For a big Saturday night out, we went to watch Muay Thai, or Thai boxing. There were six matches on the schedule, starting with two matches of women, followed by four of men. Thai boxing differs from traditional boxing in that it involves kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes, in addition to punches. There also seemed to be a lot of grabbing and holding on to each other until the referee would eventually separate the boxers–I guess this is when the elbows and knees would really come into play.
I’m not really a big fan of boxing–it makes me kind of squeamish to watch people hit each other–but I was very impressed by the Thai boxers’ flexibility. When the ladies were stretching out before their matches, they warmed up with standing splits–one foot on the ground and the other foot stretching 180 degrees in the other direction. Their balance was also pretty amazing–how they would lean back to counteract the force of their kicks. I found it a little hard to take any good pictures of the fighting, but here are a few shots:
I was hoping you guys would come back as Bushido or Jujitsu masters, but I’ll settle for Muah Thai. The path has begun. Next time I expect to see pictures of Shelley up there; two women’s matches is just not enough.