Mae-Lin Leow

Interesting that you correlate this to power! I've witnessed the dynamic being completely reversed in a female-dominant space (women't wrestling camp). A lot of women were wearing compression tights or shorts which would were comfortable and convenient for grappling, but would have been interpreted as "sexy" in a male space. (Upper bodies were always well-covered during training though with high-necked rash-guards - again, the convenience factor). The head-coach was breast-feeding her child after training, without hiding or covering up. I have to say that it was an empowering feeling, and the gender dynamic was very much reversed in that it was the men who were in the minority and expected to avert their eyes, be professional or otherwise just "deal with it" the way that women normally have to deal with male-semi-nudity in male spaces.

Attire in MMA and attire in Muay Thai can be very different. Also training vs fighting and being in the West vs being in Asia are all also different. In my experience even most of the Western WMMA fighters who wear "revealing" clothes while fighting (e.g. crop top and vale tudo shorts) would usually wear more than that while training (e.g. long spats, rashguard), in a similar way to how wrestlers compete in a lycra singlet but train in sweats or shorts and a t-shirt. While you're grappling in competition you want minimal clothing in the way (thus the choice of either minimal or very fitted materials) but while training (especially with mostly straight male team-mates) you feel more comfortable with more coverage. Of course, all of this is a bit separate from the cultural issue which is being discussed on this thread. Hope this makes sense. It doesn't just apply to women either. I have a male coach who is very body-conscious and aware of the message he sends to new students so actually wears multiple layers of clothing to cover up while training, often keeping everything covered except his head, feet and hands.

I can also relate to your experiences with losing streaks, and I agree with all of the advice given. It is important to look at the past experiences of people you might look up to (Buakaw and Dekkers, for example) and see that they too have been through what you've been through. Losing fights doesn't mean that you're "not cut out for" your sport, it's just a stage in your progress, and probably one that you'll revisit in the future. I agree also with the importance of mental training. I've personally found the material from Wrestling Mindset to be really useful (I know you're not a wrestler, but listen to some of their free podcasts and I'm sure you'll find many of the concepts can be applied to Muay Thai or any other combat sport.) One other factor in all of this might be your environment. I'm not sure what it's like in the US (I'm in Australia) but sometimes Muay Thai/MMA fights can get so hyped up by promoters selling tickets that it's hard to simply view wins, losses, good/bad performances as markers of progress. (This is unfortunately only amplified by social media, which brings all of this into our homes and every waking moment if you don't use social media wisely.) In many other combat sports (boxing, BJJ, wrestling, Judo, Muay Thai in Thailand etc) most athletes get the chance to have an extensive amateur or low-profile career before being put in the position where there is a lot of attention and "pressure" around their fights. Losses are a lot easier to deal with if you're fighting or competing every fortnight at small tournaments than when you feel like you're under lights and it's a big "occasion." Fight fans at more professional-style events in the West can be really awful too in the way they jeer at fighters and call for blood and this can make a loss more difficult to deal with. If this is an issue then mental training strategies and reframing can be useful too. Hope some of these ideas help. I personally have really benefited from stepping away from higher-profile MMA fights for the time being and using the amateur wrestling/BJJ circuits to practise performing under pressure in a "lower consequence" environment. Wish you all the best!

Kathy Long was one of the first and only high-level female fighters who I was aware of when I started training as a teenager (pre-Youtube, when we had to rely on VHS!). I'm stoked to hear that she is still competitive. I've met a lot of "older" women training and competing in combat sports (my first fight was against a woman who was 40 years old at the time.) These older women who I have trained or competed with often have a different type of strength, a level of self-awareness, a well-established and multi-faceted sense of identity, and a mental resilience that seem to make them very well-suited to combat sports.