Hi, this might be out of the normal topic, but I thought you all might be interested in a book-- Children of the Neon Bamboo-- that has a really cool Martial Arts instructor character who set up an early Muy Thai gym south of Miami in the 1980s. He's a really cool character who drives the plot, and there historically accurate allusions to 1980s martial arts culture. However, the main thrust is more about nostalgia and friendships.    Can we do links? Childrenoftheneonbamboo.com Children of the Neon Bamboo: B. Glynn Kimmey: 9798988054115: Amazon.com: Movies & TV     &nbs ..read more

Phetjeeja fought Anissa Meksen for a ONE FC interim atomweight kickboxing title 12/22/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu92S6-V5y0&ab_channel=ONEChampionship Fight starts at 45:08 Phetjeeja won on points. Not being able to clinch really handicapped her. I was afraid the ref was going to start deducting points for clinch fouls.    ..read more

Earlier this year I wrote a couple of sociology essays that dealt directly with Muay Thai, drawing on Sylvie's journalism and discussions on the podcast to do so. I thought I'd put them up here in case they were of any interest, rather than locking them away with the intention to perfectly rewrite them 'some day'. There's not really many novel insights of my own, rather it's more just pulling together existing literature with some of the von Duuglus-Ittu's work, which I think is criminally underutilised in academic discussions of MT. The first, 'Some meanings of muay' was written for an ideolo ..read more

 Apologies for the partial MMA discussion, but I figured it was the appropriate part of the forum to post on! Just rewatched the 'Low-Kick Destroyer' technique vlog, and have been going back through the library's old-school sessions. Sylvie throughout many Boran and other older styles' sessions Sylvie was making connections to viable translations of old-school moves to modern day stadium Muay Thai. I have been reflecting on these systems viability in modern day MMA (my competition ruleset) and other rulesets. Here are some moves which caught my interest and the sessions they appear in. I ..read more

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This post from the WBC on Facebook caught my eye. A fight for the vacant Women's WBC Minimum Weight International Title is taking place on 7/26/2023 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Huynh Ha Huu Hieu (Vietnam) vs Pornthip Khamthongpanow (Thailand). Sylvie fought Elisabetta Solinas (Italy) for the vacant Women's WBC Minimum Weight World Title on 2/4/2023. Fight #275 on the way to #471.  When I first say the FB post I didn't realize there were 3 belts at each weight class: World, International, and European. I was trying to figure out why 2 other women were fighting for "Sylvie ..read more

Hi all, I'm writing a sociology essay on some of the different ways Muay Thai embodies and symbolises cultural values and perspectives (e.g. masculine/patriarchal, buddhistic/moral, nationalistic/communal, aesthetic/class tastes) and am hoping to draw on library sessions and interviews as part of my data. Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, or if these questions have been answered elsewhere (I have searched here and elsewhere, but don't speak or read Thai). In a (recent?) library session it was mentioned that cash bonuses are sometimes given out for performing Muay Boran techniques ..read more

I started late, 25 yrs old. I have recently found Sylvie's videos interviewing Angie and while that is a huge inspiration for me as someone now a few months into training, I have found the real hook that kept me coming back to class religiously is the impact of Muay Thai on my relationship to my body. I pass fairly well when I am conforming to western femininity but I actually gravitate towards tom/butch expression (undercut, little makeup, "men's" cloths) despite being MTF. For my whole life, and especially the last few years during transition I have had basically hypervigilance/hyper fixatio ..read more

I live in USA, 46 yr old, 5.4 tall, weighs 124 lbs, and I am interested in Muay Thai. I  started on my own punching, kicking etc for a month, but due to cardiac issues stopped and had to go through, bypass surgery 3 weeks back When can I slowly start to go for a near by training MMA center? what precautions I need to take? please advise ..read more

No need for me to beat around the bush here I guess: I'm trans, female-to-male. I've been on testosterone for three-ish years now and have had top surgery. I pass completely as male, I even got blessed with good genetics for relatively big muscles. I just have scarring on my chest so being shirtless is a little suspicious. I've been training Muay Thai for about a year now (not 100% consecutively) and I love it. I can't even imagine my life without it, honestly, and I have watched so many documentaries on Muay Thai in Thailand and Thai culture. I've been thinking about trying to take on an amat ..read more