After watching a Muay Thai kickboxing tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, I decided to search for a training center and try out the sport myself. Since I had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Judo, I had the mistaken belief that Muay Thai would be easy. After a two hour session, my ribs were bruised, I'd lost about six pounds from sweating, and I could barely kick the pad that the instructor held in front of me.

Muay Thai kickboxing competitions start out with the competitors walking into the arena accompanied by the uniquely Asian sounds of a small band beating drums and playing handheld wind instruments. The opponents each enter the ring and proceed to do a traditional dance to honor the sport and the history of Thailand. After taking off their stylish robes and ornamental headbands, they face each other, wait for the referee to begin the match, and then proceed to fight with punches, kicks, and brutal knee attacks. Each school in the Bangkok area regularly enters competitors into weekly fights so they can gain experience for the much larger national and International tournaments held throughout the year. Because the daily pay for a Thai worker averages $2 and the reward money of winning at a large tournament are so high, the competition between fighters is fierce.

I was backpacking through Thailand at the time, so naturally I stayed in the Khao San Road area with all the other travelers from around the world. Finding a training center was as easy as walking down the little side streets and keeping a look out for heavy bags and gym related equipment. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon a small Kickboxing center. Since the gym was located in the Bangkok district, where most foreign travelers stay, the head coach spoke some English and was used to people dropping in for a day class. The cost was $5 for as long as I wanted to train that day; which turned out to be two hours.

We started the class by individually stretching and doing some cardiovascular for warm-up; this was different than the Martial Arts classes that I had attended in America because we did all the stretching and warming-up as a group. After everyone was feeling good and awake, we broke off into pairs and went to the different stations that were set up around the gym. These included; working on actual sparring inside the ring with the instructor, more cardiovascular areas like a stationary bike and jump rope, heavy bag punching, a speed bag, and also an area where one person would hold a large two-handed pad while the other trainee would practice knee attacks.

I had a great experience training there and ended up going back quite a few times over the next three weeks. However, I never felt comfortable enough with the sport to actually try out a weekly tournament. There are some local competitions in Bangkok that allow foreigners to fight, but you have to be sponsored by a local coach, and the only way to receive that blessing is to find a gym and train there for awhile.