Jump to content

What are you up to? Update on Sylvie's Fighting


Recommended Posts

Hi there!

I wondered what you guys are up to recently. I haven't seen a fight by Sylie for a long time and no updates on the page. So I was wondering a bit what your plans are how you guys are doing? Just out of curiosity....Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a very good question! Sylvie's dying to fight but things have become very difficult in Thailand, and its very hard for her to find fights at all. The combination of COVID over the last 3 years, and the dominance of 3 round Entertainment Muay Thai has had a serious impact on the female fighting we once knew, and, it seems that Sylvie's reputation as a fighter has cleaned out almost all possible opponents, at least opponents we can find and that promoters have tried to book. The first problem is Entertainment Muay Thai itself. It is a mode of fighting that is designed to help Westerners win, and is pretty far from the Muay Thai that Sylvie came here with passion to learn, so Sylvie has tried to hold a firm line in trying to fight in the traditional 5-round style. It's why she fights. This means that there are fewer promotions and fighting opportunities to choose from. It's really become something of an ethical stance for her, as the encroachment of Entertainment fighting is actively eroding the art of Muay Thai itself, in our opinion, and if she can she doesn't really want to become an advocate for it, if she can avoid it. Who knows how long she can hold out?

COVID for the last couple of years also impacted female Muay Thai in that a lot of the strong local fighters that Sylvie used to face, giving up a lot of weight, have retired from the sport, so there are fewer possible opponents. Areas where we used to fight very frequently, like in Chiang Mai, simply cannot find opponents for her...we are told. There may be opponents in the provinces, there should be, but provincial fighting is pretty insular, and its been difficult to find matchups there. Everyone wants her to fight someone near her weight (for gambling purposes), but there seems to also be the feeling that she's too strong to fight someone near her weight. A top fighter near her weight has turned down 3 different promoters for a match. So we are in a catch-22 situation. Too strong of a fighter, by some reports, and provincial gambling fights don't see giving up big weight as appropriate. This has to do with the culture of fighting. We have several people looking for fights in the provinces, which hold the best traditional fighting in the sport for women, but none of them can find a match.

We can't really seem to crack into Phuket fighting, can't fight in Chiangmai for lack of opponents, local traditional shows like those in Hua Hin can't find anyone who wants to fight Sylvie, and provincial fighting is very difficult to book. It leaves very few opportunities at this point. Sylvie is an exciting fighter and Thais love her when they see her fighting, so it really is just a matter of finding our way into new fight scenes and people enjoying it.

All these problems were exacerbated by a significant injury Sylvie suffered, being thrown from a horse into a concrete fence, which really scared us. Luckily she avoided serious injury, but she was immobile for a few weeks, and it took 6 weeks or so to get back to training. So the hunt for fights took a hit in that time as well. 

So, Sylvie's been training as if she has a fight. She has one lined up in a few weeks (but fights and fighters have pulled out several times lately, so we are just crossing fingers). She's developing as a fighter, sparring with Yodkhunpon every day. It's all good stuff, but Thailand is going through a phase right now, in female fighting. Hopefully the trend will swing back toward traditional fighting, and female Thai fighters will become more numerous now that COVID shutdowns have relaxed.

That's the long answer. The short answer: It's very hard to find fights right now, Sylvie would love to be fighting several times a month, we'd really drive anywhere in Thailand to get them. We are doing everything the same as before. Working hard on the Muay Thai Library project, Sylvie's pushing herself as a fighter, developing in training, and we are looking hard for matchups.

  • Like 1
  • Respect 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I hope you guys can find an inroad somewhere. Maybe the fight in a few weeks will work out. Can you explain a bit more about "Entertainment Muay Thai"? This is a 3 round format? Is it like the Muay Thai Series that is shown on Channel 8? What do you mean by this being more aimed at Westerners? Is it aimed at a Western Audience?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Frank_B said:

Can you explain a bit more about "Entertainment Muay Thai"?

Entertainment Muay Thai, in Thailand, are the 3-round fight formats that change the rules and style of fighting, eliminating clinch and strongly discouraging retreating, defensive fighting. In Thailand, it began with MAX Muay Thai. As the original promoter explained, the new ruleset was designed to help Western fighters win vs Thais, with an unspoken sense that it was kind of a reversal of Thai Fight (which at the time was the most popular MT show on television, a promotion which was designed to highlight Thai greatness, often with lopsided matchups. The Entertainment model was designed to do the opposite. The ruleset was anti-Thai, and for the first few years (at least) it was regular to see mismatches that favored Western fighters, vs lower level Thais. It was designed for Westerners to win, or at least win more frequently. The Channel 8 fights were a spin off of the MAX promotion, with their own differences, but also within the Entertainment model. And since then the Entertainment model has taken hold across Thailand, at least in areas promoting tourism.

The Entertainment model, I believe, was also used to evade the control of the Sport Authority of Thailand. These technically were not "Muay Thai fights", they were "shows" for entertainment, so could produce a non-Muay Thai mode of entertainment.

ONE also has followed this model of changing Muay Thai, in a way that favors non-Thai fighters, I suspect so Chatri could produce non-Thai "Muay Thai" champions which are helpful for his marketing his promotion to the West. The ONE version of Entertainment Muay Thai has now been brought to Lumpinee Stadium, which no longer is a National Stadium (in the old sense) and which no longer, for the most part, hosts actual "Muay Thai" fights in the traditional sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK. I understand. I can see why Sylvie wants to stay away from these type of fights. I tip my hat to you guys for not taking this "bait". I don't blame the promoters of this "Entertainment Muay Thai" to do what they do. In the end, they have to vie for an audience and if they think they can increase their chances like this, then that is that. In a way, that is the downside of Globalization, that local particularities get run over by Global tastes (or what is perceived to be a Global Taste). Nevertheless, I can see why you guys want to stay true to the traditional Muay Thai. It is a fascinating art. Myself, I only learned to appreciate it from Sylvies comments on her own fights.

 

Well, I hope you guys manage to get the fights you are looking for in the local arenas going forward! Good Luck!

  • 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

    • What people don't really appreciate is that Nabil says he trained 13 months for this fight...and Superlek probably trained for two weeks. Good on Nabil, but the fight (and the promotion) just doesn't "mean" the same thing to each fighter, as much as there is enormous social media hype around these kinds of matchups. It's "entertainment" Muay Thai. In many ways it just isn't "real" for Thais (it lacks the social risks that gambled stadium fighting has). Fighting the stadium when Superlek was 18...that was REAL, because the social conditions of shame and pride and the cultural network of status struggle was infinitely at risk. One can't force it to be real.  
    • I've been exploring ultrawides for a while, though basically drawn to them since I started shooting Muay Thai though I didn't know how to use them. There was always the sense that I wanted to weave together very different focal lengths. Since shooting with the Contax which I really love, on a bigger sensor format I've been drawn further in. So here is an experiment, using keyframes, big contrast video and telephoto images, to capture the mood and energy of a training session with Chatchai. This is was just a sketch from a single very quick shoot (I think 3 very short videos, maybe 100 still frames shot), maybe 5 minutes of photography altogether. I wanted it to be very bare bones to see if I could whip up an energy and feeling that I could maybe use on a larger project. The short is much aided by the music by Anand who I'm working with on a big, experimental writing project. wh
    • Exactness and review are two essential measurements utilized in assessing the execution of machine learning models, especially in classification errands. Both are vital in understanding how well a demonstrate performs in recognizing between pertinent and unimportant comes about, but they center on diverse viewpoints of accuracy. Data Science Course in Pune Precision measures the precision of positive forecasts made by a show. It is calculated as the number of genuine positive comes about partitioned by the add up to number of positive forecasts (genuine positives furthermore wrong positives). In other words, exactness answers the address: "Out of all the occurrences the demonstrate labeled as positive, how numerous were really redress?" A tall accuracy score demonstrates that when the show predicts a positive result, it is ordinarily redress. This metric is especially imperative in scenarios where wrong positives carry critical results, such as in spam location. If an mail channel marks a authentic e-mail as spam, it may result in critical messages being missed. On the other hand, review, too known as affectability, centers on the model’s capacity to distinguish all pertinent occurrences. It is calculated as the number of genuine positives separated by the whole of genuine positives and untrue negatives. This implies review answers the address: "Out of all genuine positive cases, how numerous did the demonstrate accurately recognize?" A tall review score recommends that the show does not miss numerous important occurrences, which is especially valuable in restorative analyze. For illustration, in cancer discovery, a tall review guarantees that about all cancerous cases are distinguished, indeed if it implies a few untrue positives are included. The trade-off between exactness and review is a common challenge in machine learning. A show can be balanced to favor one over the other depending on the application. Expanding accuracy regularly comes at the fetched of review, as the show gets to be more preservationist in making positive forecasts. Then again, expanding review might lower accuracy, as the demonstrate gets to be more indulgent in labeling occasions as positive. The adjust between the two is regularly spoken to utilizing the F1-score, which is the consonant cruel of exactness and recall.  In down to earth applications, the choice between prioritizing accuracy or review depends on the particular needs of the assignment. In extortion discovery, for occurrence, tall exactness is vital to maintain a strategic distance from dishonestly denouncing authentic exchanges. In differentiate, tall review is basic in look motors to guarantee all pertinent comes about are recovered. Understanding the contrast between these two measurements makes a difference information researchers fine-tune models for ideal execution based on their targets.
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • 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! 
    • In my experience, 1 pair of gloves is fine (14oz in my case, so I can spar safely), just air them out between training (bag gloves definitely not necessary). Shinguards are a good idea, though gyms will always have them and lend them out- just more hygienic to have your own.  2 pairs of wraps, 2 shorts (I like the lightweight Raja ones for the heat), 1 pair of good road running trainers. Good gumshield and groin-protector, naturally. Every time I finish training, I bring everything into the shower (not gloves or shinnies, obviously) with me to clean off the (bucketsfull in my case) of sweat, but things dry off quickly here outside of the monsoon season.  One thing I have found I like is smallish, cotton briefs for training (less cloth, therefore sweaty wetness than boxers, etc.- bring underwear from home- decent, cotton stuff is strangely expensive here). Don't weigh yourself down too much. You might want to buy shorts or vests from the gym(s) as (useful) souvenirs. I recommend Action Zone and Keelapan, next door, in Bangkok (good selection and prices):  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Action+Zone/@13.7474264,100.5206774,17z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x30e29931ee397e41:0x4c8f06926c37408b!2sAction+Zone!8m2!3d13.7474212!4d100.5232523!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3_f5d2!3m5!1s0x30e29931ee397e41:0x4c8f06926c37408b!8m2!3d13.7474212!4d100.5232523!16s%2Fg%2F1hm3_f5d2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.3k
×
×
  • Create New...