Goodbye to Smokers?
December 17, 2007 by nopstar
I wasn’t really aware of this until Saturday afternoon but apparently the California State Athletic Commission has been systematically shutting down smokers. For those of you outside the States, you’ll know these events as “Inter-clubs”.
From what I understand there were a few shady promoters out there throwing “underground” fights under the guise of smokers. I don’t know the deal, if any of you guys know, please do tell.
Smokers are an integral part of Muay Thai culture in the States. A great deal of us who train would otherwise never get an opportunity to fight. Smokers have always been an excellent way for people to gain experience. My introduction to Smokers was in 1998 at Fairtex. It was really about the Muay Thai community coming together and showing your skills. The fights were exhibition, so it somehow felt more cordial.
Somewhere along the way the rules changed and it went from exhibition to having winners and losers. The vibe and competition between fighters seemed to move into a different direction.
Fast forward 9 years later, the smokers at my gym are still exhibition, although the competitors all seem a little more agro. We added MMA to the mix and we saw the number of people wanting to fight double.
I had heard one of the requirements the CSAC stated is that Smokers are to have no more then two schools participating. You’ve got to be shitting me.
I can understand the commissions concerns, I know of gyms that charge $25 fighter fees and $10 admission. That adds up, there’s money in smokers. I suspect that the gyms and the commission are going to have to find some middle ground. It would be a blow to our sport if Smokers went away.
Thoughts…?
Maybe if the commission issued a license that the gym would have to renew every two years or so ?.
this is definitely a blow to the art. i mean, i don’t see a problem if the gym is professional about it. at all the smokers i’ve been, there were doctors on board to advise or even stop a fight if it went to hard, there were no winners or losers just an apreciation to the competitors. these are the gyms that should be applauded. the csac want to play like this?… fine. let’s throw some amateurs in the ring on a legitimate show and get mangled cuz they did not get the opportunity to test their skill in front of a smaller audience.
The story that I’ve heard is that someone got injured at one of the recent “smokers” that was really an underground fight, and there was no ringside doctor on hand. The CSAC found out about it and thanks to the idiocy of some, they are handing out punishments for all.
I’m really pissed because I decided not to fight in our last smoker and now I have no idea when I’ll actually be able to fight in one.
There’s no money in smokers if it is a true smoker. I wouldn’t trust Fairtex to do much of anything right these days. Lin is not to be trusted.
keep smoking ciggies but they are bad for you but
Wow, they are taking this NO SMOKING thing a bit to far xD sorry i had to.
It’s a tough one. You can’t blame the CSAC, at least in principle, to want to make sure fighters’ safety is preserved. But it seems they are already struggling to catch up with the whole mma growth, so that doesn’t bode too well for a prompt solution to the problem… Hope we see some smokers in 2008!
Why can’t California develop an amatuer system? We have one in place here in WA.
Maybe we should just have underground bouts like in Fight Club, but then we can’t talk about it…(the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rule)
dude, where else can you swing at somebody legally and pretend its your boss. This is the only way I can smile at work. you’ve got to be kidding. I might accidently kick a customer or something. Shit. I can’t handle this. First, no smoking chronic for amatures , now no smokers. this will make the crime rate go up. For reals.
We do have an amateur system in place but you still need your promoters license to get those done and the Commission drags their feet. With all the new gyms popping up I’m sure they wanted to make sure they are run “right”. That shows you how little the ‘Commission’ knows about what they are over-seeing. I’ve been to many a smoker and all have been run with caution in mind and definitely had ringside doctors. Commission = clueless.. But I’m sure some of the newer gyms are just lost when it comes to throwing smokers and we will all pay for it. Another mistake that I’ve noticed is that gyms are promoting/announcing the smokers on their sites. From what I understand smokers were always illegal but CSAC never cared to shut them down. So until the Commission gets off the ars and starts giving responsible people/gyms promoter licenses then we will be forced to continue doing smokers under the radar
Armando Garcia sure is kicking ass there isn’t he?
all we have to do is have a few gyms come together and do “sparring” match-ups.
it’ll be more of a pain but at the same time it will take out the money making scheme that “some” gyms have turned it into.
…you know which gyms.
A “smoker” every night would be nice.
If we could some how organize sparring for every first and third Saturday in the afternoon and rotate the location/venue every time. That would be great. That would be a better way to tighten the Muay Thai community as well. At least until we can figure out the whole promoters license situation
which gyms nae? everyone seems to be charging something to recover costs. seems fair to me. nothing comes free. nobody wants to work for free – do you?
you guys should check out LA. i think they formed a nonprofit organization with a bunch of schools participating. then these schools fight each other in a “tournament” or something. sort of like karate and tkd. i think all the heads of every gym should get together and do this for the sport.
I think a large part of the commission cracking down on the gyms was due to the fact that some were charging up to $25.00 admission. Also, State law dictates that the commission is supposed to oversee all amateur kickboxing events. This includes licensing, officials, medical, insurance, etc. It is quite costly to stage an amateur event in California to say the least. As stated above, because of a few greedy gyms, everyone is now paying the price. A few months back, my gym was shut down by the commission when we were ratted out by a rival gym. To make matters worse, this gym just staged a smoker this month, and weren’t shut down. This is strange, considering that the commission was “informed” of this illegal event. I’m really curious as to why this wasn’t shut down. I’m in the process of contacting the commission about this and will let you guys know if I get a response.
The issue can be avoided one way: don’t charge.
It’s not uncommon BTW for rival gyms to try to ‘rat’ each other out.
What’s really screwed it that the commission has always treated amateur kickboxing as “unpaid” professional fights. This really has been a diservice to the paying public who think they are seeing pro fights. Sanctioned events feature first time fighters without shinguards or headgear. Most of these beginners fight pretty sloppy fights and get injured in the process. With smoker bouts, larger gloves are featured as well as headgear and shinguards. Fighters can get some good experience and then jump into the sanctioned fights and put on a better show and protect themselves in the process. Since the commission is self-funded, it is in their best interest to sanction as many fights as possible and get their share of ticket revenue. They greatly add to the public’s confusion by allowing these events to take place.
hey guys,
I hope that they do crack down alittle bit and get the fights to become more regulated and fair… There’s way too much room for things to go in the wrong hands. Here’s an example, at one ” event” i attended a promoter literally erased one fighters name and put in his fighter. Just shows that there’s alot of corruption and greedy business men pretending to be promoters.. I dont know if things are that blatant in California, but around here on the east coast, its not up to par with Calfornia. I hope my state decides to take an interest.
Really? During my time fighting amateur I have never worn pads of any kind.
Stack: At all smokers ive been to here in the SF Bay Area everyone was required to wear pads. As far as amateur bouts, it really depends on the promoter and fighter because I’ve seen them with both people wearing head gear or without.
I’ve never worn pads including smokers.
I would agree wearing pads for smokers just for liability sake for the hosting gym.
how the hell is one suppose to get on a fight team, because fighting amaturely in california is illegal too…. WTF?
Has anybody heard any latest news on smokers?