One year on the ropes: why muay thai sucks (documentary)

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 5:55pm

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U9SAEDPR

From time to time, training muay thai and running into different instructors and practitioners of the sport, you'll hear people talk about how they've trained and maybe even fought in Thailand. Hell, if they're bad ass enough, even beat a Thai or two! Generally I just kind of roll my eyes and take this with a grain of salt because I've seen little glimpses of what the Thailand Thai boxing experience CAN be all about.

This documentary, in my eyes, is a good example of why it's a good idea to just roll your eyes when you hear about so and so's hardcore Thailand experience. Particularly if you hear the phrase "I've had 3 fights, BUT they were in Thailand".

If I'm understanding correctly (the dialogue is a little hard for me to follow since it's an amateur video with guys with thick accents) this video is about this guy who goes to Thailand for a year. The intent is to have his little fight career in Thailand, fight and train and build his credentials and return home to open up his own gym (after doing the same in Brazil). This guy must have some awesome skills to feel qualified to teach after a year of training right?

I was almost going to post a break down of every scene in the documentary, detailing the travesty that is tourist thaiboxing, but instead I'll let you guys watch and see what you think.

My synopsis:

Spoiler:

**NJM** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 7:28pm

We're going to have a real Kumite with a real Muay Thai master.

We have to train our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Chi.

**1point2** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 7:30pm

Wow. Bullshido in rare form: involving actual fights, yet bullshit activity nonetheless.

**The Twitcher** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 8:28pm

Originally Posted by 1point2

Wow. Bullshido in rare form: involving actual fights, yet bullshit activity nonetheless.

Yep, couldn't have said it better.

**chingythingy** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 8:50pm

In other words, if you're not a tiny ************, don't go to Thailand for training and bouts. Instead, go somewhere in Europe where they actually grow people larger than 70kg.

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 3/06/2009 9:29pm

fortunately for me, 115lbs seems to be a pretty decent weight for female Thai boxers in Thailand, so when I go do some fights in Thailand it won't have to be against the severely obese.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 3/07/2009 5:54am

Is this movie worth watching for it's own sake? Going by your description, I can't imaging there's much suprises in it for me.

I used to think training in Thailand was totally bad-ass. I'd go to shows here in Scotland and if one of the fighters had just been to Thailand every one would be talking about it, eager to see how improved his ass-kicking abilities had become.

Then two things changed it for me. First I saw that god-awful show with that fat, whiny Jack Ozborne kid where he was training Muay Thai. He's going through all this training **** and then they show the guy he was supposed to fight - some old guy who looiked half inhebriated. ****. Still I put it down to the fact that it was reality tv, so everythng had to be carefully orcestrated to make the star look good.

The other thing was that I found this site, and I saw several threads of guys looking to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai, with zero kickboxing experiance, and no clue about how to get there. Up until then I had allways thought of going to there as kind of a boot camp thing. Once you get to a certain stage in your training, your club would send you off to a place where you can spend all day training. No work, no family, just box, box, box.

I did more searching on-line and it seems that this idea of going to Thailand for a holiday and doing some fighting while you're there is pretty common, and like the Ozborne kid, people expect to train for a month, and then fight and win a full contact fight. AAAGH.

**octaviousbp** · Posted On: 3/07/2009 2:46pm

The type of people that travel to Thailand to train in Muaythai are quite diverse. Some are definitely there to return home and tell people they "trained in Thailand" and maybe even had a fight. However, there are others that are grinding out some serious training, and having their game elevated to a level that is likely not possible wherever they are from.

I always have to see someone on the pads, or spar, to see what they are really about.

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 3/07/2009 3:07pm

Yeah I'm definitely not trying to say that everyone, or even most people, that takes the trip to Thailand for training and fighting are like this. I plan to go there and get the experience of just focusing 100% on muay thai at a training camp and taking on Thai opponents to really test my skills.

What's available to people in Thailand is a whole new level of training and dedication, but it's all about what you put into it like anything else. If you're a lazy slob and don't make a real effort to turn yourself into a serious athlete, you'll remain a lazy slob regardless of where you train.

**theotherserge** · Posted On: 3/07/2009 3:35pm

Originally Posted by KidSpatula

Yeah I'm definitely not trying to say that everyone, or even most people, that takes the trip to Thailand for training and fighting are like this. I plan to go there and get the experience of just focusing 100% on muay thai at a training camp and taking on Thai opponents to really test my skills.

What's available to people in Thailand is a whole new level of training and dedication, but it's all about what you put into it like anything else. If you're a lazy slob and don't make a real effort to turn yourself into a serious athlete, you'll remain a lazy slob regardless of where you train.

Cheetah will not take people to Thailand unless they're in good fighting condition and have shown some skills and dedication. He considers it a waste of money. I saw some footage from their last trip: its basically an open air barn with cars parked right next to the training area, chickens running around, skipping rope on hard-packed dirt outside, the whole bit.

Its not really a training trip if you're a fatass getting a set-up fight and there aren't alot of sick looking bugs crawling into your cot at night.