№59 — Muay Thai

When you are in prision in Thailand, you have two options. Somehow make it through your term and get out at the end or you can fight your way out. Not in the sense of a prison break but rather as part of an organized tournament as part of the Thai correctional system.

Although I sincerely hope I never end up in a Thai prison, I always found Muay Thai interesting. More use of the full body than regular boxing, less hierarchy in the system than most East Asian martial arts. One lazy weekend in October I decided to give it a try at Backyard Vienna together with Silia.

As we were both bloody novices in Muay Thai, we were granted extra treatment by one of the two instructors. A great and very helpful way to get started. Still, before boxing actually commenced, you had to survive a grueling warm-up regime. Push-ups, planks, squats, situps with all breaks in between accompanied by rope skipping. It was though, especially that we had lunch only a couple of hours before. Not the best decision in my life.

The boxing itself was a lot of fun. First, it feels a bit strange to hit and kick your girlfriend but you get used to it after a while. After all, both are protected by pads and you take turns hitting the other. Lastly, the pads are quite sturdy, so it hurt the attacker more than the defender.

If you ever want to try Muay Thai, give it a go at Backyard Vienna. I learned about the place through my former roomate Petra and it’s great. Their focus lies on the physical exercise and less on macho-fighiting-behavior. Maybe that’s why roughly 80% of the class were women. The first trial class is 10€, definitely worth it.