Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • 100+ Fights
  • Master K
  • Store
  • War Face
  • My Record
  • Best Posts
  • Phetjee Jaa
  • Overtraining
  • Gendered Exp
  • Sylvie's Tips
  • Sak Yant
  • Contact
  • Supporters
  • Donate
made withby essence labs
© 2015. All Rights Reserved.
October 22, 2012
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
Female Fighters, Gendered Experience, Muay Thai

Female Bodies – What Inspires Me?

the female body

Form and Function and Sex: The Killer Butt

Women’s bodies occupy a strange cross-section of form and function in the world of athletics.  This is not to say that male bodies do not hold complex positions as well, but for many reasons the female form – due to its “natural” softness appealing to femininity and musculature of athleticism “naturally” signaling masculinity, leaving a razor-thin line between an athletic female body and a masculine female body – gets caught in the turbulent waters of looking good while performing well.

Anyone who has followed my blog for a while (or who knows me personally) has come in contact with my own difficulties with how my body looks in contrast to what it does.  In the US I worked in a bar, which is a sexual space, and I received a lot of comments from both men and women regarding the look of my arms.  Women were enthusiastically asking me what I do to make them look like that in an inspired sense, and men often assumed I spent hours in the gym trying to get that look and therefore must be looking for comments regarding their particular aesthetic.  I was caught off guard by both sides because my body looks the way it does because of what I use it for, so the function of my muscles is what concerns me and the assumption that I spend a lot of conscious effort sculpting out their particular shape wasn’t one I could really speak to.  Now, in Thailand, when a rival coach makes a big to-do about how strong I look (and therefore must be “too big” for his fighter) or the gamblers want to squeeze my arms to determine how much they’re going to bet on me it feels pretty well in context to how form and function come together in my intentions.

The other day I came across this article, written by Roxy Richardson on her blog that is described as covering “Muay Thai. Wellness. Fitness.”  In the article, “6 Sprint Workouts to Help You Burn Fat & Firm Your Boot-ay” [edit: link now broken] Roxy extols the virtues of High Intensity Interval Training (HITT), which is a big buzz word in the Crossfit lexicon.  Basically, short bursts of high intensity cardio burn more fat than long, steady stretches of cardio.  “Also,” she adds, “sprinting gives you a killer butt.”

If you read through the article it is very informal and probably intended to be a little tongue-in-cheek, motivating women (primarily) to use these exercises to get the kind of body that will make them feel sexy and confident.  The intended audience is likely L.A. clients who are looking to work out for weight loss, health, wellness and confidence, all of which are wonderful reasons to work out and looking hot is a good way to motivate people.  In short, Roxy is not writing an article for performance athletes who might happen to want to shape up their glutes.  What bothered me – greatly – was that Roxy decided to use two images of high performance athletes to illustrate the difference between long, steady cardio and HITT tactics.  Namely, she used the women’s world-record holder in the marathon Paula Radcliff as the distance runner and 100 and 200 meter runner Ivet Lalova as the sprinter.  That’s fine, but she used the images of these athletes bodies in comparison to one another as final results of these tactics with the question: “Which butt do you want????”

I am offended by the comparison of these two women’s bodies to illustrate how one is aesthetically superior to the other when these women, as high performance Olympic athletes look the way they do because of their dedication to the passions which drive them.  The countless hours that both women have spent on the track, on the road, in the rain, at the expense of an in incredible number of sacrifices and the unquantifiable joy and self-love that comes from pursuing these passions has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not their butts will look good.  They’re not fitness models, their end goal is not how well their asses round out for a camera.

This is not to say that it’s bad, or even uncommon, to look at athletic bodies for motivation.  Obviously this is what Roxy intended with her post and it is very likely that women look at images of women’s bodies for motivation toward non-world-record-breaking goals.  But it’s an offensive way to motivate, especially with the follow up line:

Look at the butt on the right it’s like 100 times more awesome than the one one the left! By the way, it was REALLY hard to find a picture of a marathon runner’s butt, even from this side angle. Something tells me they are not trying to advertise their ASSets (sorry I couldn’t help myself).

Again, I know Roxy is being cute (or something) here, but maybe the reason it’s hard to Google a picture of Paula Radcliff’s butt is because she’s an internationally recognized top-level athlete who is renowned for her many accomplishments as a runner.  When I entered her name into a Pinterest search, for example, four images showed up (three, actually, as one was a duplicate).  On the left is a Nike ad depicting Radcliff running, in full form.  The second is of Radcliff holding her daughter at the end of a 10k race which she just completed while pregnant.  One comment under a photo from a Pinterest user read, “I cry every time I see Paula Radcliff run.”

I used Pinterest as my search tool for a reason.  When I first became incensed by Roxy’s choice to use those images in her blog post I was reminded of other times I get incensed by the use of athletic female bodies as motivation with a strong undercurrent of look-at-that-ass and it happens a lot on Pinterest.  The platform of Pinterest is, quite notably, heavily used by women.  (As of June of this year 80% of Pinterest users were women.)  This is worth noting because all images are either “pinned” (sourced from the internet) from other sites or uploaded by users.  So, if I’m seeing a bunch of photos of women’s super-fit butts it’s because women are putting them on the platform as their motivation.

Pinspiration and Perspiration

If you go to the “Health and Fitness” filter on Pinterest you’ll be taken to a page that is a few non-image cells with motivational words on them scattered between dozens of images of fitness model bodies kind of stretching or posing with words overlaying them to the affect of “Strong is the new skinny,” (what the hell is that?!) and “This is why I wake up at 6 AM” and things like this.  I scrolled down twice in order to find these images (there are no first and second “pages” on Pinterest the way there might be on a Google search) so all these are within the first 100 images:

And in order to show contrast between how women’s bodies are depicted in order to motivate versus how male bodies are used, I include here an image from the same search and indeed from the same style of listing (the reason with a motivational phrase) showing why men run.  Astoundingly, it’s not to shun the body nature (genes) gave him or to release stress, or even to excite sexual viewership, but rather it’s to run, you know, as a function of athleticism:

The men are covered nearly head to toe – this is not a body ogling motivator.  The only other images of men I saw on the first search were big, muscled trainers aiding women through a weight-lifting exercise.  But I need to say something here before I come off as being critical of motivations: exercise relieves stress, it changes how your body looks, it makes you feel good and it’s awesome to have a body that you want to stare at in the mirror and show off to other people.  All of these motivations are legitimate and I’m not dismissing any of them.  And again, the images on Pinterest are chosen and disseminated largely by women, so this is what motivates those women – very normal women.  So Roxy Richardson writing about how to get a great looking butt is speaking to the ears of women who are listening for this kind of motivation.  What I’m trying to pick at here is the complicated – and at times unfortunate – ways in which the athletic female body is used to express these messages.

I don’t get inspired by these pictures.  I find the bodies attractive and beautiful and I applaud the effort that goes into disciplining them to look that way.  I absolutely care about the way my body looks – when I watch my fight video and my shorts make me look short or fat or whatever they get stricken from the list of optional fight shorts.  I’m not one of these, “my body is a temple” folks and while I very truly mean it when I say that my body looks the way it does because of what I do with it, I am also happy that it looks this way.  Living in Thailand, the female aesthetic is definitely not the hard bodied athletic type but is rather the thin, willowy soft type.  My muscled arms do not go unnoticed – ever – and my muscled shoulders don’t fit into clothes that are otherwise made for my smaller frame; at times I am incredibly self-conscious about it.  But my passion for Muay Thai, my love for it and the stamp it leaves on my body – the fact that people stare at my muscles but know immediately that I am a boxer – make me love those same things.

What motivates me are women like fighter Amy “‘Lil Dynamite” Davis (above), who is proud of how hard she works and works hard enough that you she will never have someone ask her “do you work out?”   You won’t see pictures of Amy in lip-gloss gently pretending to hit a bag for a glamor picture showing that she’s beautiful and she fights – there aren’t photos of her wearing a dress and heels with boxing gloves kind of somewhere near her to indicate that she’s somehow associated with fighting – she’s an athlete who puts up pictures of herself being an athlete.  Her beauty and sexiness is not in contrast to her athleticism but is right there in context with it.  Every strength is visible.

Gina Carano is a perfect example of how female athletes can be separated from their performance or order to fill the “sexy,” motivational roll.  To be perfectly fair this (below) is from a photo-shoot for a men’s magazine and the intended audience is the “male gaze.”  But having Gina Carano who is a skilled and accomplished fighter who helped bring female MMA to the stage lying supine on the mat in a wet T-shirt is to me far less inspiring, sexy, or motivational than an image of her actually doing her sport.

What bothered me about Roxy Richardson’s blog post was not that she’s trying to inspire women to work hard, to work a certain way or even to work in order to look a certain way.  What bothered me was her use of top-level female athletes’ bodies in contrast to one another with the take away message that the value of these two women’s bodies is an assessment of whose butt looks better rather than that both bodies are a result of incredible determination.  Again, I know that her readers are not looking to be world-record breaking athletes in distance running versus sprinting, they probably just want to look good in jeans.  But I know that Roxy knows what real athletic passion is and it saddens me that the form her motivational writing took was what you see above rather than what she has to offer from her personal experience as Muay Thai fighter, as written on her blog below:

From Roxy’s Blog: What I love About Muay Thai and Hope Will Never Change

Muay Thai challenges me to be a better person. Getting good at Muay Thai is not easy. The hours of training, bumps, bruises and sacrifices are just the beginning. What takes real strength is the ability to take ownership of all your weaknesses and channel them into strengths. Anyone can lie to themselves and tell themselves they are good enough at something. In many other hobbies and occupations you can go your whole life and never have anyone really challenge you to do better. [emphasis mine] … Through training and fighting I have had to look deep within myself at what I fear and what I lack, and find out what I’m really made of.  Muay Thai taught me that I always have more inside of me; more strength, more power, more speed, more skill. I just have to believe it, train for it and want it badly enough. I never knew what I was truly capable of until Muay Thai challenged me to find out.

To finish I’ll include a quote from Roxy’s “favorite quotes” on her Facebook page, which encourages those seeking a fit appearance to follow suit of performance athletes.

Your appearance when fit is almost entirely a function of your genetics, which are expressed at their best only when training is at its highest level, and the [highest] level is only obtainable from a program based on an improvement in your performance in the gym or on the field. And the best improvements in the gym occur when participating in a program that looks more like performance athletics– the kind of training done by competitive athletes – than one that looks like waving your arms and legs around on a machine or slowly rolling around on the floor. – Mark Rippetoe

Surely this is what message Roxy intended to convey to her readers, that in order to get a “great butt” one should train like performance athlete Ivet Lalova.  What was not intended – I hope – was the secondary message that the body resulting from a different form of high performance athletics is of less value because it doesn’t fill out a pair of Daisy Dukes.  Hopefully women will find motivation in pushing toward improvement of athletic ability and take joy and satisfaction in the forms which come from the function of their performances.

 

You can support this content: Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu on Patreon

Related

Share this


Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

The Author Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

A 103 lb. (46 kg) female Muay Thai fighter. Originally I trained under Kumron Vaitayanon (Master K) and Kaensak sor. Ploenjit in New Jersey. I then moved to Thailand to train and fight full time in April of 2012, devoting myself to fighting 100 Thai fights, as well as blogging full time. Having surpassed 100 fights in 3 years here, my new goal is to fight an impossible 200 times in Thailand, as much as I possibly can, and to continue to write my experience.

7 Comments

  • Shane Gassaway
    October 22, 2012 2:41 am

    Funny, my thoughts ran in a similar direction earlier today. I was thinking (because I often forget to apply deoderant after a workout) of a passage from Xenophon’s SYMPOSIUM in which Socrates points out that the odors one finds most pleasant belong to continuous engagement with virtuous practices. A young woman, he says, finds the smell of olive oil on a man most pleasing because she associates it with men who have spent time training at the gymnasium (where it was the practice to rub down with olive oil and dust off after a workout). Lycon, an older gentleman, asks Socrates what a man ought to smell of who is too old to be training in the gymnasium. “Of Gentlemanliness!” answers Socrates, meaning that there is also an odor belonging to the virtuous practices of older men.

    The point is that while our immediate engagement with the beautiful consists of comparisons among human beings, and it is easy to become lost in such comparisons without conceiving of a source of the values driving them, there is nevertheless a clear line from what we find beautiful to the value we place on certain things. The vigor and vitality, and especially the self- and other-overcoming of athleticism is one of those things.

    From the passages you have cited above, it seems clear that Roxy Richardson is in touch with both the superficial and the profound experiences of the beautiful.

  • Shane Gassaway
    October 22, 2012 3:51 am

    Xenophon’s SYMPOSIUM takes place in Athens, by the way, where women did not exercise at the gymnasium. A Spartan man might have made a similar observation about the scent of a woman.

  • Sylvie
    Sylvie
    October 22, 2012 4:38 pm

    Just the other night the movie “300” was on TV and I, only half-jokingly, scoffed and remarked to Kevin, “it’s pretty incredible that spending so much time in a Muay Thai gym makes these guys look only ‘kinda cut’.” The bodies in Muay Thai gyms come in various states of fitness, but when you watch the top-level fighters on TV or see the Thai teens who have grown up practicing Muay Thai, there is a uniformity to how astounding their fitness is. I absolutely acknowledge that it’s in the context of seeing what those bodies are doing – it is their bodies in the practice of performing Muay Thai that illustrates (or even defines) that fitness. If they were just walking around a beach I don’t think I’d be as impressed as I am when they’re actually in the ring.

    So I guess if you took paparazzi type photos of Olympians buying groceries or lounging at the pool – you know, not in the midst of their sport it would be a more reasonable time to judge who looks good in jeans or a bathing suit or whatever. Realistically you wouldn’t see this kind of comparison with male athletes – whose ass is nicer between Ryan Lochte and Usain Bolt? I mean, women did get pretty excited over some male divers and swimmers with Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte but there is no comparison there to judging bodies against each other with one being undesirable or undervalued.

  • Sylvie
    Sylvie
    October 22, 2012 4:45 pm

    I shared this link on Female Muay Thai on Facebook – News, Archives and Rumours in order to open the discussion to other thoughts/views. Here is a link to some of the responses the post (my post) has received thus far: https://www.facebook.com/groups/27801291615/permalink/10151090518771616/

  • Sassypants
    October 22, 2012 11:35 pm

    body shaming is how trainers and gym owners often get people into the gym. it’s disappointing, but it works because people often would rather just look good in clothes than care about being fit for health or a sport.

  • Sylvie
    Sylvie
    October 22, 2012 11:49 pm

    I quoted an interview with Roxy a while back on my blog regarding how trainers should approach motivating women fighters versus the attack on the ego that often works for men. I was super impressed by Roxy’s input into the different motivators for women and how trainers (who are so often male and not even thinking that there might be different approaches to motivating women) need to be more aware of those differences and adjust their tactics accordingly. It was wonderful insight. On the main I don’t think that the desire to look good is a substandard motivator or reason for working out, but the women pictured don’t “work out,” they train and thus the drives, aims, challenges and degrees of sacrifice and reward are different. And yes, absolutely as you say, “body shaming” is part of the offense – I wish the question between the pictures read: “Whose heart do you want????”

  • Tammy
    July 27, 2015 12:45 pm

    Amen!!
    And thank you. YOU inspire me!

$35 – Symbolic Sylvie Shirt

Journalist of the Year – 2014

Fighter of the Year – 2015

Lessons from Legends – Pledge $5

connect with me here

Official Sponsor of 8limbs.Us

Official Sponsor of 8limbs.Us

No Tricks or Combos – Deep Techniques

Featured Posts

Gwang-Chon-Gambling-Beetle-Fights-Norther-Thailand-w1200

Underground Gambling, Beetle Fights, Heart and the Clinch of Muay Thai

File this under The Culture of Muay. If you are to understand Muay Thai, I mean really understand it and see how it grew out of Thai society, and the forces that sustain and feed it today, you have to appreciate Fight Culture. It is not just the techniques and gyms that make up Muay Thai in Thailand, but rather a whole system of beliefs and experiences the pull together the karma and excitements of gambling – gambling on contests of body and soul. Part 1 on the Battle Beetles of the North is here: Muay Thai Clinch is Not

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - training Muay Thai

Why Your Muay Thai Dreams Might Not Come True in Thailand – The Two Great Fears for Fighting

(above) my video introduction the common fight fears of gassing out and shin pain, the video below shows Den talking about what to do for fight conditioning Some Tough Talk One of the advantages of training non-stop in Thailand for so long is a sense of perspective I’ve gained on people who come with Muay Thai dreams. I’ve met maybe 100 people over the past year and a half who have come through the gym with serious aspirations to fight. They arrive very enthused, but less than a quarter of them actually do fight and none of them – not

Sylvie's Tips - Muay Thai Tips, Techniques and Helps from Thailand

Sylvie’s Tips – Muay Thai Tips, Techniques & Helps from Thailand

  This is a new feature I’m going to try my hand at. I’ve got a lot on my plate out here, but it feels like it would be a shame to waste some of the small technical Muay Thai know-hows I’ve run into, so I’m going to try to stop and film them in short segments when I come across a new one. Sometimes it will be something I’ve discovered in my own struggle to synthesize all the amazing technique that is surrounding me, but mostly I hope it is short pieces of instructions or help from those teaching

The 80 Percent Fight - female Muay Thai in Thailand

The 80 Percent Fight – A Hidden Story Behind Western and Thai Match Ups

Any westerner fighting in Thailand has an interest in portraying their Thai opponents as being the best and fighting at the top of their capabilities.  And, to be fair, we assume and hope that this is true in our own minds.  We come here to train hard and fight hard, and from our understanding of fighting in the west we assume quite fairly that our opponents are doing the same.  But in Thailand, things are very often not what they seem; perhaps especially when gazing with western expectations. My experience of fighting in Thailand started over 5 years ago now

When are you ready to fight Muay Thai - sylvie

How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Fight Muay Thai?

A few months ago I wrote post titled Game Day: Why You Should Fight Muay Thai in Thailand.  This is a follow up or “part two” to that post on the subject of how you know when you’re ready to fight, in Thailand or otherwise. When Are You Ready? Not long ago a fellow who I met through my Facebook page and who made it out to Thailand to train at a gym that is also in Chiang Mai came by Lanna to train with us.  After a full session including sparring he started talking about how he expected to

Emma Thomas Female Muay Thai Fighter - Interview-w1400

My Interview With Female Muay Thai Fighter Emma Thomas

Surfing the Chaos I’ve known Emma for a few years now. We actually met through online communication and I forget that we didn’t actually meet each other in person until a little over a year ago. I really like Emma and recently I was scrolling through a feed of our private messages on Facebook in order to show something she’d sent me to my Thai friend and my friend remarked, “wow, you write so much! It’s like a book!” Yeah, we talk a lot. Which made me realize with surprise that I’ve not yet interviewed Emma. I’ve certainly thought to

Treating shins for injury, bumps and bruises, swelling - Muay Thai Sylvie-w1200

Treating Shins For Recovery: Knots, Bruises, Bumps – and Training Injured – Muay Thai

above, my how to video for warm water massage for shins [update: for longer lasting shin swells you can try this] Subscribe to 8limb.us articles for free here Anyone who has kicked anything knows that the occasional bump, knot or “mouse” on the shin or foot is inevitable.  You can get them on your forehead or face from an elbow or punch and on your shins or feet from kicking knees, elbows, heads, etc.  They kind of feel like badges of awesomeness, but they can also keep you from training and that feels lame. I always have something that hurts,

calling time

15 New Techniques That Will Improve Your Muay Thai – From My Training in Pattaya

I learned a ton training with Sakmongkol in Pattaya for 7 weeks, as well in my time at Petchrungruang Gym. You can see my daily blog posts of my time with Sakmongkol here if you want to dig into the evolution of my lessons, the posts are pretty detailed with lots of video. Below are the lessons I learned, in particular the lessons or techniques I’m going to consciously work into my training at Lanna, now that I’m back in Chiang Mai. I’ll try to tell you why they were important for me and maybe they could help you, too.

Sataanmuanglek - high level Muay Thai clinch technique-w1400

Breaking Down Some Elements of Awesome Muay Thai Clinch Technique

Sataanmuanglek Numponthep – Magician A few days a go a clinch video swept across Facebook, featuring the young fighter Sataanmuanglek Numponthep just looking incredible in “man in the middle” training. This kind of training is very common in Thailand, and often can go for 40 minutes or more (rotating out the man who is in the middle) – it’s one of the reasons I moved to Pattaya to train at Petchrungruang, this kind of work. But Sataanmuanglek just looks spectacular in this clip. The very best clinch throw techniques are those where you almost can’t see where the trip came

Arjan-Pi-Bangkating-Sak-Yant-Chiang-Mai-Sacred-Tattoo-Sylvie Muay Thai Tattoo-w1200

Life Stages – My Sangwan Rahu Experience – Sak Yant by Arjan Pi Bangkating Chiang Mai

[Update May 2015: Here is my account of the Backward Facing Tigers I received next] above video: my thoughts on just coming out from the 2 hrs of tattooing my sak yant. As one can see, I was significantly affected by the experience, but was in good spirits. It is a lot to digest. What This Sak Yant Meant to Me People may not realize it from the fact that I post online and blog, and even sometimes write about very personal things, but I’m an extremely private person. And even though I have probably put more out there about

the-secret-to-padwork-in-thailand

The Secret to Great Muay Thai Padwork in Thailand – Get the Most Out of It

What follows is not authoritative, it is just the things I’ve gleaned in my nearly 5 years of full time training at my various gyms, and in traveling around and taking privates from some of the best in Thailand. You can get access to my growing Muay Thai library with legends for a suggested pledge of $5. I read a rant on Reddit that, despite its intense language, does open up that some people do get frustrated training in Thailand, finding a lack of instruction and padwork that be repetitive. I do believe there is no better place in the

8limbs.Us Pages

  • A Short Bio – Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
  • Complete Fight Record – Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
  • Kumron Vaitayanon “Master K”
  • Legacy Blog – Read Chronologically
  • My 8limbs.us Supporters – Those Who Have Lifted Me and this Site Up
  • Reach Me Here
  • Sylvie Store
  • Women’s War Face: the Bloody Female Fighter Face – New Beauty
  • Youtube – Over 2000 Videos

Sylvie’s Tips – Muay Thai Techniques

How I Wrap My Hands for Muay Thai - Fight Wrap

Sylvie’s Tips: How I Wrap My Hands with Muay Thai Fight Wraps – Gauze Linen

The cloth training wraps that are so common in the West aren’t necessarily all over the place in Thailand. You can buy them at virtually any shop that sells equipment, sure, but they’re not used by all the Thais training at the camps. A lot of Thai boys don’t wrap their hands at all. Those who do, in my experience, often favor these cloth “fight” wraps that are more like gauze-linen and don’t have a thumb loop or Velcro. The western boxing style training cloth wraps we’re used to are expensive and, the more I’ve trained, the more they seem

thanadet and the shape of the Long Clinch-w1400

For Clinch Purists – The Technique of Tanadet’s Long Clinch and the 9th Limb

This post is in the spirit of this site, showing things in progress, as if passing reading notes so others can think along (and even train along) with me. I’ve thought a lot about this clinch since first witnessing it about 3 years ago. I’ve finally gotten myself to the position where I can teach it to myself. I first wrote about Tanadet (Poda) 2 years ago.  The extended film clip below Kevin made as a study film for me, so I could figure out just what it is that Tanadet was doing. If you want a very good sense

Sylvie's Tips - Counter to the Wall of China-w800

Sylvie’s Tips – Counter to the Wall of China Block and More

n Sylvie’s Tips I try to capture on video various small techniques that I run into while training. The way that it happens in Thailand, things are seldom taught to you in the form of formal instruction, rather they come up suddenly in training and then are gone. I’m pretty shy, so it’s hard actually go around and request these things; I don’t want to stop everyone and have them repeat things for the camera. In this case though we arrived at O. Meekhun gym to find organized instruction being given to Phetjee Jaa and one of the boys named

Sylvie's Tips - Control your Muay Thai Kick - Floating Block - Sakmongkol

Sylvie’s Tips: Gaining Control of Your Muay Thai Kick – Floating Block

Sylvie’s Tips: The Floating Block Sakmongkol was the first person to tell me not to turn around on kicks.  He was adamant about it.  It’s very awkward when you first try and your kick can be really flicky and horrible, but the more you get it under control the more you realize how much this increases power.  Basically you want to have confidence that you can control your kick at any time, so if you miss your target you’re not going to spin all the way around.  Honestly, you’ll seldom if ever see this in a Thai fight and when

Sylvie's Tips - Improving Your Muay Thai Elbows Using a Wall

Sylvie’s Tips – Improve Your Muay Thai Elbows Using a Wall

Making Your Elbows (Hooks & Crosses) Fast, Direct and Accurate This is a pretty simple technique and you can find a wall anywhere, so we can mark this down as one of the most accessible tools there is. Basically, I have been alerted to the folly of how my arms launch away from my body when I throw strikes, which is detrimental to both power and control. Sagat is the one who really explained trajectory to me [<<watch that session to see what this philosophy of strking is about], showing how a wind-up is just wasted space, energy and time,

Sylvie's Tips - How to Close Distance - Hop In-w1400

Sylvie’s Tips – A Simple Way To Close Distance – Hop In | Muay Thai

This is a deceptively simple way to close distance. I get interesting communication from readers and fans. When it’s brief, I’ll answer directly. Mostly I try to get folks to post their questions on the Muay Thai Roundtable forum so it can help others who might have the same questions and more people can chime in to help with answers; but in this case the question was one I’ve not only worked hard to develop a strategy on, as a smaller fighter, but it’s also one that I’ve heard a few times. So it makes sense to do a Sylvie’s

SCATHE Acronym - Muay Thai Techniques Vlog

Technique Vlog: Meta Techniques – My S.C.A.T.H.E. Acronym

Below is a long technique vlog, basically explaining an adjustment I’ve made to my training in the last couple of weeks. Usually my training consists of things that promote my conditioning and lots of work focused on specific techniques that I want to develop. These can be techniques or tactics I’ve picked up from legends while filming my Muay Thai Library project, or things I already do that I think I should sharpen up for my particular fighting style. I’m always working on something and it’s always hard, always with the aim of development. As with all training regimes, repetition is

Muay Thai Wrap with Padding - How to Wrap Hands

Sylvie’s Tips – How I Wrap My Hands – A Muay Thai Wrap With Padding

Above is a little video of how I wrap my hands. I think it’s good to experiment with different kinds of wrap techniques as they have different strengths. It took me a while to settle on this one. Hand size, punching style, the wrap material itself can make a difference – I’ve been liking the longer, softer wraps of Top King and Punish (an Australian company). This wrap technique incorporates an extra padded layer made of a fold of the wrap placed on the knuckles first (for torn up skin, I’ve actually added a cut kitchen sponge for a few

Low Kick Counter - Round Kick Counter - Dieselnoi

Sylvie’s Tips: 2 Wicked Dieselnoi Knee Counters to Muay Thai Kicks [GIFs]

The Sylvie’s Tips feature is a collection of techniques and tips I’ve picked up in my time in Thailand, from some of the best trainers in the world. I’ve never seen these exact counters before, and they come from the greatest knee fighter in history, Dieselnoi, during my filming of a nakmuaynation.com private. You can read about that private here. Unique Knee Counter to Round Kick I’ve actually been on the receiving end of this knee to the hamstring a number of times, but only from my trainer, Pi Nu, during padwork. He thinks it’s hilarious and usually calls out boran!

Sylvie's Tips - Training the Long Guard on the Bag

Sylvie’s Tips: Training Long Guard on the Bag | Firming Up

above, my short Sylvie’s Tips on how I’m practicing Long Guard on the bag lately Everything little thing we do on the bag is repetition, even unconscious things can be “trained” into you. Simply taking a time out and walking back from the bag to reset during your rounds is that kind of small element. The further I get in my Muay Thai journey, the more I’m examining my bagwork (and shadow) for unconscious elements that I’m accidentally, or even non-efficiently training. It’s about awareness, so that I can figure out how to get my training into the ring with me

How to Practice Muay Thai Knees on the Rope - Sylvie's Tips

Sylvie’s Tips: How to Practice Knees on the Rope: Goh Teaches His Daughter Bai

The real instruction doesn’t come until minute 1:40 but the thought to record Bai jumping in to practice knees with the boys was simply because it was pretty cute.  Then her dad came over to correct her form (she was imitating the boys, mostly one who is a few down in the row).  Bai is 9 years old and has a few fights; this drill is something all the kids do at the start of training as a warmup and conditioning drill.  I’m pretty sure they do a thousand repetitions.  As Bai first starts out, her father Goh (who is

Sylvie's Tips Arm Position Angle on the Muay Thai Kick-w1400

Sylvie’s Tips – Arm Position on the Kick, A Different Arm Angle

a cross position and slash motion on the arm swing The Muay Thai Kick Arm Swing Angle One of the things you learn when you come to Thailand longer term is that there are many, many ways of doing something. You may have learned that there is “one” way, or been corrected away from a “wrong” way, and this is not necessarily a bad thing, but technique in Thailand is developed somewhat individually, over a long period of time, influenced by different styles and elements from trainers. It is not uncommon to be corrected in different directions by different trainers,

Muay Thai Kicking Form - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Kaensak

Sylvie’s Tips – Using the Wall to Correct Kicking Form

This is a quick Sylvie’s Tips on something I’ve rediscovered for my training. The main tip actually comes from when I trained with the great Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit at AMA in New Jersey several years ago. He would have me get close to and kick the wall, instead of a bag or a pad, in order to force my whole shin to line up in a parallel fashion (perpendicular to the extended kick angle some use striking the side of a target, and not the 45 degree landing angle that is common, instead flat against the target, knee bent). It

Some of My Best Posts

Violence in Muay Thai

The Importance of Violence in Muay Thai

I’ve written before about how Muay Thai and fighting, to me, isn’t “violence.” My argument was that I have experienced real violence, the above is the story of my rape as a child, and that the consent and preparation involved in fighting isn’t the same. There is, however, a flavor of violence in Muay Thai – it is, as my old boxing coach Ray Valez would say, “the hurt business” and ultimately any fighter pushing for the highest form of the art of Muay Thai has to embrace this. Yesterday there was a young woman at my gym, Petchrungruang, who

Capture2

The Fighter and Unconscious Tension – Recognize and Release

I just had to do my annual visa run, which requires sitting in a van full of total strangers for the 11 hour drive up to the border with Laos, an overnight stay, then the 11 hour drive back down to Pattaya. It’s grueling. Sitting in a car or a plane for this number of hours takes a toll on anyone. It’s astonishing how tired sitting on your ass makes you. I’m not very social, so I always put as many hours of podcasts and audio books as possible on my player so I can leave my headphones in the

Mental Training - People Pleasing and the Fighter

How Many Fucks? Zero. The People Pleaser and the Fighter

Apologies to my younger readers, this post is laced with profanity. Sometimes profanity has a special power to describe things in ways other words can’t. The plastic stool underneath me is too far out from the actual corner and my body kind of tips backwards as my cornermen lift my legs into their hands and rub icy cold water on my thighs and shins. I try to balance myself on the ropes but it’s more awkward and I reposition my forearms to the tops of my thighs; the cold water is going over my head now, which feels nice because

Chiang Mai Best Female Fighting in the World

Why Chiang Mai Has the Best Female Muay Thai Fighting in the World

This article is about the flourishing Muay Thai of Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, becoming the best female fight city in the country and very possibly in the entire world. No other city boasts such a complete native female Thai fight scene: it’s fed by side-bet (gambling) fights in the outlying provinces, stabilized by Sports Schools, hosted at a large number of local stadia (all of which allow women to fight in them) which hold fights every night of the week, and supported by the Thai Muay Siam media coverage. If you are a female Muay Thai fighter, this

interview-with-ifmas-stephan-fox

Interview with IFMA’s Stephan Fox | Muaythai in the Olympics and More

Stephan Fox is the General Secretary of the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) and the Vice-President of the World Muaythai Council (WMC).  He is a huge figure in the recognition and development of amateur Muaythai in Thailand, as well as international competition with both the IFMA and WMC. After 20 years of work, the International Olympic Committee has just given provisional recognition for possible inclusion in the Olympics – let me repeat that: 20 years of work for that, and Mr. Fox’s response is, “right on schedule.” above, the full 30 minute interview with Stephan Fox We cover a range of

the-secret-to-padwork-in-thailand

The Secret to Great Muay Thai Padwork in Thailand – Get the Most Out of It

What follows is not authoritative, it is just the things I’ve gleaned in my nearly 5 years of full time training at my various gyms, and in traveling around and taking privates from some of the best in Thailand. You can get access to my growing Muay Thai library with legends for a suggested pledge of $5. I read a rant on Reddit that, despite its intense language, does open up that some people do get frustrated training in Thailand, finding a lack of instruction and padwork that be repetitive. I do believe there is no better place in the

14601100_1330811343619659_1577492697585906845_n

“This Is Business” | The Imitation Game, Playing to the Gamblers

Alex and Note are standing on opposite corners of the ring, wearing shinguards and gloves, hanging out like they’re about to do anything other than sparring. They’re totally relaxed, laughing, joking. Kru Nu is pacing around and there’s a buzz around the circumference of the ring while the remainder of the boys all takes their positions along the ropes as spectators and Goh – one of the padmen for the kids – is hollering for Chicken Man. Kru Nu squats down with his hands on the top rope, peering under the staircase and out into the chicken farm, the most likely

fighting-above-weight-in-thailand

Female Fighters | Fighting Above Weight in Thailand & How to Win

First off, let me say it: weight, its not that big of a deal. There is a strong caveat to this, which is that it is a definite advantage, but so is height, or knowing the scoring system, or fighting since you were 10, or having a fight on your  home turf, and so many other things. So while weight is always a potential advantage, it is just one among many possible advantages. You can beat people who have the weight advantage over you, just like you can with any of those other advantages. I know that in the West

perfect-muay-thai-technique

Precision – A Basic Motivation Mistake in Some Western Training

read my guest post articles a Husband’s Point of View A Husband’s Point of View – Consider this a working theory. I’ve written about the uniqueness of Thai style training before, in The Slow Cook vs the Hack, and this article can be seen as something of an extension of that. But as Sylvie’s husband watching her progress through very earnest training and a hell of a lot of fighting, and seeing numerous westerners come through her Thai gyms, I’ve come upon something I think is pretty important. What led me to this is a very particular quality many serious

Guide to Muay Thai Gym Etiquette - Not Offend

Guide to Thailand Muay Thai Gym Etiquette – How to Be Polite

Below is meant to be a helpful guide, something that I wish I had when I first came to training Thailand. These are just things I’ve noticed in my 4 years of training and fighting here and are not hard and fast rules to follow. If you want to be polite in Thailand gyms, in a culture that is different than your own, these are just a few things to look for. There are of course a wide variety of gym experiences in Thailand, and things that are impolite in a small, family Thai-style gym might very well be common

Pitbull - Fear and Agression in Muay Thai

Fear of Escalation in Sparring and Training Aggression as a Skill

A lot of us feel that aggression comes with an “on/off” switch, and that we should be able to flick it back and forth based on context. Many of us who are learning Muay Thai struggle with aggression, perhaps because we don’t feel that we are “naturally aggressive,” and it’s frustrating to watch those who are seemingly naturally gifted with aggression succeed in ways that we don’t see in ourselves. But aggression isn’t natural, even if it does seem innate in some more than others. I contend that aggression feels natural to some due to having spent years cultivating it before they

Dracula Guard position - Muay Thai

Padwork with Daeng at Lanna – Dracula Guard (Long Guard Variation)

First a Little Bit About Daeng Daeng is one of the most fight-focused trainers I’ve trained with. When I was training at Lanna Muay Thai in Chiang Mai, it was Daeng who invested the most in diagnosing and fixing weaknesses in my fighting. He wasn’t my main trainer, but he’s a very good teacher and has a keen eye for finding how to improve on existing strengths and correct errors. I’d initially gotten a bit stuck with a technically brilliant but lazy and unmotivated trainer – that guy was a great trainer for some, just not for me – and Daeng

Arjan Surat - Dejrat Gym in Bangkok - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Arjan Surat of Dejrat Gym – 1 Hour Private | Coach of the Thai National Team

Join and Study my Muay Thai Library of Legends This is a full video of a private I took with Arjan Surat, Head Coach of the Thai National Team, and owner of the esteemed (but lesser known to the west) Dejrat Gym in Bangkok. I did a short review of the gym when I interviewed female fighter Kaitlin Young, and it was then that I met Arjan Surat for the first time: an absolutely extraordinary teacher and life-force of Muay Thai. The man is Old School-Old School, telling me that he’s been holding pads longer than I’ve been alive (he’s

The Gendered Experience

Muhammad Ali - Bragging - Women Muay Thai

Why Women Champion Themselves in the Fighting Sports

I was having a conversation with an accomplished and very thoughtful female fighter, Mae-Lin Loew of the incredibly well written Loew Factor blog. She was at once applauding me for being so honest and open in my writing, and at the same time kind of wishing she could move more in that direction herself. The subject of social limitations to what might be perceived as self-aggrandizement in blogging came up, and this little portion of my response seemed to stand on its own and say important things, so I duplicate it here: …There’s a lot of sniping and criticism no

Angie Trans Man Sparrring Muay Thai - Pattaya-001

The Petchrungruang Fight Simulator – Transgender Fighter Angie vs. Mirko

At Petchrungruang, there is sparring going on at any given moment in the afternoons. The little kids fly around the smaller ring with abandon, sparring for hours until they get tired and just stop. The older kids will match themselves up and play for a few rounds, or if they’re getting ready for a fight the sparring might be a bit more serious. Occasionally, my trainer likes to match two fighters up and put them in the center of the ring for a “mock fight.” We wear shinguards and gloves, but someone is assigned to be time-keeper and they ring an

Treated Like a Lady - Self-Defense Class - Female Only-w1400

Treated Like a “Lady” | The Benefits/Complications of Female Only Classes

This post is taken from a response I posted on the Women Only section of the Roundtable Forum – where confirmed female members discuss all things Muay Thai. If you are a female who trains in Muay Thai do join our group. The question was raised there by one of our members about the benefits and/or complications of female only classes. Her question specifically referenced “self defense” classes and women wanting to be prepared physically and mentally for an assault, and being disappointed that they were treated “ladylike” in those courses; but there are gyms that offer “women’s classes” that

My Muay Thai Scars - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Losing Face – Beauty and Changing How My Stitches and Cuts Are Read

y stitch count stands at 51 stitches, most of which are in my face.  When looking in a mirror, I can see about five vertical lines along my hairline and forehead. I love them. I haven’t always, but I do now – they’re part of my story and in the context of what I love, where my heart has taken me, they’re something I have pride in. The other day I imagined what it would be like to go back to the US and work the job I had before, which was bartending. It’s a very image-conscious occupation and it

Interview with Frances Watthanaya by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Video Interview with Female Muay Thai Fighter Frances Watthanaya in Isaan

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

crying in muay thai

There Is Crying in Muay Thai – Emotional Training

  I had lunch with Alicia Nowak yesterday, a young Polish woman who lives and trains Muay Thai in Vienna. We met through my Muay Thai Facebook page and I was surprised as we sat together across a table how easy it was to talk with her, to relate our experiences and struggles with training. It shouldn’t surprise me, as I honestly believe that no matter how different two people are who are training Muay Thai that a great deal of their experiences will be the same, but it was a delightful surprise. I mentioned – almost casually – that

Freedom and Personal Power - Muay Thai

Body Conscious – Finding Freedom and Personal Power

After struggling out of my wet sports bra, I stood in front of Kevin who was lying on the bed and waved my hands around animatedly while regaling him with the stories of evening training. I slipped off the rest of my clothes as I laughed about clinching, probably with a string of cuss words flowing out as I recounted the events. “Jesus,” Kevin said, looking at me, “I should take a picture.” I was feeling pretty good, do it, I said and kept talking. So Kevin snapped a few photos of my body before I disappeared into the shower, just

20-minutes-of-clinch-with-pettonpung-gym-mae-rim

Sharing Clinch Techniques | 20 Minutes Clinching with All-Female Gym [video]

In the video below some of the techniques being worked on: blade of the forearm lock to create leverage turns on the knee, waiting until on one foot small jerks to off balance, instead of continuous pressure moving forward and back to off balance inside thigh trip to turn and trip steering by the inside of the elbows the bounce to hide moves Spreading the Technique of Clinch This is a follow up post on my Passing Some Clinch Knowledge post on my visit to the Pettonpung gym about a month before this, where I showed my lock and a

Angie Max intro

Bravery | Angie’s 4th Fight – A Transgender Fighter

You can watch my video interview with Angie here. I’m watching Angie smash the pads with Pi Nu. She becomes very still when he tags her legs with kicks – they don’t look hard from here, and they’re definitely not full power, but I’ve been on the receiving end of them and they fucking hurt – but she stays strong. She pauses after the strike, the expression on her face becomes hardened and she comes back with a full-power strike and a grunt, almost a growl, in return. She’s preparing for a fight and she’s serious. Her last fight was

Feminism and Thai Traditional Culture

Navigating Western Feminism, Traditional Thailand and Muay Thai

There is a natural division in western feminist thinking, and in some way this post is about that divide. But much more it is about the situational ethics, the principles we may want to protect and forward, when visiting or even living in a traditional culture like Thailand; when coming to a different culture as a western privileged woman. This post is a single-person deliberation about how to best do so in the context of Muay Thai and its unique traditions in Thailand, how I am attempting to do so. Hopefully this resonates with others. Not all women from the

Nong Toom - the name nong

Ruminations on Gender, the Name “Nong” and Diminution in Muay Thai

Below are some ruminations on things I’ve picked up on in Thai culture These are suspicions I’ve arrived at through my various experiences and observations of Thai culture and should be taken as that, rather than claims of unarguable fact. I’m not fluent in Thai, neither the language nor the culture, but these are opinions I’ve formed through my experiences, observations and some academic research thus far. If anyone has further insight into or perspective on the language, gender and subculture I’d be glad to hear it. Thai Fighter Names and Gender Bias You can almost immediately spot female fighters

Lobloo Female Protection Groin Guard Review - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu 8 limbs-w1400

The Lobloo Aeroslim Female Groin Guard – A Review | My Amazon Strap

The Lobloo Aero Slim Female Groin Guard inexpensive very well designed – light weight, simple, effective, comfortable could improve technique – groin confidence in clinch, kicks, knees free shipping, arrives fast I love the Lobloo female groin guard. For the most part, I think women don’t even wear groin protection because there are so few options for us – my friend Emma Thomas wrote about these nightmares here – btw, she’s getting one now too – and of those available very few are functional and/or comfortable…but the Lobloo is both. While I obviously like that this groin guard protects me

Find My Posts by Date

February 2019
M T W T F S S
« Jan    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728  

Subscribe for Free