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I started late, 25 yrs old. I have recently found Sylvie's videos interviewing Angie and while that is a huge inspiration for me as someone now a few months into training, I have found the real hook that kept me coming back to class religiously is the impact of Muay Thai on my relationship to my body. I pass fairly well when I am conforming to western femininity but I actually gravitate towards tom/butch expression (undercut, little makeup, "men's" cloths) despite being MTF. For my whole life, and especially the last few years during transition I have had basically hypervigilance/hyper fixation surrounding my body and how its being perceived/gendered and how I exist in space. Surrendering to the grind/burn of Muay Thai has been one of the biggest non-medical transition tool for reframing my relationship to my body from one centered on the perceptions of others, to one centered around learning how to assert myself in space and exercise balance and autonomy over my body. I have a lifetime of sharpening ahead of me but I have found a great deal of relief and reward in the distance I have come so far. As I become more at home in my body I am able to understand how my natural tendencies match up to the various subdisciplines/systems of Muay Thai and serves as a salient anchor for these parts of myself I want to develop in my regular life, and for getting past traumas. Making this post to share this experience, as after the fact I thought it was very ironic that this thing that is so good for specifically trans mental health (in my opinion) is socially and sometimes legally off limits to us. How does my experience compare to yours? Do you know any trans fighters that have had similar or different experiences?

I love fighting more than anything else. There is not much chance of a career for anyone trans or cis in my local scene, in MMA or Muay Thai. Both scenes are relatively non-existent. I am trying to move somewhere I can pursue this goal, and Angie, Rose, and Nong-thoom are huge inspirations to me. Is this path viable in Thailand as a Farang? I have researched logistics of moving and read a lot of others experiences in addition to Sylvie's own advice but remain unsure about the overall viability of training and fighting traditional stadium Muay Thai as a western trans woman. Additionally I have a lot of questions about how to identify myself as trans, as a farang. I want to be as honest and clear as possible with my trainers and potential coaches and would kill for some insight as to how to approach this issue sensitively without appropriating the Kathoey label if it is cultural. Google has not been clear on this topic, eek. Thank you!

The International Olympic Committee has revised their guidelines for transgender athletes. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/transgender-athletes-olympics_us_56a5bc6ee4b0d8cc109a8e9 There was a great discussion on the Ronda Rousey thread about cisgender and transgender women competing together.