Thai Kickboxing

I did not even think about this until Ralf walked into the hotel restaurant when Mike and I got back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai. I asked Ralf what the next night's plan was. He said dinner at the hotel as more people would arrive but Tero and his wife Katja would go to a Thai kickboxing match. Mike's eyes lit up instantly: "I'd go!" Frankly I had no interest whatsoever to see people beat the crap out of each other. I never liked boxing. I even fell asleep at the UFC match in Vegas when I took Mike on a surprise trip for his birthday. But I would never pass on any opportunity when traveling especially since I was in the birth place of Thai kickboxing.

Lumpinee Stadium is situated right outside the metro. After a whole day of tour, we were exhausted and had some time to burn before heading to the match. We had a massage in a street shop first. The stadium is owned by one of the functions in the Thai army. We got in via Kade's connection since her dad was a high ranking general in the army. As we went to the gate, ushers wearing badges approached us. All we had was a piece of paper with words written in Thai of the person's name and army rank. The usher went in and out came a guy in army uniform. He took us to the side door. We were given schedules of the night, a DVD of Thai kickboxing and a pamphlet introducing the stadium.

The night ahead consisted of 2 unrated matches, two preliminaries, four matches, one major fight and two additional ones for closing. We got seated in the VIP seat in the middle, two rows from the ring. The match was already on. Each fighter either wore red or blue. When they walked up to the ring, their coaches put a weaved head band and a pretty yellow "Lei" on them. The warm-up routine was almost like a dance or a ritual. The fighters prayed to the gods by touching their heads on the corner of the ring or kneeling down and touching their heads to the floor. They moved elegantly and extended their limbs mimicking crane, snake, eagle or tiger. It was all up to my imagination what they were at any moment. Meanwhile a live band was playing right beside us. One of the traditional musical instruments was like the trumpet Chinese played on a wedding day in the old times. They repeated the music the entire night, driving Katja crazy. It was really monotoned and was extremely loud to the point of being annoying but I was quite alright.

Most of the guys were tiny, weighing about 100 pounds. They did not have an ounce of fat on them. Compared to the boring UFC where fighters wrestle to the ground and stay there practically the entire time, the Thai kickboxing was very exciting and full of actions. The fighters moved with lightening speed and were constantly kicking, kneeling and punching. If they tangled together out of exhaustion, they wouldn't get more then three seconds of break. The referee immediately separated them and yelled at them to start punching and kicking again. One of the fights was bloody. One guy got punched in the nose. We all thought it was broken but he kept fighting finishing the five rounds, each lasting three minutes and in the end defeating the opponent.

Even though I had total respect for these fighters and was "wowed" by their techniques, it was a little too brutal for my taste. Overall it was a good experience but I would not do it again.