2009 IMFA World Muay Thai Championships???
January 11, 2010 by ldf
I’m not going to front and say I know a lot about the world muay thai scene. This includes Thailand. I don’t know the names of a ton of fighters, I don’t know their stats, and it doesn’t help that I generally remember faces and don’t care about names. When I check out fights, I focus on what I can learn and the rest gets filtered out. Why am I telling you this? Because when I hit the 2009 IMFA World Muay Thai Championships / World Amateurs out here in Bangkok, I had no idea who the hell anyone was other than a few Canadians I had previously met.
What hit me instantly was the amount of countries representing. I was in Indonesia when the event began and hit it midway through when a lot of people had already left. The first fight I encountered was my favourite of the day and won by a member of the Jordon team (I wish I had picked up a roster)…until that point, it didn’t even occur to me that muay thai was large enough on a world level to elicit a team from Jordon. My naiveté included a number of countries – Morocco, Cyprus, Venezuela, Iraq….it goes on….. Perhaps it’s due to the sad state of muay thai in Canada, primarily Ontario, the province I’m from. It’s not the fighters, it’s not the gyms – it’s the regulations of various provinces that, in my opinion, hold the entire sport back. Currently there are no legal fights in Ontario of any kind. Thankfully, it hasn’t held us back too much – five of the Canadians I witnessed fight won that day (namely those fighting out of Calgary and Toronto…buy why weren’t other cities/provinces representing on the team?).
What also hit me was the protection everyone was wearing. I’ve neither sparred nor fought with most of it on, so I have no idea how it feels to move in it. I also completely forgot people would be wearing it at the World Amateurs. And quite honestly, it confused me. Although I understand why it’s used, I’m not convinced it’s a good thing. Someone I was with pointed out that people were doing things they couldn’t get away with without it – blocking poorly, feet smacking elbows, etc. What I noticed in a fight between a Canadian and an American, was that no matter how many hard knees the American took, the kid never got laid out. To the American’s credit, he was tough and kept getting up no matter what he was served, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t wearing chest protection, would he have been KO’d by a knee to the sternum in the first round? Also, the amount of padding, in my opinion completely changes someone’s game. Easy to work around? I don’t know. By no means am I an experienced fighter, but I’m a chick that loves throwing body shots. I’m assuming they would be rendered useless in this competition.
Perhaps I’m hyper critical and overly negative. This again, could be an extension of my feeling about muay thai in Ontario. Prior to moving to Bangkok in early 2009, I lost interest in fights in Toronto. Although I wanted to support the scene in the city, I also couldn’t help but feel dismayed at what I was witnessing. There were, I believe two governing bodies at the time CAMTAO (Canadian Amateur Muay Thai Association) and CASK (Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing). Again, my attention span was thin on this. CAMTAO is currently defunct due to having their Provisional Sports Organization status revoked by the Ministry of Health and Promotion (if you’re really interested – details www.camtao.org). I’m not certain why CASK is no longer sanctioning fights, I suspect a similar issue. Ontario has been plagued with problems of this nature for years. It seems to be cyclical.
Anyhow, I believe most of the fights I had attended were governed by CASK. Under CASK regulations, protection was worn, elbows weren’t thrown and I believe you couldn’t knee to the face. In addition, should a nak muay get their head thrown back three inconsecutive times, they were automatically disqualified. Each time their head peeled back, they paused the fight. How did this translate to me? You want to win a muay thai fight? Just land three solid punches to your opponents grill and you win. I saw it happen too many times to remember but enough times to disturb me. It changed the nature of the game. Call me a purist, but I appreciate technique and if I go to a muay thai fight, I want to see muay thai, not a slugfest. I can see that on the street.
Going to the Worlds reminded me of my past days in Toronto. I heard fighters complain about the headgear – how it restricted breathing and generally annoyed. Elbow pads kept slipping off. I also wondered if given the opportunity to fight without gear, if some of those who had lost, would have won. I personally get the headgear at the amateur level – the rest, I’m not sold on.
More about Laura
I’m a Canadian who decided to quit my job, sell most of what I own, pack a suitcase, and skip continents to pursue a martial art I’m not particularly efficient in. A minimalist. A modern nomad. A kid who just likes having a good time.
My attraction to muay thai is that it’s an art with no wasted motion. It has been the greatest vehicle for my continual education. It’s incredibly challenging to me – both the physical and the mental game. The latter probably more so than the former.
Currently I’m in Bangkok training muay thai fulltime. The plan is to be here for a few years, but realistically, I have no idea where this path is leading, or what the timeline is. I like change and pushing my comfort zone. A lot. Nevertheless, muay thai will be the constant among the variables.
Be prepared for updates, rambling, video content and anything I’ve learned that I think may of use to you.
This hasn’t been easy, but so far, its been a pretty sick ride.
I agree with you on wearing protective padding. You probably saw Sean fight that day (finished 3rd overall). Of the people from my gym that went, they did some sparring/pads with the chest protector on to get used to them. They said that the chest protector gave way too much padding even when we were playing with free shots.
Laura’s hot.
H
ditto, H…laura is a tamale…laura, is that you in some of siam no. 1’s pics?
i hope this doesn’t come off as intrusive or rude Laura, but what do you do for money while on your wild ride in thailand? are you still living off what you sold before leaving home?
I love hearing about farang that travel to thailand and just set up shop for months / years at a time but I never hear the “fuck, i’m broke” aspect or “so I went down to the local coffee shop and filled out and application and now work for minimum wage (is there even a minimum wage in thailand?) to pay my gym fees” part of it.
I suppose one could save up enough money to supplement a life in another country where the exchange is probably fantastic compared to where one would be coming from. is baht/satang-pinching the name of the game in thailand?
I was supposed to fight under CASK regulations a few months back. It was an amature bout.
Head protector and shins, No knees, no elbows, no catching kicks, no clinch work, no kicking below the knee, no backfists, not much real Muay Thai at all.
BUT if you want to do MMA you can do all this in a ring with nothing but 4oz gloves and a big smile on your face. Double standards I think
I like seeing reading other peoples views and reasons on why they decide to travel and train. Good article
Pac536** As far as i know MMA fights are illegal in Ontario too.
Unless you are on an indian reserve (Different set of laws) you are pulling a smoker… Like all of the Muay-Thai Fights going on in Ontario
Also not be a douche but Jordan is written with an not
thanks everyone -
celtic1967…no idea if i’m in any of the siam no. 1 pics – that’s the crew i was hangin with at the amateurs though.
jake – on the finances – no it’s not intrusive. i’m in the fortunate position of having purchased property – being in the right place at the right time. when the market crashed and interest rates dropped, my variable mortgage dropped accordingly. currently, i have a tenant which allows me a couple hundred dollars a month. that coupled with writing contracts i’m trying to secure overseas should be enough. HOWEVER, that being said, yeah, baht pinching is the name of the game out here for me. i’m highly aware that should my tenant skip out on me or something break, i may be out a signifigant amount of money literally overnight. i have no problem living in undesired areas and sleeping on a mat on a floor. my requirements for where i live are that i’m safe in my room and it’s clean…..this could be another piece in itself (ie. how to save baht when you’re over here). prices vary so much and it’s all a matter of how you balance it. i’ve also been told that i’m the cheapest person ever, but i never feel like i’m missing out. if anything, i think not blowing my money on something insignificant is a small price to pay for freedom. if people are interested, i could write a piece on it. it’s too much to get into here. and yeah, some people do get jobs here, usually teaching english. minimum wage? not sure if there is one, but your average working class income here amounts to about 200 baht a day – no idea what farmers make though.
when i left, mma fights were illegal in ontario other than on reservations.
some have expressed that mma/muay thai fights have a problem being sanctioned due to insurance/liability issues, among other factors. i always found it interesting as i’ve seen so many people get mangled snowboarding. every winter there are always people wandering around with something broken or displaced.
“Thankfully, it hasn’t held us back too much – five of the Canadians I witnessed fight won that day (namely those fighting out of Calgary and Toronto…buy why weren’t other cities/provinces representing on the team?)”
I’m from British Columbia and invitations to compete in the team Canada trials were sent nation wide. At the trials fighters came from most provences however it was the athletes from Calgary and Toronto (namely fighters representing Ajarn Suchart from Toronto and Ajarn Mike Miles from Calgary) that dominated the trials to earn their spot on Team Canada.
I only competed in the B class tournament (not not eligible for Team Canada) and i believe that i was the only representative from my provence (BC).The level of competitions and fighters is not evenly spread throughout the country, leaveing places like Calgary and Toronto MuayThai powerhouses in Canada.
Just a little insight
thanks thai clinch – i know little outside of what’s going on in toronto and calgary. what’s the mt scene like in bc? are there any other canadian mmt members from other provinces who can add to this?
Sorry Tiger, should have mentioned I’m from Nova Scotia.
Out here are mostly MMA gyms that do “stand up”, and some “Thai Boxercise” classes. You can find a few solid gyms if you look hard enough, but there’s still a big MMA focus.
that’s awesome, thank you Laura. I would be interested in reading a money saving piece.
Hey Laura, That’s a nice pic and u look gr8. I have read ur article here abt saving money for pursuing our passion and really liked it. I’ve been to thailand stayed there for 2 months time and trained muay thai in Phuket. I did quit my job last time and went there to train, but it was my first time and no proper planning and i was planning to stay for more time but spent a lot in short time and was not able to last for more than 2 months. But then i found that phuket being the one of the core tourist spot is a little bit expensive too compared to other places in thailand. Now again i am planning for my next trip and this time have things planned carefully. It may take a while for me this time to get there but again my plan’s to stay there for a really longer duration. Also what type of visa you’re in right now. Cos’ if u r in tourist visa then probably u need to go for visa runs and u won’t be able to extend ur stay there after a point of time i think. From various sites i found that for a longer stay its better to take a ED visa for learning thai language. In this way we can stay longer and train there without doing any visa runs. I also saw ppl commenting that u can attend classes for leaning thai 4hrs per week and get the remaining time free. But not sure if that is true.
Maybe u can write ur next article abt this which will be helpful for ppl who’re planning for a really longer stay there.
Gud luck and keep going.. Chokdee.
If anyone else fought there you would know, the chest protectors only helped on the kicks the ribs. Knees to the stomach went right through those cheep pieces of cloth. Another funny thing was the elbow pads were all loose and worn out, so half of the time they were down on the gloves. All in good fun though!
great to hear that people are interested in another piece on the financial side of training out here. if anyone has anymore questions about it, please feel free to comment. i take knowing certain things for granted and assume a lot of people know the same.
in terms of my visa, i’m on an education one. however, i still have to do a visa run every three months. my one year visa is up soon and from what i’ve been told, it shouldn’t be difficult for me to extend it for another year. note, from my understanding, visa rules differ depending on where you’re from. a friend of mine from china has been having a really difficult time with his visa, so definitely do your research. anyhow, worse case scenario is that i have to leave thailand for a period of time and reapply. if i have to be out of the country for an extended time (ie. 3 months) i’m seeing it as an opportunity to either work abroad and train (ie. singapore or japan) to increase my cashflow, or train khmer boxing in cambodia, or possibly cross train in something completely different (ie. kali in the philipines). no idea.
Is there any way to get footage of the competition at the tournament?
It is unfortunate regarding the governing bodies and rules we must compete under in Ontario. But that’s all we have! And we must learn to work with it.
The gear just gives a placebo effect and athletes feel protected and compete too early. If anyone has competed in CASK or CAMTAO they know the pads worn do little to nothing other than keep the heat in. And in CASK only gloves are provided, so most wear the thinnest shin guards available. I beleive these rules are kept to keep the support of our government. And if thats what it takes to keep events happening then so be it.
Does anyone know who took part on team Canada? I saw you wrote Sean, was that Sean McKinnon? I fought one of his team mates, and would like to see if I am at that level and I’d love to find out how to become a part of that team if possible.
ps. Great article and a money one would help a lot of us in the future
Troy-UMA-
yeah I train with Sean, he’s a solid fighter. Who did you fight?
From my gym it was Sean, Nate and Jess. Although, I think Jess may have just fought separately outside the tournament.
koolkick. you can get an ED visa for studying Muay Thai. quite a few gyms can help you with that, I fairly sure it has to be arranged at the embassy in your own country before you leave
Frank
I fought John Hamm back in July. Ya I saw Sean win via KO head kick from hell!! It was a good performance.
That is excellent,from what Im hearing your team did very well. Would you reccomend this tournament?
laura, how is siam crew? were phon and norbert there ?
Good ol’ Johnny. He’s a really strong clincher. I think the tournament would be good, but like Laura said, the padding takes away from the fights, but is a necessary evil with an ‘amateur’ tournament.
hey celtic1967 – only siam no. 1 crew from toronto were there. talked to phon on the phone about a month ago. he’s doing well. ran into kru beurm. same.
Hey Guys,
Yes you can get an educational visa for either thai language or muay thai. It is becoming big business here because you essentially pre-pay a gym or school — so that is money in the bank for them.
You do not have to do it in your home country before you leave. If you come here to Thailand, find a gym that will do it. Most of you will have 30 days tourist visa. You may need to pop over to Cambodia or Laos (15 days if you go by bus, 30 if you fly — can only stay there for a day if you want) for an additional 30 days stay in Thailand if you drag your feet.
The gym or school will sort out your education visa paperwork and then you have to go to a thai embassy outside of thailand to process. It does not need to be your home country, it can be Cambodia, Laos, Singapore.. whatever. This may take a few days though, so you should plan accordingly ( Singapore is effing expensive for instance).
I have heard Laos is a good place to visit as its cheap and hospitable. Vientiane by the way, there is no embassy in Luang Prabang ( too bad I hear its beautiful there).
Guyz thanks for the info abt the visa.
What up everyone, my name is Tyler Cronin and I represented Team USA at 132lbs at the IFMA World Championships. The main reason for all the gear at the tournament is because The IOC(International Olympic Committee) was there look at the event and get it in possibly as an Olympic sport in the summer games(hopefully as a demo sport in 2012 and official by 2016). I dont think that a full Muay Thai fight, especially without elbow pads, would ever be allowed as a olympic sport.
That being said, the padding though it looks like alot with the exception of a headgear, is pretty thin especially the shin pads and chest protector. “A” class(pros) didnt have to wear the chest piece in the finals, and a recent news letter by IFMA stated “A” class no longer has to wear it in the tournament as of 2010.