Well its official I survived the first day of Muay Thai training!!!! A bit stiff and sore in some new placed today but quiet functional.

Timing to get here was fantastic as last night there was a night Muay Thai fights in the local area at Nai Harn beach. I say arena but it was basically an outdoor boxing ring in the middle of some parklands. Despite being do-tired stayed until the end of the program as watching these athletes was absolutely amazing. For those that have never witnessed this sport it appears similar to boxing except that its not only the gloves that strike your opponent by the knees, elbows, shins and feet. In boxing one fighter can get the opponent into a clinche and at least get a respite from being hit., In Muay Thai the fighters get in a clinche and knees start flying into each others mid rift region. Watching the stamina and the ability of these fighters to take blows was just amazing.

The boxing is a big part of Thai culture and definately has a place in most people's hearts. There is alot of tradition and ritual in the fights with each being proceeded by the two fighers being presented in the ring and going through a ritual 'dance' showing respect to their trainers and I believe various sprits (this I'll confirm later so don't shoot me if I'm not 100% correct here). This ritual at the start is accompanied by music as is every round. The music is from some droning woodwind instrument (like a cat with its balls in a vice) but after watching this for a while it seems to me as if the boxers seem to use this dirge as a type of rythm and almost dance, moving their weight from foot to foot, waiting for the opponents next move, as it drones.

Attending the fight night seemed to be a family affair with mon, dad and the kids all there. In the rng it also seemed a family affair with the younger boxers (teenagers) fighting first up to the main event. As a curtain raiser to one of the bigger fights of the night two young girls (~7-8years) went head to head. To paint a picture they basically they were a little over one meter in height and the gloves they were wearing were bigger than their heads - it initially looked like this was something from and Anne Geddes photo shoot! I think a number of westerners in the crowd, myself included, were a bit shocked at these two young girls in the ring. As the commentary was all in Thai I thought for a moment that it might be just a promotion or a 'cute' stunt - the bell to start the first round soon dispelled this notion. They came out with arms windmilling which was quiet comical and didn't look like a serious threat then the legs started flying and I was absolutely amazed at the skill and endurance employed by two so young each landing kick after kick on the opponents side. Funnily enough once I saw this ability I didn't see them as eight year old girls any more but as just another fight for the night. The crowd loved it egging them both on. Its really funny have different cultural conditioning clouds your viewpoint and generally gives you an immeadiate emotional reaction to what you are seeing. I guess this is one reason why I travel to try and see things other peoples ways, in the process being put outside your comfort zone. Anyway one lesson definitely learned; don't mess with Thai girls.