Leaderboard

A long range and evasive style calls to me as well. Thank you for the resources all.

Ah I’m hearing you! I’ve got Eastern European blood too and culturally I see differences too. My fathers side is italian which is completely opposite hahaha! it’s all very interesting.

One of the most interesting things for those interested in Thailand's Muay Thai is how Muay Thai itself is a highly stylized expression of Muay Thai, or what some call hypermasculinity. One of the more striking things about Thai language for those first learning it, coming from the west, is how speakers end speech with a gendered polite particle, ka or krop, basically positioning the speaker, as gendered in an almost constant process of self-declaration. This performed division of the genders may even have helped give rise to the very notions of gender fluidity that allow trans persons to simply adopt the particle of the trans- gender they are moving toward. In this sense Thailand is both rather rigid, and also fluid. But, this is really what I'm writing about here. This gendered division, along with very hyperstylized versions of gender both feminine and masculine, is thought to not even really BE Thai, at least in a certain dimension of analysis. The stark distinctions between genders is thought to have arisen in the early part of the 19th century when Thailand (then Siam) faced extraordinary pressure from the west to "self-civilize"). In otherwords, "you better become a lot more like US, or you will get colonized (ie, civilized)". The division of the genders both visually (gendered dress was government imposed in the periods that followed), and also in terms of speech (I believe the imposition of these gendered particles) came from this somewhat radical, and also Thai-flavored adoption of western gender values, with those Victorian roots. Of note, this self-civilization also is what likely brought about the adoption of gloves in Muay Thai (then simply Muay). So, when you say "ka" or "krop" at the end of a Thai sentence, you are also reliving the forces that also gloved the hands of Thailand's boxers.

Some great names already mentioned above. I'd like to add Nokweed Davy, who had an absolute sledgehammer of a kick And Chatchai Paiseetong for his sublime head kicks

I remember a video of Sylvie talking to someone she took a lesson with (I don't remember who it was) while preparing for a fight and told him that she'd be fighting an opponent who prefers to... I forgot what. He didn't know yet that Sylvie was a Muay Khao style fighter but when he heard what kind of opponent she would be facing he was like "ah, then you just need to be Muay Khao!" as in "If that's the kind of opponent you're fighting, just adopt a Muay Khao style for this fight!". Serves to show that Thais can be kind of flexible with styles.

They were killers in the Golden Age for sure, everyone just had a swagger and unique style about them. Thank you for these fights as well, they’re gonna be a great resource for study. I’m looking to implement a little bit of those Golden Age tactics into my MMA game so this Library and these discussions are truly a godsend!