Reality Check

I'm a "Glass Half-Full" guy. 

This past Saturday (October 30, 2010) I refereed the MuayThai fights at "Operation Octagon 13" in Sterling, VA.  There were 10 amateur MuayThai fights on the card, including 2 amateur title bouts.  A number of the fighters chose to compete under full Thai rules, which includes elbow and knee strikes to the head.  The organization I work with most closely, the Global Combat Alliance (GCA), takes pains to officiate and score their MuayThai matches adhering to actual Thai standards and was the events sanctioning body. 

The fighters, apart from those competing for titles, were predominantly novices.  A number of them performed Thai pre-fight customs such as entering the ring over the top rope, sealing the ring, or performing the Wai Kru (Ram Muay).  They all fought with a lot of heart and displayed excellent sportsmanship!

Having been a part of the MuayThai fight community for the better part of the last 20 years, I see this as a sign of progress.  At the same time, if we are to continue to improve, we must be completely honest with ourselves...

We have a long, long way to go!

Taking Saturday afternoon's fights for instance, much of the fighting was sloppy and ineffective.  Fighters had obviously not focused their training on MuayThai's scoring techniques.  They displayed weak stances and a poor sense of balance.  Apart from the double-neck tie, most fighters seemed lost in the clinch.  Many of the matches were essentially brawls.  Even taken into consideration that most of those competing were novices, one can't help but wonder why most MuayThai competition in North America is subpar?

For far too long, the MuayThai fight scene in North America has been overseen by individuals that, while having the best intentions at heart, do not actually understand the Sport of MuayThai.  Sure, they had trained in the Art of MuayThai...  having learned many of the techniques and strategies...  but they hadn't actually learned the rules and scoring of the sport itself! 

This has had a very detrimental effect on the North American MuayThai community.  Many of those who promote the art and serve as its officials erroneously apply the rules and scoring standards of other combat sports to MuayThai.  Sports such as Boxing, Full Contact, & K-1 Kickboxing have influenced how MuayThai is being officiated.  These other combat sports, while sharing varying degrees of similarities, are simply NOT THE SAME as MuayThai!  Due to MuayThai being officiated and scored similar to these other combat sports, the style of fighting we now see in the ring is rarely true to the Sport of MuayThai.  More often than not, what we see in the ring are essentially (sloppy) Kickboxing matches using MuayThai's techniques.

Yet I am still a "Glass Half-Full" kinda guy... 

I'm sure that the light I see at the end of this tunnel is *not* an oncoming train!  More and more people are taking a genuine interest in learning and promoting authentic MuayThai, adhering to genuine Thai customs and staying true to its standards.  The community is genuinely becoming interested in seeing the authentic Thai "style" to the fights, and in learning how fights are properly scored in Thailand.  Implementing these changes will not be an overnight process, of course, but slowly and surely the real Sport of MuayThai will eventually dominate the rest.




(this ones for you, Bill)

Khun Kao is back!

"I have returned."

It's rather silly to make any comparison of my return to the Muay Thai community to the triumphant return of General Douglas McArthur to the Phillipines during World War II, but I can't deny the overwhelming sense that I've returned home.  While the community and fight scene carried on without me, the sentiment I have received from numerous individuals was that my absence was truly felt...  that the community was definitely missing something.

"Operation Octagon 13" (Saturday, October 30th at the Dulles Sportsplex in Sterling, VA) was my first foray back into the Muay Thai & MMA fight scene.  I was contacted to referee the 10 Muay Thai fights, including two amateur Muay Thai title matches.  It was great to so many fighters challenging themselves to step into the ring and I truly felt that all the fighters showed a lot of heart.

I was admittedly nervous.  I hadn't refereed a fight in almost 2 years.  I had concerns of "ring rust".  (No, this is not a condition that only affects the fighters.)  As a referee, my responsibilities are 1) to ensure the safety of the fighters, 2) ensure that they adhere to the rules, and 3) keep the action moving.  This task was a bit more complicated than your typical fight event because the agreed upon rules of the fight were slightly different for each bout.  A couple of the bouts were fought using full MuayThai rules with no additional safety gear.  Other bouts included safety gear such as shinguards, elbow pads, or headgear.  Still others had agreed not to use elbows or knees to the head.

From my previous stints as a Muay Thai referee, the blown calls still weigh heavily on my mind.  While I can comfortably say that none of my mistakes as a referee has ultimately affected the outcome of a match, it still bothers me when I miss a call.  It's especially troublesome to me because I am considered to be one of the most knowledgable local "authorities" on the sport of MuayThai.  I feel that when *I* make a mistake, it's exponentially worse.

Throughout the first 2 matches of the fight card, I was anxious, my heart was racing, and I was sweating profusely.  Sometime around the 3rd match, however, I settled down and really began to enjoy myself.  I'm fairly confident that I didn't miss any calls that I should have made.  If there is one thing that I would like to review, it would be how I handled the clinch.  I wonder if there are some instances where I allowed the clinch to carry on too long when the fighting was ineffective?

Despite some lingering doubts about my performance in a couple of areas, I have heard from numerous individuals (coaches, fighters, and officials) that I did an excellent job and that there was a marked difference in the "flavor" of the bouts compared to when others have been the man in the ring.

I don't think there could have been a better "Welcome Back" message than that!