Petition for Full Muay Thai Rules
May 8, 2009 by nopstar
MMT friend and K1 community member “GorilliaPalmz” has recently started a petition to show support for bring full MT rules to N. America.
It’s hard to believe that we still don’t have full Thai rules in North America. When I first started training in the UK I had to be honest, the elbows really through me for a loop. Who am I kidding? Even now with elbow pads, I still get uneasy when I’m in striking distance of an elbow.
I found myself at a big disadvantage… I’m sure in the course of my training I’ve probably performed hundreds possibly thousands of elbow strikes on Thai Pads. However until my arrival to the UK I’ve never actually used them in a sparring situation. Anyway I’m getting off the point, it just isn’t MuayThai unless you can use full Thai rules.
Some of you are going to scoff at a petition, but you’ve got to start somewhere. All you need to do is sign your name. The site ipetition asks you for a donation after you make your mark… totally unnecessary, NO PAYMENT is needed.
If you’ve got a second please sign this petition… there are only a hundred or so signatures but I’d like to think our community could help the cause.
Click this to sign http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/muaythai_legalize/index.html
Here’s the original post from K-1fans.com
“Please visit the link posted below and sign our petition regarding the implementation of full MuayThai rules and scoring in North America. You do NOT have to be from North America to sign, as it is more of just indicator to the parties involved how diverse and unified the international MuayThai community is around the world. If this ends up working here, it can be a model of how to implement full rules in other parts of the world, so I implore your support. I know for some the effort may seem trivial and unprofessional, but this is how anything in this world gets done – from the bottom up. We are certainly learning as we go and can refine our methods through experience to help other organizers in the future. But we have to make the effort first. This forum is a great one, and there are a lot of people who care about the sport. If we can mobilize the political power of the collective, we can get something big done for sure.
It doesn’t cost anything (after you sign, there will be a donation request; feel free to donate, but the logging of your signature has already been completed), only takes a minute, and it would be a boon for the sport the world over. If you have friends, please let them know as well (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Thanks for your time and support!”
Uhhh, I’ve seen full rules MT fights here in Los Angeles.
Im glad this got to you Nop.I put on k1 fans that they should contact you about this.
Professional fighters in California have been allowed to use elbows for a while now. If I’m not mistaken there are a couple of other states that also allow it. I suppose that any state that sanctions MMA also allows full rules muay thai. Is this petition to allow amateurs to use elbows?
Also, each state’s athletic commission would need to separately OK the acceptance of full rules muay thai.
To be honest, I can only see more states allowing elbows after MMA organizations penetrate them. Serious money and lobbying is currently only in the hands of organizations like UFC etc
For us in Ontario (Canada for thoses of you Geographically impared)
its still illegal there are fights but your covered from head to toe in padding and no elbows…
Its incredibly frustrating because you have to travel for hours to be able to fight even exhibition for matches. There are a ton of people here like me who would love to see the sport grow but that wont happen unless some serious changes are made.
There’s a promotion in Virginia that is using full thai rules. As MMA spreads and becomes allowed in many other states, I think that can pave the way for full Thai rules. It seems like a state-to-state kind of thing here. Each state just needs a promoter that’s willing to get the wheels in motion. I don’t know if a single national effort would cause the state commissions to allow it if they don’t have promotors pushing for it at the local level as well.
Focus on the big sanctioning bodies (Nevada, NY, etc) first and the rest will fall line.
As far as I know, there has been exactly one full rules Muay Thai match in Washington State where I live.
I personally hit the bag with elbows every time I am in the gym, in the hopes that /someday/ we will actually train and spar with elbows. Not likely. My school is pretty much boxing plus some thai-style kicks and knees in the clinch. More of an MMA gym.
We have full thai fights all the time in my province. Amateurs have to wear elbow pads is all.
I didn’t spar with elbows for the first couple years as your first few fights would never be full thai rules, but now I feel handicapped if I don’t have my elbow pads on! There’s so much more control over your partner/opponent when elbows are allowed.
Good cause Nop. I support this.
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MMA gets much more support. I don’t know why MT doesn’t get the same respect. Not only is it very difficult to find MT gyms, but it’s most often worked in around an MMA schedule. There is a strong push in Ohio, as far as I know, working to bring MT into the same venues as MMA, we’ll see what happens. No matter what, the initiative is important, and the petition is a great idea for those of us not on the coasts.
Got it signed and man mauythai’s coming up big and real real big (already is in some parts i know)
Reading this post yesterday convinced me that I really should be sparring with elbows. So I immediately ordered some elbow pads for me and a partner. Thanks for giving me the idea Nop!
Aye Nop, how was sparring with elbows?
By the way, it was great to finally meet you this past week at F&F!
-Kreuang Jak-
(Sean)
hi everybody. big thanks to nopstar for making a post for the petition. stephen strotmeyer is doing most of the heavy lifting on this and speaking to the parties concerned.
yes, getting elbows legalized is a part of what we are trying to do, but there is much more involved. we would like to stick to the international regulations for amateurs so that, God willing, when muaythai gets cleared by the ioc, we from north america won’t look like fools when we need to compete against the world. lol. there are also other issues with the rules. for instance, what kind of throws are allowed? i’ve seen fighters hip toss their opponents with no foul being called. i’ve seen fighters pull grapevine trips off in matches with no warnings from the ref. this needs to be clarified. also, how about off-balancing and striking somebody? where is the line between standing up and being down? these rules need to be expounded upon. and then judging and scoring: we are also trying to address proper scoring practices implemented so the game is not judged as a glorified game of point karate and judges understand what they are looking for. so, just saying, there is a lot to be addresed.
thanks for everyone’s support, and again, it’s a grassroots movement. there is no money in muaythai where we live and therefore, no big groups are going put our needs and wants on the agenda and advocate for us. we have to push our way in to be heard. but, if we are successful, we can help folks from other places do the same, hopefully. we should stick together; there aren’t too many of us to begin with. if we use our resources properly, i think we can get significant work done. i think there is a lot of talent out here, and if we can create the proper environment domestically, we could compete with the best in the world.
Hey mymuaythai mates. Thank you to Gorilla Palmz (Pat) and Nopstar for helping to circulate this effort.
Let me just clarify that we, as North Americans do not have consistent rules. Yes, in some places, you can fight full rules, even a few as an amateur, but the majority of states and territories DO NOT allow full Thai rules. Additionally, the ABC convention under the guidance of Nick Lembo is proposing “unified rules”. That current proposal is a regression from rules in California, Iowa, Vegas. Places allowing WMC rules already. So, the petition is to tell the ABC we want full rules in USA/Canada & Mexico. Nick wrote the MMA unified rules, and other commissioners adopted these in states where MMA was previously banned. So his bearing on the matter and this meeting in JULY is critical. If they understand our rules and adopt them, we might actually get to see the upgrade we all desire – FULL MUAYTHAI. Otherwise, that commission may propose a set of rules like they drafted that is more akin to K-1 GP rules. No clinch, no elbows, etc.
Khap khun khup.
Thai liniment should also be allowed and specified in the rules. This is a standard in Thailand and stated in the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) rules.
Nick.Lembo@lps.state.nj.us.
The Association of Boxing Commissioners will meet in July to craft a consensus about Muay Thai’s rules that would then be introduced to all 50 State legislatures for enactment into law. This is a draft of the proposed rules. It was authored by Nick Lembo, who is Legal Counsel to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board and is taking the proposal to the Association of Boxing Commissioners. Nick would like to know what you think. While the respective State legislatures will decide for themselves, an endorsement from the Association of Boxing Commissioners will start the debate. Your opinion matters, but only if you express it.