Videocast Above, Podcast Below

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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.

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).