Happy birthday, Pete!
We've reached the halfway point! 2 weeks down, 2 to go. We were supposed to depart from Omkoi today, but as a result of the rain we've had, the road/bridge to the town got washed out.
These photos of our intended route were sent to Noi
These photos of our intended route were sent to Noi
Consequently, we had to adjust our travel schedule and are staying an extra day in Chiang Mai.
I should probably pick up with where I left off last night, which was before the Muay Thai fight. Earlier in the trip, several students expressed a lot of interested in attending a live Muay Thai fight, if possible. Noi was able to secure tickets for students and faculty that wanted to attend (we offered this activity as optional).
Muay Thai 101 (from ifkickboxing.com)
*Note: I've tried to bold the elements of Muay Thai that seem distinct/worth noting.
As we here at the IKF have always done for our fans of these pages, we always try to educate "EVERYONE" on aspects of our sport and maybe a short class here in Muay Thai 101 will help to form where this article is going. Some of you may know most if not all we will teach in this class while others will answer honestly, "Oh, I didn't know that." So let the class begin…
Nearly every weekend around the world there's a kickboxing event that advertises they will feature the long honored fighting art of Thailand known as Muay Thai. If these fighters are both following true Muay Thai tradition, they will both enter the ring over the top rope. Why? In Muay Thai tradition, the Mongkon (headpiece wore around the top of each fighters head prior to their bout) is blessed for good luck by each fighter's respected religion. Going over the top rope is symbolic that God is Above All Things such as the ring ropes. The spectators and their peers see 2 fighters dressed in the traditional Muay Thai shorts with their Mongkon wore proudly on their head. Once in the ring the traditional Muay Thai music begins and a fighter has their first options of the bout.
However in Thailand, this is NOT an option and SHOULD NOT be an option even in other parts of the world. These options are not fighting options such as "Should I throw a Jab or a knee etc." these options are the ones of long and honored traditions of Muay Thai. To seal the ring (The walk around the ring which symbolizes the sealing of evil spirits from the ring), begin their Wai Kru (Wai means Bow and Kru means Teacher. When the fighter bows down paying homage to their teacher, club and family) and or a Ram Muay. (Which translates into boxer dance) or to simply stand and await for their opponent to be ready and the referee to begin the bout. Keep in mind that not all Muay Thai fighters perform these things. Even in Thailand, they are a fighter's choice.
If a fighter decides to seal the ring we'll see them stopping to pray in each corner. In Thailand, the Wai Khre is paying homage to their Buddha. This pray continues at each corner during their walk to all four corners. Once again, a fighter may now choose to perform a Wai Khre followed by their own version of their Ram Muay. Often during a fighters Ram Muay, many true fans of Muay Thai fighting may not know what the dance is for.
To answer this question, the dance expresses a fighter's balance and agility. Sometimes at its end, it may be followed by a show of confidence or challenge towards their opponents corner such as a stomping of their feet or an imitation of shooting an arrow at their opponent. To true fans of the sport, this is all part of the bout as well. As each fighter's rituals ends, the trainer removes their Mongkon and turns to face their opponent.
To summarize:
- Fighters enter over the top rope - symbolizes "God is above all things"
- Fighters wear Mongkon (headpiece) that is blessed and removed before the fight
- Fights may contain traditional music (ours did)
- Fighters may walk around the ring to "seal the ring" from evil spirits
- Wai Kru - fighters will bow to each direction of the ring, honoring Teacher, Club, and Family
- Ram Muay - boxer dance - expresses balance and ability
This link contains rules of Muay Thai--scroll down to the bottom to get the general summary.
The fights were hosted at Muay Thai International Thapae Boxing Stadium. While the fights were definitely authentic, it was obvious that this gym is used to a pretty heavy influx of tourists.
I've never so much as seen a live high school wrestling match, so professional fighting/martial arts is very new to me. We watched 5 fights of varying weight classes. The bouts can go up to 5 rounds (3 minutes each) unless there's a knockout or injury that prevents the fight from continuing, as was the case in the title match last night (elbow to the orbital floor--ouch!).
Overall, the fights themselves were intense, but not as gruesome or bloody as I expected. And there was clear respect/sportsmanship between the fighters and their clubs. I'm not sure I'd make Muay Thai fight spectating a regular pursuit, but I'm grateful to have had the experience while we were here.
Our group getting ready to watch the fights
Muay Thai fighters at Muay Thai International Thapae Boxing Stadium
You can see the fighters wearing traditional Muay Thai shorts
Okay, now we're caught up on yesterday. On to today...
"There is a relic of the Gautama Buddha here, hence the significance of this Wat. The location of the shoulder bone relic is found in the rounded portion of the Chedi right above the octagonal redented section and below the ringed section. The temple was founded in the 14th century and slowly expanded. The road up to the temple was not built until the 1930s. You'll see a blend of Buddhist and Hindu iconography.
Before COVID times, the Wat could get 120,000 visitors per month, with the numbers being higher during the holidays like Songkhan and especially Visakha Bucha Day, when local people climb the mountain and sleep on the esplanade of the temple to commemorate the birth of the Buddha."
Being at the temple was a really fascinating opportunity to observe various behaviors of people there--some folks were clearly there to pay homage, pray and meditate, ask for blessings, etc., while others were there to tour and explore. Neither motive was/is inherently wrong, and everyone appeared to be respectful in their treatment of the space and of other people, but from my perspective, in addition to having the opportunity to be present at such a unique sacred space, it was also an interesting study of human behavior.
Stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
Close up of the dragons that flank the stairs leading up to the temple
Images of the Buddha of various shapes, sizes, and styles are found throughout the temple grounds
The relic of the Buddha is enshrined in this space
After visiting the temple, we ate lunch as a group at "Boat Chiang Mai," a cute little cafe in a part of town that's really close to Chiang Mai University. It was near a cat cafe and a table top/board game cafe/bar if that gives you a sense of the neighborhood :). Some of the students stopped in the cat cafe before returning to the hotel and it was fun to see the joy on their faces as they were surrounded by a bunch of fluffy felines. Pet therapy is real, ya'll.
Afternoon is free time--sounds like some students went to the Chiang Mai zoo while others scoped out some local markets. Tomorrow, we head to Omkoi for real (pending road conditions). If the blog doesn't get updated for a few days, I'll catch up when we return to Chiang Mai on 5/27.
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