Last week, I wrote a post called ‘Kicking Banana Trees‘, which described how my gym took me to Petchaburi and unexpectedly had me kick some banana trees down. Assaulting plants wasn’t the only thing that we got up to on that day. On our way down to Petchaburi, we stopped in Samut Songkham. Our trainers wanted to show us the salt farm there, and upon arrival, I could see why. It was really beautiful and Read more
I’m always so happy to get more women into the gym. For a long time, I was the only woman training here long-term, until Katy turned up last year. You can read more about Katy and what her presence in the gym has meant for both of us in The Joys of Having a Female Training Partner: Part 1. Thankfully, there have been quite a few more women around as of late. One of them Read more
Last Friday, my gym’s owner approached me at the end of training to ask if I wanted to go to Hua Hin with him that day as it was my day off work. Hua Hin is a beach town a couple of hours away, and since I never get a chance to go to the beach, I was more than happy to go. So, I got ready straight away and we set off from the Read more
Losing is never a desirable experience, but it’s something that most fighters have to endure at some stage during their career. While it’s an integral part of any competitive sport, it’s not received by everyone in the same way. Some see it as a positive learning experience and brush it off right away, and others see it as one of the most difficult things about fighting. In the trailer for Warriors of the Mongkon, a Read more
Lumpini Stadium has been a landmark of Muay Thai since it was first built in 1956. As the most prestigious place to fight in the world, it has been the dream of many fighters to one day make it to that ring. When it held its last event on February 7th this year, many were sad to see it close its doors. It was forced to do so after its lease ran out and was Read more
Last night, I went to see Muay Thai Live: The Legend Lives, the new Muay Thai stage show at Asiatique in Bangkok after a student of mine gave me some tickets as a gift. The show is created and directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, director of Beautiful Boxer. The show depicts some of the greatest, legendary stories in Muay Thai history. The first, is ‘the Prisoner with Eight Limbs’ which is based on the story of Read more
Last night, I watched Pumping Iron II: The Women after recommendation from Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu of 8limbs.us. She shared it on her Facebook page with the following message: “We just watched “Pumping Iron 2: The Women” and there are a few levels upon which to recommend this movie. First and foremost is how keenly it illustrates and explores the glass ceilings women encounter as athletes/sex symbols with such a narrow and limiting scope to each of those Read more
I was recently asked by Holli Moncrief to answer some interview questions for her blog, A Life Less Ordinary. It’s always so nice to hear from other women who are blogging about their experiences with Muay Thai and it was even nicer that she wanted to share my story. She asked me about how I made the move to Thailand, the challenges I have faced since doing so, what I love about Muay Thai and how I Read more
Being 5ft 2″ and 50kg, I am almost always the smallest person at the gym and up until quite recently, was the only woman at the gym for the majority of the time. This means that I’m usually sparring with someone bigger than me. This is really great for me for a number of reasons and has helped me to improve tremendously. My trainer often says that he used to ‘baby’ me by choosing my Read more
On March 1st last year, I took part in the first Muay Thai Festival at Rajabhat University in Ratchaburi. Rajabhat University is home to the College of Muay Thai Study, and I fought against Nong Teaw, one of the students there. One year later, I was invited back to fight at their second Muay Thai festival. I was told that Dr. Chanchai, the president of the Muay Thai College, had asked for me specifically, which Read more
