muay thai graduation

Well after a semester of trying my best to learn some of the local martial art they gave me a certificate. I like to call it my ass-kicking certificate...

The certificates were accompanied by someone who I assume is a semi-big-wig at Thammasat. He gave a pleasantly amusing speech that concluded with a paragraph that sounded strangely like “With great power comes great responsibility…” Sort of a “use your powers only for good” thing, I guess.

The best of this semesters fighters were invited into the ring to do a round against the pads for the audience that witnessed the ceremony. Our own Vanessa Morais was selected to represent the ladies, while Kazuhiro of Japan (himself a practitioner of karate), Wicter of Sweden (a kickboxer), and Brian Fair of Norfolk, Virginia (ex-military and athlete, grappling enthusiast, and all-round badass), were selected to represent the men:

Kazuhiro (on the left) can kick himself in the back of the head, while Vanessa (second off-left) can slam a revolving door:

Wicter and Brian doing the traditional ram-muay (dance-fight, as near as I can translate). Wicter can build a snowman out of rain, and Brian once killed two stones with one bird.

And here is Brian ready to rumble. You know how leading hand-sanitizers claim they kill 99.9% of all bacteria? Brian kills 100% of whatever he wants.

And here is Brian in action: I forgot to mention, he can speak Braille.

There are plenty of other friends from Muay Thai, of course. Here’s Brett, from Australia; giraffes were created when he uppercutted a horse. He’s seen here doing what I assume is the traditional Australian greeting, but beware, I’ve heard it said that when Brett gives you the finger, he’s telling you how many seconds you have left to live.

Oh, and then there is Steve. Funny story about Steve, he was actually on Wheel of Fortune, and was the first person to spin. The next 29 minutes of the show consisted of everyone awkwardly standing around, waiting for the wheel to stop. Sophia is next to him in the row behind, she once won a game of Connect-Four in three moves, Vanessa (behind and to the right), can play the violin with a piano; below Vanessa is Peggy, they say the quickest way to a man’s heart is Peggy’s fist; right of her is Brian, who we already discussed, is the only man who can punch a Cyclops between the eye; then there is Kui, she was actually charged with murder in Story county, but the charges were later dropped, when the judge realized Kui does not “attempt” murder; then there is me; then there is Kru Deeng, the only time he was ever wrong was when he thought he made a mistake; and lastly, there is coach, who can strangle you with a cordless phone.

It was a nice ceremony and I’m really happy I did muay thai this semester. I’m still not that good at it, but at least I learned a lot and kept in shape. I am actually really interested in continuing to learn muay thai, along with my preferred orthodox boxing, and I have lots of other martial interests now: French savate, kung fu, and fencing; all look like fun. I’m happy that I have a little international influence in my workout now. In fact, being exposed to other international students has made me interested in rugby, too (despite the fact I still don’t understand the rules). Though I must admit, it would have been a nice change to see an American football game just ONCE when I was in Thailand (sorry soccer fans!).

Well, I’ll continue trying to catch up on blogs before I come home (its January 9^th, those of you wondering!). I don’t have internet access right now so posts may be made in fits-and-starts. Oh, and I’m bringing lots of presents home everybody…

something epic actually happened

I am going to try to dig myself out of my hole and start posting my blogs on time! This one actually happened a week ago, but at least I'm trying!

Tonight we went to see a Muay Thai fight at the most famous Thai Boxing Ring--Lumpinee Stadium. I know what you're thinking... it doesn't look like much. Well... you're right. I was afraid I was going to fall through some of the rickety boards in the floor, and the place is (in true Thai style) un-airconditioned and smelly. Nevertheless, it is the place to go for a real Muay Thai experience. Muay Thai is the national sport here, and it is quite an affair to attend. In the corner of each fighter, their family cheers them on and the crowd begins yelling in a giant rhythmic chant as fighters get locked together and start laying knees into each other. For those of you who aren't familiar with the sport, Thai Boxing is entirely different from American boxing. It is also known as "the Art of the Eight Limbs" (because of its use of hands, shins, elbows, and knees).

All the real excitement of the fight is missing in this blog, so I'll make it short; you don't get to experience the rhythmic roar of the crowd as the fighters locked and threw knees into each other, a punctuated increase in the roar for every impact.

The epic happening referred to in the title of this post refers to the best fight we saw. In the fight I was rooting for the underdog in the blue shorts.
He got terribly beaten the first two rounds but every time he would get a hit in I hoped against hope he could, if not win, then at least not continue to be so embarrassingly beaten.
In the third round, he got a terrible gash on his head, but kept fighting. He finished the round with blood streaming down his face and torso and still lost the round badly (open the photos and look closely to see just in what bad shape he was in).
In round four, despite bleeding badly from his cut (repaired by the ring doctor, but opened with the first punch of the new round), he started to do better. Blood still obscured his face and dripped down his body but he seemed to be faster, and started landing hits.
By the end of the round he had turned it around, but was in terrible shape from his injury. In the last round, he somehow turned his helpless losing into a savage beating for his opponent. He fiercely landed a flying-knee, despite bleeding profusely from his head.
The round ended. He stood, covered from head to toe in blood, awaiting the decision.

He won.

It was an epic fight.