"Nezhensky" sport: What I was taught by Thai boxing
In 2011, I worked in Kommersant as a correspondent for the department of culture, I lived in a rented room in a commune, and my salary was barely enough for food, and the need for sports loads became quite obvious when I could not fit in the only winter pants. I went to Thai boxing for several reasons: the gym was next to my work, the workouts were ruthless, the whole inventory was given out at classes three times a week and it cost about 4 thousand rubles a month. It was especially nice that the main tool was becoming your own body, and you could train anywhere — there would be a sparring partner.
Thai boxing, or muay-thai, is a form of struggle that is considered an adapted version of an even more deadly ancient martial art. In Thai boxing, shin strikes on three levels (high in the head, middle in the stomach and low on the thigh) are used, as well as striking boxing technique, elbows and knees, direct kick (tib) and, of course, the clinch - fighting without orchestra, that is, on the feet, not on the mat. In order to start training, out of the outfit at first, only boxing gloves, bandages and caps are sufficient, but in the future you will need protection on your shins, helmet and chest protection. Thai shorts are a special aesthetic pleasure, but not only: you can’t think of a more comfortable training.
Contrary to popular belief, Thai boxing is a tough martial art “not for girls”, there are many girls in this sport, and they, other things being equal, often achieve much more serious results than boys. This is because, firstly, not all girls are such fragile creatures, and secondly, because there is less competition in this area than in men. For example, in the category up to 70 kg, as I had at the beginning, in principle it is not easy to find a worthy opponent. Even in the category up to 63.5 kg athletes are several times less than athletes, and in a few years, in principle, it is realistic to achieve the title of master of sports.
Even if you do not set yourself the task of participating in competitions, Muay Thai training will definitely help to believe in yourself, but in order to achieve at least some progress, you need to do at least three times a week. Today, contact martial arts can be considered a type of lifestyle style: people visit the gym once every couple of weeks, they do without working out the technique and without hard exhausting sparring, lightly pound the pear and then publish cute selfies from the dressing room. You can meet girls and boys who have been involved in Thai boxing for several years, and at the same time they have neither the punch technique, nor the strength, nor even the resistance to pain.
Speaking of why people even go to martial arts, there is a risk of going too deep into complex combinations of complexes, social attitudes and aesthetic preferences. For me, Thai boxing has become the path to emotional health (although physical health is still a bit undermined). First of all, Thai boxing training brings up the habit of overcoming difficulties: usually a session lasts from one and a half to two hours, and for about an hour from this time is given to a weary warm-up and hitch.
Going out on a workout is an effective way to get rid of irritation and resentment, and pushups clean your head much better than caffeine or alcohol
Running, skipping rope, push-ups, jumping out, stretching, practicing techniques, coordination exercises and the vestibular apparatus develop the body from various sides. Every good coach will explain that even if one thing does not work out - for example, the vestibular apparatus I personally have is very weak - you can develop some other area and focus on it. Already after half a year of classes, for the first time in a long time, I believed in myself when in a light sparring victory over a newcomer who came from classic boxing - I just used my knees, realizing that he was stronger than me on fists.
Secondly, after I started practicing Thai boxing, I became much more confident in myself. It was a belief that I could stand up for myself, even if I had to do it physically. Unfortunately, this method is less accessible to girls than boys, because we are taught from childhood to negotiate, not insist, and rejoice that violence is being used to us, and not repulse it - after all, pulling of braids and pinching in the corridor is a manifestation of attention . As soon as I realized that I would be able to fight back, it literally became easier for me to live and cope with stress — from the mere awareness of my security, and not my willingness to get down to business. In addition, giving everything in training is an effective way to get rid of irritation and resentment, and push-ups clean the head much better than caffeine or alcohol. A punching bag with the face of a boss is the world-famous invention of Japanese clerks who cannot better vent their irritation than beating such an effigy from the heart.
I will not hide, sometimes even the thought of how exactly (in detail!) You can respond to the aggression of others, help to contain the manifestation of this aggression on its part. True, it is better to be careful with these thoughts, because in fact it is very unpleasant to hit a person, and a sense of shame for this act will inevitably come - sooner or later - especially if your opponent is not a tayboxer at all. Recently, a Facebook friend wrote that after the # YANE fear campaign, he understood a lot and wondered whether to send his daughter to a knife fight class. I answered him the following: if you master some deadly skill, it is very difficult not to use it. Now I understand that when I was a neophyte in Muay Thai, my behavior was often unjustifiably aggressive.
As in any other fight, in Thai boxing is not easy to be a newcomer. The prospect of a fight with a real opponent scares many from the very beginning - they say, they fight me, I don't know how, they will beat me. The truth is that the danger usually comes from the newcomers themselves, who still do not know how to count their strength and can hit too powerfully, causing a real injury. Thai boxing girls often behave specifically: many at first apologize a lot when they put a little more power into a kick than to slam a mosquito. “Oh, forgive me! Oh, sorry, I didn’t want to,” - these girls utter uncontrollable phrases in the first few months of classes. People who have already identified these few months can react to this in their own way: it often seems to them that the rival is “hypocritical” and does not work in full force.
Another question is the attitude in society towards a girl who has learned to stand up for herself. Today, martial arts is no longer considered an aggravating circumstance when committing a crime, and yet in the news about the case of Russian powerlifting champion Tatiana Andreeva, who slaughtered a violent acquaintance and was convicted, she is persistently called "athlete", as if this kind of activity determines the degree of resistance with rape. In turn, Monda (mixed martial arts) star Ronda Rauzi was even convicted of domestic violence after she described her altercations with her ex-boyfriend in her autobiographical book. However, such cases are rather rare: real violence and sports-limited "violence" in training are completely different things, and it can be said that in wrestling classes women and men experience equality and learn respect.
The relationship of athletes and athletes in training - this is a separate difficult question. Sexist jokes in the hall are not at all uncommon, as is the internal misogyny among female athletes. However, if they can make a joke about a girlfriend over a girlfriend, the guy cannot avoid mocking at the fact that she put him on a haikik.
For many men, being paired with a woman is akin to humiliation, but gradually assuming that the partner has a chest that cannot be beaten, and a much lighter weight category, a taiboxer may well get used to sparring with a girl. There are some athletes who love to “teach” newcomers, especially women, they immediately beat in full force, as if stating: “If you want to be on equal footing - get it”. In this case, it is very important how the coach behaves. If he encourages this behavior, we must leave this hall, because sport is a sport, not a platform for self-affirmation and demonstrative flogging.
Like any other combat sport, Muay Thai is traumatic and not very useful for physical health.
In general, getting an injury at workout is easier than the easy one, even if the partner is careful, the coach is attentive, and you have all the necessary protection. I earned the initial arthrosis of my right knee by accidentally flying into the wall, and one friend of mine paid for her title of master of sports with a whole complex of gynecological problems. In one of the fights, an opponent broke a foot on my shin, and during another fight I earned a rupture of the vessel in my nose - the asterisk is still there. Needless to say, beginners in Thai boxing always walk with feet that are purple-blue-gray from bruises, because the first year of training happens stuffing - nerve endings on the outer part of the leg from foot to knee stale from numerous hematomas so that the athlete will not hurt later this place on the enemy. Ultimately, the lower leg should become insensitive, like a piece of wood. You need to press and press, so as not to pierce the lungs, as well as forearms, thighs and feet. In addition, from constant lifting on tiptoes for a number of strokes, foot crevice begins, like among ballet dancers. Of course, it is likely to get on the nose - and break it. Muy-thai, like any other combat sport, is traumatic and not very useful for physical health.
You will have to accept the fact that you are sure to hurt something if you decide to do Thai boxing seriously, and not as a discharge once a week. But in fact, it is not so scary: adrenaline from workouts relieves all injuries, in addition, there are many “freezing” sports creams and, in the end, you can always dispense the load. From my point of view, practicing martial arts without sparring is pointless, but many use such training as intense cardiovascular exercise. Contrary to various advertising texts, Thai boxing does not contribute to either losing weight or creating a “feminine” figure. From unbearable aerobic loads, the muscles of the whole body get stronger, but they are deflated, and the developed oblique abdominal muscles conceal the waist. At the same time, fat may disappear, but nutrition and metabolism are more important than the type of load.
Rhonda Rousay, Holly Holm or Gina Carano, one of the most famous representatives of martial arts, can not be called thin. Although in fairness it should be noted that most of them have not been performing by the rules of Thai boxing for a long time. It so happened that in recent years, the mass audience is much more in demand fights by the rules of MMA, where combating and striking techniques. Therefore, today it is not easy to name a Thai boxer who would be known outside of a certain sports party. Even Anastasia Yankova, a Moscow athlete, who became famous as a model of “sexually attractive” tayboxersha - and she went to MMA.
Passion for Thai boxing has come to the masses from street confrontations of fan groups and the conflicts of left radicals with right-wing radicals, but it is gradually becoming a thing of the past with these phenomena. After three years of training, I lost seven kilograms, became the champion of the Moscow region in Thai boxing, won one masterful tournament, visited several amazing competitions. However, when at that masterful tournament one of the coaches began to tell me that the Jews invented the Holocaust, and several guys from my gym once again began to joke over the name of my opponent, I realized that all this had nothing to do with sports that I spend a huge amount of time with people completely alien to me.
This is one of the most important problems facing people coming into the world of martial arts. Regulars of ordinary, not the most expensive halls, where they can train very serious fighters, are mostly schoolchildren or students, schoolgirls or students, most likely belonging to some ideological group. For example, in one of the halls where I trained, all members of the Spartacus fan company School were engaged, in another club where I went, Yevgenia Khasis, convicted of complicity in the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, was trained. The last time I attempted to go to Thai boxing a year ago at the Institute of Physical Education, at the end of the workout, I was offered to work out cheaper at the expense of the sponsor. In exchange, it was required to go on call to rallies and maintain the point of view of a construction company, known, in particular, for the dispersal of the old version of the Russian Planet.
This was the last straw in my enthusiasm for Thai boxing: it became obvious that it was extremely difficult to do it and be away from ideology. Today, Thai boxing in Russia is a sport that will require you to rebuild your life, and perhaps even your interests and attitudes - and the more, the longer you will be engaged in it. While you are still interested in exploring the world of youth subcultures, trying yourself in the new role of a boxer, choosing multi-colored bandages and running to the gym with an anticipation of new knowledge, it makes sense to think about what next sport you will do. If you are not going to become a professional and make money on battles, any sport has a ceiling of development.
In any case, the opportunity to learn a couple of simple strokes and generally become stronger physically is a definite plus. In addition, any girl who has tried herself in martial arts at least once expands the possibilities of self-realization for all women. Once in training, a guy asked me: "Why did you go to boxing, because this is not a women's sport?" I asked if his mother drives a car and if his sister walks in jeans. Of course, he replied in the affirmative, since it never occurred to him that in many countries of the world this was still “non-female” occupation.
Photo: Twins Special, RealBoxing, _jure - stock.adobe.com
