Love the name of the group, chicks that kick

Anyone here involved in Muay Thai?

Female Thai boxing group aims to punch up support for women in martial art

TORONTO - Sarah Thompson remembers the moment Thai boxing went from a mere attempt at a new workout to a calling.

"I couldn't walk the next day and I went, 'This class is for me,"' she recalled. Most people would go, 'I'm never doing it again,' but I went, 'This class is for me."'

"I was shopping with my mom at a flea market and I couldn't bend my knees and I went, 'I'm not letting this defeat me."

Six years on, her passion for Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, continues to thrive, one she shares as part of a group of women working to raise awareness of the ancient martial art while encouraging women to get involved and into the ring.

Thompson is one of the founding members of Chicks That Kick, Canada's first all-female Muay Thai collective, a sport where competitors use arms, legs, knees and elbows when squaring off against an opponent.

Muay Thai, which originated centuries ago in Thailand, was used as a close-combat battlefield skill in medieval times and later as entertainment in exhibition fights staged for royalty.

But for Thompson and fellow Chicks That Kick members, learning the martial art has become more than just a way to tone. The countless hours of conditioning that Muay Thai demands has been a transformative experience for both body and mind - something other workouts didn't offer, she said.

"I walk away feeling invigorated, refreshed, energized, confident, and I think for women, you need more of that," Thompson said after wrapping a recent two-hour workout.

"I think like anything it's the level of commitment, the amount of energy that you want to put into is what you get out of it. It's like anything in life," she said. "Muay Thai is exactly like that, as a sport, as a philosophy."

"Having that release after a long workday and having that break of, 'All I have to do right now is get through these next 30 pushups, these next 50, these kicks, this training session.' It takes your mind out of where you usually are."

In a converted downtown warehouse space, a beginner's class of men and women at the Krudar Muay Thai gym is working through an exhaustive regimen of cardio and strength exercises against the backdrop of pulsating beats, incorporating everything from pushups, situps, and a delicate back-and-forth bounce to keep them light on their feet.

It's designed to prepare them for when they step into the ring, which is not necessarily the end game for everyone learning Muay Thai, Thompson said.

"You don't have to come to the class just because you want to fight," she said. "You can come to the class just because you want the physicality of it, the self-defence of it, the mental element of just zoning into one thing."

Chicks That Kick co-founder Sofia Ramirez was one of only two women training at her gym when she first took up Muay Thai in 2001.

She dreamed of providing a platform for women wanting to gain experience in the sport - doors she thought would open when it was legalized in Ontario in 2003 - and approached her gym's owner about hosting an all-female Thai boxing tournament.

"He looked at me and he's like, 'Yeah, there's no way. ... There's not enough interest,"' Ramirez said.

She would prove him wrong, leaving the gym and meeting with other like-minded women, including Thompson and Lucy O'Neill, to bring Chicks That Kick into being and organizing the province's first all-female Muay Thai fight card in 2005 with proceeds going to the Sick Kids Foundation.

Philanthropy is again in focus for their latest fight card Sept. 30 at Toronto's Eglinton Grand with funds raised benefiting Yellow Brick House, a shelter for battered women in Aurora, Ont., north of Toronto.

The fighters are well equipped, wearing mouthguards, shin pads, headgear and gloves for bouts comprised of three, three-minute rounds.

O'Neill is one of the women on the upcoming fight card, balancing her career at a post-production house with training four to six days a week through a circuit of cardio, pounding bags and padwork for between 2 1/2 and three hours. It's light years from her first class 3 1/2 years ago where she managed 10 pushups - while others did 40.

"In this sport you really have to face your weaknesses in order to grow," she said. "You have to accept the fact that 'I'm not good at this, this and this," and then work on those things in order to become a better athlete, so it's very humbling."

Thompson said she would like to see Chicks That Kick evolve to give even more women the opportunity to fight at the event by bringing fighters from the U.S. and abroad. Group member Melissa Misiuda, for example, has trained for eight years in Muay Thai, but has faced challenges finding an opponent with the same level of experience.

"For Chicks that Kick, there's always more sky," Thompson said. "We can always do more, we can always give more, and fundamentally, the whole reason why we do it is (to) help women, for the betterment of the sport and to give back to the community."

Canadian Press

Anyone here involved in Muay Thai?

Would you count having two Thai friends (female) who are active kick-boxers as 'being involved'? Interestingly, they are very graceful, petite, soft-spoken and beautiful - not really the image of a boxer....

Edited September 30, 200718 yr by sutnyod

i also know a really girlie girl who is into muay thai!

Thai girls into Muay thai???! Are they dykes? I've yet to meet any girl thats into Muay Thai and fights!

Pull the other one

No girlies! My friends are in their forties and fifties (although somehow they manage to look 20 years younger). I think it is a stereotype that people who are proficient in fighting sports are aggressive. My friends are definitely not.

edit: typo

Edited October 2, 200718 yr by sutnyod

Well for sure I don't consider myself agressive in anyway. I have been doing Muay Thai for quite awhile and along with other girls I have met there is a respect for each other, not agression towards each other. In fact, my husband teaches Muay thai in Thailand at our home and many students who come are females. Reason for learning is not to compete in a ring, but more for fitness and self defence. It raises self-esteem and confidence. I did compete up until I had my baby, and now still enjoy it for fitness purposes. The gym I attended was a local Thai gym in a village, no other foreigners and a novelty to have a female. But I learnt a lot and met my husband. It not only taught me skills in fighting but also gave me a little insight into the culture behind the muay thai environment.

@nikisue: you sound EXACTLY like my friends. They did the same (except the meeting-husband part). I know them for a long time (close to 20 years) and think they have a great character.

I do Thai Boxing too, and I absolutely love it! I'd also like to add that I am not an agressive masculine type ... I actually used to be a ballet dancer! Opposites, or what?

I am a member of a fight club in London, and we train four times a week. Training ranges from 2-3 hours, and includes skipping, shadow boxing, pad work, sparring and body conditioning. There are about 40-50 members, and 12 of those are women. We all have a common bond and are great friends. We even go on holiday together! Training holidays too!

It is a fantastic sport. I am very competitive, so I love sparring. In time, I hope to go in the ring, but I still have a lot to learn first! Our fights do not include shin pads and head gear though, just a mouth guard.

Our club is like a family, and the support our fighters get is amazing! We are also very respectful to the opposing club ... it is a sport, and it is for all to enjoy.

x.

I'd also like to add that we do pad work and spar with the men. Our girls are not soft when sparring, and the guys hit us the same as they hit the guys. Sparring is only meant to be light contact anyway. Just in case some of you were wondering ...?

Ya it's supposed to be light, but back in Canada the meat heads at the academy I trained at always sparred too hard, we were always taking time off to recover from injuries... stupid way to train, especially since the Thais spar light. Glad to hear your club is more sensible.

Damian Mavis

I think you have a point Damian, in most Western settings the attitude can get competetive even within the same club and light sparring often can turn into heavy sparring, where injuries can occur. But I think the difference can be due to the reason for training. For most of us we train for sports reasons. In Thailand Muay thai is a way for a fighter and the trainer to earn a living. So to jepodise a fighter in sparring is not profitable. So light sparring is aheared to and full on boxing is saved for the ring, where the money is made.

Yes exactly, a fighter cannot even afford to have a little bruise on his shin or he is already weakened for the upcoming fight he has to win to earn a living. But what is so silly is back in North America we all have this fantasy that Thai fighters are so hardcore they kick trees and spar full contact bone on bone every day no problem because they are just so hardcore heh.... myths and fantasies.

Damian Mavis

Agree with you completely! If anyone gets a bit hot-headed in our gym, the instructor sends them out to cool off, and if they still can't 'play nicely', then they go with him ... they soon learn to hit light! He always says that it's a points game when sparring. I spar with big guys that are over a foot taller than me; it doesn't matter when it's controlled sparring. I respect the sport and my gym mates, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Agree about the Thais' fighting too. It is a full time job. Training every day, with only one week off after they fight. Then back on it again. They can't afford to get injured during training.