Muay Thai Boxing

Last night, Cameron, Ally's brother, and I went to see a Muay Thai boxing match. This is not something I would typically go to, but I decided it is a cultural event, albeit different from museums and temples, but culture nonetheless.

At 9 pm we went into a makeshift building, surrounded by makeshift bars, and sat at makeshift picnic tables. It looked as if someone had turned a rough boxing gym into a stadium of sorts. We sat down and waited for the first fight to begin. Little did we know, the first fight was to be a couple of children - 8-10 years old. They did a ceremonial dance/warm-up, touched all corners of the ring, paid their respects to Buddha, then bitterly fought. Seeing children fight was strange. At first, I thought it was a terrible institution and I didn't want to keep watching, but upon further thought, I decided, in a way, it is like any other sport that children do. It happens to be more violent, but more than hockey or football? Violence isn't an issue in this country, so it doesn't seem to cause further harm.

There were a total of eight fights. One man had his face kicked as he was falling down and had to be helped off the ring because he was so dazed. Another got kneed in the chest so much that he couldn't stand up for several minutes. One of the more interesting fights of the night was between an Austrian woman and a Canadian woman. These two had learned to Muay Thai, kickbox, however they seemed to bring their western styles with them, because they kept punching each other in the face over and over again. They hadn't been trained in blocking, must be. The taller Canadian ended up winning over the thicker and shorter Austrian, however they both looked like they could kill me.

The night ended with a really tall, skinny English guy fighting a Thai guy. They were certainly the fastest, and certainly the most skilled. In a way it was really interesting to watch, as you can see their reaction time and their adjustments towards one another far before they even touch. Thai boxing, in that way, is very much like dancing. One moves, and like two positive ends of a magnet, the other pushes away. Their legs are constantly moving in a fast-step dancing style and they bob their shoulders like they are running in place. When all was said and done, the Thai fighter won, but the fight was fair and balanced (no fox pun intended).

Overall, it is something I don't need to do every weekend, but seeing it once, and live is something that was definitely worth doing. Cam and I are probably the least likely people to be seen sitting in a boxing arena, but hey, when in Rome.

Pictures to come when Cam sends them to me.