Last week, I posted about the Queen’s Cup, which turned out to be a meeting of female fighters and writers.
Many of us gathered to watch Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu, the most prominent female Muay Thai blogger out there, compete in the biggest fight of her career so far, a match that was actually made possible by a connection between two female fighter’s blogs (see my previous post for more details).
All of us were brought together by putting ourselves out there online and reaching out to other women in Muay Thai. It was wonderful to have a group of Muay Thai women, including fighters, bloggers and one journalist, all in the same place. This also happened to fall on the one year anniversary of Under the Ropes. It reminded me how important it is for women to blog their experiences and let their voices be heard. If we hadn’t, then it’s probable that none of us would have met.
Being a female in Muay Thai can be an isolating experience and the value of another female presence, in person or online, is a very valuable thing. I wrote about this in some of my previous posts, namely The Joys of Having a Female Training Partner Part 1 and Part 2. The thoughts expressed there, coupled with those triggered by the Queen’s Cup, have led me to create a directory for female fighter blogs and websites. My purpose for creating Under the Ropes was to put something out there for women in Muay Thai, not a quest for self-promotion. In fact, writing about myself and putting my own personal experiences out for the world to read is not something that I’m particularly comfortable with, but I do so because I know how useful and sometimes comforting it can be to read similar content from other women, and wonderful it is for me to make those connections with them.
Under the Ropes is not just a channel for me to share my own thoughts, but to advocate other women to share theirs, and to support all women in Muay Thai. This includes all of you. When I was first discovering the sport, there was very little material that I could connect with, there was nothing that I felt was speaking to me, which is part of the reason why I lacked the confidence to take up the sport as soon as I wanted to.
As female Muay Thai grows, I like to think that this is becoming less of an issue amongst women. However, it still exists and it’s something that I am passionate about changing. Thankfully, I am seeing more and more female fighter blogs and communities popping up. Here, I’ve tried to put them all in the same place to contribute to their exposure.
Entries are in alphabetical order. Some are more active than others – some are updated daily and others haven’t produced new content for a long time, but they all matter. It’s great to have so many different voices and stories out there. I have put together the most comprehensive directory that I can, but I need your help to make it grow. If you know of any that I’ve missed here, please let me know by leaving a comment below or by contacting me through the Under the Ropes Facebook Page. If you’re thinking of setting up a blog, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. It’s not just a wonderful thing to do for other women in the Muay Thai community, but a surprisingly therapeutic, motivational and rewarding thing to do for yourself. You can read more posts on the importance of blogging as a way of women sharing their experiences of Muay Thai from Sylvie von Duuglas Ittu and Natasha Sky.
Now, scroll down to see the other female Muay Thai blogs and websites out there!
Female Muay Thai Blogs
1 Minute Less is a German-language blog and podcast, which is named after the time discrepancy between Muay Thai fight rounds for men and women.
8 Limbs by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu You can follow Sylvie on Facebook at the Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu Muay Thai Facebook Page.
Amy is a fighter from the US who’s currently training and fighting in Chiang Mai. She blogs about each of her fights and includes videos. This post, ‘How we Moved to Thailand‘, is particularly useful for anyone trying to do the same. (Update: This site has now been made private)
Adventurista Unplugged by Nicki Thompson This is a travel blog that includes posts on Nicki’s experiences with Muay Thai, such as this post on her first fight in Thailand. (Update: This site is no longer accessible)
A Work in Progress by Madelaine Wheeler (Update: This site has now been deleted)
An American in Thailand by Lindsey Newhall Lindsey is a freelance journalist who also writes for other sites. You can follow all of her material on the Lindsey Newhall Facebook Page (Update: This page no longer exists).
Alexis Rufus (blog posts are in the ‘news’ section of her website)
(Update: This site has now been deleted)
Daily Desiderata by Jessica Boyd
(Update: This site no longer exists)
Fat Nerd Turned Fighter by Darina Goldin
(Update: This site no longer exists)
Girl Meets Muay Thai by Amanda Swanson
Helen’s Adventures in Thailand It’s Pandamonium! by Kelly Creegan from Sitmonchai Gym
Irresistible Impulse by Gina Serra
Gina is a fighter from the US who’s living in Chiang Mai and also working as an English teacher while training and fighting out of Lanna Muay Thai.
(Update: This site no longer exists)
Lady Kill Face by Natalie Pagliughi
Marloes Merza‘s blog (Dutch)
Milk.Blitz.Street.Bomb by Laura Dal Farra You can also follow Milk.Blitz.Street.Bomb on Facebook.
Mini-Sized Martial Arts (Update: This site has now been made private)
Miss Muay Thai by Gemma Pike More Than Muay Thai by Shauna Mousey
Muay Thai Rebel by Milena ‘Micc’
Mumuka.me by Katya Knysheva
(Update: This site no longer exists)
My Life as a Boxer by Chantal Ughi My Muay Thai Life
(Update: This site no longer exists)
MuayTash – The journey of a female Muay Thai fighter by Natasha Sky You can follow the Natasha Sky Fight Page on Facebook.
(Update: This site has now been made private)
Muay Thai on the Brain by Melissa Ray You can also follow Muay Thai on the Brain Facebook.
Muay Ying – มวยหญิง by Angela Chang
You can also follow Muay Ying – มวยหญิง on Facebook.
Roxy Balboa by Roxy Richardson (Update: This site no longer exists)
The Butterfly Editions by Christie This is not strictly a Muay Thai blog, but contains a series of posts on it. Christie is a world traveller who spent a month training at Superpro Samui in Thailand, starting as a complete beginner. She wrote some helpful posts documenting her journey.
The Muay Thai Angel by Jade Marrisa Sirisompan
(Update: This site no longer exists. Jade now blogs at http://valorous.life)
The Life of a Female Fighter by Friederike ‘Freddy’ Häntschel Freddy’s posts are in both English and German.
The Spring-Blog by Yolanda Schmidt
Tiger Inside Her by Ashley Burns Real Time by Erika Kamimura (Japanese)
The Warrior’s Travel Guide by Daisy Kupfer (German)
Community and News
Awakening Female Fighters by Rew Mitchell You can also follow Awakening Female Fighters on Facebook. (Update: Awakening closed in 2019, but became active again on Facebook in 2020)
Inspiring Sports Women by Niamh Griffin
Update: This site is now called ‘Real Girl Sport’.
Female Muay Thai on Facebook – News, Archives and Rumors by Rosy Hayward
The Muay Thai Roundtable is a forum on 8limbs.us. It has a women-only section where women can discuss any issues or experiences they’d like in a safe, confidential space. For a deeper level of privacy, members can also opt to use an anonymous account to post.
Wombat Sports by Marq Piocos You can also follow Wombat Sports on Facebook.
Other Things you Should be Reading
Brain Food, Body Fuel by Nusreen Ispiphany Girl Boxing by Malissa Smith (Boxing)
Jiu Jiu’s BJJ Blog by Julia Johansen ( Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
(Update: This site no longer exists)
L. A Jennings is the author of ‘She’s a Knockout!: A History of Women in Fighting Sports‘. She also has a column for Fightland, a blog, called ‘Pugilista‘ and owns a gym in Denver called Train. Fight. Win. Rosi’s Blog by Rosi Sexton (MMA)
My MMA Life by Hannia Zavala (MMA)
The Leow Factor by Mae-Lin Leow (MMA)
You can also follow Mae-Lin on her Facebook page and her Twitter.
Angela Chang for MuayThaiGuy.com
Angela is a fighter from the US who’s currently training at Sitsongpeenong in Bangkok. She writes guest posts for Sean Fagan’s site, Muay Thai Guy, and also featured on one of his podcast episodes.
A Female Fighter’s Life (one article on Brittany Robertson for Fightland) by Amy Winters
Elena Cresci is a Welsh Muay Thai fighter and writer based in London. Her articles include ‘Boxing Helped Me Fight Through Trauma‘, ‘Ask Me About My Weight — But Only When I’m in the Ring‘, and ‘Muay Thai Didn’t Heal Me — But it Brought Everything into Focus‘.
If you have something to add to the directory, post it in the comments.
This is great! I didnt actually know some of these where available 🙂 thanks
Glad to hear it, that’s exactly what it’s about 🙂 Now that you’re in Thailand, let me know if you’re ever in Bangkok – hopefully we can meet up sometime!
Hi maybe my blog may help,
http://www.mymmalife.wordpress.com
Hi Hannia,
Thanks so much for letting me know about your blog, it’s great to find new ones! I’ve just added it in 🙂
tigerinsideher.com
Its my blog 🙂
Awesome, thanks! Just added it 🙂
Hi 🙂
Girlmeetsmuaythai.wordpress.com