Lumpini champion,
counters with knees and easily throws the diminutive Chun. The crowd
is cheering Chun and Sak on, everyone is smiling and laughing and having
a great time. Chun laughs during the entire match and Sak has a silly
grin planted on his face. Time to stop training. Their epic battle over
we head back to change into our clothes and wash up in the cold water
outdoor shower.
Some of
the farang who aren’t regulars drift off. The core group is left. We
head out again to grab some food and make fun of Rass. After dinner
we head back to the camp. Tonight, there will be some fights and two
of our fighters are fighting. We gather at about seven o’clock and wait
for everyone to show up. By seven thirty there are about fifteen of
us who will be going to the fights. Tonight’s fights are taking place
in a small fair about an hour out of town. Some of us pile into the
back of pickup trucks and others get in cars or motorcycles. Tonight
I get a lift with Sean on his Honda CBR. Following one of our coaches
Tawin we head out to the fights. Zooming down the unlit Thai highway
at 80 miles per hour we make pretty good time. We find the city we are
looking for. Making our way down some side roads we soon find ourselves
in between rice paddies, and driving seemingly endlessly in circles,
there is no sign of life anywhere let alone a fight venue. Eventually
we see signs of life in the distance we see lights. In the middle of
nowhere a ring has been set up and there are crowds of people yelling
"Farang!" as they see the foreigners arrive. There are some stalls selling
fried noodles and skewered meats. We work our way in to say hello to
the promoter and friends who arrived before us. Everyone is smiling
and happy, some drunk Thais are trying to teach me muay Thai and one
particularly drunk Thai is chastising Sean for losing his last fight.
It turns out the drunk lost money on a bet, Sean pawns him off on me
and I get to see the drunk's technique for the next ten minutes. While
this is going on the fighters are getting rubbed down with boxing liniment
and getting last minute massages. Monks from the local temple are everywhere.
One of the fighters from our camp recognizes a fellow boxer who is now
a monk and he goes over to say hello. Meanwhile Duncan and I have found
a stand selling skewered dog, at 6 cents for a stick of dog meat how
can you go wrong. We buy ten sticks and head off with our bounty in
tow. The dog tastes like, well, dog. Not the most tender meat in the
world but it is good nonetheless we spend the next minute feeding unsuspecting
fellow foreigners dog and watching their expression as we tell them
they are chewing on some Lassie.
The
fights begin and we crowd around the ring. Chun's brother is fighting.
First Tawin says a small prayer for the fighter's safety. This is an
important part of the ritual, they are forehead to forehead, hands clasped,
with heads bowed, they are in their own little world for a few seconds.
The prayer finished, the fighter makes his way to the ring. Today we
are in the red corner all of us gather to cheer his entrance. Wearing
the traditional Mong Kong (a special headpiece) he enters the ring.
He circles the ring counter-clockwise holding onto the ropes at each
(representing the cardinal directions) he stops and touches the turnbuckles
three times bowing his head as he does this. The three bows represent
respect for The Buddha, his teachings, and the monk hood. He makes his
way around the ring. Back at the red corner he steps to the middle of
the ring and gets on his knees. He begins the Ram Muay, the ceremonial
dance that starts every Muay Thai match. The dance is symbolic of stories
of the ancient Hindu Veda’s or represent what he will do in the fight.
This particular Ram Muay represents a deer hunt. The movements are slow
and graceful the fighter seems to sway peacefully as he gathers his
thoughts and prepares for the fight. The Ram Muay finished he returns
to his corner, Tawin gives him some last minute instructions removes
the Mong Kong says a last minute prayer and the fighters head to meet
in the middle of the ring. Thai matches start off slow almost scripted.
Normally there is a gentle foot push aimed at the gut followed up with
a few slow leg kicks. Muay Thai hurts, the fighters know this they let
their adrenalin and endorphins build so they will feel less pain. As
the round goes on the tempo picks up, as they fight the traditional
Thai fighting live musicians are playing music. The music sets the pace,
as the tempo increases the fighters speed it up, and if the fighters
are slowing down the musicians play faster to try to liven the fighters
up. By the second round the fighters are throwing bombs at each other,
leg kick followed by head kick, one after another seemingly oblivious
to the pain of taking a full shot on the bare shin. Our fighter seems
to be getting the worse of it; he is smaller and unable to get in close
enough to land truly effective kicks.
Then out
of nowhere he grabs the other fighter's right wrist with his right hand
and pulls in and down. At the same time he pulls the arm down, which
leaves the right side of his opponent's head completely open, it is
the moment he has been looking for. He lets a beautiful left head kick
go which catches his opponent flush on the face. The opponent drops,
the ref steps in, and the crowd goes nuts. The gamblers on the edge
of the ring are betting like crazy now the odds have turned in our favor.
His opponent pulls himself up. The fight has become a completely different
thing than it was only two minutes ago. Our fighter becomes the aggressor
hunting the opponent across the ring. The bell rings. Our fighter in
the corner is getting advice from Tawin and Den his other corner man.
Tawin mimes what has to be done, as Den wipes the fighter down with
a towel there is blood on the towel a quick search reveals a cut on
the scalp from a kick. The cut is open and after a few more hits there
is the risk of blood getting into his eyes or the fight being stopped.
Den smears Vaseline into the cut just as the bell rings sounding the
start of round three. Seemingly out of the blue our fighter launches
a flying knee at his opponent who never saw it coming. The knee lands
squarely into the middle of the opponent’s chest, knocking him into
the ropes. Chun's brother comes in and launches a barrage of elbows
the likes of which I have never seen before and never seen since. In
all about thirty elbows from every conceivable angle. Over hand right
elbows followed by straight elbows, forearm elbow blows, flying elbows,
his elbows becoming bloodier with every hit. His opponent crumples under
the sheer ferocity of his attack; the ref runs in and stops the carnage.
Chun’s brother has won. The camp’s entourage goes nuts, the audience
goes nuts, we are all cheering and hollering. Chun’s brother calmly
hugs his opponent they are both smiling, following tradition they walk
to each other’s corner to drink water. Den hands water to the beaten
fighter and washes the blood off his face; across the ring his opponent’s
corner is congratulating Chun’s brother. I just watch in awe and eat
my dog on a stick. It is without a doubt the greatest fight you will
ever see thirteen-year-old boys have.
TOP
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