Call to Ban Childrens Muay Thai?
April 23, 2008 by nopstar
I came across this article today about possibly banning children’s Muay Thai in the UK. I’ve done a few posts on the subject… I’m generally not into kids fighting. I’ve been to a lot of the smaller stadiums and watched what appeared to be 8 years olds going at it.
Personally, I feel sorry for the children. I don’t support it, I guess its pretty hyppocritical of me, and as much as I love Muay Thai all of my favorite Nak Muays all walked this path. They were all poor and have had childhoods that I won’t even pretend to understand. I’m not trying to make any value judgments, it’s Thailand and the circumstances are different.
That being said, things are a lot different in the UK then they are in Thailand. I appear to have some sort of double standard… I’m bothered by it in Thailand but when it’s in the UK it’s somehow ok? I don’t know how they roll here in the UK but I’m sure it’s like in the US. I’m sure the kids are kitted out with shin guards and headgear. Somehow I doubt these kids are going Thai style. I don’t have an issue with it…
My friends Jongsanan and Bunkerd both with hundred of fights between them have mixed feelings about their kids getting into the family biz. Jongsanan swear his son will never see the inside of a ring. Bunkerd, thinks that he’ll leave it up to them.
I think Souwer was about 10 when he was first in the ring… What do you guys think? Any of you with kids? (that you know about) Would you let them get into the ring? Do you want them to fight? Would you prefer they pick up a 9 iron?
personally, i think it’s ok if the kids take MT as a sports or fitness program. MT will also inculcate discipline in them at a young age and teaches them RESPECT.
However, i cant say the same for kids in the 3rd world countries, those poor and has no educations, and ring fighting is the only means of livelihood for them. I would rather see them fight young then to end up being a prey of the Paedophiles!
If I ever have kids I want them to study muay thai. I’m more afraid of my kids growing up to be fat, spoiled, lazy, and undisciplined than I am of them getting a couple of bruises. Even if they don’t want to fight I want them to be healthy and tough.
I was at a terrible cage kick/thai boxing/mma show near london a few weeks ago ’cause some guy from our gym was fighting in it, and the production company making this film was there.After Id been told what they were there filming I took one look at the people making this “television” and knew insatantly they were gona be making a terribly biased sensationalised, ill informed piece of shit.Low and behold thats what has come out.Nopstar it is on uk tv this evening il find a link for it.But it will depress you further about muaythai in the uk! (the call the for the ban of kids MT is because of this documentary)
Theres a lot of rules surrounding kids fighting here.Head shots are ileagal and full padding has to be worn.I believe its safe and well controlled as no one wants to see kids hurt.A lot of the program focuses on kids crying and pushy parents etc but I remember being so nervous that I cried when I was little b4 a judo grading, didnt do me any harm to go through with it.Its a learning curve.(actually it was last week really!!)
I have two kids. A boy (10) and a girl (1). The boy is going to be starting boxing next week. It’s his choice and I see nothing wrong with it. I should point out that I’m Irish and there is a strong history of boxing in Ireland (not just outside pubs ;)) and kids are trained from a young age.
I saw kids fighting in Thailand when I was there. They’re too small, weak, uncoordinated and unskilled to do any real damage to each other. One got a teap in the chest, curled up and started crying. Fight over. Once they both got in by their own free will I see nothing wrong with it.
If it’s forced….now that’s a different matter….
Ah yes…manant has reminded me. I was in Manchester earlier in the year for a “heavy spar” and there were plenty of kids fighting there. As he said, no head shots were allowed and they were all kitted up with pads etc.
i was at one of the shows also were some of the footage was filmed the funny thing is this during the kids fights ch4 filmed both crowd and fights BUT during the adult fights ch4 filmed the crowd only were as we know the crowd can be more agressive as in cheering on there fighter why do you think this is ? ill lay odds this later footage was edited into the kids fights to put it in a bad light
manant i have seen the advert for that program and i was speaking to my trainer about it only the other night, dont really want to put what he said here as dont want to miss represent him, but he felt pretty strongly about it. Mai you should talk to Bill next time your down.
My little bro is 7 and he has had a couple of fights already, im really fine with it and so is the rest of my family (apart from his mum – she hates it!). In the UK there are no head shots, they wear shin guards, body protectors, and huge cloves – these gloves are massive, i mean they cant do any damage with them. I have seen some of the kids cry, but i think this is because of the atmosphere of having all those people watch rather than them getting hurt.
As for Thailand, i cant say how i would feel watching two kids elbowing each other in the face, but things are different there.
Í agree with JoeFromSoCal, and why are there people that want to make a tv program like that, do they even know anything about it, and Darknest says they only filmed the crowd when the adults fought, surely to mix with the Kids fight so It all will seem barbaric and animalistic. Someone should do something. But What. I dunno
I hate THAT ARTICLE. I cried too as a Kid, when sparring with full gear in in TKD, IM OK and My favorite pasttime is Martial Arts. Im a good citizen, pay taxes and dont knock down random strangers or know friends. Martial Arts are great if you dont Force it down your kids throat. Fucking Ch4, looking for Ratings and Money.
In the UK, Junior Thai boxing fights do NOT allow contact to the head. The rest of the body is fully protected and the kids are allowed to employ all of their Thai boxing technique in competition against the remaining target areas. Quite often juniors will not wear head guards as they restrict your view, preventing you from effectively defending the rest of your body. As head contact is not permitted, many opt to not wear them (personal choice). Stray shots may occasionally hit the head, but these are closely watched by the referee who will quickly intervene.
Please also bear in mind that small, light children are not capable of generating tremendous power. With all the protective gear on, they practically bounce of each other! Parents will notice how children can fall onto a hard floor surface while playing, and get up unscathed. A heavy adult doing the same would fracture something! It’s all down to body mass.
Thai boxing is a contact sport and as such not to everyone’s taste. I train, teach and fight in Thai boxing myself. My own son is nearly 5-years-old and is expressing an interest in training. He is naturally athletic and enjoys ‘ruff play’. If he chooses to train, that’s fine with me. If he chooses to compete, that’s also fine with me. If he chooses ballet, that ok too!
Some kids are adventurous and enjoy pushing themselves physically (I was one). It stems from having confidence in your physicality—which is completely different from being aggressive and angry. As we know, Thai boxers are taught to be respectful and maintain self-control. There are likely to be rogue gyms out there (there are always a few idiots), but they certainly do not reflect on UK Thai Boxing as a whole.
my kid has cried also before a fight but its not from fear of getting hurt its just the nerves from the excitement. but within a min or so shes cool and ready to go also i may add the things that ch4 wont add is my girl has always made an effort to go play with the other girl she fight after the match is over and ive seen her many times with them like there the best of friends.
Yeah, I agree. You need to handle children sparring and fighting very carefully, but it’s a whole other world compared to the training kids go through in Thailand.I understand that it’s often due to a life of poverty that muay thai is their only means of getting money, but it’s still really sad.
I agree with basically what everyone here says. True there are other things out there that kids can get into that are far worse than just doing Muay Thai- drugs, prostitution, gangs, just to name a few. Poverty aside, I think MT does instill an amount of respect not seen in many kids growing up in Western world countries.
i really don’t see why this always stirs up such controversy. really, it’s no different that a child getting into ANY contact sport in my eyes. baseball, football, lacrosse, hockey, TKD, they all have the chance of being hurt but everyday parents enroll their kids in these programs without a second thought.
hell, i got hurt more as a kid/teenager skateboarding than i have muay thai. despite the violence of muay thai, it seems like the legit gyms really make sure that everyone is safe.
when i have kids, i plan to get them involved with muay thai at an early age (probably around 5)
I have to agree with alexander. All sports inheritanly has some risk of serious injury. If this standard is to be held up against muay thai, most childrens league sports should be banned.
I used umpire little league baseball games and I’ve thrown out more than a handful of retarded parents who verbally abuse their own kids (as well as other kids.
Every athlete and coach I’ve met thinks of safety first and I believe this holds true even in the ghetto-est thai children fights.
Parents and coaches should regulate this, not the uninformed, unathletic, unreasonable public.
I agree with Alexander and yknocka. And further more from the kid’s Muay Thai I’ve seen, 1) the kids don’t hit hard enough to do any damage. 2) If anyone needs to regulate anything it should be the parents that should be regulated. 3) The ones I have seen looked like they enjoyed it (I even trained with some). As I have said, this is only from what I’ve seen. I was only in Thailand for about 8 months so others (Nop) might have a better perspective.
Either way, when I have kids, I’ll let them fight. I wish my parents would have let me when I was that age.
I’ll make this basic.
Kids fighting with no rules = Bad.
Kids fighting with rules i.e. no head shots, elbows ect. = Good
Personally I want my kid to practice Muay Thai, Western Boxing, and play Baseball. You teach them to respect and pound it in along with good morals and you will have no probs.
I think some tourists are certainly shocked when they go into Muay Thai stadiums and see children fighting.
I can recall a lad emerging defeated from the ring at Lamai stadium on Koh Samui and throwing up all over the floor (he had taken some heavy knees) right in front of some horrified tourists, who I am sure felt like walking straight out again. He was probably no more than 12.
People in the west need to consider though that many western boxers started boxing very young, and that the Amateur Boxing Association structure exists to process that.
does anyone want the ch4 docu of the baby fight club
Teaching muay thai to kids is a good thing and partiipating in sports based fighting competions is also good provided proper rules and equipment to avoid injury is provided with good supervison. But getting into the ring for the money at such young age is not at all good. Making kids fight for money is another version of child labour.
People around the world condemn child labour and watching kids get into the ring for money is awfully sad.
Totally agree with The Surgeon..
“Kids fighting with no rules = Bad;
Kids fighting with rules i.e. no head shots, elbows ect. = Good”
I have a 14 y/o daughter that trained for about 6 months and I would leave it up to her to fight if she were ready and really wanted to..
As for kids in Thailand fighting to basically help provide food and shelter for their family.. Don’t like to see it really but it’s better than starving to death or being approached by perverts for other things in lieu of cash..
I have been training in Muay Thai for about 2.5 years and have a 9 year old son who has been training in a kids Mixed Martial Arts program for about 3.5 years. Now that they are in the “advanced” class for their age we let them hit to the head but they wear head gear and 14oz gloves. No one gets truly injured in class some shed some tears but by the time we play our final game they are all smiling. I wold definetly let my kid fight if he chooses to do so. I don’t see a problem with it as long as it is properly organized with the appropriate rules.
There is no reason in the world why kids can not fighter in Muay Thai, I would rather them fight in a ring then on the street and end up dead. Certain rules should apply, head gear, elbow pads etc. and of course a watchful eye from the ref and their corner, getting hurt (when a child) is not worth the win! Kids in Thailand fighting at young ages has been around forever, should they impliment some protective rules for the kids? sure, but sitting in our cozy homes saying they should ban Muay Thai, would be wrong. I would rather them fight in a controlled manner then fighting in the street or at school. both my kids fight and have a few mix up’s at school, but what kids doesn’t, both kids are very focused in training and that makes me a proud father. Live and let live, If you are against kids fighting in Muay Thai, then don’t put your kids in it, but don’t make that choice for other parents.
Modified Muay Thai for kids!!