NewThai

Just gonna drop this here: http://www.bruisebrother.com/?p=182

I'm in the same boat somewhat, 3.5 years of training, and I've been too "nice" in some of my fights. I'll hit often, and hit hard, but I'll catch myself pausing to give her a chance to recover from a stun or fix her headgear (yay USA). It's not a great way to win fights - so far I've been lucky to be active enough and do damage enough to win despite the niceness. I'm trying to work on this now. For survey's sake I am a female nak muay. I look forward to hearing from others.

Those were big issues for sure. Not having an identifiable schedule or bracket system were the most traumatic for me as one of the fighters. The cramped waiting spaces weren't fun, but we made some new friends in the cuddle puddles. I was there waiting to fight for 12 hours on Friday, 12 hours on Saturday, and 14 hours on Sunday. I had no idea when or if I would fight, when I could eat or when I should find an empty space to hit pads. It was mentally and physically exhausting. It's over now and I got my money back, so all I can do is warn others about what my team and I experienced, and for them to consider registering for future events very carefully.

Well, in a surprising move they refunded my registration fee (I sent emails and opened a Paypal dispute that they closed on their own via refund). So I feel better about that at least.

Well she was looking for an opponent on a local promotion this summer so we're hoping to make that happen despite the weight differences. It would feel nice to "finish" my tournament.

Our first and last, btw. Had heard it was bad, but they moved from Virginia to Queens and seeing it was 9 miles away we thought we'd try...

I paid to fight in two rules sets. One never happened because I was the only one that actually registered for it. They said online when i registered if there were no opponents in a bracket that they'd close it and refund - but they had names on the bracket sheets. Turns out they were random fighters from other classes and weights who they also posted in that division without telling them until they got their 60 second On Deck warning. They ended up scrapping that division when the first fight got called and the coaches realized the girls were different weights and rules. I feel I definitely deserve that fee back. In full rules we had a four girl tournament. They other three were bigger than me, but I was happy to fight up in weight if I could fight. We had the first two bouts Saturday. Never got to fight for the belt. Even walked around WITH my opponent on Sunday to each officials' desk asking to please let us fight. We waited for over 14 hours that day alone. I feel like I deserve at least half of that fee since it was their mismanagement that kept me from having the second fight. My team had ten fighters each in two divisions and NONE of us fought Friday. The event started four hours late and even then they often had one fight happening at a time when there were three full rings. Started 90 minutes late in Saturday, though they did have some forward momentum. Sunday some of my teammates had to fight 5-8 times because they were so far behind with brackets. Some had brackets of 10-12 guys and they didn't start ANY of those until Sunday and made them bash out multiple rounds. Never again.

Excuse my French, but what a fucking shit show. One of my divisions was cancelled due to clerical errors,and the second was cancelled because the event ran 8 hours past its contracted end time and security shut it all down. I could write a book about how completely and utterly mismanaged this all was. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Well they consolidated weight classes because of the small turnout so now I'm in the 154 bracket for both elbows and no elbows, which is slightly less exciting. I'm going to experience a bit of Sylvie's life in the ring with larger opponents LOL.

The absolute last place I'd stick it.

That's what I was wondering as I knew you couldn't wear just anything below the waist (and that some of the boys had them on in clinch).

Not sure fight shorts need a key pocket like running gear.

I just received a new pair of shorts from the TUFF brand name and they have a little pouch/pocket sewn on the inside of the waistband (off center toward the right hip). I was curious if it is for an amulet or sometbing similar? It's about that size.

It's iver 18 or under 18 for WKA, and if you're 35+ then you need a more comprehensive pre-tourney physical to make sure you're okay to compete. As far as I'm aware they only separate the juniors by age for this tournament. One teammate is 37 and he is in the same mix as the 18-20's on our team. I'm under 35 still so definitely part of the mix.

I've not been to Thailand, but most of my opponent's corners have given me water (and my corner giving water to my opponent). I was covered in her blood and sweat so I didn't care much about some spit. :)

Chuwattana has a few fighters who are FB regulars. You might glean some info looking at their videos and posts. Jompichit has been a regular at Raja stadium lately.

Anybody from the forum registered to compete? My team and I will be there. I'm personally registered in the women's 147 bracket in both Full Rules Muay Thai and "Thaiboxing (No Elbows)". It'll be my first time at the tournament. I'm pretty excited to see how it all goes. :)

I haven't experienced that, but it sounds like a check up might be in order to rule out injury (be it to the neck or the brain, etc.). It may be a simple matter of needing some massage or chiropracroc adjustment done, but better to err on the side of caution, especially as you've suffered concussive injury before.

Hitting hard to the head in training is a douchebag move. Neurons don't regenerate, it's selfish to purposefully hit harder than necessary. That is hitting to the head. On pads we hit hard (I've had the other girls complain I hit pads too hard, which I take to mean it's difficult for them to hold for, but it's muay thai - get strong). In drills we use light to medium power depending on the move and the pairing. I will drill harder with the boys who are bigger and more experienced. In spar I'll crack in kicks to the leg or throw a hard body shot, but I stay fairly light to the head. I don't need to concuss my partners to know I've got the speed and power to land a move (power is for pads and the bag). Concussions happen in all forms and aren't always the dramatic types.

I really don't understand the mid-round chatter. We can talk during jump rope or at the end when we stretch - or they can call or text me outside of the gym. I'm at the gym to do work, not to socialize.

As a female I've had mixed experiences. I'll just speak about mine the last several years. For padwork, I find I work harder when I'm with the boys as I'm trying to keep up in a sense. I am the oldest on my team by 5-15 years, and I'm also one of the smallest height and weight-wise. On pads they hit harder and faster than the girls, making it harder to hold for them (which I enjoy the challenge). I find the girls tend to talk more, both when holding and when hitting pads. I've had too many rounds where they aren't holding pads up for me because *insert reason they are discussing during the round*. I almost exclusively work with a handful of the boys for padwork at this point. In spar I find guys sometimes treat me with kid gloves. I may be smaller, but we can work at a higher intensity than I feel some are inclined to work at initially. Over time my regular male partners have learned I am not a porcelain unicorn and we have a good rhythm now. I'm not saying we have to smash eachother to have a good round of spar, but if they take too much power and intensity away technique can become sloppy and ineffective. We're training to fight so we shouldn't just go through the motions. The girls almost always go "too hard," but it's a nice balance to the boys. Sadly the girls are far more inconsistent in attending spar so I tend to grab them for more rounds when they are there. I'm the only female who clinches, which given the difference in size and strength between the boys and I, I wish I had at least one girl in the mix. That all said I have tossed some opponents around pretty easily when clinching, so while I may be drowning in training, it's clearly helping me grow.

I was going to "like" that post for the good share, but I couldn't click on it. I have faithfully been wearing mine for spar and clinch, but this makes me want to wear it always. It has been very good at protecting and not being in the way.

Lots of shadowboxing, kick drills. Might be a good time to improve cardio (runnig). So sorry you got hurt.

She's not the first unpaid fighter I know of. I also know they've not been as great with accomodations as they could be. I won't name names as I am only the friend and/or teammate in this situation. Highly disappointing.

I just received a custom guard from Gladiator Guards. It cost about $100 all together with shipping and custom logo. It fits so much nicer than the boil-and-bite. If you are in the US and can't afford to purchase from a dental office (mine wanted $450), do check them out.