Jump to content

What happens at the end of a fighters career?


Recommended Posts

I understand that Thais fight from an extremely young age and that they pretty much live and breathe fighting for a good 10+ years. That will burn anyone in any craft out.

My question is what are the details that lead to a fighters end? Do they get career ending injuries or pains? What are typical injuries?

Do they go on losing streaks and are deemed not capable of competing at the highest level anymore? Do they quit and walk out the gym and never come back? What happens?

We know Namkabuan and Dieselnoi retired due to lack of competition. But what about Hippy, Karuhat, Kaensak, Chamuekpet, Attachai, etc? What made them stop long before their physical age peaks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've not heard of career ending injuries, actually. I think a large measure of retirement is that these fighters have been fighting for more than a decade, and there is a kind of sense that it is just work that you'd like to quit. Yes, there is fame at the top of the game. but there is also the sense that fighters are kind of low-class workers, grinding. They do not carry esteem across the culture. I think Thais also have a very quick "old man" setting, when viewing fighters. Fighters, after their peak fame often just start training much less rigorously. They start drinking more, feel that they can get along in fights just based on their IQ. Everything just slows down, not just physically, but also emotionally, I suspect.

Chamuakpet though fought a LONG time. I think he fought into his 30s, at a very high stadium championship level, if I recall.

You can hear a little bit about the slow down in Sylvie's Interview with Namkabuan (turn on English subtitles):

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A number of the fighters we interview talk about lack of opponents, the lower frequency of fights makes training and cutting weight much more difficult, an overall feeling that they're "done" in the sense of just not feeling as strong or willing to go through the intense fatigue and work that's required to be a top fighter; some get distracted after reaching a top level - Kaensak was Fighter of the Year for 2 years in a row, then started losing at a high rate just after. I asked him why and he said he had a girlfriend and spent all his time with her rather than focused on training (usually this is a soft implication to a fighter becoming sexually active, as this whole men-have-to-abstain-in-order-to-have-power belief is STRONG here). Some just lose the passion. Most I've talked to talk about just being tired. If they're at the top level, even in their mid or late 20s they're facing rising stars in their late teens or early 20s; that's hard. It's pretty crazy that Suk fought into his 50s and Wichannoi and Chamuakpet were downright old men, retiring in their 30s. Saenchai is a fogie by Muay Thai standards.

If we're talking about women it's a completely different story. Yes, lack of opponents but from a much, much smaller pool. Hormones change and the body changes. Women retire much earlier. Some go to school to get a career so they can support their families because there's no such thing as a female fighter who is earning what even mid-level male fighters earn. Women have children pretty young here (male fighters also start families but that's obviously a different process). Lommanee is the oldest female fighter (Thai) I can think of, at 31. Sawsing at 24 is unusual, for sure... and a mother as well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

Sorry for bumping the thread, but this thread caught my eye. The end of a fighter's career can be as unique as their journey in the ring. Injuries, burnout, life changes - it's a mix! Some face career-ending injuries, and others might feel it's time for a new chapter. Many transition to new careers for reasons like starting a family and prioritizing health. I totally get that shift—I've been down a similar road as a former athlete. So, now, I'm also exploring exciting paths, and I've come across a great option like this: https://www.exploremedicalcareers.cоm/dialysis-technician/. Becoming a dialysis technician seems like a rewarding entry into the medical field, offering stability and a chance to make a positive impact on people's health.

Edited by powerwolfo
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • "He who does not know how to read only sees the differences. For him who knows how to read, it all comes to the same thing, since the sentence is identical. Whoever has finished his apprenticeship recognizes things and events, everywhere and always, as vibrations of the same divine and infinitel sweet word. This does not mean that he will not suffer Pain is the color of certain events. When a man who can and a man who cannot read look at a sentence written in red ink, they both see the same red color, but this color is not so important for the one as for the other."   A beautiful analogy by Simone Weil (Waiting for God), which especially in the last sentence communicates how hard it is to discuss Muay Thai with those who don't know how to "read" its sentences. Yes, I see the effort. Yes, I see the power. Yes, I even see the "technique"...but this is like talking about the color of sentences written out at times.
    • from Reddit discussing shin pain and toughening of the shins: There are several factors, and people create theories on this based on pictures of Muay Thai, but honestly from my wife's direct experience they go some what numb and hard from lots of kicking bags and pads, and fighting (in Thailand some bags could get quite hard, almost cement like in places). Within a year in Thailand Sylvie was fighting every 10 or 12 days and it really was not a problem, seldom feeling much pain, especially if you treat them properly after damage, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztzTmHfae-k and then more advanced, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcWtd00U7oQ And they keep getting harder. After a few years or so Sylvie felt like she would win any shin clash in any fight, they just became incredible hard. In this video she is talking about 2 years in about how and why she thought her shins had gotten so hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXCmZVXeGE she shows in the vid how her shins became kind of permanently serrated, with divots and dings. As she discusses only 2 years in (now she's 13 years of fighting in) very experienced Thais have incredibly hard shins, like iron. Yes, there are ideas about fighting hard or not, but that really isn't the determining factor from our experience with Sylvie coming up on 300 fights and being around a lot of old fighters. They just can get incredibly tough. The cycles of damage and repair just really change the shin (people in the internet like to talk about microfractures and whatnot). Over time Sylvie eventually didn't really need the heat treatment anymore after fights, now she seldom uses it. She's even has several times in the last couple of years split her skin open on checks without even feeling much contact. Just looked down and there was blood.  
    • The race for cheaper "grassroots" labor to fill Entertainment Muay Thai cards is on. Rajadamnern vs Lumpinee, trad Muay Thai vs Entertainment Muay Thai. This is the next economic challenge for the sport. Who can tap the rural fighter labor source better, as the trad festival fight culture that has feed the sport for over a century is quickly eroding.   
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi all, Does anyone know of any suppliers for blanks (Plain items to design and print a logo on) that are a good quality? Or put me in the right direction? thanks all  
    • The first fight between Poot Lorlek and Posai Sittiboonlert was recently uploaded to youtube. Posai is one of the earliest great Muay Khao fighters and influential to Dieselnoi, but there's very little footage of him. Poot is one of the GOATs and one of Posai's best wins, it's really cool to see how Posai's style looked against another elite fighter.
    • Yeah, this is certainly possible. Thanks! I just like the idea of a training camp pre-fight because of focus and getting more "locked in".. Do you know of any high level gyms in europe you would recommend? 
    • You could just pick a high-level gym in a European city, just live and train there for however long you want (a month?). Lots of gyms have morning and evening classes.
    • Hi, i have a general question concerning Muay-Thai training camps, are there any serious ones in Europe at all? I know there are some for kickboxing in the Netherlands, but that's not interesting to me or what i aim for. I have found some regarding Muay-Thai in google searches, but what iv'e found seem to be only "retreats" with Muay-Thai on a level compareable to fitness-boxing, yoga or mindfullness.. So what i look for, but can't seem to find anywhere, are camps similar to those in Thailand. Grueling, high-intensity workouts with trainers who have actually fought and don't just do this as a hobby/fitness regime. A place where you can actually grow, improve technique and build strength and gas-tank with high intensity, not a vacation... No hate whatsoever to those who do fitness-boxing and attend retreats like these, i just find it VERY ODD that there ain't any training camps like those in Thailand out there, or perhaps i haven't looked good enough?..  Appericiate all responses, thank you! 
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.5k
×
×
  • Create New...