Two Ladies in the Kingdom - Women and Muay Thai

above, listen to our podcast subscribe to us on itunes!    above, full podcast on YouTube Emma and I haven’t podcasted in a while, so there’s quite a bit to catch up on before we launch into some updates about recent female Muay Thai events. Some of the things we cover: After a year of searching, Emma has finally landed at a wonderful gym that she feels at home with (Attachai Muaythai Gym in Bangkok), and is back to fighting. She is about to have her second fight for the gym at the start of September. Emma also took a trip home to England for a few weeks, which I ask her about because I’ve never gone home and I imagine it’s quite an experience that changes over time (she’s been in Thailand over 6 years). This year Emma has found herself missing home a bit more, but we also talk about how who you surround yourself with shapes how you think or what you (think you) desire at any given time. We chat a bit about what makes a good gym for us, what we look for in training and how you find “home” in a gym. It’s a feeling, hard to describe, and I absolutely have it with Petchrungruang but I give some insight into the dissatisfaction and difficulties that might be included in a place you love and are happy with – same as a relationship. I do make my experience sound a little harsh in this segment, which isn’t intentional. I’m being honest about my struggles, including a recent incident with health issues at the gym due to a visiting group of westerners, so it is worth pointing out that I’m not encompassing all  of my feeling and experiences with the gym in the moment of launching this complaint. It’s a somewhat isolated incident with the health issues and non-isolated but absolutely worthwhile issues with the training difficulties. Emma is back to fighting and I’ve started fighting Kard Chuek (no gloves, just ropes), which I love. I’ve been sick for a few weeks due to progressive immune problems: cold – shingles – Staph, all of which are due to a group of westerners in the gym not knowing how to keep their own ailments in check. It’s not entirely their fault, they likely didn’t recognize what their infections were and came to training to make the most out of their time in Thailand, but it has resulted in a few of the kids from my gym having to be out from the gym to recover and I’ve had to take time away from training, cancelled a fight, and have been on a string of medications to recover. Not fun. I’m also taking part in a 12-week mental training group with Sports Motivation Podcast host and mental coach Niyi Sobo. (I was interviewed by him for his episode #177, which was awesome.) The program is intense and the work load is a lot, assuming you really dedicate yourself to learning and applying the skills he’s teaching. It’s caused me a great deal of stress – because I’m changing my life here – which was part of what led to my shingles, I think, but I’m super grateful and excited to be part of this group and think that the intensity of difficulty implies the amplitude of change. There were some big-name female fighters on a recent fight card for Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday (August 12th, the card was on the 11th) in Bangkok, including a WPMF  112 lbs title between Thanonchanok Kaewsamrit vs Nongbiew Sityodsian (Poptheeratham). Thanonchanok is a 5x opponent of mine and has been world champion for about 4+ years, as well as winning Female Fighter of the Year in 2016. Nongbiew is gaining attention as she’s backed by the famed yodmuay Samart Payakaroon and is on a winning streak. Also on the card was Faaseetong vs Mesa for a 147 lbs WPMF title (neither of them weigh that, they’re smaller) with Faaseetong as a late replacement for Claire Baxter (Aus) who was sick and couldn’t make the fight. I was rooting for Mesa, who I really like, and it was an exciting fight. Also on that card was Nong Stamp Fairtex, who some might know from the documentary film Buffalo Girls, she’s the first Thai woman to be fully sponsored by Fairtex and will be fighting in America in September, which is the first I’ve heard of a Thai female fighter going to the US on a big show (Lion Fight). Fairtex is also trying to put together a female MMA team, which is new, Stamp has trained BJJ at least once, and my nemesis Loma Lookboonmee is currently training at Tiger Muay Thai on Phuket in order to have MMA fights. At 105 lbs it’s going to be interesting to see how far she goes in that, but it’s  very new to have female Thai fighters transitioning to MMA. In September there’s a big female fight card on Samui with top names like Teresa Wintermyr vs Chommanee, Sawsing Sor. Sophit, and Phetjee Jaa is facing Hongkaw with a 2-3 kg weight difference (Jee Jaa will win that easily).     Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post Two Ladies in the Kingdom E11 2ITK – Going Home and Finding Home appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

subscribe on iTunes There’s actually been quite a lot going on in Female Muay Thai, which Emma and I get to go over. We cover quite a lot and we’ve tried to be conscious of giving a bit of reference to names we mention, and I’m pretty excited by how much we were able to cover in this podcast. As a bit of a footnote, we do sound a bit disparaging when discussing the shit-show that is disorganized shows, bad matchups, poor media coverage and the meaninglessness of a lot of “world title belts” for women due to disorganization. It’s important to lay plain that Emma and I are female Muay Thai enthusiasts, as well as fighters and fans. Our frustration comes from a place of this not being good enough. Promoters and sanctioning bodies have to do better. Fighters deserve more. above, the YouTube video of our Skype conversation, if you’d rather watch us talk instead of downloading our voices. Just a quick list of what’s covered in this episode: Thai Fight has just held a show in Samui, Thailand, in which 4 female fighters were on the card. Thai Fight has never had women on their card before and have, indeed, stated that they wouldn’t have women. So, while neither of us see this as a game-changer or incredible event for women in general, it is very meaningful for the women who were there to fight and hopefully it means the promotion is intending to be more inclusive. Unfortunately, the promotion did not mention the female bouts at all, either on their social media or on their posters or when announcing results. So… that sucks. The four women are: Phetnapa Kiatkitipan (TH) vs Juliana Rosa (BRA) at 58 kg; and Mongkonkaw Polamai-Plakad Gym (TH) vs. Joanna Walorska (POL) at 67 kg. Both Thai women won. World Muay Thai Angels – season 2. Angels is the biggest all-female promotion in Thailand and season one’s winner was Chommanee Taehiran, who walked away with a million baht and a car. That’s huge for a female fighter. That’s huge for a male fighter. We weren’t impressed with the first round of the tournament, mostly due to terrible matchups and some issues with how the whole thing and the fighters are presented and promoted. We talk about why. IFMA – Thailand will be sending 3 women to the international pro-am competition in Belarus, starting May 5th. Sawsing (who we both love) is at 57 kg, Loma (my nemesis and best female at 48 and below in the world) is fighting at her walkaround weight of 48 kg this time (usually she’s 45 kg), and Lommanee was replaced by Nongpeng, who has a crazy record at 51 kg. WMC/WPMF – Phetjee Jaa O. Meekhun, the favorite young fighter of many and for good reason, has recently acquired two world title belts at 100 lbs and 105 lbs. Unfortunately, female world titles are disorganized and, put plainly, full of shit. We talk about why. Saya Ito – we talk about the Japanese “Muay Thai Genius”, who became 100 lbs WPMF world champ, ran into some political nonsense, has been recovering from an injurty, and in a Japanese promo spot talked about coming to train with me after I beat her at Queen’s Cup in 2014. Pretty awesome, all of it. What’s up with us? Emma has finally found a gym that feels like “home” at Attachai Muay Thai Gym in Bangkok. It’s amazing for many reasons. I have a broken nose and am working on training Southpaw, as to orders from Karuhat, but this kind of reopened up an aspect of my relationship to my own trainer and gym that has also brought me “home.” You can read about my visit to Attachai Muay Thai Gym here. See all my Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast articles   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post E10 2ITK Podcast – Female Muay Thai, Attachai Gym, World Titles appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

Hey Everyone, welcome to episode 9 of Two Ladies in the Kingdom. Emma and I have added a different format in which we do solo-podcasts as well as the conversational type, so we hope you’ve enjoyed those last solo casts. Here we get back together to catch up a bit with each other and what’s going on in female Muay Thai in Thailand. Our podcast is sponsored by Lobloo, which produces the only functional and comfortable female groin guard on the market, so check out their website and use our discount code for 10% off: SAVE2ITK YouTube of our podcast via Skype below. Emma in Bangkok, me in Pattaya:   The Rundown Finding a Gym in Bangkok There’s a lot for Emma and I to cover since we last saw each other. We chat all the time on private messages but actually seeing each other and talking in real time allows us to cover a lot more. While Emma still looks for a gym where she can properly train on a regular basis, she’s been supplementing with half-marathons and Cross-Fit classes. She recently ran a half-marathon that commenced at sunrise, showered and napped before heading off to work, then had a nice weekend of training in the morning at Eminent Air, followed by yet another Cross-Fit session… and likely more work. We talk a bit about why it’s hard to find a gym in Bangkok when you already live and work there – having to organize around an existing living situation and work schedule – versus moving to the city and orienting yourself around an already chosen gym. Due to her work, Emma can only train in the mornings, which is a lower-key session in most gyms. Lately she’s had some positive experiences at the newly opened Chawan Club Muay Thai near her apartment, and Eminent Air gym, which has been around for a long time. Promoting Women in Muay Thai There have been some big female fight cards recently and, in Thailand, the majority of female fight cards are organized by the same group of promoters – in different combinations. The biggest promoters and shows for female fighters are gaining momentum and the purses (fight earnings) and exposure through televised and all-female cards. That’s all great. On the other hand, the ways in which these cards and the female fighters on them are promoted can be pretty frustrating, as they focus a great deal on the fighters’ looks and the sponsored uniforms can be quite… small. We ruminate on how some of the fighters on these cards deserve far more exposure and credit than they get, as well as the “just have to laugh at it” tendency of marrying the strong Thai tradition of beauty pageants with the strong Thai tradition of Muay Thai. I recently fought in a full face of makeup, which I had to arrive 3 hours in advance to receive, so we had a good laugh about that. Emma references a photo of a young boy in full makeup. I ask whether it was kathoey or lee-kay style, the difference between those two being that the former is a transgender depiction, where as the latter is very similar in how it looks but is a stage makeup for traditional “operas” of sort, in which the male characters were tons of powder, lipstick, eyeliner and blush. These men in lee-kay productions can have massive sex appeal and female fan following – like boy bands. I reckon from looking at the photo (bottom right) it’s lee-kay style, although the boy is so young it’s hard to know which angle he’s referencing; he didn’t do it himself.                   Me, thrilled to have this makeup for my fight Little fighter on bottom right with full makeup, I suspect lee-kay style but not sure. Emma talks a bit about working for the World Muay Thai Angels promotion and we both discuss the difficulties and benefits of last-minute planning in Thailand and the cultural differences of that approach. Emma’s Last Podcast and Blog Post on Sexual Assault in Thai Gyms The last podcast was Emma’s solo cast on her own experiences of sexual assault at a gym in Thailand, and she wrote a blog post to go with it. We talk a bit about the reception of that podcast, as well as the hesitation and discomfort that goes into talking about one’s own experience, even though intellectually we both (and many women) know how important it is. But nobody wants to “go first,” so to speak. Booking Myself and Chaos of Fights We talk a bit about my recent fight in Bangkok and how unnerving it was to have my corner show up about 30 minutes before I got into the ring, without me knowing whether he’d be there at all. This shouldn’t be a problem because of how I fight – I usually don’t have a corner and find someone once I’m at the venue – but it can get in your head anyway. And since I book myself for fights, I’m in a position right now where I’m saying “yes” to lots of fights, which has given me a very busy month. So we talk about the challenges to this approach. And lastly we just shoot the shit about what we’re watching or listening to, and end with Emma’s incredibly funny but jaw-droppingly offensive run in with a masseuse recently. We both agree that there’s a limit to the smiling and being polite in the face of folks who, quite frankly, are being assholes. Read, watch and listen to all the Two Ladies In the Kingdom podcast here Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post E09 2ITK Podcast – Getting Caught Up | Female Muay Thai in Thailand appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

play Episode 8 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast This is Episode 8 of “Two Ladies in the Kingdom,” the podcast Emma and I usually do the podcast together.  We’re trying something a little different by also adding “solo casts” – episode 7 is just me solocasting livestream in the car back from Chiang Mai, fielding questions from readers – and this is Emma’s first in that new endeavor. We will still be podcasting together, we’re looking into adding new things too. This should allow us to podcast more frequently too. When women from outside of the Southeast Asian culture come here, there are aspects of social and political culture which do need to be considered. This isn’t meant to scare anybody, this is a fact of traveling anywhere in the world; however, dissimilarities in culture can seem very small but have very large complications. For women who travel alone, knowing even a little bit about these dissimilarities and complications can help in navigating them a great deal – but keep in mind that there’s no fail-safe and there’s no fault. One of the great difficulties is the assumption that men will behave according to their own cultural limitations and manners, that what you witness is “normal” or “acceptable” behavior according to the local culture. Very often that’s true, but often it’s not – as an outsider and foreigner, men will behave outside of their cultural expectations because you aren’t part of the fabric of local culture that will hold him to those codes. Adding to this confusion, some of these behaviors which are transgressive to the local culture are actually quite common and familiar to western culture, so they aren’t seen as red flags. Again, being aware of these things isn’t fail-safe and falling into a miscommunication isn’t your fault. But more awareness is always better. This episode touches on some broader topics on the cultural attitudes about sexual assault in Thailand, which Emma has covered in her blog and Under the Ropes page. Some of those larger scope issues have helped Emma to recognize and dissect aspects of her own experience, which she discusses in this podcast. But mostly this episode is about Emma’s personal experience with sexual assault, something that she’s hesitated to talk about publicly for years since the events took place. Emma and I talk a lot about these things, woman to woman and as friends, but I’ve actually never heard the details until listening to this podcast, which was recorded when she could be alone in her apartment – sitting in solitude to speak into the world is no easy thing. And it wasn’t easy for me to listen to, honestly. Not because I worry for Emma and quite frankly she’s one of the most composed and “can watch out for my damn self” individuals I know, but rather because rape and sexual assault are horrid experiences that are horrid to listen to because they’re real. Because they happen to a large number of us, including those of us who are informed and cautious and can watch out for ourselves, and when it happens to us we don’t talk about it. Emma does an incredible job of exploring why we don’t talk about it, about our own experiences even though we can talk broadly about the epidemic of rape in the world. A collective outrage that shrouds our private guilt or shame or desire to just put it away. This brave podcast I believe will mean a lot to women around the world. I have personally heard from numerous women who have experienced sexual assault and manipulation at their gyms in different countries – women who have worked at Rape Crisis centers and “should know” how to be strong, how to identify dangers and seek help when they need it, as well as women who think that they are utterly alone in their experience because nobody talks about it. Not only does this podcast bring a voice to countless voiceless women who have similar experiences, but because of Emma’s thorough honesty in telling her story there are numerous aspects to be considered: rape in your own culture is both similar to and entirely dissimilar to rape in a strange culture. In her experience, Emma was both very alone as the only woman at her gym, but she also had a group of western men at the gym to whom she confided and from whom she received a modicum of care – but due to the fact that sexual aggression and assault are global, there is no actual “the bad guy is out there and we’re all good guys in here,” situation. In Emma’s very accurate assessment, “everyone was a dick.” Emma chooses not to identify persons or the gym, which is understandable but also somewhat necessary in Thailand due to laws surrounding posting public accusations. There are also pretty ridiculous legal definitions of rape here, which is one of those things that makes it very difficult to get legal help both here and in countless countries around the world. You can read more about some of these complications in Emma’s Blog Post on Rape Culture in Thailand. I personally found that my own telling of my own rape was meaningful to a much larger number of persons (both men and women) than I’d expected, and while I certainly had a hard time speaking publicly about an experience I’d held secret for many, many years, the knowledge that I must not be alone brought me courage to hit the publish button. And I’m grateful I did. You can read that here: What is Violence: Fighting or Silence?  There are countless reasons, very understandable and self-preserving reasons, that women never speak out about their experiences with rape and sexual assault. But for every one of those countless reasons to stay quiet there is one, only one, reason to speak out and that reason is greater than all the others: because it is happening. Present tense. Further, Emma and I have created a space within the Muay Thai Roundtable that is Women-Only, in order to offer a semi-private space for women to speak to other women about whatever topics and issues are often left silent in public fora. Women can sign up for The Women Only Section of the Muay Thai Roundtable – with anonymous group posting capabilities – (become a member).   Subscribe to Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast on iTunes       Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post E08em01 2ITK Podcast – Emma Talks about Her Sexual Assault in Thailand appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

It’s been a few months, but we are back! For loyal “Two Ladies in the Kingdom” podcast listeners, Emma and I are expanding our format. Previously our podcasts were with Emma Thomas and myself Skyping together to discuss the latest in what’s happening with ourselves, and what’s happening in Female Muay Thai in Thailand. We are still going to be doing this kind of cast together, but we are also adding solo podcasts too; so you can get to know each of us better. This is my first solo cast, and it happens to have been a Facebook Live Stream from the road. Emma will be uploading her own cast soon as well! We are just experimenting with this, but it will allow us to cover a wider range of topics, or to get into more detail in the things that interest us. I’m excited to see what Emma will talk about, as we lead very different lives here in Thailand and Emma can cover more of her experience as a full time teacher and an ex-pat in Bangkok. Subscribe to our 2ITK podcasts on iTunes Because mine was a Live Stream there is a YouTube copy of the video, above. Things covered in my solocast: Podcast notes Getting caught up with me. 4 fights in 2 weeks. Happy with my performance, beat the WPMF World Champion two weight classes above me (WPMF 108 lb), a belt she’s held for more or less 4 years. My history with Thanonchanok, my 3rd fight against her. Corrected my mistakes against Thanonchanok from our 2nd fight. In this fight why I didn’t clinch in the 1st two rounds against Thanonchanok. I’m working on being more relaxed under pressure. The Thanonchanok fight was a “proof of progress” fight. I also fought and beat a 54 kg opponent, who I had beat the week before. This meant that I was forced to make adjustments, because they adjusted me. Staying out of the range of danger (middle range) when coming coming into clinch against crisp strikers. The young phenom Phetlilaa Pettonpung, how I go to their gym to train with them and help her in clinch. What it’s like to have a relationship with the gym you face. Mental training, and my brother who is a Sports Psychologist – overcoming the sense of ring rust and a switch of opponents, fighting with lasting injuries. How have you learned to deal with pain in all your fights and training? Traveling to have my mongkol be reblessed by Arjan Bangkating. Talking about my custom made mongkol, made from my mother’s shirt. Working on Tiger Energy. Smiling in the ring, part of a new fight energy for me. Talking about Namkabuan, and my private session with him for my patreon supporters, the most complete fighters I’ve seen. The hop-in and the low-kick counters I’ve faced, an issue with my back foot. Recommendations for female fighters to watch for inspiration. Chommannee, Loma, Iman Barlow, Saya Ito, Thanonchanok the Roundtable Forum has a thread of great female fights. When will have I 200 fights? How I set up my fights, fighting back to back fights. The Hulk Thing. Training in clinch at Petchrungruang, the majority of my training partners have grown. Trying to take strength out of my clinching. More backwards dragging, the session with Joe Hongthong. The next stage of my clinching. Finding your fighting style: You will do the things that feel good to you. It’s like music, you will gravitate to what you naturally like. How I discovered I’m a Muay Khao fighter. Jumping around is not natural to me. Thaywin first suggested that I should try to stay in, and it felt really good. Finding pieces of fighting that I identify with, learning that there is such a thing as Muay Khao fighting. But…recently my work with Karuhat and Namkabuan has challenged me to learn more. There are different kinds of Knee Fighting. The finer elements that I threw out in order to become a “tank” are now being re-incorporated. Pi Daeng really started emphasizing my Muay Khao growth. In a Thai camp there are lots and lots of styles, none of the styles are “wrong”. Why you should ask questions from Krus in a Thai Camp.  What adjustments do I make when facing a larger opponent? Find the sweet spot, and keep patient. You can read all the Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast posts here Head over to iTunes and subscribe to the excellent 2ITK feed Give us a positive review while you are there!     Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post E07sy01 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom Podcast – Sylvie Solo On the Road appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

if viewing in email click through to the post to listen to the podcast subscribe to our podcast on on itunes Things We Covered In our Podcast Emma is still looking for a gym and that’s awarded her the opportunity to try out a few different places, most recently the Yokkao gym in Bangkok. She really enjoyed her pads with Manop, the padman of Saenchai for a million years, but the price tag of the gym is limiting and rules out any kind of regular training for her there. But she talks a bit about what was good for her about the gym and the training. With some of her free time she’s been able to visit some attractions that, coincidentally, are near my neck of the woods. She talks shit about a water park (hilarious) and we both talk a bit about a strange “Hell” theme park that depicts the various punishments for sins in the Buddhist version of Hell. She has photos on her Under the Ropes page and will write a blog post; they’re pretty creepy. I’m happy to report that I’ve gotten myself into a sponsorship for my gym, not in the traditional sense of being a sponsored fighter but it pays for my training and that makes me happy. Pi Nu’s uncle owns a residence and I’m helping with the website for Royal Thai Residence and also for Petchrungruang Gym; in lieu of monetary compensation for that work, Pi Nu’s uncle is sponsoring my training. I love it. Also, I’m preparing for a big fight in Bangkok on the Queen’s Birthday, which is “Mother’s Day” in Thailand, August 12th. My opponent is Loma Lookboonmee, who is the best in the world at my weight and she’s just… incredible. We talk a bit about preparing for that fight, as well as Loma’s recent fight against Kim Townsend in Australia and a bit of a profile of why I love Loma’s style… and what makes her so goddamn hard to fight. Her ring IQ is amazing. And we talk about all the fights that are going on leading up to the Queen’s Birthday, which is the biggest day of the year for female Muay Thai. On the 30th was a huge fight card, all-female, which was partially televised and pretty much all the fighters we know are fighting either on the 30th or later on the 12th. The downloadable podcast is above, here is the full podcast in YouTube video: That fight card on the 30th had an all-star line up, including Loma’s girlfriend Chommanee (who fought Farida Okiko); Lommanee vs. Fani; Phetjee Jaa fighting an opponent I’m not familiar with for a 100 lbs WMC title (she won, of course); Phetdapee defended her WMC title against Miriam Sabot; Marcela Soto, who we’ve talked about in previous episodes, faced a former opponent of mine Rungnapa… lots of exciting fights, which Emma got to see live and I’m hoping will go up on Youtube and I’ll add them here as I can. I present some anecdotal evidence of what a nightmare match-ups in Thailand can be, even though this is the best place in the world for fighting. Women in the west are very familiar with a shortage of opponents and having matched fights be cancelled by someone pulling out last-minute – it happens here, too! As a result of this story we end up talking about the taboo of menstruation in Thailand (as well as my own experience with that being raised in a mostly-male family in the US), which is a pretty huge deal here and is the reason why women can’t fight in all the same stadia as men. Our “theme” for this podcast is about why it’s so difficult to fight Thai female fighters, in what ways it’s difficult. Ultimately we agree that there are just so many ways to lose without you catching on to it in time to do anything about it, lots of strategy and skill go into a 5 round fight. It’s only recently that I’ve learned how to fight a 5th round for Thai scoring, as well as how to know when I’m behind. Emma has a bit more experience than I do with 3 round fights and she shares how those are a little different in terms of strategy and how Thai women will fight you. We round up, as we’ve been doing, with what non-Muay Thai related things we’ve been into. Emma is still really digging the My Favorite Murder podcast (it’s awesome, I’m bummed because I’m all caught up and have to wait for episodes now) and various True Crime media. And I just listened to an audiobook called “Relentless,” which I both liked and disliked. I got a lot out of it, but the author is a little dickish, which is okay; Emma knew exactly what I meant and added that she had to stop listening to a previous favorite podcast for this reason. So, hoping we’re not to dicky! For the discount on Lo-bloo, who sponsor this podcast, use the promo code Save2ITK at amazon.uk or amazon.com. Shipping free anywhere in the world and the only female groin guard that fits and works; men’s guards available as well, if that’s your anatomy. You can browse all our podcast episodes here or by subject below: 2ITK Podcast e01 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom – Women and Muay Thai – 01 Gym Hopping 2ITK Podcast e02 – Getting Stuck With 1 Trainer – Two Ladies in the Kingdom 2ITK Podcast e03 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom: Thai Food, Rape Culture Awareness, Fights 2ITK Podcast e04 – All Things Female Muay Thai in Thailand – Overtraining 2ITK Podcast e05 – Sylvie and Emma – On Training Aggression   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post E06: Why it’s Hard to Fight Female Thai Fighters – 2ITK Podcast appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

The video above is the full podcast on YouTube Emma is from England, living and working in Bangkok for the past 5+ years; she’s a teacher, blogger at Under the Ropes, and a fighter who is currently looking for a new home gym. Sylvie (me) is from the US, living and training in Pattaya for the past 2 years (in Chiang Mai for 2 years prior to that); I’m a fighter, blogger and content creator at 8limbs.us, as well as a content creator for the Private Session for Nak Muay Nation. Our monthly podcast covering the female Muay Thai scene in Thailand is sponsored by Lobloo, a Swedish company that has designed the only practical, effective and comfortable female groin-guard that either of us have ever found (and we’ve seen some seriously bizarre stuff, designed by someone who has zero understanding of female anatomy). They also have male cups, if that’s your business. For our listeners Lobloo offers a 10% discount on any of their guards when ordered through Amazon.uk and Amazon.us (they ship anywhere in the world) with the discount code: save2itk See Lobloo on Amazon here   Listen To or Download Our Podcast Here:   Subscribe to Our Podcast on iTunes here Listen to and Read About All our Episodes Here   The Catch Up We start out by catching up a bit, Emma’s been on her annual vacation, which she decided to spend in Thailand this year rather than going home (as she usually does). She dropped down to Pattaya to train with me one of those days (and watch her partner Tu have a fantastic fight at Max) and then they headed off to Koh Chang for some island bungalow relaxation. I’m working on a guard that I learned from a former trainer of mine when I visited Lanna last month for a fight, survived a car accident without more than a tiny scratch, and am heading back up to the north for a slew of fights just as Emma is heading back to work. Thanonchanok looking picture perfect against me I’ve recently updated my personal ranking of female fighters 48 kg and under, so we talk a bit about that and why it’s hard to rank female fighters, including by those institutions who sanction the titles that are intended to honor such rankings.  You can hear more about that on the podcast, but two of the fighters on my list are discussed as fighter who Emma and I really like following and, in my case, I kind of fan-girl out about Thanonchanok R.R. Gilalampang (above), even though I aim to fight her again, and Emma has been excited by Marcela Soto’s frequent fighting. As both those fighters are on the list and you can hear more about what we’re keen on in the podcast. Marcela Soto of Sutai Muay Thai in Phuket Our Theme This Month: Training Aggression The theme of this podcast is Aggression, as it’s been a discussed topic recently since our last podcast. Emma and I are moderators on the Muay Thai Roundtable Forum and the issue of struggling with aggression in training (mostly sparring) and fighting has come up a lot. Both Emma and I have struggled with this personally and we go into what it is that makes aggression important, difficult, and how you can actually go about training it as a skill. You can read my post on Training Aggression here And we wrap up by talking about what we’ve been reading/watching/or listening to that’s not Muay Thai related. I’m officially an old person and don’t listen to music anymore, except what has become the “golden oldies” of my generation and even older than that, so mostly I listen to podcasts when I’m running every morning. Recently I’ve been obsessing over “My Favorite Murder” podcast (recommended by one of our own podcast listeners, thank you!), as well as having really enjoyed two audiobooks by the same author, Jesse Bering: “Perv: the Sexual Deviant in All of US” and “Why is the Penis Shaped Like That?”, which is actually about more than just the penis; it’s a collection of evolutionary biology musings, some of which are bit dubious but interesting nonetheless. Kevin and I are about to finish the final season of “Penny Dreadful,” which is a bummer because I really like the show. Emma’s partner digs it, but Emma’s not a fan, rather she’s been enjoying a British series called “Black Mirror,” each episode with a different story and cast. Incidentally, there are some cross-over actors between “Penny Dreadful” and “Black Mirror,” which is either exciting or irksome when you watch both. Depends on the actor and the character, I reckon. And until next time, that’s that. Enjoy and chok dee!   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post 2ITK Podcast e05 – Sylvie and Emma – On Training Aggression appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

You can download or listen to our 4th episode above, watch it on Youtube below, or subscribe to the Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast on iTunes. – if in email, click through to the post. See All My Podcast posts: Two Ladies in the Kingdom Emma is a 51 kg female fighter from the UK, living in Thailand for 5+ years. She also teaches English full time. She authors the undertheropes.com blog. I’m a 46 kg fighter out of the United States, living in Thailand for 4+ years. training and fighting full time. Our Podcasts are Broken Down in Segments: What’s Happening With Us – both Emma and I are active female fighters in Thailand and we talk about what’s recently the case Female Fighter Spotlights – we present a little background on two top names in female Muay Thai, one western fighter, one Thai Theme of the Podcast – this is where we take on a topic of the month Other Things in Our Lives – Emma and I are good friends, and we talk all the time about things other than Muay Thai. In this segment we share other podcasts or interests which may be of interest. We’re doing something a little different this time around in the podcast. In previous episodes we’ve attempted to cover fight events that have been going on in Thailand, but quite often we’re listing names and results of women that people aren’t familiar with – and additionally this past month has been pretty quiet on the female Muay Thai front. But three Thai women are included in the Thai National Team for the IFMA World Championships in Sweden, Sawsing Sor Sopit (57 kg), Lommanee Sitchayanee (48 kg), and Loma Lookboonmee (45 kg). At the time of the podcast not a lot of results were in, but of the three only Loma medaled, taking Silver. Emma and I, instead spending so much time on the fights individually we’ve decided to try out highlighting fighters as kind of a profile of sorts. So we selected Sawsing Sor Sopit of Thailand and Dakota Ditcheva of the UK, who was also fighting at the IFMA’s, in the Junior division and several weight classes above her own because there was nobody registered at 51-54 kg, so she actually took Gold at the 57 kg division. Dakota is 17 years old and the daughter of renowned former champion Lisa Howarth, and Dakota is undefeated as a professional fighter. We try to contrast and compare between these two fighters a little to illustrate differences between Thai and western fighting arcs: Judging Youth – Young Great Male and Female Fighters Sawsing has been fighting since she was 9 years old, is now 20, and just has just launched her “comeback” to fighting after getting married and giving birth to her first child, a son named Winner. At 20 years old, she’s already at the end of her fight arc by Thai standards, especially for women, but she’s one of the most famous and well-regarded female fighters in Thailand during her career – I had the incredible opportunity to clinch with her – video here. Dakota is on the rise, having trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing for most of her life and just now getting into the bigger promotions – at 16 years old she’s absolutely on the young end of her already-impressive career. But both women come from families with fighters and training was part of their lifestyle and upbringing. Sawsing was offering “live feeds” of the Thai National Team’s fights at the IFMA’s, until her phone stopped functioning, unfortunately. We talk briefly about her fights, first against a woman from Denmark who Emma and I have both trained with (and is good friends with Emma), Lea Pedersen; and then Sawsing advanced to a second fight against Sweden’s Patricia Axling. The fight against Axling was interpreted by the Thai team and media as having been ruled unjustly, which I can understand when looking at it from Thai scoring standards. However, on an international scoring interpretation, where all strikes score evenly, I can see how this fight was ruled in Axling’s favor. But the differences between Thai scoring and International Scoring are always highlighted in international fights. Here’s that fight: Sawsing (Thai) vs. Patricia Axling (Swe). In the “what’s happening with us?” segment, Emma talks about her decision to find a new gym after a very disappointing event in which she fought and nobody from her gym showed up. She still fought and won, which you can read about in her blog post about the fight. I ask her a bit about the process of finding a new gym when she already has lived in Bangkok for many years and has an apartment and work, as opposed to the process of finding a gym when you are first touching down in Thailand and your options are far more open. Good luck to Emma! We’ll keep you updated on that in the next podcast. On my end, I was really excited to finally be put on the Fight Board at the gym, after 2 years of not being on there and with only one other western fighter having a slot there. It means a lot to me and I wrote about that in this blog post “The Fight Board – Belonging and Meaning in Acceptance”. But both between Emma’s disappointment of her trainers failing her and my rejoicing in the gesture of acceptance, the issue of how difficult it is to communicate directly and openly in Thailand with Thai people is a commonality between both stories. And the “theme” of this podcast is Overtraining. I’ve written several blog posts on my take, which is summarized by the controversial take that Overtraining is a myth and under-recovering is the real problem. My most controversial article is “The Myth of Overtraining,” and here’s a list with all my articles on the subject. Emma also has a great blog post on the importance of active recovery and “Float Tank Therapy for Recovery and Mental Training,” which goes hand-in-hand with the topic of Overtraining, but doesn’t make a stand on whether or not that’s a thing. We discuss the mental aspects of both the symptoms ascribed to Overtraining and the mental aspects of recovery. Ultimately the issue is that people need to own their training, but we invite you to add to this discussion on the Roundtable Forum if you’re interested in doing so. And lastly we revisit something we tried a few episodes ago, which is what media we consume in the form of podcasts, shows and books. Emma is reading a fantastically awful book that was left at her work, called “The Dice Man,” and has sent me screenshots of some of her favorite segments. That’s amazingly entertaining. I’ve just finished a TV show that I really enjoyed, based on the Soderburgh movie of the same name, “The Girlfriend Experience.” And we’ve both delved into a True Crime podcast (Emma got me into it and she’s handling it far better than I am) called “The Sword and the Scale.” I also listen to TEDx Radio Hour, but complain that I don’t like their new host. So… take that for whatever it’s worth. 2 Ladies in the Kingdom is sponsored by Lo-Bloo, which is the only female groin guard on the market that we’ve ever seen to be effective and comfortable. They also make male groin guards. You can order through Amazon.us or Amazon.uk (shipping anywhere in the world) and use our podcast’s promo code for a discount: SAVE2ITK – you can see my review of the Lo-bloo guard, even before they were our sponsor. Mental Training Articles Overtraining Articles   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post 2ITK Podcast e04 – All Things Female Muay Thai in Thailand – Overtraining appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

You can download the podcast above, or subscribe to Two Ladies in the Kingdom on itunes. Our podcast is sponsored by Lobloo, the makers of the best female groin protection on the market. Save 10% on any Lobloo protector, male or female, with our very own podcast promo code on Amazon: SAVE2ITK Topics: The Latest Female Fights in Thailand, Food in Thailand, Rape Culture Awareness Emma and I had a lot to cover in this podcast, catching up from our last session, which was a little more than a month ago. A lot of fights, a lot of fighters to talk about, what’s going on with us and our topic for today: eating in Thailand. When we left off last time we were both preparing to fight that same night. We fought on opposite sides of the Gulf of Thailand. And then there was all this catching up to do! We talk a bit about our fights and what we’ve been up to. I had some great fights and got cut, which kept me out of the ring for about 30 days, then I had a fighting spree and was brought over to Singapore to visit my 8limbs.us sponsors, Onyx MMA. We talk about a number of fighters and some huge events that are a little bit out of order, but here’s the Cliff’s Notes: On the 1st Emma fought Krataitong Por. Promin, who I’ve also fought. And I faced Faa Chiangrai Sor. Sakuntong, then fought her again and won her 105 lbs Muay Siam Northern Title, for which was subsequently declared ineligible in a somewhat dubious fashion – I still consider myself the de facto holder of the title as I won it outright. Fani Peloumpi  is a Greek fighter out of Sasiprapa Gym and fought at the Wai Nai Khanomtom Day in Ayutthaya and did great, then fought three days later at the second official “One Round Knockout,” where she first fought Marcela Soto (Costa Rica, fighting out of Sutai on Phuket), and then going on to win the final against Thailand’s Zaza Sor Aree, a former WPMF champion. Also on that card were Janice Lyn (Canada out of Kaewsamrit in Bangkok) against Namtan Por. Muangpet for a 126 lbs WPMF title. It was their 3rd fight in 7 months and a rubbermatch, ending with Namtan taking the title (you can watch that video). Ashley Nichols (Canada out of Kaewsamrit) defeated Kwanjai Sor. Tawanrung for a 122 lbs WPMF Title. And I fought Duangdaonoi Looklongtan, who was WMPF World Champion at 105 lbs last year. On the first day of Songkran was a big event in Bangkok, which I fought on and Emma and Tu came to support me. It’s so rare that we get to be in the same room with each other when watching fights (let alone when one of us is fighting), so we got to witness some of those together, which we talk about in the podcast. Fani also had an incredible display in her fight, which Emma and I both enjoyed watching but it didn’t make the televised portion of the show and I haven’t found any video yet. Some of the fights we talk about below: The highlight fights from the show, all for titles: Ticha RR Gilakhorat vs Nong Em Wor Santai   (We don’t actually cover this fight in the podcast, but I have the video and Ticha really annoyed me in the fight, so I include it here. She’s a possible future opponent.) Petdapee Mor. Grungtep-Tonburi vs Teresa Wintermyr AKA Thailand Namtan Por. Muangpet vs Ashley Nichols Kaewsamrit The Full Televised Program We also talk about Thanonchanok‘s defense of her 112 lb WPMF title against Sophia, with a very uncharacteristic 5th round from Thanonchanok, one of my favorite fighters. Below is a poor, but still watchable copy of the fight: Food and Eating in Thailand Our “theme” for this podcast is food and eating in Thailand, which is a huge topic but we figured it’s something that applies to any length of stay in the country. And food is one of the great joys of Thailand. There are some differences in short-term and long-term stay diet plans and eating habits, including the relative rareness of having a kitchen in your apartment and how inexpensive street food is. You can manage cooking for yourself college-dorm-hot-plate style, as Emma did in her room after the first two years and before moving to a condo with a proper kitchen, and we also talk a bit about the unfamiliar ingredients of Thai markets, as well as access to and price of imported (more familiar) products. Also included: Emma’s hilarious doughnut fiasco, how Sylvie fools the Somdum cart into making the salad to her liking, the difficulty/ease with which you can make requests at restaurants vs. street stalls, and why the hell you are gaining weight while sweating your ass off in training. Thailand Rape Culture and Awareness Finally, we talk about Emma’s recent blog post on “Rape Culture in Thailand,” which has been picked up by Thai media and pretty much gone viral. She writes about the ubiquitous rape scene of Thai soap operas (which are insanely popular among viewers and absolutely part of common Thai consumption) and how that intersects with the beliefs about rape, victimhood and manhood held by many Thais. It’s a very important subject for those of us seeking to train in, or even live in, a Muay Thai camp, which is a male sport and a male space. In these soaps, rape is used as a way to control women – as it is in any culture – but it’s also a means to secure a lasting relationship or even a business deal. What?! Give it a listen and check out Emma’s post, and women can also join the discussion in the Women’s Only section of the Roundtable Forum on how this relates to training in Thailand. We also introduce the new “Vox” anonymous profile for the Roundtable. It’s for women on the forum who want a deeper level of anonymity in order to tell their more sensitive stories – a way to give a voice to the voiceless in the hope that being able to share these difficult stories will help those who feel stifled to speak up, and in doing so may be helping a great many others. If you want to know more about Vox and you are already a female member of our forum read our Vox introduction thread; or, if you aren’t a member yet, please do sign up. If you want to write privately to me or Emma, we can be contacted through our websites 8limbs.us (Sylvie) and Under the Ropes (Emma) The video didn’t work out great for our podcast this month, but we were able to record our talking faces for this section where Emma discusses her Rape Culture awareness article. It takes a minute for Emma’s camera to catch up:   Check out my other Two Ladies In the Kingdom Podcast posts too!   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post 2ITK Podcast e03 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom: Thai Food, Rape Culture Awareness, Fights appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

Videocast Above, Podcast Below Here is our 2nd episode of the Two Ladies in the Kingdom podcast. We had our first episode on the subject of “gym hopping” last month and today our theme is what to do if you get stuck with a trainer you don’t work well with at a Thai gym. You can listen or download the podcast above, watch the video of it at top, or download/subscribe two our podcast on itunes. Our podcast covers the female Muay Thai scene in Thailand, a little about what’s happening with us in training and fighting, and a topic of the month. Thank you to our Podcast’s First Sponsor Lobloo Groin Protection, Lobloo is helping us cover the costs of hosting and producing the 2ITK podcast and we are very grateful for the support. You can read my review of their female groin protector here. Listeners can use this promo code SAVE2ITK for a 10% discount on any Lobloo Amazon product. Us in our “recording studio”, Skyping from Bangkok to Pattaya What’s in Podcast Number 2? We’re still trying to find our footing, as podcasting is new to both of us, but I think we did a better job of putting names and events into context this time around. And, we’re still learning, so any suggestions are welcome; additionally, suggested themes, topics and questions are appreciated as well. It happens that Emma and I were both fighting in a few hours after the recording, at different events and in different areas of Thailand, so we talk a bit about that. She’ll be facing a good opponent in Krataitong Por. Promin at an annual Muay Thai event held at a university south of Bangkok (this is Emma’s third year fighting at this event), and I’m rematching Faa Chiang Rai Sor. Sakunthong for our fifth match together, here in Pattaya and then in three days I’ll be facing her again for a Northern Title Belt up in her hometown of Chiang Rai, about 13 hours drive to the North. Weird, eh? Not sure why she at the last minute decided to challenge me here at home a few days before our title match, but I’m rolling with it. The morning after the fight I’ll be getting in the car for the long drive North. Next we go over some of what’s been going on in female Muay Thai here in Thailand: Jasmine Whybird (AUS) faced Saifaa T. Teerasawad (TH) at an IFMA event for Muaythai Day on February 6th, 2016. Jasmine took home the UN Trophy in the campaign to End Violence Against Women and Girls. In the podcast I totally forgot that I’d seen highlights from this fight (it’s been a busy month, my mind is gone), which I posted to my page and you can see in this highlight reel of WMC Muaythai Day We also mention the Santai Festival up in the north of Thailand in San Kamphaeng, as well as Santai’s Canadian fighter Sophia “Cocopuff” Torkos fighting 3 times in 6 days. Unfortunately, they don’t give any information about who she fought in that middle fight, but here’s a photo of her victory and you can see the female referee we mention later, Harneen Ibraheem, raising her hand. Sophia faced Hongthong Liangprasert at the Santai Festival, the 118 lbs Northern Muay Siam champion; then this middle fight; and then fought Saifaa (mentioned above, also 118 lbs WPMF World Champion), which you can see in this video of the fight by the gym. Here’s a photo of Hongthong from two years ago (red top), when she faced France’s elite fighter Anissa Mekson (blue top) for a WPMF title: In the Main Event of the Santai Festival, Greece’s Fani Peloumpi defeated Thailand’s Nong Em Wor. Santai for a 20,000 Baht prize. You can see photos from the entire event in this album from Santai’s Page. Here’s Nong Em and Fani just before their fight: Sadly, we didn’t get to this story, but Kelly Creegan’s former opponent Faasithong has run out of opponents and went against the rules of the Muay Thai authority and fought against a man at a festival in Isaan. The side bet was 260,000 Baht (that’s huge) and I do believe she won. Here’s that fight: We talked about Mary Verona Farm (TH) defeating Witney Tobin (AUS) fighting out of Kiatpontip Gym in Koh Samui. You can watch the fourth round of that fight to get an idea. We discuss the The Star vs Mod Daeng fight which happened a few days ago down in Koh Lanta, which was available streaming, here’s a rough copy of it below if you would like to see it, it’s a fight Emma and I both enjoyed and The Star is a former WPMF  Interim World Champion and opponent of mine (though at a lower weight class), and Mod Daeng is a long time fighter out of Phuket I believe: The Star vs Mod Daeng – Female Muay Thai [SPOILER ALERT – the video does not show the winner, The Star wins] Also veteran female fighter Ashley Nichols from Canada has moved to Thailand and will be training and fighting out of Kaewsamrit Gym in Bangkok for what she hopes is a year, I believe. She wrote a “GoFundMe” campaign to help with the finances and emphasizes the importance of representing her First Nation heritage, which is very cool. She arrived in Bangkok on February 23rd. Kunlun had a big fight promotion in Pattaya in February and France’s Laurene De Oliveira (fighting out of Phuket) faced Belarus Ekaterina “Barbie” Vandaryeva (fighting out of Banchamek Gym in Bangkok), with Barbie executing a great fight plan and Laurene fighting to last bell: Getting Stuck with One Trainer The theme of this episode is about getting stuck with the same trainer at your gym. This can be great – I have one trainer and honestly want to pout when I have to go with someone else because he’s sick or something – or it can be really irritating, if you feel that your trainer isn’t the best for you. It’s a difficult thing to deal with, especially as women, because a lot of us don’t like to step on toes, voice our displeasure, or ask for what we want. It’s also difficult because Thai gyms are run by very strong hierarchies, and often times the low number of women and the social dynamics can mean that some of the trainers can become a bit possessive over the female students. This can be benign, but it can also be a huge problem. So, we talk about the difference between making a fuss if you’re a short-term student at a gym (some people only come for a short stay and possibly offending people has an expiration date), versus being a long-term presence at the gym and having to deal with shifting dynamics. Here’s the Cliff’s Notes: don’t be afraid to rock the boat if you have a limited time at a gym and aren’t getting the most out of your padholder; but be tactful in addressing the problem because the hierarchies are important and have been there longer than you have and will be there after you leave. When you first get to a gym, try to sample around a little bit because when you’re new you can get away with it easier. If you’re already stuck with a trainer and want to change, or if you’ve sampled around and decided who you like best, try using private sessions to secure the working relationship. We also answer listener questions about female referees, how my invitation to other ladies to come train with me has been going, and a little about teaching Muay Thai (which we don’t know a lot about, but we gave it a shot). If you’d like to continue the conversation on anything we covered please start a thread on our Roundtable forum which Emma and I moderate. And if you have questions you’d like us to cover in our next podcast send them our way. You can download or subscribe to our podcast for free on itunes here (or listen to or download it at the top of this page).     Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post 2ITK Podcast e02 – Getting Stuck With 1 Trainer – Two Ladies in the Kingdom appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

The Two Ladies in the Kingdom Podcast is now available on itunes! Emma and I decided to try out a monthly podcast (above). We chat together on a regular basis and keep each other up to date on the fighters we both follow, which tend to be the fighters around our weight but also the well-known names that expand beyond our own possible opponents. We both share our experiences of living, training, fighting and in Emma’s case working as a teacher in Thailand on our respective pages and blogs (Under the Ropes FB and blog; Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu – Muay Thai FB, and 8limbs.us blog, videos, etc.) It seemed like a reasonable enough aim to do a podcast where we could talk about women in Muay Thai, experiences of living and fighting here in Thailand, what’s going on in the fight scene out here and try to answer some questions or give our insight into topics submitted by our current readers. There are a lot of podcasts out there, but I don’t know of any that are hosted by women fighters in Thailand. Below is my introduction to the podcast, Emma’s blog post on it is here. As our first attempt, I feel it went quite well. My biggest worry was that Emma and I would actually just gab the way we do casually, which is fun for us of course. I definitely think we can tighten things up a bit and, as an avid podcast listener, you’d think I would be more keen to the format of introducing all your topics to listeners, but we did rattle off quite a few names and discuss “current events” without giving proper introduction to what and who we were talking about. So, definitely taking note to be more careful and complete in the next go, but I’ll do my best to supply that information in this post so that listeners have a kind of “footnotes.” The podcast can be downloaded or listened to above, at article top, and it’s been submitted to itunes and should be available for subscription there soon. Below is also is the video version of our podcast, via Skype, if you want to look at our talking heads – the audio is a touch out of sync, we’ll work on it!: We’re still hammering out the process and I suspect that will continue to be the case as we go along, but the good news is that it was fun to do and I think the first shot turned out well for a debut podcast. Your suggestions and comments are welcome, and we’d love to get your questions or any topics you want covered in future episodes. You can comment on this blog post, you can send us private messages on either FB page, and you can email me at sylvie@8limbs.us This Podcast’s Theme A revisit to the idea of “Gym Hopping,” as it’s become a bit of a hot topic again as of late. Emma wrote a post for her blog a couple years back on “Gym Hoppers and the Importance of Loyalty in Muay Thai,” (written 2 and a half years ago) in which she criticizes a type of person who flits around from gym to gym or moves on without ever trying to stick things out, specifying that this type quickly criticizes their “old’ gym and often doesn’t offer thanks or credit for what they gained before moving on. That sounds irritating, and it is, but quite a few people who read the post disagreed with the title (it would seem) and defended moving between gyms to gain more experience, as well as the capitalist cry for freedom from loyalty under the right of having paid for services and nothing more. Emma’s post has been quite controversial. Recently, it’s come up again in part because the topic of the pros and cons of having multiple gyms has been discussed (I’m such a person who trains at more than one gym, while keeping my heart and identity set at a “home gym”), as well as some folks noting the Emma is looking to change gyms. Did she have a change of vision from her original blog post? Is she a hypocrite? What are the differences between “changing gyms” and “gym hopping”? Some of the Cast of Characters We discuss some fighters by name without explaining who they are for those who don’t follow everything we’re posting on our pages. The Por. Muangpet gym that Emma visited and was excited about because it has quite a few women fighters is located in Bangkok. The three women at the gym are Namtan, who is around 56 kg and one of the best-known female fighters in Thailand; she’s maybe 19 years old or a bit older and has had a few televised fights, as well as a world title or two. Gaewdaa is around 48 kg and is around 15 years old; she fought this year in the IFMA’s in Bangkok, although not on the National Team and medalled; I’ve fought Gaewdaa 5 times over the past two years. Rungnapa is about 16 years old and the same weight as Gaewdaa, so I’ve fought her 3 times recently. I really like Rungnapa’s style and disposition, she’s newer to their gym. But the whole Por. Muangpet gang is pretty cool to follow because they fight frequently and tend to travel around to support each other for fights. Emma went to train with them with very high hopes and unfortunately their training tendencies don’t fit well for her schedule and didn’t match her expectations; but that’s part of learning that not all gyms in Thailand function the way our gyms do, or big gyms, or western-familiar gyms. You can see some of these fighters in my P4P Ranked Top 48 kg and Under Post Emma mentions that she knew about the 1 Round KO tournament on TV because Peach was refereeing and Emma follows her FB page.  Peach is an infrequent fighter at the moment but is a very well-known name and she is somewhat of a spokesmodel or “face” for Muay Thai. She’s in her early 20’s and the last fights of hers that I’m aware of were for the World Muay Thai Angels show last year, when she fought our friend Kelly Creegan (“It’s Pandamonium!”), who Emma mentioned she would be training with soon at Eminent Air gym in BKK. Eminent Air is also where Melissa Ray (“Muay Thai on the Brain”) trains and formerly fought, as one of the women fighting in Thailand a generation before the current set. We mentioned Melissa in the list of female bloggers who haven’t had a chance to tend their blogs lately, which we miss. We mention Kate coming to train with me and who will go train with Emma. She’s a fighter from Montana and has spent the last month at Sean Fagan “Muay Thai Guy‘s” Muay Thai Training Camp at Kongsittha Gym in Bangkok. She had her second fight in 2 weeks at MBK, which is a ring set up outside of the MBK mall in Bangkok and is a central venue and one of few in Bangkok which has female bouts. She fought an Australian woman named Beck, who we also name when we’re talking about that fight. Sean is who we’re talking about when we briefly mention a recent podcast he did on the benefits of “Gym Hopping,” which you can listen to here. Emma’s original, ever controversial blog post that seemingly launched that term into discussion, and which we revisit as the “theme” of this podcast discussion, can be read here. We mention Sophia “Cocopuff” Torkos as having just started her own blog (“A Fighting Spirit”) as having just recently fought for a WPMF title belt (somewhere around 50-51 kg) against Thananchanok R.R. Gilalampang. Sophia is a Canadian who trains out of Santai and is a high-rate fighter in the north. Thananchanok is the 112 lbs Northern Thailand title holder for the Muay Siam belt and was WPMF champion at 49 kg for at least two years – I rank her as the 4th best sub 48 fighter in the world. She’s an awesome, very crafty fighter and I’ve fought her twice, would love to do so again, and follow her closely as fan. She’s not a frequent fighter. The Book and the Movie Ugh, I can’t believe we dropped the ball so hard on not even introducing what these things are. So, firstly, Emma and I are working on a book together which is in its “skeletal” form, which in proper academic terms we might call an “outline” which is actually pretty far along. We’ve got 25 prospective chapter headings and lots of sub-headings already down. We now just have to write it. The working title is, “Female Guide to Training and Fighting in Thailand.” There are a million things you don’t know when trying to travel to Thailand for the first time, or even to move here for a longer stay, so we’re trying to cover as many of those issues as possible and gear it toward the particular challenges of being a woman undertaking such an endeavor. Things we know now we wish we’d known before; gym etiquette; what the hell do you pack?; what to look for (and look out for) in choosing a gym, and deeper issues like understanding cultural hurdles and potential mis-communications in the masculine space of a gym. We’ll also tackle things like: what to expect when fighting in Thailand, the kinds or types of opponents you may face, and specific strategies that can work against Thai female fighters. It’s a lot to cover but a lot of what is out there on the ol’ internet is useful and instructive for women, but not complete for some of the things we need to consider. So this book is at attempt to provide more of what’s missing. And we’re working on it! And the movie mentioned is “Neung Roy,” which means 100 in Thai and alludes to my aim of achieving 100 fights in Thailand. It’s the project and hard-work of Marq Piocos of “Wombat Sports: Your Home for Women in Combat Sports” and is being submitted to the Artemis Film Festival. Marq edited together my vlogs and fight videos from when I was about to move to Thailand until I reached my 100th fight here, creating a narrative of that goal and achievement out of the clips. He sent me a preview and it made me cry, but I’m just incredibly moved that he had the idea and inclination and then has put so much hard work into it. A big thank you to my Patreon supporters because it is projects just like this that your pledges are making possible. If anyone wants to help bring more quality 8limbs.us content forward you can pledge as little as a $1 a month. If this works out and turns out to be enjoyable for everyone we might be able to do it more frequently than once a month. Please do let us know if there are any sections that you really enjoyed, or if you have topics or suggestions about what you’d like to hear more of. For one, we’d like to be much more thorough and clear in covering the Thai female fighters, and introducing them to our listeners. All in all, I think we did a good job, and I’m sure we’ll just get better and more comfortable with it.   If you’d like to continue any parts of the conversation we had in this podcast, please do start a topic on our Muay Thai Roundtable forum.   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post 2ITK Podcast e01 – Two Ladies in the Kingdom – Women and Muay Thai – 01 Gym Hopping appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

The full Skype Interview (1 hour, 20 minutes) with Dr. John Gassaway on Getting Into Mental Training (above) – an mp3 version is available at the bottom of the post in 4 parts.  We’re talking online from across the globe – me in Pattaya, Thailand, John in Phoenix AZ, USA – so there is a bit of a delay sometimes when the connection gets a bit funky. I’ve become increasingly aware of the importance of mental training, but it’s taken me a long time to even get used to the jargon.  Phrases like “self-talk” turn me off immediately and even a lot of the phrases that get spouted with frequency and have become affirmations, like “avoid outcome based goals,” seem to make sense on their own but often just don’t to me.  It’s a sport where you’re trying to win, how can you not think about the outcome?  I always known I should be visualizing, but when I tried I knew – man, I just knew – I wasn’t doing it right and definitely wasn’t getting anything out of it other than frustration. As it were, my brother is a professional Sport Psychologist and personal trainer.  Along the way he’d give me insight on particular techniques to work on my mental skill, walking me through games that help you recognize where your focus is, how to visualize a fight (sight, smell, sound, allowing it to be fantasy-enough that you do everything you want to do), etc.  But I still struggled.  I didn’t get it and I knew that my mental game was hurting me, but being bad at mental training made me feel bad about myself – talk about counter-productive.  So, my most recent dedication and successes with mental training has come about from the steady realization that its absence from my training costs me a lot, but also my difficulty in getting started in it.  Someone can tell you to practice blocks and you can do it every now and again, but when you have a fight that illustrates that blocking is clearly a skill you’re lacking, you’ll finally dedicate yourself to practicing those blocks.  Nothing is a better teacher than pain, whether emotional or physical. I bombed hard in my 82nd fight (vs. Cherry Sityodtong). This for me was a terrible low. I had publicly disappointed both of my trainers at my two gyms that night, losing to an opponent whose weakness is my supposed strength (clinch). And I was facing the huge stress of fighting the biggest fight of my life 4 days later, the Queen’s Cup fight at Sanam Luong field against Japanese Champion Saya Ito, who was a very similar type of fighter. Nothing seemed to work in the Cherry fight. How could I have success in only 4 days? The negative thoughts were really flowing. But facing the impossible task of remaking myself I just went for it.  I sought out an MP3 program by Dr. Alan Goldberg  – 14 steps to Mental Toughness – that I downloaded off his website, Competitive Edge. There are a few reasons I went this route: 1) I decided to delve into mental training in a very serious way on a very short schedule – I knew I didn’t have time to physically train anything new between my two fights with only four days between them, but I knew I could train myself mentally with nearly all the hours of four days, which is a lot; 2) I needed a very basic program, as if I were starting from scratch because even though I have received great tips from my brother, I wasn’t implementing them properly; 3) my brother has always been very generous with me and I trust him supremely, but the amount of time he could commit to me for free in his incredibly busy schedule and across the globe in opposite time zones wasn’t the right avenue – I had to cram and work steadily and very hard in a short amount of time. 4) my back was up against the wall. It was time for a change. You do what needs to be done. In great part due to the mental training I had done I performed wonderfully, perhaps my best fight to date, winning the prestigious Queen’s Cup vs Saya Ito.  Interestingly enough, my technical performance between the two wasn’t all that different – I attempted to use many of the same techniques in both (my skill-set).  But my mental approach to each fight couldn’t have been more different. What I accomplished in that short turn-around was far beyond my expectations to say the least – it felt miraculous – but it came about because I just began to actually work on the mental skills I already had somewhat haphazardly acquired over the last year. These were unpracticed skills I had theoretically learned from online sources and some help from my brother. I had learned them, but never worked them to any degree, partly because I just didn’t know how, and when I tried to I often met frustration.  Mental training is not a “quick fix”, but it can fix things quick too, if you are ready. The audio tapes were exactly what I needed at this point because they actually walk you through the process of real mental work, the work that needs to be done every single day, like every day I’m in the gym. An important factor in this is that the tapes are not magic. The work is magic. But you need to be open to it, committed to it, and these same tapes may have done little for me 6 months ago. In my case it took the disguised blessing of a bad, embarrassing loss, and the pressure of fighting the biggest fight of my life in 4 days later, to open me to the process. Be very clear. while you may see changes pretty quickly, the real work takes time. My case was perhaps quite unusual. I already had in myself the mountains and valleys of a possible great performance, or a very poor one, but I had had over 80+ fights and thousands of hours of training producing both possibilities. That 4 days got me to switch off the negative and flip on the positive, and the positive was extraordinary, but the real work though began after my victory when I started focusing on how deeply engrained the negative valleys had become in my daily physical training and common thoughts. Now that I have continued on with mental training, using the Goldberg aids, I can see huge strides in my training which are now showing themselves in the ring. I do endorse the Goldberg audio sessions, they have helped me, but the very same kind of help may be had from other quarters. They are expensive, and I wouldn’t have probably made the purchase if I didn’t have the pressure for a big change and fast. I can’t say though that they would do the same for you as they have for me. I just have found them personally helpful. Maybe just like physical technique training, it clicks for you at the right time. It may not click for you now, but 4 months down the line it may be exactly what you need. So I wanted to sit down with my brother and talk about how one gets into mental training.  Not the particular methods, which can be found online in PDF forms, in books, on YouTube, in podcasts.  But more the importance of mental training, how you get into it and keep with it, how to understand it and know whether or not you’re succeeding in it.  John and I have talked about mental training many times over the years but never to this level and I think he was happy with my new appreciation and understanding of its depth; and I was very happy to hear his expert opinions and advice from his own experiences to offer to folks who are like me and just want to get into the water, rather than already trying to time their laps! In the interview a few sources are mentioned and below are the citations for them. The first is just a good read by an author I always enjoy: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell. Dr. Gassaway also recommends Mind Gym: An Athlete’s a Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack & David Casstevens and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, PhD  You can contact Dr. John Gassaway: John Byron Gassaway, Psy.D. Advanced Mindset +1 (602) 989-0982   The MP3 Version of the Interview in 20 Minute Parts right click and save as on any of the audio players to download the mp3 to your hard drive Part 1 http://8limbs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Interview-with-John-Gassaway-part-1.mp3 Part 2 http://8limbs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Interview-with-John-Gassaway-Part-2.mp3 Part 3 http://8limbs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Interview-with-John-Gassaway-Part-3.mp3 Part 4 http://8limbs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Interview-with-John-Gassaway-Part-4.mp3     Follow my Muay Thai writings by email you can read them right from your Inbox     Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post Interview With Sport Psychologist Dr. John Gassaway – Getting Into Mental Training appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

above is my 20 minute video Interview of Frances Watthanaya in Phutthaisong, Buriram – Isaan Read about my trip to Giatbundit Gym in Phutthaisong here. Read about and watch my fight for Giatbundit Gym in Buriram here. Talking with fighter, mother & wife Frances Watthanaya When I first “met” Frances online she was living in Canada and finishing up her degree.  She also is a mother to a young, intensely independent, little daughter named Parvati.  And she’s a Muay Thai fighter who is married to another Muay Thai fighter and now that she’s finished her degree and the family has moved back to her husband’s hometown (or close to it) in Isaan, Thailand, Frances is doing even more: teaching English at a local school, training and hoping to fight more often (when we spoke she was getting ready for a tournament in China), helping promote for her gym, training fighters at the gym, organizing social media accounts that both promote and share the many things going on at her Muay Thai gym… the list goes on.  And Frances does it all with the relaxed attitude of rural Thailand and the take-charge attitude of a woman who knows what needs to be done.  She’s pretty amazing. I sat down with Frances on the edge of the ring just after she’d finished training.  There are a million things to talk to Frances about and I consider this 20 minute interview something of a “first installment” that I hope to continue on subsequent visits to Giatbundit Gym.  For this first interview I wanted to know about how a 19-year-old Canadian woman ends up in Thailand in the first place, then met Boom, who would become her husband.  Romantic relationships in gyms can be very complicated / complicating, but Frances and Boom have made it work on two continents – we discuss her experiences of moving from Thailand with Boom to Canada, having their daughter and finishing her degree, then moving the family back to Thailand and both her and Boom getting back into more regular fighting.  It happens that Frances’ studies focused on Isaan and her first-hand experience and academic lens through which she views the many facets of Isaan’s place in Thailand and her place as a “falang” within it is very thoughtful and fascinating. I think this is an important interview to watch because it covers so many things that just don’t get represented or talked about.  Frances occupies a position that is at once incredibly unique – a woman with more years in Muay Thai already than most others from the west, but increasingly integrating herself into the lifestyle of not only Muay Thai, but fluency in the language, the art, the culture and the land of Isaan; but she’s also very approachable because she does not “shed” her western experiences in order to become anything, she just absorbs all of it.  And as a woman who does so much, she both appeals and speaks to people from many different walks of life. http://8limbs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Frances-Wattanaya-Interview-by-Sylvie-von-Duuglas-Ittu-in-Phutthaisong-Buriram-Isaan.mp3 If you’d prefer to listen to the interview you can hear it with the audio player above. Right click the player if you’d like to save the file as an .mp3 file and treat it like a podcast. visit the Giatbundit Gym website, Giatbundit on Facebook, or contact Frances on Twitter @Watthanaya   Follow my Muay Thai writings by email you can read them right from your Inbox   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post Video Interview with Female Muay Thai Fighter Frances Watthanaya in Isaan appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.

A few months ago I was interviewed at they gym by a fellow who is an international journalist for the PRI, which is an affiliate of the BBC.  He introduced himself as David Hecht and the two kids trailing him, one teenaged boy and a little girl, as his assistants.  He explained that he’d been at my last fight (my first match against YodYing sor. Sumalee)  and had spoken with Andy about interviewing me – Andy told him that I’m always at the camp so just show up. There are waves of journalists and photographers, videographers and occasionally film crews that spill through the gym periodically, but I’d not yet met someone who was coming to the gym specifically to speak with me.  Moreover, nobody with whom I’ve spoken (usually they are students of Journalism at the Chiang Mai University) has ever also seen me fight, so that was an interesting twist.  David was very nice and told me to just go do whatever I need to do and he’d walk around getting sound at the gym until I was ready to come speak to him in a quieter location. When I did sit down with David after my padwork it was at the outer limit of the gym, along the edge of the yard/parking lot atop a mound of dirt that turned out to be an anthill.  Happily, David was interested in hearing about Muay Thai and my experience in it in Thailand, which I didn’t find a difficult subject at all.  We spoke (mostly I spoke) for probably 45 minutes, covering a variety of topics within the Muay Thai experience – why I am in Thailand, how I experience fighting here versus in the US, what it is to conduct oneself within a “violent” sport, being a woman within all these contexts.  It was a very enjoyable interview and when David’s little daughter came bounding back to where we were sitting, saying “guess what I did?” I knew right away that she’d been treated to some Muay Thai training. David then interviewed Taywin, who was my primary trainer at the time.  Hearing his voice on the final edit of the interview now made me smile.  He didn’t say anything that he hadn’t said to me, but I was honored to hear him say I’m strong, as well as a little bit curious regarding his suggestions for changing my fighting.  When it comes to how to improve fighters, the fighter him/herself is not generally included in that conversation.  I’ve heard Den speaking with the other trainers (in Thai) at length on many mornings after a fight night, dissecting the failings or defects of a fighter’s performance.  But these things aren’t said to a fighter and the corrections are not explicitly stated as any kind of game plan.  As a fighter, you just do. I got an email just a few days ago from David, saying that his editors were working on the piece to run this Saturday, in connection to Take-On’s promotion at Madison Square Gardens.  I believe this interview was in July, so it was interesting to listen to it now and identify all the ways in which I have changed – progressed – in my experiences, as well as ways in which some experiences are constants within the grander picture.  It’s a good segment.  I hope you enjoy it; I did. The Article: PRI’s The World radio interview: American Muay Thai Fighter in Thailand   Above is the radio Interview in an embedded player. If you cannot view the player you can listen to (or download – right click “Save Link As”) the PRI The World Muay Thai Interview mp3 here.   If you’d like to follow my 8Limbs.Us postings enter your emailyou can read them right from your Inbox via FeedBurner   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs The post PRI’s The World Radio Interview With Me – “American Muay Thai Fighter in Thailand” appeared first on Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - 8LimbsUs.