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By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted
The Americanization of Thailand's Muay Thai - and with that, its Globalization - (Chatri is afterall an American) has followed the NBA with deleterious results. Rajadamnern specifically tailors its crowd entertainment around the NBA models, attempting to Hype crowd its bored and uninformed tourism fan base, it is what it is. There is not much to do when the fans in the seats aren't really "fans" of the sport. But, much deeper than that, the combo-heavy rule changes which promoted lessor skilled memorized "moves" and abject aggression over defense or spatial control hints at the deeper culture, media laden aspects of "Entertainment" fighting. Even in the NBA, where there is a firm foundation and tradition of basketball skill growth, the media form has distorted the sport into "highlight culture" and advanced stat watching. Again and again you'll see that people like to argue and analyze about the sport on social media more than they actually like to watch the games. It's become a factory for talk and argument. Because its also a multi-billion dollar industry it also drives very high level athleticism, so the narrowed out skill sets being pushed - practiced dribble-moves that bend the traveling boundary, catch and shoot 3s, dunks and flops, all are done with high level of accomplishment, but Thailand's Muay Thai is not so lucky in this wake of Circus Entertainments. Instead, Thailand's incredibly subtle and complex fighting system has been disbanded in favor of low-skill, low-entry fighting styles that can be farmed for clips. Thai fighters themselves are now in gyms learning bite-down combos and clashing, and the entire edifice of Thailand fighting is crumbling before highlight culture and tourist audiences that need to be entertained. The rules have changed, the judging aesthetics have been changed to try and feed this commercial enterprise, all to draw in foreign participation and its dollars. Really, its hard to see this as anything other than part of the deskilling trend of Capitalism as it seeks to produce both spectacle and squeezed profit, turning craft into "labor". Instead of the NBA's 15 billion dollar financial flows feeding skills, instead it is just a Tourist industry hoping to draw more and more foreigners in, as Thais actually lose the elusive aura of skills and grace that made Thailand a destination for historical fight glory. The historical legacy and capacity to fight that is lost is not found in unique "moves" or tricks for farang taught in gyms, and it certainly isn't found in the import of "combos" taught by new style pad men and pad holding. The forces that bring these new distillations out are largely economic and media defined, stripping away the very Form of Life that made Thailand's Muay Thai was it was. Oddly enough, Thai fighters themselves have become ostensibly tourists in their own country, learning how to participate in the Circus culture designed for the foreigner's entertainment, or more usually, laborers in the Tourist Industry. Because the economics are so different from the NBA - and the value of its changes vs skills developed can be argued about separately - its at great variance if one mimics the NBA with an entirely different (tourism driven) economic base. Notice as well, its not just a matter of "everything having to grow" or some sort of fatalism of Capitalism and technological technique-farming - there is a world-wide sport that has been globalized without being fetishized for highlight culture...football/soccer, a trillion dollar industry, a prime example. -
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Hi, Does anyone have good Muay Thai podcast recommendations? I’ve never been into podcasts but I listened to all the Muay Thai bones podcasts and really enjoyed them, but finished them all. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. thanks! -
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That sounds promising if you've already moved, how are things going for you now? -
By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted
I'm sorry I don't really know. Sylvie is in touch with a collector and this person is where she buys hers, but there are not multiple copies available. Maybe someone else would know of a larger source. -
Where can I find some physical old Muay Thai magazines? I am located in Bangkok. Thanks
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