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This part feels particularly important for female athletes. @Kaitlin Rose Young (and of course you and me, Emma) and I have had a few back and forths about how unique it is for women to be asked when they're going to stop fighting, even after very objectively successful fights! But I love your point here, that whatever you're thinking or feeling about the progression of your Muay Thai career (or your Power Lifting) is coming from YOU. That's so, so hard in the world of sport, where you have trainers and mentors, teammates, "fans" or people who support you (or don't), etc. Everyone has an opinion and, for all the reasons that be, a lot of people feel justified in voicing those opinions to women, especially. It can be hard to tune it out. It can be hard to go against it. It can even be hard to dismiss it when you KNOW it's total bullshit. Which is crazy.

I think it's really instructive when thinking about the rules of Muay Thai to consider the influence of Judo, and the Nationalistic identities involved between the two sports. It's important to see that as Thailand moved toward modernity after the turn of the 1900s, just as "Boran" schools of Muay Thai were formalized by King Chulalongkorn (1910), Thailand was also encountering Judo which was being spread and internationalized out of Japan, as an act of modernity as well. (Judo's founder Kano Jigoro was a moral Educator, and was influenced by American and European philosophies of education.) Two years after Boran styles were official recognized, and teaching masters designated, royalty returned from study abroad in London, where Prince Wibulya learned Judo. He began teaching Judo to interested parties in Bangkok. By 1919 civil servants and officers were being taught both British Boxing ("civilized" fighting, as the world would see it) and Muay Boran, under a single discipline which is best broadly termed muay, they were also taught Judo. This is the cadre of a class of the modernizing, many would say, westernizing forces in Thailand, transforming its governance, and making itself open to the world. Read the Modernization of Muay Thai Timeline for more details. In 1921 the first permanent Muay Thai ring was set up in Thailand, at the same Suan Kulap College, for not only Muay Thai matches, but British Boxing matches as well. You can picture the cadet, civil servant, internationalist feel it must have had. Before this time all rings were festival rings, set up just for events, the biggest ones staged at the Bangkok city pillar. To give an idea of historical perspective, This ring predates the introduction of Karate to Japan from Okinawa. That's right. A Siam prince was teaching Judo in Bangkok, and western boxing fights were being held in a fixed ring in the Capitol, even before Japan had received Karate. In fact, Judo arrived in Thailand a few years before it reached Brazil, where it would eventually grow into its own powerful tradition. Not Judo - Why Some Throws Are Illegal All this is prelude to say that that these euphoric, modernizing trends did not last in Thailand. Over the next decade Western Boxing would have a lasting impact on Muay Boran, for instance the civilizing adoption of gloves (formally, 1928), and it seems that Judo would also grow in this early time period, the Ministry of Education established inter-school Judo competitions (1927), but at a certain point while western boxing continued to influence Muay Thai all the way until this day (Thailand's biggest stars have been western boxing stars, not Muay Thai stars, one could argue), it became aesthetically paramount to make clear that Muay Thai is NOT Japanese, and therefore anything that gave a whiff of Judo in the ring was formally made illegal. Restrictions On Foot Sweeps This I believe is the key to understanding the meaning of the written prohibitions against certain moves that are found in the few written rule books available. The somewhat vague rule is no "leg sweeping the opponent using the calf or inside of the foot". What is this inside of the foot? To really understand what is being talked about you have to look at actual Judo foot sweeps. The "inside of the foot" is connected up with the use of the bottom of the foot. This also illuminates the prohibition against "tripping the opponent with the ankle". If this isn't clear, it isn't any part of the ankle, its those Judo trips that use the back of the ankle. Thai officials and probably fighters - and I suspect this developed after the resented Japanese occupation of Thailand in World War II, which corresponds to the opening of Rajadamnern stadium (1945), and then Lumpinee (1956) - came to distinguish Muay Thai from Japanese Judo. There was a history of Judo in Siam, reaching back decades, but after Thailand was occupied by ultra nationalist forces, and used as a staging area for it's Greater Asian conquest, as an ally, ended up producing a chill between the two countries. At some point you did not want to "look Japanese" in any way, at least this is something I suspect from where we have gotten to today. You can read an enumeration of illegal moves in Muay Thai here. When you look at the Judo sweeps below you can see exactly what the later written rules were trying to bar. These rules were likely not written rules for decades, but an unstated shunning of all things Japanese in the self-identity of Muay Thai as essentially a Siam, and then Thai fighting art. I can remember Master K admonishing Sylvie - Master K was in his 70s at the time, had fought in the 1960s, and older generation - "Do not be a shrimp (curled in posture), you are not Japanese". And even to this day when Sylvie was learning a borderline illegal throw if you do it incorrectly (it isn't technically illegal, but it has an unexpected force of a Judo like move, invented by Karuhat as far as I can tell), I heard a Thai yell out that it was "Japanese!" with some disdain. I've written about some of the tensions between Japan and Thailand, as Japan tried to assert it's martial, Karate-based fighting efficacy vs Muay Thai. It feels like even since World War II there is still a Thai combat self-identity that distinguishes itself from Judo. There is another prohibition in the written rules that isn't completely clear, which involve locking an opponent's arm, (Sport Authority of Thailand, 2002) rule 16.2 (English translation) states that, “throwing, back breaking, locking opponent’s arms, using Judo and wrestling techniques” Using the same interpretative framework, it is actual locking of the arm as in a Judo "lock", and not just immobilizing an arm as you often have in Muay Thai clinch. Again, nothing Judo! Nothing Japanese. Gradual Change in the Rules Note: all the technical descriptions on the illegality of trips and throws can be bent, in practical terms, if a fighter is very artful about the trip, and distinctly gives the impression it was not a foul. There is an element of deception in real ring scoring. I'm not quite sure when it was, but sometime around the early 2000s maybe National Stadium Muay Thai started to accept artful foot trips as long as the did not violate the kind of physical descriptions found below. I strongly suspect that the original prohibitions were not ever written down, but everyone understood and wanted nothing that even remotely felt Japanese (Judo-ish). For this reason there likely developed just an aesthetic prohibition against any foot-trips or sweeps, if only because they were ugly or low...not-Muay-Thai. This probably contributed to clinch attacks being much more continuous and fluid in style in the Golden Age. As fighters started to explore the legal and aesthetic lines with trips and throws, it seems that a much more grounded, strength-based and locking clinch style also co-evolved, something that a lot of people who love Thailand's Muay Thai bemoan. Foot sweeps came in (still technically not Judo-esque) and the clinchers became locking clinch fighters. Artful Ways Around "Not Judo" - Developing Muay Thai It isn't only clever but still legal sweeps, throws and trips that have developed inside the rule set, ex-fighters like Karuhat and Rambaa I've seen work out edge attack throws that remain legal, and skirt the "no hip throws" prohibition. You can see Karuhat's beautiful throw here: And there is this total improvisation by Karuhat, which I filmed in real time of his wheels turning. You can see him develop the counter to the wall of china, moving it away from a waist grab tackle (which can be illegal), to his preferred attack of tipping the opponent, using the thigh as a fulcrum: And Rambaa's trip/throw designs can be found below. Interestingly Rambaa is a Thai MMA World Champion who trained and fought in Japan, and perhaps was exposed to Judo, so his Muay Thai application may have come from inventively exploring that line between Judo and Muay Thai [update 2020, since writing this I've seen this trip from several fighters, including Luktum in the Muay Thai Library as well]. Here is a graphic I made for Sylvie's post on illegal moves in Muay Thai, which you can read here, Muay Thai Illegal Moves: The above narrative holds my conjecture, combined with facts I've researched over the years. Nothing authoritative.

This is a poison of western fight culture. I've learned to never underestimate anybody. There's no such thing as an easy fight, really and truly. I was listening to Kru Nu tell me about how this opponent couldn't fight me, which is a Thai phrase that is often used to imply that skill levels are just crazy different. But even after telling me this, he paused and then told me never to underestimate anybody. He said anything can happen in a fight, it depends on how important it is to the other person, etc. I've felt that in my opponents. And I think that when your opponent is talked down - and people mean well when they do that, even though it's so shitty - it takes something from your own heart. It makes it seem less important. It allows you, even for a moment, even if you know better, to let your guard down a little. You SHOULD have an appropriate level of fear, or awareness, for every single person you will ever get in the ring with. Even if on paper it looks like there's no way you could lose. It's a fight. You've prepared for it. It's your preparation that will let you win, not your expectations about your opponent. You can fight anyone, Lisa. Literally anyone. You can be the one who everyone is down-talking and you can win in those conditions. Your opponent has the same possibilities. But don't doubt yourself or believe in yourself based on who or what your opponent is. Believe in yourself for what you've done, for who you are, for the work you've put in. None of that guarantees a win. But you can't disappoint yourself if you know you've done the work. Just do the work. The fight is part of it, not the result of it.

You are very welcome! Your post definitely hit a soft spot in me. There are so many people who don't try to better themselves and I think that it causes them to completely miss out on certain fundamental and universal truths. The fact alone that you had the courage and determination to repeatedly step in the ring and pursued your passion for so many years makes you a Winner in my book (and I'm positive thousands of other people feel the same way I do). Sorry for the bf, his loss...

Hi and thanks @Matty. Think you hit a spot with your thoughts on my expectations. I must admit to myself that I expected to win (cringe!:)). I had seen her previously. People at my gym were boasting me saying it would be an easy win. I thought that my fear of the shame somehow would carry me through and make me win. (?!? I know this sounds ridiculous!!!) I thought that all my training would overpower the stage fright and adrenaline. So yeah I think that part of the shame also was that I and people around me expected me to win. I wasn’t better than the woman they had been down talking. I’m up for a second fight in a few weeks. I’ve been off and on whether I wanted to risk the shame again. But wtf! I don’t want to leave it like this. Having my first fight, not being happy with my performance, losing and hiding under the covers. I want to try it again and see if I can improve on not completely checking out mentally. And also this time around my expectations are different.

Hi everyone, I recently read the blog from Emma Thomas that Sylvie had re-posted (I am posting the link to it below). https://8limbsus.com/female-fighters/by-emma-thomas-muay-thai It gave me the impulse to write the few words below and I wanted to share how Emma's post touched me to the core: If you would ask me what kind of individuals I look up to… I would answer that I admire people who have incredible personal qualities such as Courage, Kindness, Generosity, Determination, and Dedication… If you also have great wisdom, chances are you are a role model to me. Emma's post touched me in many ways and I’d like to express support to this incredible person. I am one that agrees that the best learning outcomes come from our failures. And more often than not, the harder you fail, the greater the lesson. This is where I stand anyways and I have yet to have managed to deal with successes better than with failures. I noticed in the article that the rationale for the person to tell Emma to quit was the amount of consecutive losses she had had. Not a valid argument in my opinion. You do something because you enjoy it, want to improve, are passionate about it, want to share the moment and practice with someone who shares the same passion as you, sense of accomplishment, to gain wisdom, know what you are made of and so on… The list of valid reasons for doing something can be endless. I really don’t think that the opinion of the judges sitting ring-side (no matter how qualified they may be) and the official outcome of a fight would be the main reason why fighters fight. It could be the main motivation for spectators but that also has to be proven (many spectators can actually appreciate a fight regardless of the official outcome, unless they bet money). Let’s not mention that stepping in the ring is, alone, a win each time. Let’s also not mention that Emma Thomas stepped in the ring right away at the most difficult place to do so: Thailand, the mother land of Muay Thai. How could anyone with a little bit of common sense tell her to quit after only 11 fights in Thailand. That just doesn’t make sense at all… I have had successes in life, although I do not recall any of those successes occurring before failing first. I have failed more times than I could ever count; from every failure, there was a learning outcome. At times it was a big lesson and sometimes a smaller, more subtle one. In many occurrences I repeatedly failed before any kind of incremental improvements. All the times I failed helped me become a better person. For each time I failed there was a lesson around the corner and incremental improvements arose. On another hand, the ego trip and euphoria provided by unexpected successes have blurred my thoughts and ultimately set me back. Things that worked out on the first try have had a tendency to make me stop pushing and searching for a better self. The kind of feeling that gives the illusion that you’ve got nothing else to learn after all. Retrospectively that feeling is infinitely detrimental to one’s mind and soul.

Thanks for your thoughtful response and kind words, Joe. It's really interesting for me to look back on that post with the perspective that I have now. I knew at the time that the person who'd told me to give up was wrong, but it seems even more ridiculous now. It's crazy to read that I'd only been training for a year and a half at the time, that I'd had 11 fights, and that I'd only had three consecutive losses at the time. Those numbers are so insignificant, they're almost nothing! A few years later, I would go on to have five losses in a row, and even that doesn't mean much at all. Also, looking back, I think I was way too kind to the person in question in my writing. But, I respected them a lot, and that's part of why it hurt so much. You're absolutely right about that not being a valid argument, and the reasons for fighting being so much bigger than winning. I actually haven't fought now for over a year and a half, and I go back and forth constantly on whether or not I still want to. Sometimes, all I want is to get back in there. Other times, I'm fine with letting that part of my life go. It's bittersweet to think of that, but the important thing is that those feelings are coming from myself, rather than someone else who thinks they know what's best for me. That guy wasn't the last person who told me to give up, either. After one of my last fights, my boyfriend at the time did, too. Yeah, he's an ex now. Thanks again for your post and for bringing this article to my attention. I never liked to revisit this one because it always brought up some feelings of shame and inferiority for me, but this time it was a very different experience. I actually really needed this today

I think the shame you feel comes from your expectation of how you would perform, given that you had been able to perform well sparring with the guys at your gym. You know, I felt shame even when I won. Because there were things that I thought I should be able to do but couldn't. When I told that to my coach, he said that you will always feel that (having things you should be able to do/do better) unless you have a 1 second KO. In contrast, I had lost in an open tournament against an opponent with 10 fights when I had only 1 fight at the time. I was outmatched and got dominated the whole time. It was a tough beating to take. But I didn't feel shame. While I didn't go in expecting to lose, I didn't actually hold any expectation to win OR lose. It might be rare situation to never have expectations of yourself. What makes fighting beautiful is perhaps that dignity is on the line. But maybe while you feel shame, you may also remember pride at the same time. A CBT technique I have used is that I save screenshots of the fight of moments that made me feel proud, and whenever that feeling of shame rises up, I look at those screenshots to teach myself to recognize pride as well. Not to override shame, but to have both shame and pride at the same time (if you've watched cartoon movie "inside out", it's kinda at the end when Joy and Sadness both touch the memory ball). Kudos for having your first fight

The back of your calf to the back of their standing leg calf, same time as a double push on the shoulders when they do a knee? Glorious, gorgeous and yeah, because it's not muscled but timed. When it happens to you by someone who knows how.....you're almost too distracted by him shoving your shoulders that you don't realise it's a calf to calf thing that pulled the rug from under you. Not being funny, but even if it is a foul, he almost deserves the point if he pulls it off with you not realising it was a foul. That's the most morally vacuous argument ever made, but hey. But the wrestler's knee tap thing - is it legal or not?

Yes, definitely. And in fights. It is unclear if judges will simply ignore the point on throws and trips that technically break the rules (the rules on this are not something Thai fighters ever see printed out), or, if the gray area, or out-right flagrant fouls will even be awarded some sort of credit, if done with panache, if the ref in the ring doesn't warn. I've seen a lot of questionable back of the calf trips that can be done with flourish, and in fact one female gym in Chiang Mai regularly does them in fights. I think to pull these off you have to really dominate with them, and have style, at least outside the National Stadia. I don't watch enough National Stadia fights to see if fighters there get away with them. A notable gray area, as well, is not tripping with the inside of the foot (must be top of the foot). In training everyone uses the inside of the foot because it's not painful to you or your partner. I imagine that there are more than a few inside of the foot trips in fights, simply out of habit. One element of the flair that Thais have learned to use is that the flair really takes these kind of moves, stylistically, away from the aesthetics of Judo, so it could be that that sense of style helps blur the line.

Actually been wondering about this for a while and didn't know how to ask it. Training in Europe, partners and coaches would get WAY more pissy, anal and chastisey over clinch takedowns that were greyish areas, but during time in Bangkok it was way more commonplace and done with laughing and joking around... like, if it's done smooth and quick enough and nobody saw how, and the ref didn't see, then it's all cool. To be honest...kinda liked that approach. Or maybe it was just these Thai boys messing with me and I didn't have the language to ask what was legal and what wasn't. Actually never asked questions or even spoke much at all for months. But one that stuck in the mind? Kinda similar to a wrestler's knee tap. Actually incredibly similar. Even done to me with an underhook on one side, and with his other arm the hand drops down to just rest on the back of the knee cap on the opposite side to the shoulder being underhooked. That shoulder raised up slightly with the underhook and his momentum forward to complete the takedown. So... letter of the law, is that within the rules? If lower body attacks with the arms are out?

All reasonable thoughts, I just don't happen to agree with them But it's just a matter of maybe what we can call disposition. But I would say the idea that the Japanese don't still do some pretty funky fights presented as "real" we always have the incredible Floyd Mayweather vs Tension Nasukawa fight to admire which matches up nicely with the best of the 1970s and 1980s.

Kevin kindly invited me to post this press release for my upcoming NYC art show here. I am a visual artist by profession, and I managed to squeeze my main love, combat sports, into the mold of art as you will see below (I shoot photos but not fight ones per se; I also do live events in the name of art). Some of you will find the language pretentious and that's ok Opens next Thursday in case anyone is local. Will be a sanctioned Ladies MT fight night with 6 amateur fights for July 12. Its same-day weigh-ins, geared especially for the higher weight classes. This is free and open to the public (as is the show), but space is limited so if you are around come early! Thanks Kevin! p.s. I am with you. I think Muay Thai is one of the World's great art forms (I believe you wrote "the greatest" and I love it). Dana Hoey, Alicia and Navajo Blanket, 2019, Lightbox, 20 x 65 inches, (Detail). DANA HOEY Dana Hoey Presents June 27 – August 2, 2019 Opening Reception: Thursday, June 27th, 5–8pm 456 West 18th Street Petzel Gallery is pleased to announce Dana Hoey Presents, a para fictional exhibition conceptualized, produced and directed by Hoey, in which the artist will show her own photographic work, the performance and sculpture work of Marcela Torres, and a live ladies Muay Thai fight night that will take place in a 20’ x 20’ boxing ring installed inside the gallery. The show, which challenges and confronts preconceived ideas and realities of feminism, combat, violence, self defense and the martial arts, will be on view from June 27 until August 2 at the gallery’s Chelsea location and will feature an opening night performance by Torres. “During the run of Dana Hoey Presents, my role will be that of Svengali,” Hoey says. “Although I make work as a single subjective, expressive artist, I prefer to emphasize my position as a participant in a larger social construct.” For her own work, Hoey will present Ghost Stories, highly subjective, surreal lightbox collages, made from images shot by Hoey, and a logo designed by David Knowles, which will recur elsewhere in the show. The people featured in these photographs will also be presented in a separate room as poster-style portraits featuring their names and occupations. In the labeled posters Hoey’s aim is to surface the power dynamic of portraiture, particularly as it relates to a white artist taking the image of non-white people. Hoey will also present a 14’ tall stop-action photograph of the great boxing World Champion Alicia “Slick” Ashley shadowboxing. Ashley, a fighter as seasoned and skilled as Mohammed Ali, holds 3 Guinness World records and many World Titles, yet she remains unknown to most Americans. “I invited Marcela Torres to be in this show because her work intersects with mine in dynamic ways,” Hoey explains. “She is first and foremost a performance artist who directly visualizes and attacks the currents of power acting on her queer brown body.” Torres works with fight training devices (speed bags, heavy bags), that have been mic’ed and the sound amplified and remixed. For Dana Hoey Presents Torres will present Agentic Mode, a 40 minute performance that employs audial soundscapes, martial arts movement and spoken word to contemplate contemporary violence as a lived war zone. The instruments she uses for the performance and the recorded sound will live on in the heart of the show after the live performance. Exhibition programs include: Thursday, July 11 Violence and Victimhood, a panel discussion moderated by Dana Hoey, featuring Nona Faustine Simmons, Emma Sulkowicz and Sarah Schulman. This panel is intended to frame the question of violence and historical, personal and cultural victimhood from viewpoints other than Hoey’s. Friday, July 12 Ladies Muay Thai Fight Night, emceed by artist JJ Chan and featuring 5 amateur fights. Doors open at 7pm and entrance is free and open to the public although space is limited. Thursday July 18 Multi-disciplinary Fight Clinic, taught by Tang Soo Do World Title holder Jo-Anne Falanga. Clinic is open to all levels including beginner, and all styles are also welcome. Dana Hoey is a feminist artist working in photography, video and social practice. She most recently exhibited Five Rings at the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, which featured self-defense classes for young women from the Police Athletic League and the local community. Three books are available on her work: The Phantom Sex, with essay by Johanna Burton; Experiments in Primitive Living, with essay by Maurice Berger; and Profane Waste, in collaboration with the writer Gretchen Rubin. Her persistent interests are conflict and the possibility of political art. Marcela Torres brings into action performance, objects, workshops, and sound installations that investigate the interpellation of our diaspora. Petzel Gallery is located at 456 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011. Gallery hours: please note that the gallery will be open on Friday, June 28th and Saturday, June 29th from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Thereafter, our summer hours begin Monday, July 8th, and we are open from Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. For press inquires, please contact Ricky Lee at ricky@petzel.com, or call (212) 680-9467.

He was an ok fighter, he fought Sirimongkol and didn't collapse, but he was not awesome. Stiff, predictable. But come on, a running tackle? It's not dirty, it's just incredibly unskilled. Saenchai KO'd Kem with a spectacular sweep. It's possible, of course, but also a tackle is a pretty good way to present the opportunity to take the dive. Fujiwara had a (quite literally) unbelievable 99 KOs in 126 wins. I think it is fair to say all 99 of those KOs were not likely, well, real. All of these Japanese belt fights are extremely dubious in my book, including recent ones. There is no way to tell, but the propensity for fake Japanese fighting and nationalism is quite high and well known. They have been run out of the country, by some report, attempting to buy off refs in Thailand (for instance in the 1982 Martial Arts World Championships when the only Japanese fighter who won was by disqualification). Flying out refs means pretty much zero, unfortunately, if a fighter is KOd. It's still likely going on today, this Japanes show. The 105 lb Lumpinee AND Rajadamnern champion, at this moment, simultaneously (wow, he must really be good!), is a Japanese fighter from a very connected gym. The only fight video I can find of him is him looking like just a run of a mill Thai stadium fighter could walk right through him...the Thai in the fight just falls down...several seconds after a body shot. Honestly it looks like Sylvie could beat him. Maybe just highly, highly favorable opponent choices? Who knows, but something isn't right. It's just that the entire history of money and corruption in the Japanese fight game problemizes every decision, and makes it so you can only guess. You say legit! I say hmmm? Who knows? Thais go over to lose in China as well, it isn't just Japan. And with growing Chinese influence there will likely be many more Chinese victories coming in the next 5 years. I'm sure stadium champions are not far behind.

I don't find your work exoticizing at all. I think its because there is almost always text accompanying the photos, that identifies the subject and specifies their occupation as well as what is special about them. I've got collages like you see above, and this is typical for a visual artist rather than classic photographer - you just take the image of someone and completely separate it from the person. A former colleague of mine is a most aggregious offender in my opinion. I love the photos (they are of a Goshkagawa, Japan School Basketball team), but in a NYC, primarily fancy white context they just look like she is using Asians as ciphers and stand-ins for all women. I did something unusual in this context, which is I made the collages ie; imposed my ego on people, but i also included an introductory room of "posters" (actually high production matte prints but pinned to the wall). Each poster features name and occupation. Its just basic courtesy but emphatic in this context and functions just the way your images do on social media - identify and raise up the subject. Feminism: I don't like the conventional idea that women are the kind peacekeeper mother earth types who would run the world better if we had a chance. Blegh. We are just as flawed and violent as anyone else. Yes there is something called "toxic masculinity" and yes we need more seats at the table and yes this would change things for the better, but instantly associating us with kindness etc is weakening. We need strength. Combat violence: I didn't write that haha. Just noticed it. I guess "violence" is correct but I am just talking here about something everyone here understands, which is that yeah fighting is about the violence, but its more about the love of the form and a kind of love of your opponent, not anger. Self-defense: I think self-defense is so much more about attitude. When you train martial arts you train offense at the same time. In conventional self defense class there is an assumption the woman will be a victim. Now, this is true statistically, but there is no real defense without offense which is usually not trained in self-defense context. Martial Arts: same deal - people think its about some kind of primitive violence, rather than a refined art form. I will just show them by having live fights They probably won't understand, but I will feel better.

I’m also a female and I trained at Phuket for one week back in March this year and is happy to share. I stayed at that street where tiger is at, although I did not train at tiger. I’ve went with my husband, but he did not train as often as I did while in Phuket. As a background, prior to going to Phuket I’ve been training Muay Thai for less than 2 years and no fighting experience, only done sparring with limited number of partners. To prepare for my trip, I upped the intensity and frequency of training months ahead of time so that I can get the most of my trip. Here are some of my experiences. I tried two gyms while there，first session at top team second session at dragon Muay Thai from there I decided to stick with dragon for the rest of my trip. The class at top team is definitely more demanding in terms of your physical conditioning, and all the people I seen training there are already in good conditioning. Their pad work is a bit different than the other gyms, as they will rotate you on to different pad holders. Which is kinda nice because you will get to try out different style of pad holder and if you really like one over the other you can book a few privates with them. After pad work I was told to spar with the other girls, this caught me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting that they will allow me to spar with none trainers. The girls are all very nice, the sparring went well. I then went to try dragon Muay Thai in the same day afternoon. I decided to stay at dragon because I felt more comfortable and at ease at dragon. Their class is less demanding on conditioning and more technique driven. After warmup and stretching, the trainers will guide you through some shadow boxing and then partner you up for drills. You then move on to do few rounds of bag work and few rounds of pad work with one of the trainers. After that everyone will be doing sparring, compare to top team, they put more effort into pairing people up for sparring. I think this might due to the fact there are more beginner training at dragon than top team. Basically they will group/pair off people as they see fit. And the beginners will get paired off with the trainers, so it’s totally safe. I spend the rest of the week training twice a day at dragon, one private in the morning and one group session in the afternoon. Even though I was only there for one week, my trainer was still very invested in me, as well he was not against training women and he did his best to help me improve my Muay Thai skills. He was able to identify what im good at and what I need to work on. None of the trainers made inappropriate advancement to me. On a side note, one of the kru at the gym had a fight one of the nights I was training there, I gladly joined with some of the other students to go see him fight, it was an amazing experience. The street I’ve stay at is very comfortable, easy access to food and pharmacy, lots of choices of gyms and hotels. There are many single ladies living and training in the area so it’s definitely one of the more female friendly places. To my surprise I even saw many girls entering the ring at the gyms above the bottom rope and was not told off(but at the stadium they will make sure all women entering the ring are entering under the bottom rope tho). Eitherway I always entered from the under the bottom rope even though they never demanded it. I hope this is helpful, and that you enjoy your stay at Phuket.