threeoaks

I saw the Raymond Daniels KO. I’m not a fan of how people mock spinning things (Kevin your more nuanced take of when to use them, offensive v defensive or at least singularly makes sense). But within other traditional martial arts it’s a well developed art form. The Daniels KO was hilarious cause he did two full rotations (and he’s a huge dude), landed, saw the opening & just punched his opponent’s lights out. Evidently he stuffed himself and had no room to throw the leg. Apart from the easy mockery of all the flowery effort, you have to accept that his opponent was dumb-founded & took a hard one to the jaw as a result lol. Diversion is not meaningless. As for Gaston Bolanos, I’ve seen him fight several times and his elbows can seem calculated for the television audience (his movie star looks don’t hurt), but I believe he is an earnest & serious fighter, perhaps not from the Thai perspective but he’s a lifelong martial artist, starting with his boyhood in Peru.

(This is in reply to the discussion up the thread; didn’t manage a quote because I could not choose which one). In visual art there is most certainly an expectation that the poorer artist will be more “hungry”, “primitive”, “raw talent” & other patronizing terms. Add in race and you have Basquiat as the paradigmatic “poor genius” (meanwhile he was terrifically sophisticated & strategic). The rich artist on the other hand, is the “Sunday Painter” (the expression is an insult referring to dilettantism. It’s not that he only paints on Sunday because he works, quite the contrary, it’s that she only paints on Sunday cause she’s yachting & shopping the rest of the week). Because of mfa programs in the US, which are now legion & terrific money-makers for universities, art is now evermore a playground for the rich & it’s pretty disgusting. Columbia, where I taught a decade, costs @140k without housing etc. so you’re either rich, or your permanently in debt for an art degree. There are many interesting parallels with martial arts. The comfort with violence as a working class phenomenon has a relation to the common expectation that the artist be rough, drug addicted & possibly disturbed (like me as a kid lol). It’s a limiting thing, much like expecting a Thai fighter from the North to express him or herself in a non-intellectual (non-femeu) way.

I love sparring with my coach the best, and consider it an honor. There is an eerie feeling of course when someone is so far ahead of you (I am a basic student and Muay Thai nerd). But that eerie feeling is magic. I just love that there are levels, forever.

Oh yes, yes I would. Have to get an art dealer crazy as mine though (don't have one in Britain right now). You never know though!

I'm holding a WKA sanctioned fight night in NYC at the big industrial art gallery where I will show my photography this summer. Its amateur & for ladies only (I post it in general topics in case you have coaches reading this stuff, or friends of female fighters). I'm thinking to do same day weigh-ins and obviously I understand this sort of event will attract your more green fighters. I'm dead serious though, have got my promoter's license and am being guided and assisted by my own coach, JJ Russo of Stockade Muay Thai, and Brian Crenshaw American Pres of WKA. I love Muay Thai and want to provide that platform for more ladies to break in to fighting. I've also done related events at museums before (and have posted elsewhere about it; happy to give more info on my promotional experience generally via dm). If you have been training hard but not sure if you want to break into one of the other shows, try this ladies only safe & WKA sanctioned night. I'm especially looking for the higher weight classes. Thanks for reading and dm me with any questions. I can put your coach in touch with the matchmaker.

THIS WAS SUCH A SATISFYING FIGHT. I want more Loma. Caitlyn if its you that made this happen - massive thank you.

Jesus. That pisses me off. I was talking with a straight fighter about that thing where "you" (he) watch a female fight and "cannot help but root for the more attractive fighter". What? WHAT?!! This is a person I adore and respect. I was truly shocked. You mean you really cannot see the fight? At all? wtf. I mean he didn't say he could not see the fight; I believe he could score it correctly were he a judge but silly me, I had no idea men watched women fight in that way. I'm so naive sometimes. I knew about tv and UFC and all that shit but the day to day, person to person reality of it always shocks me. I watched all Nat's fights with JK. BTW Natalie is a gorgeous lesbian superstar in my opinion. Just a full on rock star in the NYC 90's gay world. Its so weird that the "look" doesn't translate. I am a little steaming mad at the moment. Stupid. Gonna rewatch the fights for fun now though :) .

I like what you say, Kevin but I also totally identify with the bummed out feeling Kaitlin describes. In my work career, I have been on both sides of this coin and I'll take people doubting my talent and thinking I got ahead on my looks any time over being ignored cause, fuck it. That little "glam" career push is a very very tight window though (even tighter in fighting, witness the gorgeous Felice Herrig crying at a press conference last year over the reality that at 33 she is "too old" for the UFC to promote. Such an ugly story and she is a champ for being open about it). I take heart in Amanda Nunes' point of view. She's just like "whatever, that's how it is"and goes about her business. I LOVE HER FOR THAT. Acceptance and refocus on what matters to her (to me too). https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/11/26/16702114/amanda-nunes-ufc-wants-her-to-lose-bantamweight-title-mma-news

Kevin I responded before I read the breadth of your research, and all your thoughts (so it was blithe and short). I can't respond in kind to the density of your thought, but its super fascinating. Of particular interest is the idea that female fighters are in chronic deficit of oxytocin, being structurally outside the male bond of the gym. I've taken to madly trying to build female fighter camaraderie at my small upstate gym. I'm not very outgoing, but I am just fascinated for all sorts of reasons. This helps me think through why. Thanks.

That is fucking crushing.

Super fascinating. Suggests the "old coaches tale" regarding not having sex, for male fighters, the night before a fight.. You've heard the other story on the street about the Stock Market dipping on the day the last strip club on Wall St closed? Yeah. Speaks to rings girls. All of this of course fascinates me (and if you train hard enough you don't menstruate which affects estrogen, but is there also an effect on Oxytocin I wonder)?

I am thinking about the strength/age differential for men & women - that is very interesting that your experience says its men that are affected more. I wonder if it has to do with increasing estrogen and declining testosterone for them, and the reverse for women?

I don't feel a strength difference at all. I have old farm lady/mom strength in most situations (not with New Thai though; she's a beast lol). Definitely there is a reaction time difference though. I am slower; I notice that mostly in the pace of my learning. I have to work harder and longer than younger people but that's ok. I assume in fight situations that lag will play out too. Some of that is being a novice but some of it has got to be age. Don't care though.

I'm gonna be in Minnesota Thanksgiving weekend. Dana Hoey, 150, 1 smoker boxing only. Senior (51). Everyone prefers I fight someone my age though I am less concerned about it at this level. No weight-cutting though (5 lbs max). Thank you Kaitlin; we are so lucky you are posting and commenting here!

:( so sorry. I HATE injuries. Watch a lot of fights!!

GET IT KEVIN!!!

When your training partner takes a fight yay! Things are going to get ugly fun!

This is so great thank you.

Duly schooled and corrected. I figured when I wrote my paragraph, you might have an excellent response and you did. Also I should say that it may not have been Kevin who was a pill about crowd-sourcing; by all accounts he is a generous guy and of course an exciting fighter. I just remember some douchey remark his coach made (in the context of many douchey remarks). Little protective here. But he was probably just being protective of someone, as I have been here. Its an endless cycle and one that I, as mainly a fan, ought not to participate in. Thank you.

Those guys (Ross and his coach) should have never taken shots at Sylvie's fund-raising; I love how you two consistently clap back. These seem like very legitimate objections given your superior immersion in Thai fighting, and I abhor sloppy cultural appropriation as well. At the same time, I fear purists because over time, very little seems original to its place. Mixing in the long run is healthy. As a visual artist, I've had my work appropriated and people make money off my ideas and vision (early on). I do understand the pain of some being elevated due to their pr skills and general fame-friendliness (not Kevin per se but Western "kickboxers" for example, who are tied to a bigger global press machine). But I've found in the end that nothing matters when it comes to public attention; all that matters is the work. I am speaking on an individual level of course, rather than cultural but I think there is some analogy. You seem to allude to a greater acceptance of this natural mixing in saying you've become relaxed about Western teachers using the term "Ajarn" and "Kru". Other thing I would add is that in my efforts to bring martial arts into the museum setting DAMN its been hard not to have any description of fighting forms not sound stupid and corny and just.. wrong. Once you use the words "martial arts philosophy" (which the most recent museum press dept did despite my efforts), its all downhill lol. I have to relax and let people communicate to the uninterested though, which I reckon is what these filmmakers have to do in conveying their piece in one short paragraph. Anyhow I look forward to this film although also, I am not a fan of addiction narratives in film or otherwise. Meh. Don't like romanticizing that stuff but we'll see how they handle it.

My 2017 goals are: 1. Continue to enjoy learning the art of Muay Thai. 2. Continue mental training, especially this effective practice: http://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-feeding-your-demons/?utm_content=bufferae389&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer 3. Rest and recover well (avoid injury if possible this way). 4. Have at least two fights. First one is scheduled March 31.

If the timing works surgery can be good. I had an ACL graft which has an appalling long recovery period but my knee is far better than ever before. If the timing doesn't work all these suggestions sound great. Good luck!

I enjoyed last year's goal thread quite a bit, and am happy to report my goals were accomplished. The best one I set was to be patient and not to be embarrassed to be a beginner. Why just yesterday I fell on my ass and ran into a wall practicing flying knees and roundhouses lol; I was not really embarrassed at all. Totally fun. From one point of view I am no longer a beginner, from a fight point of view I am. I did accomplish my goal of having my first smoker which at age friggin-old is pretty fantastic and I am happy about that. The only goal I can articulate right now is no more apologizing (unless truly warranted) - thanks New Thai. Otherwise I have to get a shoulder mri next week then I can set my 2017 goals. Look forward to reading everyone's.

Man is New Thai a brick shithouse - so powerful and SO FUN.

OMG FFT is my new favorite acronym. So good thanks Emma.