"King of the Ring" Muy Thai Boxing

Six year old competitor, Ricardo "Boon" Hernandez will take on Gabriel Garcia in a popular amateur fight.

Bob Cohen - PVNN
Puerto Vallarta - Lanna Gym is putting on a local Muy Thai Boxing Extravaganza Saturday night, February 18th at the Collage Club in the Marina at 8:00 pm. Owner and professor of Lanna Gym, professional Carlos Solorio Cruz, invited a large gathering to Mariscos Tinos Restaurant in El Pitillal for a pre-event press conference.

Surrounded at the head table by Kick Boxing World Champion Santiago Manzanarez of Vallarta, new PV resident and world champion of mixed martial arts, Olaf Alfonso, and the Chief of Sports for the city of Puerto Vallarta, Ignacio "Nacho" Curiel Madero, the fight card was presented.

There will be 14 fights in total; the final four bouts will be professional fights. Lanna Gym fighters will host fighters from all of the seven Muy Thai gyms in Puerto Vallarta. The headline match will pit Lanna Gym's Jorge Estrada against Jose "Rayo" Uribe of Tanai Luark Vallarta Gym.

The phenomenon of Muy Thai boxing has taken Puerto Vallarta by storm the past few years, with two large events held for World Championships here in 2005. The quality of boxing, sportsmanship and respect of other competitors, has made the sport a fan favorite and sent many of Vallarta's youth to the gym for training.

The most popular amateur match will be between two six-year-olds, who were in attendance at the press conference. They have fought publicly before, receiving standing ovations after their bouts. Ricardo "Boon" Hernandez of Lanna Gym will take on young counterpart Gabriel Garcia of Tanai Luark Vallarta Gym.

Tickets are available in advance at Golds Gym or Lanna Gym at $100 pesos for adults and $50 pesos for children. At the door the prices will be $120 and $80 pesos. For a different type of Saturday night, don't miss this one.
http://www.banderasnews.com/0602/nb-muythai

Thai Sport - Muay Thai

by Pauline Go
The most well known sport in Thailand is the Thai boxing or Muay Thai. It is a sport which needs a lot of strength, stamina and adaptability. It has a spiritual element too which is normally not linked with sports.

It is a form of combat between two fighters. Records show that this sport existed as early 1411, but it is possible that Muay Thai was in existence even before that. In 1920, Muay Thai was banned as it had become extremely violent and dangerous for the fighters. However, in 1937, the sport was revived and the fighters had to wear protective gear as the new rules and regulations that were laid down.

The spiritual aspect in Muay Thai can be seen before the sport starts. The fighters kneel down to pray to their wai kru or teacher before the event begins and they also perform a dance which is a bit of warm up besides being a ritual. This dance form is called Ram Muay. Ram Muay differs according to individual training camps. The dance is accompanied by music played by the band. The music is also known as phipat music.

The participant wears a tennis racket-like hoop on the head during the dance ceremony and then the coach removes it to indicate the start of the fight. Fighters wear bands containing a Buddha amulet and / or some kind of herb to bring good luck to them.

The actual boxing has five rounds and each round is for 3 minutes. There are three judges, who are seated in three different boxes on three different sides of the boxing ring. Points are given for each punch that lands on the opponent. In between the rounds, fighters can rest. Trainers use the rest as an opportunity to soak the fighters with water and advice them.

Muay Thai is considered to be a difficult sport and requires the fighters to be in peak physical condition.

http://boxing-thai.blogspot.com/2007/07/thai-sport-muay-thai.html