The sportaccord games kicked offed this past weekend in China.   The  sportaccord games are international competition of combat sports (martial arts).  I think I read somewhere that it’s sanctioned by the IOC (International Olympic Committee)  I’ve been trying to follow but the info is just hard to come by.  I came across the Champions of Champions website.  It looks like Clifton Brown is in bejing reporting on all the action.

Click here to view the videos

I’ll try embedding the clip a little later.  The very brief highlights cover, Yodsanklai, Kyshenko and Levin.

I’m tyring to keep an eye out for Sanchai and Buakaw, if any of you know where to find clips or coverage feel free to share.

Here are some pics from the opening ceremony… if you look carefully you can see Yodsanklai looking very bored.  I love how all the other martial arts are wearing their traditional gear… The muaythai costumes… yes costumes have been disneyfied, and look like something out of the “King and I“.

]]> http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/sportaccord-updates/feed/ 7 http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/challenger-3d/ http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/challenger-3d/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:53:00 +0000 nopstar http://www.mymuaythai.com/?p=3274

Just came across this on the WMC site.  I was fairly disappointed when I heard the second season of the Contender went down the drain. I felt like it was such a missed opportunity.  Then I see this, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.

3D? Really, OK I get why all the kids movies want to jump on the 3d bandwagon but this?    The WMC announced today that it was launching a show called the “The Challenger MuayThai” I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Thailand vs. Challenger” series, somehow I doubt it.

You already know the format, 16 fighters, 2 teams etc…  The coaches are going to be Clifton Brown and Nugget McNaught (Nuggets GYM).  There going to commence filming in October in Malaysia.  Anyone know anyone who’s been tapped for this?

Stephen Fox claims they’ll be topped ranked WMC fighters, but that could be anyone.

The finale is going to be filmed in 3D… anyway I’ll keep an eye out for this.  I’m hoping for the best.

You can check out the full release here.

For those of you who are on the forums you may have heard that there was a death at the IKF tournament in Orlando Fla. this past weekend.  Adrienne Simmons a nakmuay from Georgia past away Monday after sustaining a head injury.  According to the report she was KO’d, but was responsive, she was taken to the hospital where she fell into a coma and was later pronounced dead.

I didn’t know Adrienne, but knew she was affiliated with Khunpon’s camp in Atlanta.  I was a bit surprised when I found out her opponent was Lindsay Scheer, who’s trained by MMT friend Tim Haycraft.

I had the opportunity to meet Lindsay last year while backstage at Slamm.  My condolences go out to Adrienne’s friends and family.

Adrienne’s boyfriend and trainer Chike Lindsay was interview by a local station, and was raising questions over the experience of the two girls.

I’m not sure how often this happens in MuayThai, I don’t often hear of NakMuay’s dying from injuries. I don’t know if it’s something that doesn’t receive much media attention in Thailand or something that doesn’t occur that often.

From Lindsay’s perspective it’s got to be incredibly difficult…  I’m not sure if I would be all that interested in getting back into the ring.

This is a statement put out by Eric via Facebook:

“Lindsay and I had wanted to wait for more official announcements about the tragic turn of events this weekend at the IKF Kickboxing tournament in Orlando. It seems that several websites are already mentioning the event and of course facebo…ok has exploded with rumors and comments. We have known Adrienne for a number of years. I have many ties with the entire Atlanta fight scene and the ladies had been following each other both at fights and online.

There were five girls in the Open division of the 130-140 Muay Thai. Lindsay had to fight three times over the weekend and Adrienne fought twice to meet each other on Sunday in the finals. Adrienne had a very tough fight on Saturday to get her to her finals match.

The bout itself seemed normal enough on all fronts. Lindsay, the more experienced of the two, took control of the bout scoring an eight count on the very first jab thrown. Several seconds later a standing eight count was given and the round drew to a close. Round two continued with more of the same, however Adrienne never stopped trying and never gave up. No eight counts this round. The third round opened up and Lindsay landed a three punch combo that ended the bout. The ref waived the bout off immediately and the doctors who were already sitting ringside watching the bout were in the ring right away.

It really just seemed like a normal bout. It was a heavy shot but everyone involved from the ref to the doctors and officials and myself had no reason to believe there was anything abnormal except a fighter getting their bell rung like we all have had at some point in our careers.

Adrienne came to, we were right there as she sat up and spoke. Confirming our thoughts that this was to be no different than any other bout ending blow. Adrienne was taken to the back and attended to by the medical staff and we took care of the stuff we had to after the bout such as photos and such.

We shortly after were told along with everyone that Adrienne had been airlifted out.

The events that unfold from here are very sad and in my twenty years of kickboxing I am ill prepared to explain or even handle well. We have had opportunities to speak with the ref, the doctors all the ringside officials and the burden and second guessing after the case is huge. Our sadness and inability to properly process all these events leaves us with no words.

My only hope is that Chike has the same support network in his community that we have here in ours and that he will have it in his heart to let us be a part of his extended support network. This is a life changing event for all involved but obviously most of all for Chike and Adrienne.

We love this sport with all our hearts. It is a game with risks and while we all know this, these risks seem so far removed. Let me make this clear…no one could have seen this coming. The ref, the doctors, us, her corner. No one. It is a horrible accident that happened at a sporting event.

We do not have all the latest news from Florida and until it is officially announced by Adrienne’s people please please be respectful of the things that are posted. It is a very sad day. We love you Adrienne.

With Heavy Hearts,

Eric and Lindsay”

I received an email from Dan Green the other day about his upcoming show in Birmingham, England.  I was a little surprised when I didn’t see any mention of MSA Premier League.

Apparently the MSA Premier League is no more.  It’s a shame really…  I know Dan and his original team will continue putting on shows, but I believe there was a split with some of the original investors.

The MSA Team was ambitious they went big…   In their first 3 shows they brought us Sanchai, Sagetdao, Rungravee, Anuwat, Bovy Kaewklaa, and Buakaw.  It was an impressive feat for a new promotion company.

I was able to tag along and get a glimpse into the world of fight promotion. I know the fans like to criticize… it’s only natural, but I’ve seen the other side and it isn’t a walk in the park.  I’ve seen enough to know that it isn’t a game I would want to get into.

I’ve seen the challenges of dealing with the venues.  Each venue is different and has their own way of running shows.  Some require that you only use their staff or security.  Venues will fine you absorbent fees for every minute you go past a certain cut off time.

I’ve seen the flakiness of fighters and their management.  Fighters who miss their flights, fighters who try to bring machetes onto planes! (You know who you are)  Managers who won’t let their fighter fight because the other fighter is wearing the color blue etc.  Really random and stupid shit…

The challenges of promotions and ticket distribution.  Ticket master telling everyone the fight is sold out when it clearly isn’t.  You count on them to sell your tickets but when they don’t what recourse do you have?     Each time you hit a bump in the road it’s money out of your pocket.   It’s clear anyone who’s doing it has a love of the sport.  Money alone isn’t going to pull you through.

I’m sorry to seem them go.  It was great seeing world-class nakmuay’s right on your doorstep.  On the whole I feel like there is an appetite is there, the demand is there.   We’ve seen the slamm , it’s showtime, and K1 people pull it off.

Anyway, go and support your local shows.  It’s all starts there…

Here is the next promotion put on buy Dan Green.  It’s for his upcoming Birmingham show.  Hope to see you there.

For those of you who are on the forums, you would have undoubtedly heard about the Toyota 8 man tournament that took place this weekend.

The 8-man tournament is a highly anticipated event, if I remember correctly it’s typically an all Thai affair. I’m hoping to find some footage of the event… As always if you run across any feel free to post.

This year’s tournament should have been called Sanchai vs. The World.  The Lineup:

Sanchai 13CoinsGym

Kevin Ross (USA)

Issei IngramGym (Japan)

Imran Khan (UK)

Valdet Gashi (Germany)

Peter Pik-Nik (?)

Arturo Lin Cano (Spain)

Masoud Izadi (Iran)

Some of these fighters shouldn’t be new to you, Matt interviewed Kevin not to long ago..  Kevin is one of the most legit American fighters out there… many thanks for the use of your pics!  If you’d like to read about his time in Thailand you can check it out here.

I’m not familiar with Peter Pik Nik?  I suspect that isn’t even his name.  I’ve trained with Issei at Ingram.

Spoiler Alert!  If you’re interested in watch the clips then don’t read any further… These results are from MuayThaiFocus.com If anyone can add details please do

Quarter Final 1

Sanchai vs. Imran Khan

Tough draw for Imran… he’s talented as hell, and I would love to see this fight.  Apparently Imran was down for an 8 count in the 2^nd round via a Sanchai elbow.  Then quickly downed again by a punch.  Referee stoppage  just short of the end of the 2^nd round

Quarter Final 2

Valdet Gashi vs. Issei IngramGym (W- Points)

Quarter Final 3

Masoud Izadi (W- Points)  Vs. Arturo Lin Cano

Kevin – Group Ram Muay

Quarter Final 4

Kevin Ross (W-Points) vs. French opponent

Semi Final 1

Sanchai (Referee Stoppage) vs Issei Ingramgym

Semi Final 2 Masoud (W-Points) vs. Kevin Ross

Sanchai & Masoud

Final Sanchai vs. Masoud

I’m unclear but it looks like Sanchai stops Masoud in the first round via KO?  Either I’m not sure if sanchai put in more then 10 mins work! Sanchai walks away 300K baht richer!  Nice payday for 10 min. work.

Kevin and Imran

Many thanks to Kevin Ross for the use of his pictures!

There seems to be a huge flurry of activity coming out China lately, more specifically MuayThai action out of China. It seems like every month more and more Thai nak muays are making their way over to China.

Apparently China will be hosting the first ever World Combat Games from August 25th to September 4th.   13 sports will be represented (olympic & non-olympics).  They include:

Aikido, Boxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Kendo, Kickboxing (really?), MuayThai, Sambo, Sumo, Tae Kwon Do, Wrestling, and Wushu.   Here is the full list complete with descriptions.

I was more suprised to see the list of nak muay who are taking part in this competition.  If you have a peek at the list you’ll see Supachai Saenpong aka Sanchai & Sombat Banchamek aka Buakaw!  It’s cool to see that their going to be representing Thailand, but is that really fair?   Anyway, I suspect Sanchai will take his division…

Other notable names on the list are Artur Kyshenko, & Marcus Oberg… I don’t know a lot of the fighters on the list (a couple of the english guys) but that’s it.  I hope (not holding my breathe) we’ll get some footage from these events.

I just came across a some good news on headkicklegend.com If you guys have never been there check’em out.    It looks like Sombat aka Buakaw was just competing in China.  You can see a small clip from the fight here.

Buakaw took a 3rd decision over Xu Yan, I need to do some digging but I believe it was under MT rules.  Judging from my short conversation with him, I doubt we’ll be seeing him MAX anytime soon.   According to the post, MAX has expressed some interest in Pajonsuk.  Personally   I would love to see Saiyok representing MT in MAX.

Sanchai also was also on the card and fought under Sanda rules and lost.  I’ll keep an eye out for footage, but I imagine it was a points loss.  This would have been the Dr. second loss this month.

I mentioned the other week I was sat with the Thai Tourism Authority and the Thai Embassy at the MSA fights.  I had a good conversation with the Director of the Tourism, they’re really looking at stimulating the “MuayThai training” aspect of tourism.

He mentioned that the TAT is really focused on long-term plans to make it easier for people to train and travel in Thailand.  They’re looking at implementing programs that range from simple tours to longterm visas for NakMuays.

I just saw this snippet on MuayMag that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) is looking to introduce a special visa for NakMuays.  The idea is that foreign nak muays who train a “registered” camp will be granted a 6 month -1 year visa.

I know a lot of you guys are constantly having to make border runs to Cambodia or Malaysia…  it’s costly, disruptive, and quite simply a pain in the ass.

I know some of you may have been put off because of the whole political mess… and have shelved plans to travel and train in Thailand.  It seems that all is well again in the land of smiles… seriously though, all my friends and family in Thailand said things are eerily normal.  So if you’re on the fence, I would say get off it and go.

Laura, Abi, Diimak anything to add?

I just came across this clip from MuayThaiTrainingCamps.com, if you haven’t been check it out, Michael is good peeps.

This clip isn’t pretty… One of the highlights of being a part of MMT was having the opportunity to meet Anuwat.  The Iron Hands of Siam has always been hands down one of my favourite fighters.

I’ve got mixed feelings about seeing my heroes go out like this.   They hold a special place in our hearts and minds.  I had a great conversation with my buddy Rob after the Buakaw, Watson fight.  It was tough watching Buakaw get through his fight.   We see our heroes and it’s painful to watch their decline.

Annica is the Sanskrit term for impermanence, this concept of impermanence is the corner stone of Buddhist philosophy and practice.  Everything, be it feelings, life, moods… arise, plateau, and fall.  We hold on to a picture of how these people should be in our minds.  We hold them to a greater standard… to see them fall is painful.

I fear most of my favourite nak muays are reaching the end of the careers.  I know they are out doing what they love, and their collecting another payday while they still can.  I am happy to go out and support them.  I will continue to go to shows…It’s an honour for me to pay to see them fight.

On one hand the risk of permanent damage is very real… after seeing the Bovy/Dicks fight I was utterly shocked.  Even though Bovy recently won in Japan I still think he should hang it up.

Anuwat & Nopstar MSA MEN

Anuwat is beginning to walk that line in my mind.  He’s definitely slowed down… I think he even knows that.  Recently it appears he’s changed up his fighting style and is relying less on his hands these days.  Like Bovy he takes loads of shots to the dome, I would hate to see him permanently injured.

Before I left Toronto in early 2009, I trained under Kru James Hines for a number of months.  Having heard of James and Old School Muay Thai for awhile, I was admittedly hesitant to drop in due to a number of factors.  He was operating out of a fitness gym and classes were once a day/less than seven days a week.  I also wasn’t aware of anyone fighting out of Old School MT, so I was skeptical that training may have been more fitness oriented.   In retrospect, what drove me to Old School MT was the need to find an alternative to where I was training and James was in my neighbourhood.  He’s also a past student of Ajahn Suchart of Siam No. 1, so I knew his foundations would be solid.

Shortly after dropping into a class with James, I made the switch.  Classes were mixed between all levels and the club was tight on time allowances (we couldn’t hit the bags before or after class).  However, James provided something that I had been searching for – a positive, tough environment sans personal politics.  He’s direct, passionate about muay thai and facilitated growth in this students.  His primary concern wasn’t about cash, although he needed it.  Operating out of a fitness centre wasn’t his vision complete.  At the time, his vision for Old School MT included creating an environment of change for underprivileged youths in the downtown core.  When I skipped for Thailand, he was busy searching for his own location to make this happen.  I’m pleased to know that his vision has become a reality.

I’ve been away from Toronto for a while now….so what’s going on with
Old School Muay Thai?
We have our own gym space now at 225 Richmond St West. In addition to
our usual students, we now have a not-for-profit at-risk youth program
and we’re working with a variety of kids from local neighbourhoods
through our affiliations with WoodGreen Community Services and
Harbourfront Community Centre.

Was this difficult to facilitate?
Yes. It would have been impossible without the help of my loyal
students and supporters. The connections that have been fostered
through the first five years of OSMT are the base upon which all of
this has been built.

The response?
100% favourable. We’ve had buy-in from private sector support. On an
individual level, some of my personal training clients sponsor
individual youth. And on an organizational level, Wayne Jacobs from
Allied Properties helped us locate an affordable space and then very
generously renovated what was once a nightclub into our gym, complete
with change rooms and showers.

Why underprivileged youths?
I wanted to give back to the community, and training the youth is a
perfect fit. Through the discipline and self-knowledge engendered
through the study of Muay Thai, they gain the self-awareness and
leadership skills required to then, in turn, support their community.
Through self-growth comes more opportunity to continue to build on
growth, and to give good out, mentor and lead in turn.

How do the kids find you/how does the gym operate?
Community-based youth agencies like WoodGreen partner with our
program, we build on connections in Muay Thai community, some of my
personal training clients identify and sponsor youth. We are to the
point now where some youth are finding us through word of mouth.

Average age?
Most of the youth are around 17 with the overall age range of 14 to 20
for our youth program.

What has been the best thing about this?
Realizing a life-long dream of running my own gym, program and being
able to give back to the community and to the sport which has given me
so much in my own life.

Anything you weren’t prepared for/didn’t forsee?
Absolutely not. I knew that an undertaking of this nature would
require an incredible amount of perseverance, dedication and optimism
to succeed. These are all things I’ve learned during my twenty years
of practicing the sport of Muay Thai. All of these qualities must be
developed in order to succeed in the ring, progress in the sport,
complete the daily challenges associated with the rigour of training
at a competitive level.

My understanding is that there are currently no sanctioned fights in
Ontario and hasn’t been for most of this year – any thoughts on that?

It is not the sport that is dangerous; the potential threat comes from
the people who are running the sport. When we were sanctioned,
liberties may have been taken which were not in the best interest of
established tradition of the true sport of Muay Thai. Continued
discussions with the government could lead to an understanding that
sanctions will move Muay Thai from the basements and backrooms of the
province to safer environments where the athlete’s safety is first and
foremost.

Any fighters we should look out for in the future?
Justin Damphouse. At a recent fight in Calgary, he was relentless yet
patient in the ring, and ultimately TKO’ed his opponent with his
knees. Prior to training at Old School Muay Thai, Justin trained at
Por Pramuk in Thailand.

james hines
www.oldschoolmuaythai.com

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.

Just a quick heads up to all the MMT community here in the UK.  For those of you who couldn’t make it to the MSA show at the MEN, they are finally broadcasting it this Wed evening May 26^th from 22:00-24:00 on Sky Sports 3.  The repeat broadcast will be on Thursday the 27^th of May from 02:00 -04:00.

Check out Anuwat, Bovy, Harrison, Dicks and Kaewklaa

On a lighter note… here are some pics I came across of Yodsanklai and Lamsongkram on a recent visit to China.  I’m not sure what event if any this was attached to.

There has been a fair amount of Sanda vs. MuayThai matchups coming out of China recently.  I know they’ve been primarily SanShou/Sanda rules…   I know Buakaw and Sanchai are supposed to be fighting out there next month.  I’m assuming it’s under Thai rules, I can’t really see either camp fighting SanShou rules.

Lamsongkram looked tense as Yods was forced to show his pimp hand

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