As I mentioned in my last post, Jessada took me for a ride to go see some Muay Thai while the iguana was being prepared. I had been asking about seeing some boxing since I got to Thailand, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. What ended up happening was much cooler than seeing a big match in the city - I got to watch a boxing exhibition by some of the young students in the village in a makeshift home training ring.
The fellow who was training the students spoke no English, and to most of the kids in the village, I might as well been from another planet, so communication was a no-go. But they were super proud of their fighting skills, and they took the sparring match very seriously. The makeshift nature of the training equipment and area are proof positive that you don’t need to have tons of fancy equipment or gadgets to do serious martial arts training.
After my visit to Thailand, I got the feeling that Muay Thai has the same role in Thai society as baseball or AYSO soccer does in the states - something almost every kid does, but not many do it past adolescence. Everybody’s into it as a spectator as an adult, though. Only one of my friends in Kalasin seemed really into it as an adult, and he had the Bruce Lee physique and haircut to show for it.
You can see all of my Thai boxing photos here. Two personal favourites are this image of the two boys facing off and this image of one of the students helping his fellow student tie his cup on in preparation for the match.
