The awesome adventures of Jack Chi: Watching real Muay Thai fight at Bangla stadium

Yesterday I went with the rest of the Sinbi students to the biggest fight of the month at Bangla stadium. 3 of the fighters here at Sinbi were fighting for championship belts. The governing body of Muay Thai in Thailand is called WMC and is created by the Thai government. So 3 WMC titles were contended for by the Sinbi fighters. And they all won!

It was really cool to watch the people you train with everyday win something big like this. It made you feel like you were part of something bigger and with that comes pride.

At multiple points during the fight we were up on our feets going OEY, OEY, OEY as our fighters struck their opponents with knees, kicks and elbows. One of the fights was really entertaining but also brutal, with both opponents drawing blood from elbow and knee strikes.

At the start of each fight the fighters did this traditional Thai dance to seal the ring and show off to the audience their Muay Thai skills; this also helped the betters place bets accordingly. And there was a lot of betting going on. If you sat at the bottom of the stadium you can see men and women waving their arms wildly as they called out odds and enticed the audience to partake in the excitement.

As I began my journey on this trip I had the goal of getting into the best shape of my life as well as fight in one of these Muay Thai bouts. But after watching these fights and hearing the stories, I changed my goal to just the fitness part. I am definitely getting better in my technique and power, but I am nowhere near the skill level of the fighters out here and don't think I will be in 3 month. So safety first is the motto :D