Darina

I'm drinking lots of water and adding electroltes during training. I got a box of 50 for 180 baht at the local pharmacy. The taste is horrible though. We all also do mini-showers with ice water between rounds, just pouring it on your head. The whole time I thought the heat wasn't bothering me. But then last week it cooled down for a bit and I was amazed at how much stamina and power I suddenly had. Then today it's 40 degrees again and I seriously considered puking in-between pad rounds.

Thank you. I have a graduate degree in electrical engineering - being the only woman in the room, the company, or the gym is part of my day to day life and I hava absolutely no problems with it. But when it comes to being online, things are different. I have shied away from posting on any martial art forum so far because of the auto-negativity that comes from random keyboard warriors. When I was looking for a gym in Thailand, for example, I looked at old threads, and decided to message some people in private instead of exposing myself on a message board...

When you are replying to a thread and somebody posts a reply in the meantime, there is a pop-up notification which offers you to see the new reply. However when you click on it, nothing happens.

Hi, I'm Darina. I started training seriously about a year ago while living in Japan, and I'm currently at the end of my six week stay in Thailand before heading back home to Germany. I intend to keep training and fighting back home. Muay Thai has changed my life.

Yeah, you not only can, you actually should. The fighters are being paid very little, but they get tickets to sell... Good point, I'll add it to the post.

Complimentary to this entry, I wrote a blog post about how to watch a kickboxing or MMA event in Japan a while ago! (I also wrote about how to enter an amateur event, but haven't gotten around to publishing it yet.) By the way, both Umeno and Ichinohe lost their Lumpini title matches on Sunday.

It must be especially annoying having to go under the bottom rope in training, with nobody holding the ropes up for you. There isn't even space! Kevin/Sylvie: Have you ever asked him about why he enforces these rules? I wonder if there is a logical reason for it. And I didn't realise "Sitzpinkler" was such a problem outside of Germany, either (I'm actually from Berlin, heh). For us, a guy who does not sit down, is regarded as inconsiderate and anti-social. It's not a good comparison, however, because there is a real, tangible reason for why you are supposed to urinate sitting down - hygiene. It's only emasculating if you assume that being a man comes with the right to pee all over unisex bathrooms.

Thank you so much for the detailed answer! I guess the rule still applies to pre-pubescent girls and women who have hit menopause? The difference is certainly not insignificant to me but it was more of a curiosity. It probably wouldn't have bothered me. What does bother me though is the necessity of going under the ropes at all. In fact, it is more significant than I would have thought before it happened. I've never worried about how I get into the ring before - it's not an issue neither in Germany nor in Japan and I'm not superstitious. I once saw my coach in Japan trying to get a spectacular entrance in the ring by jumping over the ropes, and instead face-planting and injuring his shoulder (luckily he was just being honoured and not actually entering for a fight), which was a lesson to me to just enter as efficiently as possible and focus on what's actually important. I usually just go between whatever two ropes are the most conveniently located for me to go through or are held open for me. Here in Thailand I'm training at Sitmonchai, who adopt the "if you love muay Thai you enter the ring however you please" policy. The equal treatment of women in this respect was one of the reasons for me to choose to come here in the first place. So when I had to crawl under the ropes for the fight, it was the first time I went under the ropes in my life at all. I didn't think it would be an issue, but it was. It felt off. I was at such a high point in my life, I was finally ready to go and show how much I have learned in the last month. The crowd was loving me. I held my head high. And then suddenly I had to get on my knees to crawl into the ring under the bottom rope. It was kind of like getting hit by a bucket of cold water. It took a lot away from the moment. Or, let's be honest, I let it take away from the moment. It bothered me because I let it bother me - but I don't think I can ever get to a place where I don't care. I probably couldn't train in a gym that required me to go under the ropes or not let me train in the ring at all. It's an issue that I'm leaving to the Thai women to slowly resolve. I will definitely try to get another fight while I'm here and not let appearances and traditions get to me. But it's still an issue - just like I have trouble going to see fights at Lumpini or Raja and giving them my money. It feels wrong, given the fact that they won't even let me touch the ring. I'm absolutely with you in each single point that you make in the two blog posts that you have linked. This whole thing reminds me of Jewish rules. Orthodox jews have similar segregation rules for men and women, with extra precautions for when a woman is menstruating. But nowadays the culture has evolved, and those who still follow these rules are viewed as relics and fanatics not only by non-jewish people but the majority of the jews as well. I hope Thailand will get there eventually.

I've messaged Sylvie on Facebook, but she asked me to post my question here instead, because the answer may be relevant to other people. There really isn't much information on the topic. So here goes. I had my first fight in Thailand on Friday (shameless plug - you can read about it here). It was all very last minute, I just sort of went through the motions, hoping my coaches would not let me make huge mistakes. I got in the ring under the ropes and when I was inside my trainer put the mongkol on my head. I was already wearing the flowers (I don't know what they are called, sorry). I didn't think much of it until after my fight, when I noticed that the guys from my gym were entering the ring already wearing the mongkol. Hence my question, is it because I'm a woman and it's not going under the ropes with me, or is it because we were in such a rush to get me in the ring that we forgot to put it on? If it's because I'm a woman, would it make a difference if it is my personal mongkol and not one shared with the male fighters?