- Skinny kitten resting in front of giant Wat Si Chum Buddha at Sukhothai -(Thailand)
This is the kind of cat every martial artist should have at home to care for!
Monday, January 08, 2007
A New Year Frought With The Same Old Problems!
Ah, 2007 is here and now! And the martial arts, iron game, and fitness/health con artists and thieves are as busy as ever thinking of new ways to get into the pockets of those who seek health, strength, physical prowess, athletic performance enhancement, and personal evolvement. The wolves are lurking outside the door just as sure as Osama bin Laden is sitting in a Afghan or Pakistani cave somewhere plotting his next evil plot against western civilization.
I can't wait to see what "new" martial art will be discovered that will supercede and make irrelevant all that have preceded it. Just like the food supplement makers and vendors need a hot and trendy NEW product (or revamping or reformulation of an old product) in order to keep the bucks flowing into the old bank account (and the "shills" happy with their "new and improved" whatever), the martial arts studio owners need to have something "fresh" to capture the imagination of their trainees (true believers?). Will it be Russian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, European, African, or Latin American? Will it be a grappling, kicking, punching, "punching / kicking," " punching / kicking / grappling," a variation on ninjitsu, blade, stick, staff, chain,...or something that requires six fingers on each hand?
Whatever the "powers that be" and the promoters choose to get behind and promote, I will be patiently waiting to see how they package it so that I can get a good belly-laugh at their gall and chutzpah in presenting it to the martial arts public.
Currently grappling, mixed martial arts, and shoot-boxing are the "hot arts" that keep the old karate and taekwondo storefronts in business. but you can bet your last dollar that there will be something NEW on the market that will capture the fancy of the young adults and adults who need a new martial arts "fix" periodically in order to keep them interested in sukpporting their martial arts "habit."
Meanwhile, there are always spectacles like the recent Liddell versus Ortiz UFC fight, K1-Max, violent video games, and a slew of international "martial competitions" and "action" movies to keep the average martial arts junkie primed and pumped for whatever will be deemed the "latest and greatest" art on the horizon. It may not be pretty, and it may not even have a "touch of asia" in it's bloodline, but it will put dollars in the cash register, and that is all that really counts in the wacky world of commercial martial arts.
I really have no interest in any of that garbage, but I do find that watching the "passing circus" to be amusing. I have seen the same circuses in bodybuilding, powerlifting, fitness training, and even in drumming and dance over the past 4+ decades (*drumming is currently in it's "drum therapy" stage of evolution (?), and "Dancing With The Stars" has "drummed up" a bit of interest in social dancing over the past year or two...just to let you know about two other "circuses" I keep tabs on).
It is better to have an interest in "arts" with heart, soul, and tradition, than it is to always "surf" along on the shallow waters of what's "hot" and whats "not hot."
A more substantial commentary is next in line!
01/08/07
I can't wait to see what "new" martial art will be discovered that will supercede and make irrelevant all that have preceded it. Just like the food supplement makers and vendors need a hot and trendy NEW product (or revamping or reformulation of an old product) in order to keep the bucks flowing into the old bank account (and the "shills" happy with their "new and improved" whatever), the martial arts studio owners need to have something "fresh" to capture the imagination of their trainees (true believers?). Will it be Russian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, European, African, or Latin American? Will it be a grappling, kicking, punching, "punching / kicking," " punching / kicking / grappling," a variation on ninjitsu, blade, stick, staff, chain,...or something that requires six fingers on each hand?
Whatever the "powers that be" and the promoters choose to get behind and promote, I will be patiently waiting to see how they package it so that I can get a good belly-laugh at their gall and chutzpah in presenting it to the martial arts public.
Currently grappling, mixed martial arts, and shoot-boxing are the "hot arts" that keep the old karate and taekwondo storefronts in business. but you can bet your last dollar that there will be something NEW on the market that will capture the fancy of the young adults and adults who need a new martial arts "fix" periodically in order to keep them interested in sukpporting their martial arts "habit."
Meanwhile, there are always spectacles like the recent Liddell versus Ortiz UFC fight, K1-Max, violent video games, and a slew of international "martial competitions" and "action" movies to keep the average martial arts junkie primed and pumped for whatever will be deemed the "latest and greatest" art on the horizon. It may not be pretty, and it may not even have a "touch of asia" in it's bloodline, but it will put dollars in the cash register, and that is all that really counts in the wacky world of commercial martial arts.
I really have no interest in any of that garbage, but I do find that watching the "passing circus" to be amusing. I have seen the same circuses in bodybuilding, powerlifting, fitness training, and even in drumming and dance over the past 4+ decades (*drumming is currently in it's "drum therapy" stage of evolution (?), and "Dancing With The Stars" has "drummed up" a bit of interest in social dancing over the past year or two...just to let you know about two other "circuses" I keep tabs on).
It is better to have an interest in "arts" with heart, soul, and tradition, than it is to always "surf" along on the shallow waters of what's "hot" and whats "not hot."
A more substantial commentary is next in line!
01/08/07
Friday, December 15, 2006
Don't Get Fooled by Plyometric Training Promotions!
I recall a conversation I had with my mentor, Bob Gajda, back in the early 1980's at his SPRI training facility in Carol Stream, Illinois, about the newest training approach on the athletic conditioning market-PLYOMETRIC TRAINING. Bob informed me that while it was effective in the short run, what it would lead to in the long run would be tendon, ligament, and joint injuries from all of the leaping and landing on higher / lower surfaces and then rebounding back to the original starting point rapidly and in successive reps.
I noticed myself that when I experimented with "plyometric bounding" training methods, I came to the conclusion that it was placing a lot of stress on my feet, ankles, and knee joints. I instinctively knew that if I were to persist with such training over a protracted period of time, I would probably end up with some injuries or arthritic problems somewhere down the line.
I have seen Bob's words, and my own instincts prove to be true over the past several decades as friends and associates have begun to complain about knee, ankle, foot, and low back problems that are just now beginning to nag them every day...possibly as caused by plyometric training done years ago. I have also seen some pretty debilitating joint injuries incurred by such training in many gyms, fitness facilities, and university athletic training centers. Why risk it when you can get similar results in safer ways?
I started thinking of writing this post when I came across an article in a local paper that was touting a plyometric training regimen that would allow guys with "dreams" to have the ability to dunk a basketball. Yeah, some people do find that a protracted period of plyometric training can give them the exstra "umph" needed to dunk a basketball, but at what price?
Usually it is an older, heavier, and more mature individual who takes up such training, and that type of individual conveniently neglects to read the signals his or her body is giving out regarding just how stressful such training is on the muscles and joints. All they want to do is dunk a basketball and jump higher. They never think of the effects of, let's say, the tremendous forces that must be absorbed byt the tendons, ligaments, and joints every time they come back down from those dunks or near dunks. They never think about the problems with the possibity of being "undercut" or pushed into really awkward positions while going up or coming back down. Again, all they can think of is "taking it to the hoop," or touching the sky!
I have also noted that most of the folks who want to dunk at all costs are usually not the most technically skilled players in the first place. Who needs to dunk if you can fake your man out of his shoes, dribble like a magician, and then drain the subsequent open shot like butter running down a hot knife? Plus, all of the natural "great leapers" I have known all succumb to the same lowerbody and lower back injuries over time...yeah, even eagles fall out of the sky in the end.
Personally, I wouldn't mess with plyometrics because of the eventual price to be paid. It is just like those stupid martial arts magazine ads showing some guy or gal doing the splits between two chairs...for what? No one really needs that kind of flexibility in order to be able to fight well. And, most people will find that if they do go through such flexibility training for 3-6 months, they rapidly lose the flexibility rapidly unless they spend a lot of time every day maintaining it. Time that could be put to better ends in other pursuits, believe me. In fact, unless you are interested in becoming a master gymnast, or a member of Cirque du Soliel, you don't nee anywhere near the ability to perform the splits between chairs. Also, the reason why the body snaps back rapidly to more normal ranges of motion after ceasing "super flexibility" training is because the body instinctively knows what IT needs best for daily optimum functional operation and survival. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND DON'T GET THROWN FOR A LOOP BY MARKETERS AND CON ARTISTS.
More on this subject in the near future. Until then, try to THINK before you buy the outrageous trainig methods, supplements, and promises of those who pray on those of us who arre involved in physical culture, athletics, and martial arts. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run, trust me.
************************************************************************************
Those of you who are reallyh interest in the martial arts of Thailand, Muay Thai / Krabi Krabong, should visit the fine website at: http://www.edges2.com and look at the really nice Krabi-Krabong training and exhibition swords that they sell, and the two volume DVD set devoted to understanding and mastering Muay Thai clinching techniques. The DVD's are really informative, and the training swords are the best you can buy in this part of the world. A great website, and a great martial arts supplies business. If you are really involved in Filipino martial arts you will also love this website. Visit the site, and tell the owner, Bobert Burgee, that Herb April sent you. Highly recommended!
I noticed myself that when I experimented with "plyometric bounding" training methods, I came to the conclusion that it was placing a lot of stress on my feet, ankles, and knee joints. I instinctively knew that if I were to persist with such training over a protracted period of time, I would probably end up with some injuries or arthritic problems somewhere down the line.
I have seen Bob's words, and my own instincts prove to be true over the past several decades as friends and associates have begun to complain about knee, ankle, foot, and low back problems that are just now beginning to nag them every day...possibly as caused by plyometric training done years ago. I have also seen some pretty debilitating joint injuries incurred by such training in many gyms, fitness facilities, and university athletic training centers. Why risk it when you can get similar results in safer ways?
I started thinking of writing this post when I came across an article in a local paper that was touting a plyometric training regimen that would allow guys with "dreams" to have the ability to dunk a basketball. Yeah, some people do find that a protracted period of plyometric training can give them the exstra "umph" needed to dunk a basketball, but at what price?
Usually it is an older, heavier, and more mature individual who takes up such training, and that type of individual conveniently neglects to read the signals his or her body is giving out regarding just how stressful such training is on the muscles and joints. All they want to do is dunk a basketball and jump higher. They never think of the effects of, let's say, the tremendous forces that must be absorbed byt the tendons, ligaments, and joints every time they come back down from those dunks or near dunks. They never think about the problems with the possibity of being "undercut" or pushed into really awkward positions while going up or coming back down. Again, all they can think of is "taking it to the hoop," or touching the sky!
I have also noted that most of the folks who want to dunk at all costs are usually not the most technically skilled players in the first place. Who needs to dunk if you can fake your man out of his shoes, dribble like a magician, and then drain the subsequent open shot like butter running down a hot knife? Plus, all of the natural "great leapers" I have known all succumb to the same lowerbody and lower back injuries over time...yeah, even eagles fall out of the sky in the end.
Personally, I wouldn't mess with plyometrics because of the eventual price to be paid. It is just like those stupid martial arts magazine ads showing some guy or gal doing the splits between two chairs...for what? No one really needs that kind of flexibility in order to be able to fight well. And, most people will find that if they do go through such flexibility training for 3-6 months, they rapidly lose the flexibility rapidly unless they spend a lot of time every day maintaining it. Time that could be put to better ends in other pursuits, believe me. In fact, unless you are interested in becoming a master gymnast, or a member of Cirque du Soliel, you don't nee anywhere near the ability to perform the splits between chairs. Also, the reason why the body snaps back rapidly to more normal ranges of motion after ceasing "super flexibility" training is because the body instinctively knows what IT needs best for daily optimum functional operation and survival. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND DON'T GET THROWN FOR A LOOP BY MARKETERS AND CON ARTISTS.
More on this subject in the near future. Until then, try to THINK before you buy the outrageous trainig methods, supplements, and promises of those who pray on those of us who arre involved in physical culture, athletics, and martial arts. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run, trust me.
************************************************************************************
Those of you who are reallyh interest in the martial arts of Thailand, Muay Thai / Krabi Krabong, should visit the fine website at: http://www.edges2.com and look at the really nice Krabi-Krabong training and exhibition swords that they sell, and the two volume DVD set devoted to understanding and mastering Muay Thai clinching techniques. The DVD's are really informative, and the training swords are the best you can buy in this part of the world. A great website, and a great martial arts supplies business. If you are really involved in Filipino martial arts you will also love this website. Visit the site, and tell the owner, Bobert Burgee, that Herb April sent you. Highly recommended!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Life Is Both Living With The Tiger & Loving The Tiger, NOT Taming The Tiger!
- NO WORDS ARE NECESSARY-
Check Out "IRON MIND" For Strength Training Tools!
I just received the fantastic new training gear catalog from IRON MIND ( WWW.IRONMIND.COM ). I have to admit that everytime I read one of their catalogs, visit their IRON MIND website, or read their incredible quarterly magazine, MILO, I am really inspired to buy more of their great equipment, and to get up immediately and train. I have mixed emotions about this inspiration because I KNOW that many of the "strength athletes" who are prominantly in their ads and articles are users of anabolics and other drugs. I could care less about what those gentlemen choose to put into their bodies for the sake of size and strength, but I don't want to feel like I am in any way proselytizing their use of pharmaceuticals. Some of you readers may get the idea that I advocate drug use because I speak so highly of a business that the drug users also rave about. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of the visitors and customers of IRON MIND have no interest in ever taking drugs for anything. They are interested in a source for world class strength training equipment, gear, literature, supplements, and more. IRON MIND is perhaps the best source on the planet for such products, in my opinion.
The IRON MIND products that I suggest you serious iron gamers out there relly look into are:
1) Vulcan Racks II+ System / Squat Rack w/ Dipping Bar Uprights (also an added Chinning Bar Attachment)
2) Five Star Flat Bench
3) Pillars of Power II Spotter Racks
4) The IRON MIND "Strong & Healthy Hands Kit"
5) The IRON MIND "Expand Your Hands" Bands
Visit the Iron Mind website whenever you need unique tools for physical superiority enhancement. I will also suggest that you seriously consider ordering a sample of their wonderful tasting JUST PROTEIN protein powder. It is an inexpensive protein powder that will give you muscle mass and strength results not unlike what their "designer protein powder" competitors promise, but at a far heftier cost.
The IRON MIND products that I suggest you serious iron gamers out there relly look into are:
1) Vulcan Racks II+ System / Squat Rack w/ Dipping Bar Uprights (also an added Chinning Bar Attachment)
2) Five Star Flat Bench
3) Pillars of Power II Spotter Racks
4) The IRON MIND "Strong & Healthy Hands Kit"
5) The IRON MIND "Expand Your Hands" Bands
Visit the Iron Mind website whenever you need unique tools for physical superiority enhancement. I will also suggest that you seriously consider ordering a sample of their wonderful tasting JUST PROTEIN protein powder. It is an inexpensive protein powder that will give you muscle mass and strength results not unlike what their "designer protein powder" competitors promise, but at a far heftier cost.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Waiting Patiently for the Muay Thai Poseurs to Go Away
The thought just crossed my mind that all of this current hot international interest within the martial arts community worldwide re: Muay Thai and fighters like Buakaw and Khaoklai, is just another passing fad.
Like the kickboxing fad of the seventies, and the ninja craze of the seventies/eighties, and the kung fu craze in the seventies, and the numerous "hot flashes" I have seen come and go like rainwater, THIS (Muay Thai) TOO SHALL PASS! Only then will I be able to enjoy pure, un-westernized, Muay Thai as it was meant to be enjoyed prior to, say, 1995.
The "farangs are, as usual hard at work altering and reshaping Muay Thai into what THEY claim the western public wants it to be...the hell with what the Thais think. The hell with the art of Muay Thai and it's long evolutionary history. And the Thais are going along with the western shenanigans because they are being given a considerable (by their standards) amount of Baht to smile and go along with the prostitution of Thai martial arts. The entrepreneurs are selling Muay Thai to the western combat sports audience as if it were something that was created in the seventies and held under wraps by (western) wise men until the public was mentally prepared to see such "sportive brutality" on pay-per-view.
For a blatant example, just look at the odd and everchanging K1 organization in Japan. Even though K1 was inspired by Muay Thai, they have "fixed" (and continue to fix and re-fix) the rules of the sport so that the Thai fighters are essentially neutered (little clinching, no overemphasis on kneein exchanges, no elbows, etc). In this way the top honchos of K1 try to tilt the scales towards the Japanese shootboxers and kickboxers, or the European ones if the, uh, price is right? Can't let those lowly Thais force their ring brothers in the Land of The Rising Sun lose too much face too often, eh?
Right now two Muay Thai fighters from Thailand are the toast of the K1 circuit-Khaoklai and Buakaw Por Pramuk, but keep your eyes on the referees (and the rules dictums slyly added by the powers that run the show) and watch how those two superb Thai fighters start losing some incredibly odd points decisions (Buakaw got his in his 2005 K1 Max title match loss (???) to Andy Souwer. Souwer is an excellent fighter, and the match was close, but to my eye Buakaw won despite not being able to clince and knee very much. Ah, the sweet (???) smell of the fix.
I am sick already of all the clips of inept Muay Thai wannabes on the various video download sites like YOUTUBE and GROUPER. I am sick of all the websites that herald american Muay Thai schools (??) that make outrageous clams of "authenticity" because the head of the school sponsors seminars by this or that former Thai boxer. And I know for certain that I can live without the absolutely terrible displays of supposed female Muay Thai by female kickboxers who suddenly prefer the colorful Thai boxing trunks rather than the long legged or plain boxing trunks that are usually worn in western and european kickboxing matches ( I recently heard one female kickboxer asking a girlfriend where she could purchase a "color coordinated anklet / trunks / school t-shirt / armband outfit for her next "title fight". Nevermind that the young lady is as much a "Nak Muayz" (Thai boxing student) as I am a martian. Oh, lord!)
I almost threw up when I read one guy's video comment on YOUTUBE.COM which included something about his instructor considering using the Thai armbands as symbols of students ranking. I suppose both the simpleminded young man and his teacher know nothing about the armband being used to hold buddha and birthdate amulets for spiritual/magical purposes. Man, in the west its all about looking cool and colorful. What a crock of crap. Westerners have no interest in Wai Kru or Ram Muay whatsoever...all they want to do is get in the ring and go beserk with elbows, low kicks, high head kicks, spin kicks, and novice like boxing skills. And the public outside of asia buys that crap hook, line, and sinker. Screw the history, traditions, and people of Thailand...do "dirty fighting" (elbows, knees, etc) and wear those cool Thai trunks, armbands (like Stallone in RAMBO), and sometimes desecrate the mongkon. It is the way of the west over, and over, and over again.
I recall a series of conversations I had with an internationally known and financially successful midwest martial arts entrepreneur about FMA (in the mid-seventies) and Muay Thai (in the early eighties). I demonstrated elements of those arts for him, and let him see some private videotapes of Filipino stick and blade training and Muay Thai championship matches. I told him that I thought they were superb martial arts systems that they would be even more popular (and much, much, more practical for real world self defence)than the atypical karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, sport kickboxing, and "streetfighting" classes that he was at that time foisting upon an ignorant public. Ha, the BIG NAME always shrugged off my comments as meaningless because he thought FMA (Inosanto style at that) was just "stick waving," and Muay Thai was too full of injury prone techniques to be taught to the average pupil (this from a dude who always stressed all out full contact boxing and kickboxing to his higher ranking pupils...what a hypocrite). In other words, he saw no way at that time to make a quick buck off of the public via those arts. I gave up trying to educate tha blockhead a long time ago, but the last time I saw his local yellow pages ad it included (along with a virtual encyclopedia of assorted other arts including Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Ninjitsu, etc.) FMA and Muay Thai classes prominently. And he now proudly considers himself to be a part of the JKD "family" as well. I guess he finally saw the light in the late eighties, stopped kowtowing to the propaganda about Bill Wallace, Chuck Norris, Benny Urquidez, Don Wilson, and Joe Lewis being the ultimate martial artists of all time, and he so, in the name of the almighty dollar, became a proselytizer for everything from JKD to Pentjak Silat to No Holds Barred Ju Jitsu and beyond. Now he is really raking in the bucks, but you can bet your bottom dollar that what he actually gives his students is more chop suey than "fine cuisine."
The comments by Hapkido, Tae Kwon Do ignoramuses in response to Muay Thai video clips on YOUTUBE.COM show how stupid most Korean style martial artists are when it comes to evaluating what the world outside their "dojangs" is up to in terms of fighting arts. Hell, a half-witted TKD or Hapkido student is smart enough not to tangle with a Korean (or Japanese, or European, or North American, or South American) judoka, but they will shout out for all the world to hear that their arts are more effective than Muay Thai, and that they have "beaten" Muay Thai students on the street and in the ring!? Huh? Where? When? How?
I get the same crap from classical Japanese karateka budoka on occasion, but not to the degree that I do from Korean martial arts propagandists and trainees. Hey, I have all the respect in the world for ROK military martial black belts, and true Korean greats like He Il Cho who have come over here to the USA to both display their considerable skill AND compete on our sport karate / kung fu tournament circuits, but not for all of the arrogant TKD and Hapkido poseurs I see everywhere yapping about the superiority of TKD and Hapkido in comparison to Muay Thai...everywhere that is except in the ring with Muay Thai boxers in Bangkok. Lip service far exceeds their actual fighting prowess 99.9% of the time.
I really rolled my eyeballs a few months back when I saw an article in a Tae Kwon Do magazine that had photos of the instructor wearing Muay Thai trunks emblazoned with a TKD association patch. He was kicking on Thai pads and Thai "banana bags." Oh, boy?
Notice how fast the shootboxers, the kyokushinkai (Oyama) black belts, the free stylists, the classical Japanese karateka, the Kung fu clowns, and just about everybody else, go down for the count in short order when matched against skilled opponents with good Muay Thai skills in K1 and other freestyle international competitions (especially when pitted against someone like Anderson Silva who has an exquisitely unique blend of grappling skills and Muay Thai skills that set him apart in UFC competition)? I WONDER WHY THAT IS? I ALSO WONDER WHY THERE ARE NO TKD OR HAPKIDO STYLISTS IN K1 or UFC STYLE COMPETITIONS. I think I know why, and I think that you my friend knows why. You don't have to be a rocket scientest to figure this stuff out.
By the way, I, myself, earned a black belt in Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do back in the early seventies. I enjoyed the training, and learned a lot of unique skills, but I always knew that Muay Thai was in another totally different fighting universe. So, I don't hate Korean martial arts or anything like that. I just wish the practitioners would just study their arts and keep their daydreaming mouths shut!
In regards to women in TKD or Hapkido; just how do you think any, ANY, female practitioner of those arts would fare against a Rijker, an Elmont, or a Randamie? The answer is quite simple. So simple that I am going to let you answer it in your head rather than write it down. Need I say more?
Enough of this rant...I have better things to write about on this blog. I will just bide my time while the western poseurs praise Muay Thai to the heavens (while at the same time raping and plundering the art in every way imaginable) for the next year or two, and then breathe a sigh of relief when the western vampires jump ship and make allegiance to some other "deadly fighting art du jour" in the near future. Then I can return to observing the Muay Thai fighting art that I have grown to know and love passionately over the past four decades, without having to wade through all the punks, poseuers, and human weasels who are sucking up to, and selling to the world, their version of Muay Thai today. It will happen. The fads all end up that way...the slick people and the con men have a genetic predisposition to milk something until it is dry, and then move on to the next confidence game don't they. Anyone out there interested in buying "rare dutch tulips?" That's a joke dear readers.
Herb A. - 11/30/06
Like the kickboxing fad of the seventies, and the ninja craze of the seventies/eighties, and the kung fu craze in the seventies, and the numerous "hot flashes" I have seen come and go like rainwater, THIS (Muay Thai) TOO SHALL PASS! Only then will I be able to enjoy pure, un-westernized, Muay Thai as it was meant to be enjoyed prior to, say, 1995.
The "farangs are, as usual hard at work altering and reshaping Muay Thai into what THEY claim the western public wants it to be...the hell with what the Thais think. The hell with the art of Muay Thai and it's long evolutionary history. And the Thais are going along with the western shenanigans because they are being given a considerable (by their standards) amount of Baht to smile and go along with the prostitution of Thai martial arts. The entrepreneurs are selling Muay Thai to the western combat sports audience as if it were something that was created in the seventies and held under wraps by (western) wise men until the public was mentally prepared to see such "sportive brutality" on pay-per-view.
For a blatant example, just look at the odd and everchanging K1 organization in Japan. Even though K1 was inspired by Muay Thai, they have "fixed" (and continue to fix and re-fix) the rules of the sport so that the Thai fighters are essentially neutered (little clinching, no overemphasis on kneein exchanges, no elbows, etc). In this way the top honchos of K1 try to tilt the scales towards the Japanese shootboxers and kickboxers, or the European ones if the, uh, price is right? Can't let those lowly Thais force their ring brothers in the Land of The Rising Sun lose too much face too often, eh?
Right now two Muay Thai fighters from Thailand are the toast of the K1 circuit-Khaoklai and Buakaw Por Pramuk, but keep your eyes on the referees (and the rules dictums slyly added by the powers that run the show) and watch how those two superb Thai fighters start losing some incredibly odd points decisions (Buakaw got his in his 2005 K1 Max title match loss (???) to Andy Souwer. Souwer is an excellent fighter, and the match was close, but to my eye Buakaw won despite not being able to clince and knee very much. Ah, the sweet (???) smell of the fix.
I am sick already of all the clips of inept Muay Thai wannabes on the various video download sites like YOUTUBE and GROUPER. I am sick of all the websites that herald american Muay Thai schools (??) that make outrageous clams of "authenticity" because the head of the school sponsors seminars by this or that former Thai boxer. And I know for certain that I can live without the absolutely terrible displays of supposed female Muay Thai by female kickboxers who suddenly prefer the colorful Thai boxing trunks rather than the long legged or plain boxing trunks that are usually worn in western and european kickboxing matches ( I recently heard one female kickboxer asking a girlfriend where she could purchase a "color coordinated anklet / trunks / school t-shirt / armband outfit for her next "title fight". Nevermind that the young lady is as much a "Nak Muayz" (Thai boxing student) as I am a martian. Oh, lord!)
I almost threw up when I read one guy's video comment on YOUTUBE.COM which included something about his instructor considering using the Thai armbands as symbols of students ranking. I suppose both the simpleminded young man and his teacher know nothing about the armband being used to hold buddha and birthdate amulets for spiritual/magical purposes. Man, in the west its all about looking cool and colorful. What a crock of crap. Westerners have no interest in Wai Kru or Ram Muay whatsoever...all they want to do is get in the ring and go beserk with elbows, low kicks, high head kicks, spin kicks, and novice like boxing skills. And the public outside of asia buys that crap hook, line, and sinker. Screw the history, traditions, and people of Thailand...do "dirty fighting" (elbows, knees, etc) and wear those cool Thai trunks, armbands (like Stallone in RAMBO), and sometimes desecrate the mongkon. It is the way of the west over, and over, and over again.
I recall a series of conversations I had with an internationally known and financially successful midwest martial arts entrepreneur about FMA (in the mid-seventies) and Muay Thai (in the early eighties). I demonstrated elements of those arts for him, and let him see some private videotapes of Filipino stick and blade training and Muay Thai championship matches. I told him that I thought they were superb martial arts systems that they would be even more popular (and much, much, more practical for real world self defence)than the atypical karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, sport kickboxing, and "streetfighting" classes that he was at that time foisting upon an ignorant public. Ha, the BIG NAME always shrugged off my comments as meaningless because he thought FMA (Inosanto style at that) was just "stick waving," and Muay Thai was too full of injury prone techniques to be taught to the average pupil (this from a dude who always stressed all out full contact boxing and kickboxing to his higher ranking pupils...what a hypocrite). In other words, he saw no way at that time to make a quick buck off of the public via those arts. I gave up trying to educate tha blockhead a long time ago, but the last time I saw his local yellow pages ad it included (along with a virtual encyclopedia of assorted other arts including Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Ninjitsu, etc.) FMA and Muay Thai classes prominently. And he now proudly considers himself to be a part of the JKD "family" as well. I guess he finally saw the light in the late eighties, stopped kowtowing to the propaganda about Bill Wallace, Chuck Norris, Benny Urquidez, Don Wilson, and Joe Lewis being the ultimate martial artists of all time, and he so, in the name of the almighty dollar, became a proselytizer for everything from JKD to Pentjak Silat to No Holds Barred Ju Jitsu and beyond. Now he is really raking in the bucks, but you can bet your bottom dollar that what he actually gives his students is more chop suey than "fine cuisine."
The comments by Hapkido, Tae Kwon Do ignoramuses in response to Muay Thai video clips on YOUTUBE.COM show how stupid most Korean style martial artists are when it comes to evaluating what the world outside their "dojangs" is up to in terms of fighting arts. Hell, a half-witted TKD or Hapkido student is smart enough not to tangle with a Korean (or Japanese, or European, or North American, or South American) judoka, but they will shout out for all the world to hear that their arts are more effective than Muay Thai, and that they have "beaten" Muay Thai students on the street and in the ring!? Huh? Where? When? How?
I get the same crap from classical Japanese karateka budoka on occasion, but not to the degree that I do from Korean martial arts propagandists and trainees. Hey, I have all the respect in the world for ROK military martial black belts, and true Korean greats like He Il Cho who have come over here to the USA to both display their considerable skill AND compete on our sport karate / kung fu tournament circuits, but not for all of the arrogant TKD and Hapkido poseurs I see everywhere yapping about the superiority of TKD and Hapkido in comparison to Muay Thai...everywhere that is except in the ring with Muay Thai boxers in Bangkok. Lip service far exceeds their actual fighting prowess 99.9% of the time.
I really rolled my eyeballs a few months back when I saw an article in a Tae Kwon Do magazine that had photos of the instructor wearing Muay Thai trunks emblazoned with a TKD association patch. He was kicking on Thai pads and Thai "banana bags." Oh, boy?
Notice how fast the shootboxers, the kyokushinkai (Oyama) black belts, the free stylists, the classical Japanese karateka, the Kung fu clowns, and just about everybody else, go down for the count in short order when matched against skilled opponents with good Muay Thai skills in K1 and other freestyle international competitions (especially when pitted against someone like Anderson Silva who has an exquisitely unique blend of grappling skills and Muay Thai skills that set him apart in UFC competition)? I WONDER WHY THAT IS? I ALSO WONDER WHY THERE ARE NO TKD OR HAPKIDO STYLISTS IN K1 or UFC STYLE COMPETITIONS. I think I know why, and I think that you my friend knows why. You don't have to be a rocket scientest to figure this stuff out.
By the way, I, myself, earned a black belt in Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do back in the early seventies. I enjoyed the training, and learned a lot of unique skills, but I always knew that Muay Thai was in another totally different fighting universe. So, I don't hate Korean martial arts or anything like that. I just wish the practitioners would just study their arts and keep their daydreaming mouths shut!
In regards to women in TKD or Hapkido; just how do you think any, ANY, female practitioner of those arts would fare against a Rijker, an Elmont, or a Randamie? The answer is quite simple. So simple that I am going to let you answer it in your head rather than write it down. Need I say more?
Enough of this rant...I have better things to write about on this blog. I will just bide my time while the western poseurs praise Muay Thai to the heavens (while at the same time raping and plundering the art in every way imaginable) for the next year or two, and then breathe a sigh of relief when the western vampires jump ship and make allegiance to some other "deadly fighting art du jour" in the near future. Then I can return to observing the Muay Thai fighting art that I have grown to know and love passionately over the past four decades, without having to wade through all the punks, poseuers, and human weasels who are sucking up to, and selling to the world, their version of Muay Thai today. It will happen. The fads all end up that way...the slick people and the con men have a genetic predisposition to milk something until it is dry, and then move on to the next confidence game don't they. Anyone out there interested in buying "rare dutch tulips?" That's a joke dear readers.
Herb A. - 11/30/06
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