Jump to content

The Future of Muay Thai

Nightshade
 Share

Recommended Posts

Nightshade Contributor

Nightshade

Posted
Posted

Hey I just want to thank you Sylvie for doing what you do regarding the Mauy Thai library and this website, plus your courage and bravery to go out and actually pursue the lifestyle your living.  I've learned so much and have actually gotten into watching the sport of Mauy Thai which I've grown to really enjoy.  I think it's important to go to the source to learn it, especially because it's actually the grappling or the Mauy Khao style that pumps me up as far as skill mastery is concerned.  The two things that impress me most in martial arts is skilled evasiveness when fighters slip impossibly fast strikes and high amplitude sweeps.  Basically at a point where I'm realizing that I'm never really going to get any good at clinch fighting unless I head over to Thailand and have the time to do it everyday.  I do kickboxing right now in the US but they do not know how to clinchfight.  I don't know I guess I felt like communicating all that with all of you but here are my questions on the matter.  

First of all where do you see Mauy Thai going in the US?  I feel like many MMA fans actually want to watch Mauy Thai and don't even realize it.  I'm talking about people who boo whenever there's an extended grappling exchange.  I think someday when I'm much more experienced and competent I'd like to open an actual Mauy Thai gym in the US (and not kickboxing like 99% of them truly are) and maybe grow awareness of the sport over here.

Second of all how are things looking in Thailand?  How do you see things playing out in the next couple years?  Has covid changed the landscape is it now much less kind to foreigners? I know Thai's are smaller people in general I'm assuming I'll have no trouble getting fights being around 150lbs?  

Also income wise, any tips trying to stay afloat financially while training in Thailand?  I've got some decent savings but I'd want to at least try to generate income out there.  Is fighting a legitimate way for a guy with 0 fights?  

And last if you could recommend a resource for someone looking to get that Mauy Khao experience?  It's just so cool lol

I'm really kind of looking to change up my lifestyle.  I've always used martial arts to blow off steam and keep me grounded plus I loved and love the sense of camaraderie that comes with doing something as difficult as training.  I'm very happy that I found this website and the Patreon so I could see someone making it happen.  At some point I know I've got to just make the call and do it but I'm just trying to gather as much information as I can so I can start to mentally picture how it's going to go.

Anyways thank you very much for all your hard work and dedication as well as taking the time to read this!  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu Fellow Traveler

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Posted
Posted

Thanks so much for your kind words. I'll try to get to the parts of your post that I am able to answer, I don't have my thumb on the pulse of American Muay Thai so I have no idea how to speculate there.

Covid has had a big impact on Muay Thai in Thailand. It has shut down a lot of the provincial fighting, which was the true lifeblood of Muay Thai, put innumerable people out of work, shut down gyms and had many fighters quit for lack of income, created a different structure for fights so that the 3 round "entertainment Muay Thai" has become more prominent and traditional 5 round fights are only being put on by the Old Guard Bangkok promoters. The future of Muay Thai, in my eyes, looks grim. But for folks who like the "international" entertainment style, the future looks bright. It has not affected foreign fighters in a negative way; if anything, the opportunities have increased to fight on bigger shows (money/exposure wise) because they're these 3 round promotions that want every fight to be Thai vs Non-Thai.

Likelihood that you can support yourself financially off of fighting alone is vanishingly small. Working online and teaching English seem to be the most frequent income bases for long-term stay in Thailand.

For Muay Khao training I'd recommend training with Kru Diesel at his gym in Singburi, https://www.fighthousethailand.com/sing-buri

 

  • 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
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • James071
      Best clinch focused gym

      By James071 · Posted

      I am 5’8 155 lbs. pk Saenchai seemed like a gym I would go to after years of training which I have not had. By the time I go to Thailand I will have 6 months of solid training. (About 13 hours a week soon to be 18.) I am visiting Thailand first, and then planning on finding where I want to make my home base after about 6 months.   I have little experience in the clinch, but I know that I want to be a heavy clinch and elbow fighter, as watching yodkhunpon inspired me. I have never seen a fighter that made me want to copy them before. Thank you for the reply and all you guys do. 
    • Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu
      What Made the Golden Age of Muay Thai So Different?

      By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted

      If I was answering this question today I think I'd expand the picture of Western Boxing's lasting influence, coming up through the decades, intensifying from the 1960s on, the Army and Police Boxing leagues and I'd also write about how television was just starting to Nationalize Thai consciousness, and the built out local television networks in the Provinces, local stadium hubs, the published rankings from the provinces and the wide-scale small kaimuay ecosystem (which has been almost completely eroded) which developed so many fighters for the stadia.   Here you can see how deep the provincial rankings went in published Golden Age Muay Thai magazines, layers of talent outside of the Capital (originally posted to Reddit😞   Here are some Golden Age related Muay Thai economics, as well:  
    • Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu
      What Made the Golden Age of Muay Thai So Different?

      By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted

      It was just a perfect storm of a very deep talent pool, in the provinces, a huge economic boom in Bangkok with lots of money to invest, and the provincial (boxing educated) workers flowing into the city. The influx of workers was likely a significant factor. It created a hungry, educated and impassioned fan base. writing about Dieselnoi and Samart You have to add in things like the particular brilliance of the promoter OneSongChai who was expert at staging drama, pitting particular styles against other styles, and nurturing the talent of fighters without owning a gym himself. Another hidden factor could be that the influence of Western Boxing on Thailand may have also been its peak (there were boxing fights on each and every card, both at Rajadamern and Lumpinee, 9 cards a week - that's almost 500 boxing fights a year at the National Stadia). The mix with Western boxing may have even further expanded the fight skills of the talent pool. Amateur boxing was a very big deal in Thailand, especially after the King built provincial stadia across Thailand in 1979. These hubs of stadia likely anchored provincial fighting. Also, just structurally, the Muay Thai of then was not dominated by only a handful of gyms that simply bought talent up, as it is today. There was greater variety of BKK gyms, drawing from many more gyms in the ecosystem of the provinces. Even to get to Bangkok, it is said, required a great number of fights and proven skill. There was also great regional pride, and identity in the growth of fighters. Karuhat told us that every fight he had in Bangkok, when he was good, would pull 4 bus loads of fans from Khon Kaen in Isaan (his home town). This deep regionalism just doesn't exist in the same way now. The 1980s/1990s was a period of growing National connectivity, in the context of still powerful regional identities, expressed through the fight scene.     The above is from a Reddit comment I made a few years ago. It seemed best to anchor it in my sub forum somewhere so as to not get lost as its a pretty decent, short summation.  A few things that changed TLTR The economic boom in Thailand ended in 1995. In the 2000s there was also a rule change allowing sweeps and trips that were illegal in the Golden Age. This ended up radically altering the clinch fighting & grappling that arguably fueled much of the the complexity of Golden Age fighting styles. Boxing gradually started losing its influence on Muay Thai, until today there is next to none. Along with socio-economic, demographic shifts (changing the talent pool and the fan base) pedagogy & training methods seem to have also gradually changed as well, eventually accelerating the decline.

  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Snack Payback
      Muay thai in Australia

      By Snack Payback · Posted

      I can only comment on Perth. There's a very active Muay Thai scene here - regular shows. Plenty of gyms across the city with Thai trainers. All gyms offer trial classes so you can try a few out before committing . Direct flights to Bangkok and Phuket as well. Would you be coming over on a working holiday visa? Loads of work around Western Australia at the moment. 
    • kkadzielna
      Muay thai in Australia

      By kkadzielna · Posted

      Hi, I'm considering moving to Australia from the UK and I'm curious what is the scene like? Is it easy to fight frequently (proam/pro level), especially as a female? How does it compare to the UK? Any gym recommendations? I'll be grateful for any insights.
    • kkadzielna
      Muay-Thai training camps-Europe??

      By kkadzielna · Posted

      You won't find thai style camps in Europe, because very few people can actually fight full time, especially in muay thai. As a pro you just train at a regular gym, mornings and evenings, sometimes daytime if you don't have a job or one that allows it. Best you can hope for is a gym with pro fighters in it and maybe some structured invite-only fighters classes. Even that is a big ask, most of Europe is gonna be k1 rather than muay thai. A lot of gyms claim to offer muay thai, but in reality only teach kickboxing. I think Sweden has some muay thai gyms and shows, but it seems to be an exception. I'm interested in finding a high-level muay thai gym in Europe myself, I want to go back, but it seems to me that for as long as I want to fight I'm stuck in the UK, unless I switch to k1 or MMA which I don't want to do.
    • dazak
      Muay Thai Suppliers (Shorts Wraps T-Shirts)

      By dazak · Posted

      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  
    • RyanAWag
      Poot Lorlek vs Posai Sittiboonlert

      By RyanAWag · Posted

      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.

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.5k

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

Footer title

This is an example of a list.

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

×
×
  • Create New...