Auction is currently live, bidding ends November 15th, 2013 ( 22:45:50 Greenwich Mean Time) – I will be posting the photographic print from here in Thailand, so if you want it personalized I am more than happy to oblige!
As part of the Khem ’50 Kick’ Fundraiser there is an Ebay auction, for which I donated a pair of my fight shorts (which I’ve actually worn in fights and for training) and local fight photographer Michael White of Muay Thai Photography donated a framed portrait that he took at my 56th fight, at Thapae Stadium.
I signed the photo this morning
Michael is a reserved fellow from New Zealand who lives and trains Muay Thai in Chiang Mai. My friend Robyn hired him to shoot her first fight in Thailand when she came to visit me and Michael spent a few days getting shots of training at the camp, as well as at, during and after the fight itself. That was my first introduction to Michael and his photos. I’ve been very pleased to continue seeing him at the gym and at fights, enjoying his images as they are posted on his Facebook Page.
When I saw that Natasha Sky, a very cool female fighter from Australia, was donating a signed photograph along with her shorts, I immediately thought to ask Michael if he wanted to donate one of his great photos to help Khem – he was on board without hesitation. Michael is a big part of the Chiang Mai Muay Thai world as he documents the fights in his art – a photo from him represents a single moment of this time fighting in Chiang Mai, an experience and time in my life that I feel so lucky to be a part of. When he came to the gym to deliver this big, beautiful, framed print of me performing my Wai Kru (taught to me by Master K) he also gave me a second image (also framed) as a birthday present to me. I love these pictures and am happy to sign one for the auction, as well as have one of my own.
my signed fight shorts – the Thai lettering says Lanna
Khem and his father at camp, visiting after one of his physiotherapy sessions
So my signed fight shorts and this signed portrait are on auction together on Ebay. The winning bid, every cent, will go toward helping Khem with his medical expenses, which is a wonderful cause because Khem is a wonderful man. If you don’t know who Khem is and why we are helping him, this is my first blog post on this former champion who is trying to walk again. And, without sounding too grand, those of you who have been following this website and my path in Muay Thai know that I am pushing to 100 Muay Thai fights – a number that possibly no other non-Thai female has ever accomplished in Thailand. So this is a chance to have a small bit of a small portion of female Muay Thai history. These are not shorts that I fought in once and put in a drawer. Rather, I’ve fought in them many times, and trained in them endlessly; they are sun-bleached by the Thai sun. Below you can see my fight rate on my quest to reach 100 fights by May 2015, an up to date version can be always found here.