Making Inroads
July 21, 2008 by nopstar
Making in roads-
Many thanks to Byron for passing this along. This isn’t anything new to the regulars on MyMuayThai.com but I think it’s a fairly momentous occasion. The Contender Asia is going to be aired on Versus in the United States.
Some of you may be thinking so what? I’ve seen it. I know Versus is still pretty far from mainstream media, in fact I don’t even think I got Versus in SF. Still you have to recognize this is an important moment for Muay Thai in the US.
For ages the only Muay Thai you could get was reruns of strike force events on ESPN2 and only then you would have to set your tivo to even find them. We’ve been stuck with things like the WCL. (no I’m not stalking her) Muay Thai has made lots of inroads in the US. A lot of MT’s success is due to the popularity of MMA.
As MMA grow’s so will Muuy Tie (said with a redneck drawl) I shutter to think that the only MT most will ever know is from watching MMA.
I think the show will bring a lot of positive awareness to our art and sport. I think most will initially be caught off guard by it, most of this shows target audience is used to the fighters getting drunk, pissing on someone’s clothes and trashing the house. A lot of people just won’t get it… and that’s fine by me. I don’t think Muay Thai is for everyone.
Besides Raffik’s mouth I’m not sure how this audience will deal with the concept of respect?
Be prepared… In some ways we’re going to become ambassadors to our sport. Be prepared for the questions about Muay Thai and your training. As I mentioned my buddies in Thailand who were never interested in Muay Thai were know wanted to come to the Gym.
We’re going to grow… You’ve been a member of a pretty exclusive club. With success people outside of your immediate circle will begin to know more about Muay Thai. Try not to be too judgmental… A female co-worker once told me ” My personal trainer is teaching me Muay Thai” when I dug a little deeper it turned out it was essentially a tae bo class. The appropriate response is, MT training is more like… you should come along and try it.
The sooner Muay Thai becomes a true world sport the better it’ll be for everybody
:)
Well, if only a handfull people Dig it, I guess it ok, because It will hopefully be people who is drawn by the Respect and Tradition of Muay Thai. The beauty and thrills. I like your open approach to people wanting to learn more, and yes we should always seek to guide people who are courrious! Muay Thai RULES and spread the Love!!
Nop –
You proabably already know this but its now being aired on ITV4 in the uk aswell.I agree I think that this more mainstream acceptance of MT will only serve to increase its popularity and I think this is a great thing.At the moment MT isnt recognised as a proper sport in the UK this has led to the documentary (Kiddie fight club I think it was called)that we saw a few months back which caused huge amounts of controversy.But I think that the documentary also showed that there is actually massive amouts of underground, grassroots support for MT in this country.Hopefully if programmes like the contender asia get aired then hopefully more people will better understand MT.At the moment its impossible to get anykind of local authority or government funding fo MT clubs unlike virtually everyother sport, which is making it very hard work for gym owners here.Hopefully with a greater increase in profile and popularity more cubs can get funding to help better the sport here.
Not judging…VERY good choice of words. At my gym we have more people joining up for the fitness aspect of MT and that is great. Many of these people are getting their duffs off the couch for the first time in a LONG time. I have never seen as many out of shape people at the gym…but that is good, our gym needs and wants new customers.
It is brutal to watch them at times, but encouragement and respect is what is called for. I am positive with the arrival of the Contender here on Versus that we will be seeing a LOT of new faces and like you said it will be more important than ever for us in the advanced classes to “kid glove” some of the newbies for a while.
I think the Contender will be a huge net gain for MT here in the States.
Nop, I completely agree that the popularity of MMA is what is driving most of the new interest in Muay Thai in the U.S. – I’ll admit it – I’m one of those people.
The gym I train at sees an influx of new members every time a major fight is broadcasted (UFC, etc), and a lot of the people joining are so ignorant that they quit after their first month because they realize that Muay Thai is not MMA.
Unfortunately I’d say that 1 in 10 renews after their first month. I don’t know if its because our Kru makes you wait 3-4 months worth of continuous training to start sparring, or that they realize that its “just muay thai” and not including the other aspects that MMA incorporates.
I hope that this exposes some of those people to what Muay Thai is really about. I try to tell people that MMA brought me here, but Muay Thai stole my heart. Hopefully it does the same to others here in the states.
We have versus in the San Francisco area. Muay Thai is more akin to boxing than any MA. Imagine people thinking that Mr. Miyagi as an ambassador to MT?
I think that this is great, besides the reality aspect of the show which may not be that appealing to outsiders, there are some great fights on the show. I know I can watch the show over and over. It’s time for my tivo to put some work in.
i just want the world to realize that muay thai is 100 times better to watch than mma. i like mma as well however muay thai is pure action. nobodies throwing dumb ‘hammerfist’ punches. nobodies humping eachother for 10 mins of the ground. nobodies using a combination of watered down techniques from a half ass mma gym. for example the only reason i think anderson spider silva has done so well is because he just uses textbook muay thai.
I enjoy most combat sports but MMA is the most watchable mainly because it’s the most available, at least here in the Philippines. For K-1 and Muay Thai, I rely only on my computer.
I don’t think it’s right when people bash MMA (see above post, hehe) and I specially don’t like it when MMA fans say boxing or Muay Thai / judo / sambo / BJJ / wrestling is inferior to MMA because it’s not as complete, or because “BJ Penn would beat Manny Pacquiao or Yod in a street fight”. Each has its own appeal and anyone has the right to their preference. Any sport can be boring or exciting at certain times, and MT is no different.
MMA should be credited for raising interest in Muay Thai and all other martial arts in general. It is a shame though that these arts can become watered down in “integrated fighting systems” and crap like that, instead of being taught individually and integrated only later on. I’ve only started training Muay Thai a couple of months ago (no, not because of the Contender) and I do find it to be beautiful and enjoyable, maybe even fulfilling. I definitely would not want to learn MT or any other martial art from an “MMA” gym, unless it’s taught in its pure form.
Speaking of Silva, did you guys see that last fight? Classic leg catch right into a stiff right cross for the knockout. Textbook.
TextMT, I can’t believe Irving who is supposed to be a MT fighter and has trained at Fairtex for a few years got caught wit that punch. Muay Thai 101 teaches u to cover up and act fast when someone catches ur leg. Great fight SILVA, the best p4p fighter in the world.
Irvin did a low/mid kick with both his hands down. He looked like he was in panic mode in the few split seconds between when Silva caught his leg and when Silva’s punch literally threw him into the air. It was pretty early to have his hands down and I really wonder what his MT coaches must be thinking.
Greghow,
I’m sure that Irvin’s coaches think he sucks at muay thai. Back to the drawing board for that kid.
matt lucas
Gotta love the non-biased comments on here
muay thai FTW
:)
MattLucas, “I’m sure that Irvin’s coaches think he sucks at muay thai. Back to the drawing board for that kid.” That’s the thing though, Irving has been in the fairtex line up for as long as I can remember….and ganyiao seems to have been coaching for the fight (he was cornering him). I dont get how he would make such a mistake. I’m happy wit the result but I was expectin a great stand up fight between the two. Even Leben lasted longer than him.
I started the Silva/Irvin discussion on this post, so I’ll be the one to steer it back to the Contender. As a US thaiboxing fan, I’m really psyched to see it shown in the states. Some people know a little about muay thai, but only the watered down sliver shown in MMA tournaments. Every time I’ve fought, I’ve been gawked at for my mong kong & pra jiat and even booed during my wai kru. Some positive exposure is sure to be a good thing. Besides, I want to watch all those fights again!
Oh, and Spydaman – no kidding. I’d hope they’d at least teach you to cover up when one of your limbs is caught and being held. Hell, any teacher of any style should be able to show you that…
Me?…Cover up? first thing I do is put my :cross” hand on my forehead to annihilate any chances of somethin like this happening to me….next I bend my caught leg and hop forward while grabbing the back of the opponent’s neck and hold it tight there to minimize the chances of getting swept. lol. dat’s kinda common sense. I think the nerves got to him. No flying knee KO for him this time…..lol.
On another note….I really hope “Contender” takes off in the US. I would love for the popularity of Muay Thai to blow up out here. Hopefully we’ll see an emergence of good MT schools opening in the east coast for a change. Unfortunately, I’m quite sure that it will also bring forth an unstoppable fleet of McDojos all around. IT will be up to us to tell them apart.
I wish everyone was gifted wit a spydey sense like me
Just my opinion, but since Americans love themselves so much (hehe), if the producers of the Contender will be targeting the USA as an audience for the 2nd season, they might want to put another 1 or 2 American nak muays in there.
bj penn would totally whoop manny pacquiao though
lolol