http://www.thenakedemperor.com/popups/images/still_farangba.jpg

"Farang Ba" is Craig Wilson.

Craig Wilson is an amateur boxer (western style) in Thailand. He is also 47, a harvard educated lawyer, wears coke-bottle glasses, didn't start to training until he was in his 30's, and a cancer survivor!

A documentary was made about him in 2002. This man is an inspiration to us all! He overcame many obstacles, his dedication is fantastic. His work ethic is phenomenal.

I encourage all bullshido readers to watch the documentary of the same title of this thread.

Here is a link to the film maker's page: http://www.thenakedemperor.com/farangba/index.html

On the left, there are links to a interview with John Sullivan (director). There are audio clips from the documentary in the audio interview file.

My hats off to Craig Wilson - Farang Ba!

Edit: DVD now available: http://www.buyindies.com/listing/1091054311859

Western boxing in Thailand? I had no idea there was much call for that. He sounds crazy in a good way.

Well, his coaches and friends who gave him the nickname said he is crazy in a good way, and that "Ba" is a good kind of crazy. Nice observation.

GOOD KIND OF CREZZY

The documentary is available here: http://www.buyindies.com/listing/1091054311859

he's crazy to do western boxing in thailand but it's a good kind of crazy because it brings in tourist dollars.

A better pic of the crazy foreigner
http://www.buyindies.com/userimg/images%5CCrazy.jpg

I don't know about good kind of crazy or bad kind -- my coach originally came up with the nickname because I didn't want to stop training after a hard, sweaty workout, and the nickname just sort of stuck. I think it's more in the sense of "crazy about boxing" than insane or deranged, although you could make an argument on that one.

As for why I do western boxing: muay Thai, the national sport, is a wonderful sport that I love to watch. It is also medically impossible for me to fight muay Thai. As a result of the colon cancer surgery, I have an "ileostomy" (a pouch through which I go to the bathroom) just below my stomach. So long as I can wear a foul protector (and not just a cup), I can box. Because of the nature of muay Thai, with all of the knees to the midsection, wearing such a protector is a non-starter in muay Thai. Without it, I would certainly wind up in the hospital. I may be crazy, but I'm not suicidal.

Western boxing is in fact quite popular in Thailand. Most universities have teams. In the last couple of years, I've become friends with the Thai Olympic team -- they won a gold, bronze and silver at the last Olympics -- and have had the honor of sparring with the gold and the bronze medalists. Out of my league? Of course! But it was great fun, and it's kind of neat to tell someone that your black eye came from an Olympic medalist!

I don't follow the point about tourist dollars, though. I'm not a tourist -- I now consider Thailand my home, having been here 7 years, and I intend to remain. I generally fight at events up-country, where I am the only foreigner anywhere in sight.


Craig Wilson
"Farang Ba"
Bangkok

Western style boxing is huge in thailand. At the camp i train in at Chiang Mai (Siam number one) alot of the coaches were/are champs in muay thai and western boxing. Plus Thai (western boxing) comes on TV just about as much as Muay Thai here in thailand. The boxing game in muay thai is constantly getting better and better. Most of the knock outs ive seen first hand here in thailand are from hands, most of the elbows ive seen dont put anyone down unless its on the jaw. And i dont think ive seen a knock out from a kick yet, ive seen a couple knees to the head tho, that ended one match i saw.

FARANG BA, by up country do you mean Chiang mai and more north ? i cant beleive the ammount of muay thai festivals here in Chiang Mai. I generally go to 2 a week on the weekends and watch our team fight. And im generally the only foreinger there beside my friend. I started off training in phuket and the boxing instruction/fights there were horrible. Im blown away by Chiang Mai, the level of skill is 10 fold here compared to phuket. And you dont have to pay money to see most of the boxing here. Im sticking it out in Chiang Mai for a long time for sure.

welcome to bullshido guys

Hi, Chris:

By up-country, I normally mean anyplace outside of Bangkok. So that would include Chiang Mai (which I love, by the way). But in this case, it was in and around Korat -- I had one fight in Nong Khi, which is in Buriram province, roughly an hour's drive from Korat, and one in Phimai, which is in Korat province.

Where in Chiang Mai do you train? Whenever I'm there, usually for a weekend, I work out at Lanna (Khet Busaba) -- even though it's a muay Thai camp, I can always find somebody who is willing to put on the gloves and box.

I'm actually hoping to arrange to fight in Chiang Mai sometime -- at one point, I said I wanted to fight in each province, until my coach informed me that there are 74 provinces! So I may not make them all, but I'll try.

Keep your gloves up.

Best,

Craig

Farang BA, its an honour to be reading your post! I'm a 45 year old University Prof that's been training Muay Thai for the past 4 years and half years, the last 2 years here at Siam # 1 in Toronto.

ChrisJKD, you'll have to drop by Siam #1 in Toronto, the sister facility here in town, when you get back to Canada.

how come everyone wants to go to a camp in thailand but nobody wants to go to the birthplace of martial arts, shaolin? And if you say they dont fight in ufcs etc. well theyre monks what do you expect, and many of them do great in sans hou and such.

how come everyone wants to go to a camp in thailand but nobody wants to go to the birthplace of martial arts, shaolin? And if you say they dont fight in ufcs etc. well theyre monks what do you expect, and many of them do great in sans hou and such.

**** off strangler doing a poor impersonation of somebody who isn't strangler

Dear J416to,

That sounds like a name from Star Wars....

Thank you for your kind words. Can I quote you -- you'd be amazed (!) how few people consider it an honor to have anything at all to do with a lawyer!

Then again, maybe you wouldn't....

Miro, I don't know if you have seen it, but a friend and sometime sparring partner of mine, Antonio Graceffo, has written a book about training at the Shaolin Temple. The book is called "The Monk From Brooklyn: An American At the Shaolin Temple".

Keep punching, guys.

Craig

Anyway Craig, your story is very inspirational and you're a credit to your previous profession. Keep up the good work, and it would be cool if maybe you stuck around here. :drunken_s