A night of Muay Thai.

During my time in Bangkok (Thailand), we decided to witness a traditional evening of Muay Thai in the Rajadamnen Boxing Stadium. On that night, multiple young fighters would face each other in the ring. It was the first time for me to ever watch a fighting sport live, so for Muay Thai in Thailand to be the first time was quite an extraordinary experience. When purchasing tickets for the fight, we decided to go all in and take the ringside tickets for an unforgettable experience. I took full advantage of the ringside ticket and walked around the entire ring to photograph the fights.

A start of a Muay Thai fight traditionally starts with the fighters doing their prayers, which includes kneeling and facing each corner of the ring. Fighters also enter the ring with traditional adornment which is removed by their coaches once the prayers are finished. Fighters then continue to stretch and walk around the ring to loosen up their muscles and prepare themselves to face off their opponent. Muay Thai consists of 5 rounds each of 3 minutes each, with a 2 minute rest in-between.

Really fun to watch during the fight, was the enormous empathy of the fighters’ coach and family, who were standing in their dedicated boxes around the ring. The loud shouting and encouragement of the family was very present throughout the entire night.

Most of the fights on this night were won by one fighter to be declared the winner on points, however, the last fight was won by the fighter who knocked out his opponent. What pleased me a lot while watching the fights, was the enormous amount of respect fighters had for one another. They would greet and compliment each other at the beginning and end of each fight, but also throughout the fight an occasional smile could be noticed on the faces of the fighters.