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I agree. Which I off topic think is so fascinating as it stands in stark contrast to how muay thai is taught/learnt in Thailand (referring to your thread discussing the western preferred structural approach to learning). The Asian region has some of the smartest people in the world, yet China for example is in need of engineers from the west and international companies in India hire graphic designers from the west, both these phenomenons because although a craft or profession can be mastered perfectly, the creative problem-solving aspect and holistic approach are many times not there. Perhaps due to more authoritarian teaching systems in school. (really not trying to be offensive here). Anyhow drifting off. Eager to hear more about this as it progresses, I think it sounds really awesome.

The nice thing about the approach we have in mind is that it really isn't audience dependent. It would simply be a matter of putting on a show, 12x a year, and making impact on the Muay Thai scene through fight bonuses. The material support for such shows already exist, female fights happen every every night of the week in Chiang Mai, often at multiple stadia. The ecosystem for the shows is there and thriving. So while involvement and even enthusiasm from people not in the community, whether broadly from across Thailand, and internationally definitely helps, or would be an aim, there is no risk in not having it. The promotion is it's own little box of events and influences. It's part of a larger care system for the already existing female fight scene in the city. Sponsors, or ideally "a" sponsor, would be investing in that system, that community, as a mode of branding. It has a "can't fail" aspect, especially since the buy-in would be so low. Most promotional efforts in Thailand are very short-sighted, people are thinking "How can I make money?!" instead of "How can I change and improve the entire thing?" For that reason they are often imagining: How do I make it bigger?! Which ends up with it being not very big, ironically enough.

Thanks a lot for this elaboration. It sounds extremely exciting and I hope you get the right ears to talk to. I assume this would also involve non-thai female fighters fighting in Thailand? From my personal experience in the bangkok fitness community, there seems to be a lot of excitement for female strength and women starting to like the idea of having a muscular body beyond ab definition. that in combination with muay thai fitness being popular among the thai middle and upper classes might be helpful driving factors. From an international perspective I think the issues of sexism, the bottom rope, women not being able to fight at national stadiums combined with the child labour issue might be problematic. But that might not matter in this case anyway.

I'm following this with interest. So your aim is to create financial incentives in Thailand for gyms to invest in female fighters? And your strategy would be a fight promotion that a)involves prize money and b) gives these fighters exposure? Who do you need to convince here? Companies/sponsors who see the potential? Or the current stakeholders in the fight scene? Is there a regulatory body that needs to get involved as well? Meaning the pushback or reluctance to invest in female fighters, where does it stem from in your view? Traditions? Limited opportunities? Rules and regulations? I feel that Thai people are always supportive of things that make them internationally recognized, that if a thai athlete gets fame overseas they welcome him/her with open arms. So having a thai female superstar fighter abroad might change things at home? (...like Stamp). Imagine a female Buakaw I mean.. Also what about int muay thai federation? Do they have any driving power in Thailand?

When the trainer says, OK sparring, find a partner. You pick the biggest, scariest looking meathead in the room, like 30kg heavier than you. 8/10 times he will be the most controlled, nicest and friendliest person there and you won't get injured. It's the little guy with a ying yang tattoo who has problems with over-aggression in sparring.

I think what is really required is a kind of journalistic attention to the fighters and the community. This is part of where we are headed.

Does the building of profiles and online material (training, fight and interview videos) play a role in Thailand as much as internationally? You all have the best test case of course. I am wondering if more studies of young female fighters would build excitement the same way (I know Sylvie has profiled many fighters and your "Great 8" is a perfect educational tool for me as a Western fan; just curious how it works there).

There is great emphasis, in Muay Thai promotion, on the westerner vs Thai match up. It is a kind of commercial "must do". This promotion really isn't designed to go that way. Which isn't to say that there would be zero westerners, Sylvie would probably be on these cards because we'd have to be there anyway helping produce the shows, but the emphasis or point of them would not be westerners vs Thais. It really is about getting the most Thais the most opportunity, and impacting the community over time. That means most of the match ups, in fact almost all of them, would be Thai vs Thai. Thank you for your co-thinking on this. The more minds on concert, the more likely change like this is possible!

I wrote in some depth about this here, on Patreon: The Fight Card to Change All Fight Cards | Thailand We actually put this card on and it was incredible. The card was a test-run proof-of-concept for a promotion that would run for a year, monthly. It isn't designed so much for exposure as the main goal, but that would eventually be the result. It is about raising the level of Muay Thai for a giant, already engaged community of female fighters, the biggest in the world. Traditionally it was a sidebet scene that drove the elite level of female fighting, like those produced in the original post in the original post of this thread. This is about creating a systemic supplementation to that process, especially in need because that process seems to be weakening. There is an important adjacent series of plans that go along with the promotion that I believe would lift the entire project to a completely different level, and have impact possibly across the globe, but I won't go into those here. In Thailand money speaks. Honestly, if we had the money right now it would already be happening. Once we set the tone and started the process lots of stake holders would buy in very quickly. We have great contacts in this area. For the more comprehensive approach - and I'm really holding on for the more comprehensive idea - there would require more (wider) stakeholder involvement, Thais can be factional and competitive in a community or commercial space, and part of this would be about resolving that, and letting benefits flow to differing stakeholders. I don't think this will be a challenge. We have good relations with possible regulatory bodies. It isn't a problem. The investment issue is simply one of vision. Nobody is thinking on this scale, this ecologically. It's so much a resistance, as there just not being pattern of this kind of investment and planning. The plan is incredible, but it honestly is about getting it to the right ears. Yes, there is a lot of "superstar" thinking in Thailand. This is really about taking care of and feeding an entire community of Muay Thai development, not finding a superstar. It's a rising tide approach. But, genuinely, if you raised the tide of the largest female fighting community in the world, you would end up producing superstars with international opportunity.

Hey. I have a question regarding sparring. What is the best way to progress in sparring? Sometimes I feel overwelhmed when an aggressive fighter is coming towards me. I try to step to the side but then I kinda get stuck in my guard taking shots and when i try to answer back they dodge my punches . I feel like my footwork might not be good enough or too slow.

9 outve 10 times this is dead on. Ive rarely been injured by a heavier partner but the smaller more aggressive guys can do damage almost by accident.

Just in today. A photo of Suk fighting my uncle.

Don't be afraid to ask your partner to calm down during sparring. It's a mutual exchange. If your partner is giving you no ground then there might be a problem somewhere.

Footwork is a very good place to start, as it's what allows literally everything else to function. For me, being able to "see" is the main difference between being overwhelmed and being able to wait out an combination and fire back. Everyone has patterns - ever single person - so generally you can start to read or see where those are and know when to counter in the middle of or after a flurry. There are different ways of being able to "see," but 100% it requires you to be calmer, which means focusing on your breathing and knowing literally what you're looking at (where are you looking when you spar? The face, the chest, the hips, the legs?). Trying different areas of focus is a place to start. Focusing on your breathing is a great start. Working on only one thing, like a hook or a kick and seeing when it lands and when it doesn't. All of this depends on you not being overwhelmed though, so step one is just focusing on how to bring your heart rate and stress down. I decide on some days that I'm just going to let myself get hit in the guard, so that I can find the holes in it, feel secure in it, learn to see out of it, etc. There's this guy I spar who hits too hard, so I practice this with him because I don't want to get clipped with his power if I'm open. And there's a guy I spar who is too fast for me, so I also use this approach with him, to find momentary openings.

Whatever fits my wallet.