[Sparing, fight and vision - Contact Lenses and Fighting]

Hi,

I have been training muay thai for 5 years now with a vision of +8. I have never used lenses and i cant get an operation.My bad eye sight was one of the main things preventing me from starting sooner. I was convinced that it would be impossible for me to learn muay thai with such bad vision and that I would be severely handicapped.

The first couple of years of training this were true. I struggled more than my peers with learning the basic moves. This combined with the fact that I was pretty overweight when I started out made me the worst beginner at my gym. The first semester totally sucked to be honest, I remember almost crying before going to class and wanting to puke when the instructor started paring us up for sparring. I knew that every single one there was more athletic than me plus had perfect eyesight.

I pretty much can’t see the face of anyone without my glasses unless they are completely in front of me. This made for some pretty awkward situations when people would greet me from the other side of the gym and me deadeye staring back at them without acknowledging anything. I learned to counter this by faking an overly extrovert version of myself and greeting and smiling to everyone at the gym all the time like a madman, good times.

I learned much about myself during this time, first of all that I’m stubborn as heck. There was no chance in hell that I was going to let my bad eyes and big ass get in the way of my dream of muay thai. I completely dedicated myself (and still am) to the art and became obsessed with moving past this. I had to work harder than everyone else at my gym to get to the level they were, I lost 30 kilos (60 pounds?) and slowly learned how to work past my eyes. I learned the basics and found clever ways to work around my eyesight. Sure, sometimes I miss with the teep, jab like a madman and totally miscalculate kicks, sometimes I’m in the wrong position and struggle to block. But today I feel almost as good as the guys that started at the same time as me, it just took a bit longer.

I have accepted the fact that my eyes will never be perfect and that in some aspects i fall behind. Regardless, I will continue to train and compete in muay thai, and I love every second of it!

In 3 months I will be going to Thailand for the first time and train for a month, look for the awkward looking Norwegian in the corner teeping into the air.

Woo, I'm so glad for you that your vision didn't stop your motivation. Stubborn is the MT community ;) 

 

Since my first post in there (I was wondering whether or not continue training with lense, and whether or not cheating for the fight wearing lense), I've start again to train without them (I basically train with lense for ... 2 or 3 month only, I start without lense, and I'm back to it). 

I've seen a huge improve in the way I block and spare when I was wearing lenses, of course seeing more clearly helps to make you react faster ... while without it, it like "oh why is that kick doing here near my face?!". So my defense sucks a bit without lenses, I just get hit and continue hitting, like nothing happen, but I get tired easily and faster. Hence I also need to have a stronger mental, not to loose my confidence, because of being hit so many time.

Of course, there is some good side, I don't get distract by people watching me, since I can't really see anything past my nose haha.

 

For now I think I'll continue training without lenses at least till I get that first fight, then I'll maybe do once a month a week of training with lenses, just to caught up with some technique and see how I've improve during the month.

 

Also good to ask your coach to compare two sparing (one day you come with lenses, the next day without, or within the same day, one round lenses, you take them off and one round without them). I don't know if my coach pay a lot of attention when I spare, but I've ask him a few time "have you seen any difference between day X and day Y?" without telling him, day X was without lenses and day Y with it. Usually I get the same answer "you need to block more, but no I've haven't seen much difference". So or he is a good liar or I don't suck that much without lenses.

 

I recommend to all of you who wears lenses to get daily lenses for sparing (if you only do pad you don't really care), I've lost so many lenses on the ring during sparing, and since it isn't really cheap it's better not to loose or break a monthly ones. 

[Diets and supplements]

which as a vegan means either insane amounts of vegetables or adding more grains to your diet

hahahaha, indeed! 

Thanks for all your advices, will maybe try Creatine too :)

 

Just ordered a BCAA for the first time. I usually just eat clean and balanced, but curious to see if this helps at all. I'm not looking to gain any mass, just better protect what I do have - and if it helps better my recovery as well that'll ve awesome. Fingers crossed. :)

Keep us posted !

[Your 2016 MT Goals?]

Good idea to write down our goal! 

1) harass my coach to get fights (I hope I'll do at least 5 in 2016, it's kind of a big goal since I've never fight yet)

2) keeping a smart training and healthy diet (already started a few month ago, and going well)

3) more sparing and more clinch (to get better/to be less predictable mostly but also to get used to see opening)

4) travel to thailand (how unoriginal is that ;) )

[The Lure of "White Skin" in Thailand - Racism in Thailand]

Thanks Emma for the info ;) (double-win, as I was trying to find Thai rap haha!)

[The Lure of "White Skin" in Thailand - Racism in Thailand]

Not answering for Emma, but in terms of my experience and understanding of Thai culture, this is a very tricky and difficult thing to address. Firstly, it's an incredibly non-confrontational culture and addressing offenses directly can open up ALL KINDS of problems and misunderstandings. That doesn't mean that one can't or shouldn't call it out. What is a deeper difficulty is that the very concept of racism isn't something that can be easily expressed or even explained to a large swath of Thai society. It's not a widely recognized concept and the belief that "white is good" and "black is bad" is so pervasive that countering it is met with confusion, not comprehension.

 

 

The way I react to it varies from day to day. Sometimes, especially when it's in a work situation and it's in front of other people (usually students), I will just move on with the lesson as quickly as possible, but there have been times where I've called them out on it. I actually have two incidents that happened in the last two days for you guys:

Yesterday, I was teaching a fairly low-level class with a doctors and patients theme, teaching them how to discuss symptoms and give advice. Towards the end, I overheard one 'patient' tell the 'doctor' that his problem was his 'black skin'. He was a little dark, but not that much (not that any shade would have made that comment OK). The doctor student responded with 'it's OK, you die and in the next life --'  I cut him off before he finished his sentence, but it seemed like he was about to insinuate that he would come back as light-skinned in the next life as some kind of reward for being dark-skinned in this one! He then advised him to go and live in Korea, 'because there is snow and everybody is white' (Korean beauty standards are a big thing here). Instead of dealing with that student directly, I turned to the patient student and said 'actually, you should go to my country, because a lot of people there love your skin colour and think it's beautiful'. 

Today, my boyfriend went to his new gym, which is owned by a Thai guy named Phil, who studied at an international school and speaks very good English. Phil's wife was there, who also speaks pretty good English. My boyfriend asked her 'how you living?' (he is laughably bad at grading his language) and she obviously didn't know what he meant. Her husband explained that he was asking her how she was doing and she turned to my boyfriend and said 'oh, sorry, I don't speak n***a'. He explained to her nicely that she should never ever say that, but he wasn't offended because he realised that she genuinely didn't know that it wasn't OK. Still, wow.

Also, one of my Thai coworkers gave me whitening cream as a Christmas gift on Saturday. I'm already white, but whatever. I'll be re-gifting that one.

Thanks Sylvie and Emma for answering, I would not have ever realize (even though I knew) how serious the problem was, and it is so interesting to see in which measure one can react. Your boyfriend is totally amazing for explaining she should not have call him this way and specified he is not offended ... I feel this is what we generally do with children 'oh they don't know', but we tend to forget that even adult from other culture 'don't know' what can just be commun sense here ...

 

Make me remember a conversation I had with a really good friend two days ago. She is from India and beside the cultural difference we are so alike, however sometimes she just makes really shocking comment to me. One day I teach her some french, and she says that she understood how to know if something is 'feminine' or 'masculine' (as everything is french is gendered), so I say "really I don't even know myself what's the trick... so tell me 'computer' and 'table' what's their gender?' And answer "easy, computer is masculine, because it is useful, table is feminine 'cause you can sit on it". It took me a few minutes to come back to earth, and understand how crazy her image of woman was. 

Yesterday, that same friend told me that a guy from our department told her she should be more pretty, but that well she would never be as pretty as a white-blond-blue-eyes girl. Again I was so shocked, we went into a big discusion about culture, racism, sexism, etc.

Related to your comment Emma (which I hope will help that darker person to feel good about themself), I told my friend that where I'm from (I haven't notice in Canada as much as in my home-island) "the darker, the prettier. So girl are in the beach getting a tan to feel pretty".

American movies or any other western movies, make it to Thailand right? And there is also good black people in it, does it shocked people there? (First time I watch a Thai movie, I remember a guy being completely treated like shit because he was black, but my first thought was that "it must be an old movie" ... now I'm not so sure anymore). 

[Diets and supplements]

Maybe I should ask on the vegan tread since I'm vegan but here will work too I guess :) 

Does anyone has advice to gain muscular mass (diet and exercices)? I lost weight and I'm scared my coach would cancel my first fight because I'm way too light now. And I don't wanna get easy fatty weight with chocolate pie, the goal would be more strength if I gain mass.

ขอบคุณค่ะ :) 

[The Lure of "White Skin" in Thailand - Racism in Thailand]

Thanks for posting this topic. I came across this video a while back and meant to post it here, but forgot.

It's a compilation of some more ads, which also includes the bear one, all translated into English. They're really quite shocking. 

I can't tell you how many times students of mine have made racist comments in my classes. It happens all the time, but here are a few examples, all from Thai students:

• One student had been on vacation in LA, and I asked her if she enjoyed it. We got onto the topic of transport, and I mentioned that I'd assumed you would have to get around by car. She remarked 'yes, public transport is very dangerous, a lot of black people get on'.
• An older lady had lived in Chicago for a few years. She said 'I'm afraid of black people. They're so big'.
• When I was discussing the idea of going to India with a student: 'No, I don't want to go. There are a lot of murderers and criminals'. When I asked her why she thought that, she simply said 'they have black skin'.
• Another student who'd just come back from a holiday in Bali said she had a lovely time there, 'but I don't like black people'.
• There was one particularly horrible student; a young, spoiled kid from a rich family. He boasted about how he'd attended Eton College in the UK, and liked to look down his nose at everyone else. He actually got kicked out of Eton for carrying a knife, which he claimed he needed to protect himself because he feared for his life after he'd called someone the N-word. Obviously, he didn't realise that he couldn't just say anything he wanted over there like he could at home. Thankfully, he thought he was too good to learn English, so despite his parents paying for a year-long course, he never came back, so we didn't have to deal with him. Good riddance.

My boyfriend is black, and we do get a lot of looks when we walk around in public. One student told me 'they don't look because they're racist. They look because it's something different'. A woman once got up and moved when he sat down next to her on the train, and there's no excuse for that. It's awful. He definitely feels very unwelcome in Thailand.

 

Emma, I was just wondering how are you dealing with this? Not only emotionally but actively, do you call them out? try to explain them that black doesn't equal criminal ; that humans whether they're good or bad it's not because of their skin color?

 

[Mouthguards - What Kind Do You Use?]

I've never heard about this need to change the mouthguard on a time-schedule, rather than just when it's clearly deteriorating. I brush mine with toothpaste and brush, occasionally will drop it in a mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide and water over night if there's blood on it from a fight. But I generally go a few years on each of my pieces. The reason I have a new one now is because I lost the other one (never made it back to me from my cornerman after a fight).

Neither I have heard about having to change the mouthguard.

However some brand have an insurance if something happen to your teeth during a fight, so it might be a good idea to change it just in case, for people who don't have health insurance. I think mine was a year insurance, I have it for more than 2 years now... so definitively I should change it.

 

Also, about the cleaning, I've never "toothbrush" it, but I let it soak (when I actually think about it) during the night into a glass of water and apple cider vinegar and rince it. It's usually acidic enough to kill bacterias if there is any (and a big plus : it taste amazing when you wear it haha).

[Sparing, fight and vision - Contact Lenses and Fighting]

Thanks for you comments!!
I think I'll start again to train and spare without them like bbf3 suggested, being disqualified is a risk I wouldn't take, since as you said P.Evi, it does irritate a bit the eye, and they can fall off easily (happen to me 3 times already in sparing, it isn't that much but still!)

[Sparing, fight and vision - Contact Lenses and Fighting]

Sa waat dee kha :) 

So yesterday my trainer finally told me I'll do my first fight in 54 days (really excited about it!), and told me that it is forbidden to fight with contact lenses. 
For a while I was sparing without contact, but since I wear them I've seen a lot of improvement in my blocks and distance to throw jab/knee/kick.
I thought "it could be great because if I don't see clear there is less chance I'll be "intimidated" by my opponent and the crowd".... however, there is also less chance that I can see punch, kick, knees coming or the ref or my trainer. 
Then I was wondering if I could just "cheat" and put my contact lenses after seeing the doc...
Or basically just fight "blind" (I am astigmatic and short-sighted - both eyes).
Did anyone has ever been in that situation?
Any advices?

Khawp khoon maak kha !

 

[My First Fight - Video, Before and After Thoughts]

Thanks for sharing your experience, and congrats for you first fight!
I remember one day the trainer recorded a few videos of some people in the gym sparing, and after watching 3 sparing that I did, I thought I totally suck at everything I did, I look slow and chaotic in all my moves! I guess this is a normal? Or maybe not. My trainer told me that it wasn't as bad as what I thought.
Can't wait to read more from others here! 
(PS: I have had the same nightmare since forever (even if I never had a fight), I know how the anxiety from it feels, and it's not nice, glad to know during the fight you were calm :) )

[Muay Thai as Therapy]

Wo, I love what you said Sylvie that it feel like a hug, it is so true and I wish that my trainer tonight would have put some pressure on me like he does usually instead of being too comprehensive and telling me I should rest.
Our mental is so powerful, I'm feeling really down since a while, and I've been "faking being happy" in my work, I pushed my limits and ask a lot of myself not just in my training, but also in my work, my studies and my different projets.
But at some point we can't fake it anymore, I couldn't train properly today because of my anxiety, my mind keep thinking about decision I should make or not. Then I called my mom which is always so understanding of everything and she told me "maybe you should train less muay thai and work more on your thesis". I fell into tears. Obviously she couldn't understand, that the only thing making me wanna wake up in the morning is going to the gym.
But I'm glad I read you all tonight, it actually felt like a big warm hug : some people, somewhere, understand me. So Thank you!

[Muay Thai as Therapy]

This is a powerful post that she wrote! 
It is really interesting to see why and how people come into martial art. 
I remember I started judo (this was the only martial sport in my island) when I was a kid, because my dad was worry about me. Since I am a girl, it is most likely that I would get trouble when I get older (harassment and such). I didn't really liked it mostly because I was forced, and also because I had that urge to punch.
When I finally moved from my small island, I had to support emotionally my mom who was in depression, dealing with a lot of new thing (new country, language, culture, people, etc). I fake being super happy for about a year, I was struggling with bulimia and trained 7/7 kickboxing. I had to stop going to the gym because of an injury and health problem, you probably all know how doctors don't really like boxer (and if you are a girl, this is not a sport for you (!) ... I was at that time in a really machist country). Stopping training got myself into depression too. I partially blame it on the country and moved again.
After 2 years of doing nothing, I wanted to go back to kickboxing, and by mistake register for muay thai.
For me muay thai became synonym of freedom. Daniel Pennac said in one of his book "learning is first to learn how to 'master' your body"; but for that you need to overcome emotional and mental barrier. 
I've learn that it is not about what happen to you that matter, but what you do with it. They kick you? Grab that leg, make them fall. Got hurt? Train harder!
Same in life, if someone hurts me or if I'm down, I don't blame it on the other, maybe I'm not strong enough, maybe I could have avoid it.
(For me) Muay Thai is freedom of mind/body, plus when you train you don't have time to think about how sad you were earlier that day :) 

[Diet - Any Vegans?]

Hi everyone :)
I'm new to this forum, I know the topics is a bit old but nobody seems to be vegan and since I am vegan I though about writing something. 
I am not training so much because I am studying for two degrees at the same time but I usually train 3 times/week for 3hours + an hour running / week with some 30min or shadow boxing or yoga.
My diet is really random, like my schedule, but when I train I always try to eat an hour before (something like bananas) and after training I make a big smoothy (with protein, some fat like almond butter and a lot of fresh fruits).
But what I found really helping was to drink coconut milk while training instead of water, it helped me train longer and feel less tired. 
Also I know he is a football player but the "300 pounds vegan" has a few tips on his page, but anyways, what Emma wrote are good advices! 
I have a friend training in Thailand right now, and he told me that he has no problem with food whatsoever, he was even surprise how easy it was.