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I have a friend, Burmese, who is training for his first Lethwei fight. He's done kyokushin karate matches before and a street boxing match against a very easy opponent. His fight will be what they call semi-professional lethwei, 5 rounds 3 minutes, all weapons allowed including headbutts but instead of no gloves they'll wear MMA gloves. KO or draw. About a week before his fight he did sparring and my teacher, who I know to be very very controlled and can go hard without causing damage, kicked him in the head. My teacher is 63 kg and around 175cm tall and my friend 185cm and 78kg and will fight open weight (possibly against a muscular tall 100kg dude). My friend told me the kick hurt extremely much and he almost lost consciousness. I wasn't there to see it but my teacher, who of course apologized, said he didn't use any force. And the rest of the gym pretty much laughed and said it wasn't a big deal. The thing is I saw a photo of my friend's face and he had like a dent in his cheekbone from the kick. He also said he had a lot of pain and felt dizzy for two days. But his teachers and gym mates tell him to stop making a deal about it, if he wants to fight he needs to be able to take some pain. I dont really know how tough this guy is. But he's done heavy hard sparring before. And I know my teacher's body is incredibly hard (they don't kick banana trees in Myanmar, they kick, elbow and headbutt coconuts open) but he is a controlled person so there's the possibility of my friend being sensitive. But to me this situation sounds absolutely reckless, especially so short before what will be a very tough fight. And I suspect due to a lack of knowledge about head injuries they ignore his worry. I know this is not directly related to muay thai but I'm asking from the perspective of general safety and fighting. I believe everyone should respect martial art traditions and listen to your teacher. But at the same time your own safety has to be your responsibility and priority.

If it hurt that much and he had a dent, he should of course go look see the doctor for a check up and a X-ray. He could get hurt for real, even if it wasnt the purpose of this kick. S... happens, even if you arent planning on it. Unless such medical check up costs a smaller fortune, and he doesnt have the money. But this is perhaps another story; to engage in a quite dangerous sport without having possibility to adequate medical back up.

I recently adopted a Myanmar stray kitten . What I find so amazing is that I now throughout the day take short pauses to play or cuddle and I find it so great for my general well-being. I had no idea about the benefits of their purring. I will look into it. My kitten lost her mum very early so since I got her she has been suckling on my neck. It's so cute.

Something to add to the topic. Sylvie got head kicked (accidentally) in sparring by a big partner and definitely was concussed, not too long ago. We've become very serious about putting in much more sparring, now 10 rounds a day, which means also sparring with people who just are not ideal. For us this means that if this is going to happen head defense has to become a very serious priority. Padwork and bagwork can produce some seriously bad habits, unconscious relaxations after combos or single strikes. Yes, it's sparring that will take those relaxations out (you are just going to get hit, and that will correct things), but if you are going to spar a lot the truth is that you just can't expose yourself to that much impact. This means head defense HAS to become a priority. This is one reason why we're working in the Diamond Guard. I feel like this is the most secure "cage" of defense in the sport, and famously protected Archie Moore through well over 100 boxing fights. The point though really is, if you are going to spar, defense and head protection has to become a major focus, just in terms of longevity. You can't just rely on negative feedback to correct your defensive mistakes. You have to stop thinking about offense (which is what pretty much everything thinks about in sparring) and become defensively minded, especially in your guard.

I was thinking the same about the meal the problem is most of them always seem in a hurry to go home after training / I don’t speak any Thai and they don’t speak English so I will try to ask them to get a meal before I go home in about 6 weeks. the trainer that spends most time teaching me / holds my pads will receive a tip at the end before I go ... when they bring some snacks like dried fruit they share it with me too they already feel like family after 10 days trainingen

I've tipped trainers over in Thailand plenty of times, and they've always appreciated it. I'm sure they'd be happy with any gift you offered. How about treating them to a meal? The bonus for you would be they'll probably order dishes for you that you'd never know about otherwise. Ask them if they know a good Isaan restaurant (the best regional cuisine in Thailand - in my humble opinion)