You can go to the Ebay Auction here. The 10 day auction ends around April 8-9.
I’m auctioning off the shorts I fought my 100th fight in Thailand in, shorts designed to celebrate the effort itself as well. The last time a pair of my shorts were auctioned they proved meaningful to a supporter of mine, so this seemed like a way for someone who has been inspired to be a part of the 100 fight accomplishment. As we thought about it though, we really wanted to give as much value to whomever would be bidding on these shorts, so we’ve added in several additional items which will go to the winning bidder. The video below walks you through all these items. The auction is of the shorts, program and photo – the amulet and mongkol are personal gifts to whomever found these things meaningful. You are not purchasing the amulet or mongkol, they are included by me as a gift to the winning bidder.
To make sure that some additional good comes out of the auction the first $100 will go to the Golden Horse Monastery. You can best learn about the Golden Horse Monastery by watching this incredible documentary on Kru Ba’s work (there’s a link to a free viewing). You can also follow them in Facebook. Zippy, the nephew of Kru Ba, has been a real supporter of mine for a long time, and he offers this update on the work they are doing at the monastery. Watch the movie and see what they are about:
As a quick update – we are currently responsible for nearly 100 orphans and abandoned children across the various hill tribe villages and 100% of all donations will go directly to charitable causes – in particular towards the cost of education, school materials, and towards the cost of food and clothing.
In addition we are also working on several projects – to build schools and embed teachers and carers in local villages, particularly to encourage girls to have access to education; reforestation and encouraging hill tribes to move away from the drugs trade and towards the planting of sustainable living crops such as coffee; we’ve also recently been supporting some of the older kids who have been with us for a while to access further education or for those who choose to – to become professional muay thai fighters and coaches. None of this would be possible without the generous help of donations and funders such as yourselves.
If you’d like you can contribute to the Golden Horse Monastery yourself, directly, through Pay Pal under the destination address: goldenhorsemonastery@gmail.com
After this donated amount, all funds raised will go to helping support my fighting and writing in Thailand. We don’t anticipate too much more raised, the expense of auction items already approaches $100, but anything additional raised will go to helping pay for visa expense, or many of the encroaching financial hurdles. You can read up on my supporters in the past who have helped create this website and helped me fight in Thailand.
The 100 Fight Shorts
above is a video explanation of my 100 fight shorts (red, and blue) designed for my 100th fight. The names of each of the gyms I’ve fought with have been added to the shorts: Petchrungruang, O. Meekhun, Lanna Muay Thai, Giatbundit Gym, and WKO. In the video, which was shot before my 100th fight, I say we are going to auction the shorts (color) that I don’t end up wearing, but in the end it just made the whole thing more meaningful to auction the pair I wore.
On the front of the shorts are Thai numerals for 100, for the hundred fights in Thailand. On the back is my fight name “dahaknoi” or The Little Hulk
The Fight Program
This is the program from my fight, a little piece of my history. That is me there, spelled “Sivier” in Thai (no matter how many times I correct it with a better Thai spelling). My opponent is Lookget Payalampong, and we are listed at 50 kg. People around me felt she may be 50 kg. I’ll sign the program for the winner, if they wish.
The Robert Cohen Portrait
This is the fabulous Robert Cohen portrait of me at Petchrungruang, in my little corner where I do much of my work on that bag. You can read more about the photo here. This photo was generously donated by Robert to the auction. When Robert gets back to America he’ll print an 8×10 copy on archival paper, and send it to me in Thailand. I’ll then sign it for the winner if they wish. I love this photo so much, I’ll probably ask him for a copy for myself.
My Personal Gift – a Mongkol
This Mongkol is the same colors and style as the Mongkol that I wear. I got both from Petchrungruang Gym and my Mongkol has come with me to fights for over a year now. It meant a lot to me to get my own, which was actually somewhat incidental at the time. Up in Chiang Mai, my gym (Lanna) provided everything for a fight – the mat, the ice bucket, wraps, tape, Vaseline and oil, and Mongkol. Using your gym’s Mongkol is pretty standard, but when I came down to Pattaya for a few weeks things were done differently here. The fighter was responsible for everything needed for the corner – all those items listed above. Purchasing my own Mongkol was a necessity because I absolutely don’t want to fight without one, but it also felt like an appropriate time for me in my career to have my own. There was something empowering, as well, about having a Mongkol that was linked to me as a fighter. As a female fighter, the placement of the Mongkol on the head for protection goes differently than for a male fighter, who wears the headpiece as he enters the ring over the top ropes. The Mongkol ought not to go under anything – when you arrive at a venue you hang the loop high up on a branch or post or wall, above everyone’s heads, if possible – but we as women have to go under all the ropes. For more conservative practitioners, women are not even permitted to touch the Mongkol, so there’s a little bit of question whether the gym’s protective charm can be shared between male and female fighters. If the Mongkol belongs to me, the question disappears. I’ve actually had feeling of pride when being asked permission to use my Mongkol on the young male fighters at my gyms if they have forgotten to bring one, or don’t have one – and of course I always share it. This Mongkol in the photo has been blessed at the same temple here in Pattaya where mine has been blessed several times: Wat Chaimongkol. The monks there are always quite happy to give blessings for Muay Thai. The mongkol is a personal gift to whomever finds these items meaningful. You are not purchasing this mongkol.
My Personal Gift a Rahu Amulet
For those that have fought or been around fighting in Thailand you know that amulets are part of the Muay Thai culture here. They are not only religious, they are woven into the belief in luck, and the most ardent gamblers will come to fights draped in them. They are in many ways intimately Muay Thai.
My connection to Pra Rahu is one that continues to evolve. Many people are familiar with Pra Ganesha, the elephant deity with the broken tusk. He’s seen around Thailand quite a lot and is a favorite for businesses and students, as he’s the “placer and remover of obstacles.” Pra Rahu is, to some extent, the dark reflection of Pra Ganesha. He’s seen more as the bringer of chaos and many (I believe, mistakenly) associate him with bad luck. Put shortly, Pra Rahu is a demi-god who occasionally swallows the sun and moon, which is how an eclipse is explained. But just as Pra Ganesha places and removes obstacles, there are two sides to every coin. So while Pra Rahu might bring chaos, that means he’s also in charge of order; if he can give bad luck, he can remove it as well. So I see Pra Rahu as a power or force that I prefer to have in my corner and in the time that I’ve been learning about him, having him tattooed on my chest and giving offerings at temples, shrines, etc., I’ve had a very strong feeling that Rahu has been very generous to me. In the words of my friend Zippy, I can ask Rahu to “infuse my Muay with righteous destruction,” which is about as meaningful a request as I can muster. The Rahu amulet is a personal gift to whomever finds these auctioned items meaningful. You are not purchasing this amulet.
This amulet comes from the Wat Saman Rattanaram in Chachoengsao. The temple is famous for its reclining Pra Genesha statue, which is enormous and beautiful, but it also has a very large shrine to Pra Rahu. All offerings to Rahu are black: coffee beans, black grass jelly, black eggs, Oreos, black incense and black candles, black roses, etc. This amulet is a part of every offering tray that you get to keep and I wear one around my neck. On the opposite side of the amulet is Reusi, which is both a name and the word for a hermit – Reusi is depicted as this two-toothed old man, full of knowledge and solitude, and is considered the originator (or father) of Sak Yant sacred tattoos. All Arjan and Monks who practice Yant tattooing do so in Reusi’s lineage.
You can read about and watch my 100th fight in Thailand here.
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