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By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted
Worked on this today, framing Sylvie's incredibly immense record by size and fight type/location. or -
By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted
One of the hard things to do is to get scope on what Sylvie has achieved in Muay Thai. The female fighter, of any combat sport, who has fought more documented pro fights than any other in history. You can see video of all of Sylvie's recorded fights here, and her complete fight record here. Because people are often unfamiliar with Thailand's fighting, and some may generalize from their own experience, it seemed good to put together a few percentage distributions of Sylvie's fights. She is likely the most documented female fighter in history, if not fighter of either gender. Sylvie's Fights By Size These weights were often on the scale without weight cutting, the larger weights were either eye-balled or confirmed by asking (there's video of every fight so you can take a look yourself). Everything at 47 or below is Sylvie's weight class. For much of her career she probably was a 44 kg fighter (below the lightest weight class, sub 100 lbs) if she cut. Most fights at 48 kg were already fighting up a bit, though earlier in her career she walked around at 47-48 kg, then in the heart of it (on Keto, etc) she was about 46 kg walking around. In the last year she's spent a lot of time in the weight room and is back between 47-48 kg. Only about 10% of Sylvie's 274 fights in Thailand were properly at her weight. More than 50% of her fights were at least 2 weight classes up, the bulk of those 4 weight classes or higher. She's probably fought up more than any documented fighter in history, other than perhaps Saenchai, who specialized for a long time giving up big weight to non-Thai fighters in Entertainment Muay Thai, and also had a long career of fighting up in the Bangkok Stadia. Sylvie's Fights By Type and Location Sylvie fought a lot of her fights in the Chiang Mai stadia, almost half. At the time it was the best female fighting in all of Thailand because the scene was grounded in Thai vs Thai fighting, not catering to Western fighters. You can read about the scene here, in Sylvie's 2017 article: Why Chiang Mai Has the Best Female Muay Thai Fighting in the World. We haven't been up to Chiang Mai for a long time so we aren't really sure of how it is now, a lot has changed since COVID. Things to note though is that more than a 1/4 of her fights are festival fights, a large number of them in Issan. We found this is the heart of Thailand's fighting style, because festival fights are usually governed by gambling interests (and not set up by a promoter looking to produce paid for content). Thailand is incredibly rich in skilled female fighters, and when you enter the side-bet world that is where matchups tend to be most opponent varied and challenging. Also worth noting, despite Sylvie's resistance to Entertainment Muay Thai (3 round, Westernized rulesets), she has actually fought 17 times in Kard Chuek on television, an Entertainment Knock-out or draw format. The most beautiful thing is that she's fought all over the country, and faced close to 150 different Thai female fighters. -
By Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu · Posted
Race, Class and Privilege - Making History Western women, including White Women, as female Muay Thai fighters, if they are to ascend in a sport respected throughout the world, really need to have this kind of attitude toward Thai female fighters. Much more than even black female basketball players, Thai female fighters made the sport of Thailand's women's Muay Thai - they've been sport fighting in the ring for over 100 years, at least. It is their sport, they excel at it --- even as everyone seeks to change it's rules, Westernize it, as a commodity, there is a certain whitening of the sport. Westerners come into Thailand to train and fight with immense privilege and freedom, joining themselves to a sport and art that already existed whole. Great Thai female fighters need to be lifted up, carried to greater awareness, and supported. Some of this lack of support is the language barrier, some it the exoticization of Thailand, but too many times Thai opponents are just "a Thai" in people's minds. And in the past it has been much worse than that, with racist stereotypes about Thai women and Thailand abounding. Thailand's Muay Thai is in a state wherein, due to Soft Power initiatives as a response to the COVID scare, it is being remade FOR the Westerner, not only as a consumer, but also as a participant (laborer, actually). As the sport tries to lift the prominence of the Western (often White), or generally non-Thai fighter, we just lift the Thai fighter up, across that culture and language barrier.
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The Latest From Open Topics Forum
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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 -
Hey! I totally get what you mean about pushing through—it can sometimes backfire, especially with mood swings and fatigue. Regarding repeated head blows and depression, there’s research showing a link, especially with conditions like CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). More athletes are recognizing the importance of mental health alongside training. -
If you need a chill video editing app for Windows, check out Movavi Video Editor. It's super easy to use, perfect for beginners. You can cut, merge, and add effects without feeling lost. They’ve got loads of tutorials to help you out! I found some dope tips on clipping videos with Movavi. It lets you quickly cut parts of your video, so you can make your edits just how you want. Hit up their site to learn more about how to clip your screen on Windows and see how it all works. -
Hi all, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be traveling to Thailand soon for just over a month of traveling and training. I am a complete beginner and do not own any training gear. One of the first stops on my trip will be to explore Bangkok and purchase equipment. What should be on my list? Clearly, gloves, wraps, shorts and mouthguard are required. I would be grateful for some more insight e.g. should I buy bag gloves and sparring gloves, whether shin pads are worthwhile for a beginner, etc. I'm partiularly conscious of the heat and humidity, it would make sense to pack two pairs of running shoes, two sets of gloves, several handwraps and lots of shorts. Any nuggets of wisdom are most welcome. Thanks in advance for your contributions! -
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