IFS

Opinion time and commentary is something I actually make effort to avoid. In Muay Thai the truth is in the ring.  I would prefer to let the actions in the ring speak for itself where possible and feasible.  But I often find myself compelled by own conscience and unwillingness to let wrong occur and never comment on it.  By the same token when good in the sport happens I feel compelled to let it be known that any organization or person’s good efforts deserve recognition. I find myself having to remind myself, yes there are still good people in the sport of Muay Thai and I struggle more often than I should at separating basically alphabet soup sanctions eager to assess fees and trinkets and little else from what Muay Thai is as a sport.

Despite the actual decisions or even on paper outcomes the ring dispels falsehood and illuminates reality with the simple truth of what happens in the time frame between two fighters in the ring. It’s a truth that is as transcendent as it is basic and elegant in its simplicity. Building on this fights are what makes promotions valid or invalid.  So what happens when truth is found inadequate in building the excitement a meaningful card can bring?  You market and market heavily. Be warned what follows is my biased opinion on a recent happening in advance of the International Fight Showdown (IFS) card.

In no previous post I have ever had have I ever mentioned positively or negatively commented on any event the IFS has ever done.  Simply put, I believe in truth in advertising.  There is no truth to an international fights showdown that includes primarily amateurs and features almost exclusively California talent. Hence, its not worth comment on and in truth much needed experience is afforded to young fighters coming up or just wanting to test the waters competitively. After all what’s the use in telling a short person they are short? It won’t make them grow taller. Any meaningful change in terms of purpose has to be willful. The truth in advertising in these shows so far with IFS I see no sign of changing despite the newly coined IFS Pro slogan.

The IFS is now at a critical stage where they can build an even bigger audience in Northern California’s Muay Thai scene. With War of the Heroes seemingly indefinitely shelved due to payment issues of insurance on a severely injured fighter on their event, it could be quite some time before Californians may see another War of the Heroes event.  Perhaps, never depending on how the issue is ultimately resolved.  For anyone wishing to see the public records detailing the incident from the California State Athletic Commission. The archives on hearings and judgements should be publicly accessible by the time of this writing.

The IFS seemed to acknowledge the need for publicity and press moving forward with their event.  So making full use of young and hungry writers the IFS proposed that they offer write ups of the event to many sites covering Muay Thai in the USA including my site, mymuaythai.com, and a host of others.  However, this was with one important caveat: all articles written were subject to the IFS editorial thumbs up before publication.  In effect, the IFS would determine what any site would have to say through these writers.

Enter Lauren Tharp, young and hungry and eager to make a good impression on a prospective client.  Lauren had made her offer to me and I respectfully told her I would be very willing to link to her press write up but that I cannot do a verbatim copy and paste of a press release.  And I was also equally frank about my issue with IFS’ truth in advertising (specifically for me the lack thereof).  After all I like and admire fighters such as Baxter Humby very much. It then became apparent to me that she had thus far not received payment despite actually getting her press release published on an MMA site.

Lauren therefore decided to make public her struggles with payment and her need of income as is typical of a young struggling writer. The issues she experienced in the fight industry such as it is, are not unlike fighters.  Speaking out brings risk that can include a blacklisting or other forms of sabotage that can impact careers to the point of ending them. For my opinion, it’s wrong.  In a broader sense beyond even hurting Muay Thai, it hurts people.  People, that most of the time want to do good and achieve what they can. And people that want to bring their love and enthusiasm for Muay Thai to their craft in writing. Ultimately, Lauren made her resignation public.

I am often asked what is the problem with USA Muay Thai.  Why isn’t it growing like it should?  Surely in America we have the population density and diversity that a special group of fighters and fights are going to emerge from this country.  And ultimately begin their conquest of the world in the sport they dearly love. My answer isn’t a lack of media coverage, a lack of decent paydays, sanctioning and regulatory corruption or even a lack of love for the sport.  To me those are symptoms of a larger issue.  In the USA we are too dishonest to others and with ourselves.  Until this problem can be abated or resolved in a meaningful way the problem will be perpetual.  A quick rule that should be applied and that everyone should hopefully know by now is simple: if you wouldn’t do it for free, don’t expect others to do it for free.

Thankfully, Lauren’s courageous stance paid off and payment due her was received. I am doubtful the IFS would have responded at all had it not been for Lauren standing up for herself.  And I respect that courage because I know it was not an easy step to take. And it was not without risk.

Lauren is also a previously published publicist working with Champions of Champions’ promotion where her pieces still reside to this date.  I am hopeful this has not soured Lauren on Muay Thai and her craft as it specifically applies to it.  Muay Thai needs people who write well and can add interest to fights. Press and promotions go hand in hand and always will. It also needs people that tell the truth no matter how they are gag-ordered, threatened or have payment withheld.

WBC Muay Thai

It’s been since November 2010 when WBC Muay Thai announced their 48th convention held in Cancun, Mexico. On the agenda was the establishment of WBC committees in every representative nation in their membership. The UK established a committee and Australia appointed Pamorn Martdee as their president.  It looked like the wheels were moving forward and something resembling an actual world independent sanction was starting to take shape. But, notably the USA’s committee and rankings are nowhere to be seen past the November, 2010 date of the convention.

Case for the World Muaythai Council

I’ve made it known though the World Muaythai Council (WMC) was senior in existence it had yet to make any ratings international or otherwise. That too appears to have changed as the online incarnation of Muay Siam has now a listed ranking for WMC.  I credit this new evolution by the WMC to the pressure of real Muay Thai fans and people who want to see clarity and something in the way of integrity enter the sport. How this clarifies the picture with title revocations on a whim with little to no opportunity to defend one’s title, simultaneous weight champions and the ever growing number of Muay Thai Against Drugs (MAD)champions is not addressed by their rankings or indeed even recognized. How does one grant a championship without solid ranking and where do the MAD champions stand?  Not only the ‘world’ MAD champions but the regional ones as well. Or the Z-1 champions of Malaysia where it’s verified that WMC representatives rarely make an appearance at all? Needless to say there are more trinkets than there is authenticity.

In essence WMC acted as the promoter’s best friend making a trinket title up for stakes and therefore hopefully upping the prominence or perceived value a fight on any given card may have. Adding to it WMC’s shenanigans in the Contender Asia and Contender Asia 2 and it’s apparent that the WMC’s agenda is for gathering sanctioning fees and bloating their own egos. But sadly it doesn’t stop there.

The WMC’s same staff members are also International Federation Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) members and directors and there is a line that exists between IFMA and WMC goal and staff wise that is for the most part largely rhetorical and less a concrete reality. The need for discrete responsibility and authority apparently is not a priority within WMC or IFMA and it shows.

Participants are sold the idea that Muaythai with belly and shin pads with headgear is a version of Muaythai that represents the sport fit for the world to see.  The reality is, it is an event that professional fighters dominate and indeed amateurs will face professional fighters.  Yes, International Fedration Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) has professional fighters participating in it. The central goal (at least rhetorically) is that ultimately Muay Thai will become an Olympic sport and thus raise its public profile but with the playing ground so uneven to begin with and the use of elbows pads and protection similar to what one might see in Olympic Taekwondo does this accurately reflect what Muay Thai is? Further more the current trend is for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to eliminate events due to time constraints and not add them. Muay Thai combined into the single word muaythai does nothing to remove a nation’s origin from the name of the event which bars it from Olympic inclusion, one of the IOC rules the name change seeks to circumvent. Mismatches and falsehood in terminology not withstanding with Yodsanklai and many other of Thailand’s best participating its been reported also IFMA enjoyed a healthy surplus in funds from selected countries participating. I am still struggling with seeing how mismatching amateurs and overbilling them develops amateurs in the sport.

Some participating countries in the IFMA world championships would be billed in essence a double rate than what their accommodations normally would cost.  A cursory look over Priceline.com in comparison to the amount I was quoted verifies this.  Were the rooms that much more in quality that the 2X rate was justifiable? According to a member of the American team who paid only the normal rate, “no”. This begs the question why were only certain nations billed a double rate and not others? And further who ultimately benefits at the overcharging?

Case for WBC Muay Thai

WBC Muay Thai made a strong case for themselves as an international sanction that could establish itself as something meaningful to the world.  Nearly from its first date of operation WBC Muay Thai had international rankings.  After working through its own placement of fighters it began resembling something that really did look like a believable ranking of fighters competing internationally.  But regionally per a country a problem persisted and as of this writing continues to: national championship being fought for with nothing put down in ink for each nation’s national rankings. In essence, WBC Muay Thai played the same game to an extent that WMC plays.  WBC established contracts with promoters and a championship bout would be held at that promoter’s discretion for WBC Muay Thai.

WBC Muay Thai seemed to display some awareness of this issue which could serve to undermine their position and their gaining momentum as an independent sanction that seemed to want to do things right. To this end they announced a ranking committee was going to form for each country. But to this date my request for a notification on this progress has gone on unanswered and WBC Muay Thai continues to have national title matches in many of their member nations with no ranking for the nation.

Now I don’t pretend to know the mandate on this but for the time between mid November 2010 and now in the United States to not gather a ranking for a nation this small in Muay Thai is beyond excessive.  Both the rankings and the committee have yet to be announced. The timeline for WBC Muay Thai to establish a meaningful presence in the United States is rapidly ticking away to the zero mark. At this juncture some of the promotional only titles may hold greater value than what WBC Muay Thai may hold for a national basis. As of this writing, for the national level I see no transparency or effort at all to get a national database of fighters ranked in any country. However the issue with both WBC Muay Thai and WMC are not without a solution.

Proposal for a Solution

The independent sanction model for combat sports has its original basis in the sport of international boxing. Boxing fans and hopefully fight fans in general understand that the fights give the titles value. Not the other way around.  A meaningful fight between two known high quality combatants is what is remembered and more than the title. If rankings cannot add authenticity to that then the title holds little to no value.  The sanctioning bodies need to include this method in their ranking efforts (such as they are).

In international boxing when a title is to be put up for grabs the sanctioning body announces this.  The fight for the championship is then put up to a purse bid process. All interested registered promoters may bid on the amount of the purse to be rewarded to the winner. This puts the fighter and his or her team in a position to negotiate.  In boxing the best bid wins and the winning promoter must put up a percentage of the portion for the purse up front to secure the date. If both sides fail to agree the date is either scratched or with enough time the incumbent title holder is stripped for not defending the title. As it stands now the option for fighters in Muay Thai for negotiating a contract consist of: Take it or leave it. It seems to me even in the United States where the Muay Thai scene is comparably small to many other countries there is enough competing promoters to participate in a purse bid and in my opinion it should happen.

Furthermore, a title defense should happen within 9 months of winning the title against a contender who is truly a contender.  The definition of this can vary depending on the sanctioning body from an 11th ranked fighter all the way down to 15th ranked. Do we really need to see any more one-sided beating from a mismatch in the name of a ‘world championship’ defense?  Things like that will add fuel to the argument that Muay Thai is not credible. Part of a sanction’s job is to ensure fighters can be matched fairly and safely. Of late the World Professional Muaythai Federation (WPMF) matched Bovy Sor Udomson against a much younger and naturally larger fighter for a WPMF title.  I’d like to have seen the ranking that put either as number one contender given Bovy’s cumulative injuries and out of shape state or based on the other’s accomplishments that border on the  sub-mediocre.

None of this can happen though until the authoritative parties are made accountable.  I am for the most part on the periphery of the sanctioning parties claiming to do the best for Muay Thai and representative of the will of the king of Thailand.  The reality of it is independent sanctions hurt the sport when they don’t see a value in doing things right or with the proper amount of attention.  If its become too much of an effort for old, wealthy men who desire clout and the niceties of having access to fighters than they should seek someone with both the resources and the love of the sport to do right by it.

I am confident change is on the way. The arrival of WBC Muay Thai proves that there is a need for this change to occur.  WBC Muay Thai began filling a niche which was inadequately filled or not filled at all prior to their existence.  But for whatever reason this progress in the right direction has either stalled or stopped altogether.  If it’s the wrong figure head whether it be a Thai general, Fox or whoever the USA representative is that’s responsible I ask them to yield or pull over wholly until the right vehicle for taking Muay Thai where it needs to be arrives.

Here’s a sample from one of the hardest working veterans of the USA Muay Thai scene.  In fact I cannot think of any of the bigger shows for the USA Jeff has not been a presence at.  Jeff does superb and consistent work photographing Muay Thai events in the United States. I normally don’t name drop anyone (I’m pretty much one that has to be sold on on any entity’s integrity first) but his fine work speaks for itself.

If you want to see more of Jeff’s fine work go his official site and take a look at some of his galleries.  In the meantime here’s a sample video from him showing some American nak muays like Joe Schilling, Chaz Mulkey and Thailand’s fearsome Lerdsilla. Its obvious that its a labor of love and it shows in Jeff’s work.

First, a warning: this article is interspersed with my commentary and I have made my best efforts to make it obvious where my commentary applies.

On November 10, 2010, The French Council of State rejected the request of the Federation of Muaythai (FMDA) and the Federation of Full Contact (FFCDA) to cancel the decree of October 27, 2009 whereby the Minister of Health and Sports has given the delegation to the French Sports Federation Contact and Associated Disciplines (FFSCDA) . The FFSCDA remains the only federation delegate.

The news is significant in a number of ways. France has always made it a practice for Sports Federations to in effect govern their own sports. France’s government began this practice in 1945 and continues to this day. Theoretically this has resulted in the autonomy of sportsmen to regulate their sport and unify as they see fit. The president of the FFSCDA, Denis-Marie Cintura greeted the outcome with relief and some optimism:

The decision of the Council of State is particularly important in that it ends all the rumors and gossip on the legal soundness of the FFSCDA. The end of harassment of small federations in distress that we have wasted time, energy and money in fighting to preserve only the titles of their managers and timber interests. The time of gathering, unity and work is now free of all these bumps.

With regard to the Muay Thai amateur, the representative of the Federation also spoke:

The Thai Minister of Culture and Sports has sent a letter to the IFMA (International Federation of MuayThai Amateur) to recognize the FFSCDA as the only French Federation. IFMA has accepted this request.  In this respect the decision of the State Council which followed the decision of the Court of Appeals of Paris has only strengthened our position with IFMA.

Prior to this decision the The Federation of Muay Thai and Related Disciplines (FDMA) could legitimately make the claim as being the only recognized governing body in France. Though it should be noted internationally and in any scope meaningful or otherwise the IFMA is the only true game in town for amateur recognition.

Regarding future projects over the next two seasons, the FFSCDA has verbally committed to working with the French Olympic Committee Sport. To that end the president named a specific agenda:

• The presence of youth teams in the World Championship WAKO.
• The creation of a statute pro boxers. Obtaining high-level status for the best amateur athletes in the country.
• And finally overhaul the licensing system with the creation of an inexpensive license for less than 7 years.

In France some federations are directly responsible for the actual execution of a public service remit. They receive the delegation from the Ministry of Sports, made to a single federation in a particular discipline to organize sports competitions after which the securities are issued international, national, regional or county.

As the new delegated authority in Muay Thai FFSCDA define the technical and administrative rules specific to their discipline. This seemed to be the key issue in the rejection of FDMA’s protest to FFSCDA. A while back FDMA was found to be guilty of granting a title shot for a nak muay with no authority but their own.The newly appointed FFSCDA are free to set rules for the organization of their competitions, with the exception of matters relating to public order. These areas include violence, doping, disciplinary power, medical rules,  and are subject to specific legislative and regulatory framework. The new Sports Act of July 6, 2000, amending the Act of July 16, 1984, establishes the framework of “public service of sport” by reaffirming the principle of recognition between the state and the sports movement.

Its hard to argue that under the FFSCDA big events haven’t happened with the recent Lumpinee title fight in France as well as big events waiting in the wings. France is arguably the strongest and most consistent country in the west for Muay Thai. With FFSCDA even offering the proverbial olive branch to former FDMA staff members the future could indeed continue to improve in France where Muay Thai has always been strong.

Ontario Flag

The fight for legal recognition of Muay Thai in Ontario, Canada is an ongoing one. And an update concerning the state of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Muay Thai is well overdue.  Earlier on in this debate, outgoing Canadian Medical Association president  Dr.Anne Doig was quoted as saying, “We are concerned when people engage in activities the sole purpose of which is to pummel, kick, punch, scratch, whatever methods they use, until somebody is seriously hurt or injured, or somebody cries uncle and submits.” From this statement one can see the fight for MMA regulation was not an easy one given the relative squeamishness and frankly ignorance Ontario’s provincial regulators seem to struggle with.

Despite these misgivings ultimately money and the potential of it  largely through the Ultimate Fighting Championship company has grown beyond ignoring.  Frankly speaking Ontario’s sports stewardship has recognized what it stands to gain economically. In the United States this legal recognition of MMA has translated into extension regulatory coverage and recognition of Muay Thai.  Initially this did not appear to translate quite the same with Ontario. From sec 83 of the criminal code there are 2 methods to facilitate local combat sports sanctioning:

1) Through the PSO/NSO/NF model

OR

2) Through direct permission from the Province (not requiring a PSO)

Apparently in Ontario the Muay Thai community has a growing sentiment of not really caring or hinging their hopes on the IOC’s inclusion of Muay Thai.  And in fact growing recognition of how little it really does to make Muay Thai ’accepted’ or legitimate seems to be settling in.To be frank the smarter people in Muay Thai’s community in Ontario have come to realize that (Canadian Muay Thai Council – Amateur) CMTC-A is only trying to expand their sphere of influence. The people of Muay Thai in Ontario are very uncomfortable with its influence in Ontario. And rightly so since in essence a foreign based power will dictate Ontario policy should a PSO ever come to pass. And this movement did in fact have roots both in Calgary and the World Muaythai Council (WMC) and CMTC-A’s Robin Finley who has directly responded to my posts on this very topic on this site. The WMC’s role in this is very ironic since WAMTAC has publicly stated they initially were granted permission to operate under WMC’s umbrella of coverage until days later Stephan Fox reportedly revoked that coverage. Coincidentally CMTC-A based in Calgary where Mike Miles is also the Canadian WMC arm began moving towards pushing Ontario towards the PSO model.

Finley’s explicitly expressed stance was “MT like all other recognized and funded sports needs a national body, with provincial bodies, similar to the Federal/Provincial government structure. Like it or not, this is the only path to legitimacy, recognition and funding for ANY sport in Canada”. In other words CMTC-A pressed for a PSO model of regulation in order to even grant Ontario the right to have regulated Muay Thai fights.  Guess who would be helming that PSO organization?

Since that time Ontario has staged a Muay Thai amateur card through World Amateur Muay Thai Association of Canada (WAMTAC). On the surface this may not seem that meaningful until one considers that this was the first event in Ontario of its kind in over 2 years. And in fact this remarkable milestone was underscored by the fact it was successful despite last minute changes to the card. In fact a 2nd event is planned to take place in November.

De facto, the first WAMTAC sanctioned event this is what was found:  Muay Thai doesn’t need Calgary’s interference or WMC for Muay Thai events to happen or in fact begin to thrive. In Ontario, it has become apparent that the Crown Prosecutors have no issue with Muay Thai events being organized. WAMTAC’s adherence to safety regulation with insurance, medicals and ring side medical staff present including doctors were sufficient. By all reports WAMTAC has gone well beyond the minimal requirements and thus far no issues were experienced. Obviously, this has not pleased Calgary based CMTC-A who seem to my eyes to be operating on borrowed legitimacy and so will try to foist it in whatever means available to them still. With the amount of Muay Thai talent being produced in Ontario it would seem that is where much of the future lies in up and coming Muay Thai fighters. And in my opinion Ontario must be included in order to accurately gauge Canada’s Muay Thai future with anything resembling a complete picture.

So the good news first: Muay Thai is legal and regulated.  More good news, its in my opinion going to continue on that path and its unlikely any organization is going to stop it or force a fiefdom upon Muay Thai in Ontario. The bad news is there is still an active under current of squeamishness and the regulatory staff in place in Ontario are obviously untested with combat sports and there for sure will be bumps along the way.  Overall though this is a good start and I am optimistic about Ontario’s future in Muay Thai. Now if an initial step can be made to form a circuit for Muay Thai extending into the United States even more fighters and Muay Thai fans will have more to be happy about.

Parody logo created for Team Scandal

In what is becoming typical of the moves by the World Muaythai Council (WMC) and their associate governing bodies, Liam Robinson has now apparently been banned along with  an initial threat to ban Liam’s Gym Northampton gym of the United Kingdom. *This ban of the gym is now rescinded and includes only Liam himself. *The ban prevents Liam  from participating on any UKMF sanctioned event for one year. As a fairly obvious joke Liam Robinson and some close friends have been sporting badges with the parody logo pictured above.  Basically as an inside joke encompassing Liam Robinson’s friends (including Liam Harrisson)and gym mates they also sported  shorts with the parody of the United Kingdom Muay Thai Federation’s (UKMF) logo that served as the punchline for Robinson’s ‘Team Scandal’. And from an outsider perspective well, it is funny. But apparently not everyone gets the humor in it.

In a public post the UKMF has responded to Robinson’s humor with the following:

At the recent 8 man tournament hosted and promoted by Dan Green (Fight Sport Events Champions Trophy tournament) one of the fighters elected to publically impugn the joint integrities of both the UKMF and WMC by adorning his fight shorts with ‘altered’ logo’s of both organisations.

The UKMF have announced an immediate expulsion of this fighter from all UKMF promotions for a period of one year from the date of offence.
His Club is also expelled as are his fighters and students.

The WMC are pursuing legal action for deformation of copyright image and looking to impose a ban on this fighter from all WMC sanctioned
promotions worldwide. Until the fighter has been made aware of the consequences of his illconcieved actions his identity will remain with held.

UKMF parody logo

Liam Harrison himself responded:

the logos on the shorts were made up by me and Liam (Robinson), we jokingly said it and got badges made for our shorts along with are TS logos and
given to most the guys who are in Team Scandal as a joke…as we are called Team Scandal we decided when we fight we could JOKINGLY be
UNITED KINGDOM MUAYTHAI SCANDALERS or UKMS thats what our logo was, or the fighters who fought internationally could be WMS WORLD MUAYTHAI
SCANDALERS…..pls if anyone really finds this offensive just say, cos we all thought it was pretty funny…iv got a pair of shorts like it,
so have at least 10-15 others IT WAS A JOKE…..and im sorry how many people were looking forward to ROBINSON VS LEE GREEN cos i know i was
and now one of the most anticipated fights in the uk domestic scene aint gonna happen next month cos of this nonsense…i will happily put
my own show on i will sanction it as TS promotion and put that fight on

In regards to the  copyright lawsuit threat it would appear Robinson and his friends do in fact have a legal right to use the parody logo. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#Fair_use_and_parody for details regarding this legal right.

My commentary on this latest move to ban fighters via blacklisting follows:

Normally, I wouldn’t even report something of  this nature based on how small of an action it really was. But the sanctions UKMF have decided to take border on nearly ridiculous and pretty immediately offensive to my moral and ethical sense.  Now the WMC is allegedly to be involved in the beginning of litigation towards a fighter, blacklisting his entire camp and one would have to guess all the people from the gym serving as officials for UKMF sanctioned events. *This ban of the gym is now rescinded and includes only Liam himself. *I sincerely hope the Muay Thai community of the UK and the world recognizes the basic wrong in this dictatorial move. And early signs seem to indicate that they do.

How ridiculous is it to have an allegedly independent sanction’s name emblazoned upon clothing anyway?  How often do you see official Sears logo underwear or Microsoft branded beer coolers?  Fighters never complain about being a walking billboard for UKMF or WMC yet both still occur.  Has any of these independent sanctions given anything to all the fighters freely carrying their brand names around on their bodies while fighting in the ring? In that context walking around with a logo of any company is a fairly ridiculous and ironic exercise anyway. Whatever happened to fighters with shorts reflecting their own name or their gym’s name? There’s some element of hypocrisy here when the WMC and UKMF get free brand name advertisment without recognition or reward for the fighters yet sanctions are easily doled out with no regard to how trivial of a matter it is to begin with. Is the payment for being ad space for low moral independent sanctions the honor of fighting for the sanction? Fighters and gyms need to begin declaring their independence from this base brand name marketing of people who obviously don’t have the sport’s best interests especially its fighters as paramount concern.

Stephan Fox himself has come to my site to decry how I was allegedly trying to discredit his organization.  Let me counter by saying the WMC’s activities in the USA, Australia, the UK, Canada and other countries do far more to discredit WMC than I could ever hope to through my efforts. And the basic offenses are covered from simple incompetence to overt manipulation. WMC is their own worst enemy and certainly not a friend to the men and women in the sport of Muay Thai. The events happen with no input from me.  At most I comment on it and the activities of the WMC unfold wholly on their own.

I’ve spoken on the WMC in the past for how they conduct their business, their record of black listing, lack of rankings and the recent Australia debacle with WMC illustrates their many issues even further. However even for the WMC and their associates this is a new low.  The basis of this black list is now a joke logo which is clearly in every sense a parody.  Yes, this hugely punitive blacklist against one of the rising stars in the UK comes from the basis of a 5 cm square of laminated plastic and a patch on shorts.  The offensiveness of UKMF’s sanction is only slightly greater than it’s absurdity. Maybe the UKMF and their associates are thinking the logo carries weight based on how the WMC and themselves conduct their business. In any scenario is this how an independent sanction is expected to behave? Where is the balanced and unbiased perspective a true independent sanction is supposed to have? How thin is the skin of someone who elects to conduct business in the public eye for a sport that is viewed publicly in front of an audience of thousands on a regular basis? If this is any example of the UKMF’s model of maintaining integrity in the sport I score it as a massive failure.

Now of course, some form of damage control for the UKMF and WMC is taking place in that they just plainly don’t talk in public any more.  Though publicly announcing their ‘sentencing’ for Liam and his gym (that gym was threatened with ban at first) were apparently not an issue. In typical fashion WMC associates are operating in silence once it becomes obvious who the Muay Thai public of the UK supports and why they do. It’s honestly not a bad move for them since every time a figurehead for them speaks it results in disaster and a  further plunge into their hole of incongruities. Eventually that hole is going to grow into the bigger hole of the inconsequential. And frankly they have never held up very well to public scrutiny.

I warned everyone I could of what the WMC has in store for you if you elect to get in bed with them.  It bears repeating though apparently: If you get in bed with the WMC keep in mind they like being on top. When what follows shocks or surprises anyone look at their track record and understand this is not new and not going away by their own efforts.  This warning is applicable to anyone in Muay Thai at any level whether it’s as promoter, fighter, fan or gym owner. In the meantime I think I need to start making some new logos for my shorts, tracksuit and t-shirts. I feel some scandal coming on.

*much thanks for both Liams helping me get this story right

WBC 48th Convention

The World Boxing Council will celebrate its 48th Annual World Convention in Cancun, Mexico. But this is not a get away holiday, some work is being done and specifically with Muay Thai.  Already named as WBC Muay Thai Asia Pacific Region president is Pamorn Martdee from Australia by Police General Kovid Bhakdibhumi.  This makes Pamorn the youngest appointed president of any region thus far. According to Phon Martdee the North America, South America, Central America and Europe regions have already been assigned respective presidents as well.  But the announcements for the WBC Muay Thai presidents will not be public until the conclusion of  the WBC 48th Convention. The convention runs from October 31st to November 6th.

While this is a laudable move and takes a big step at having a meaningful truly independent sanction for Muay Thai it’s not without concerns.  Almost certainly the presidents will be gym owners and promoters or both.  Who will watchdog these presidents to ensure they govern with fairness and impartiality? Is this too big of a conflict of interest to be entrusted with WBC Muay Thai stewardship? Is there someone not a promoter or gym owner competent enough in Muay Thai that could do the job? What should happen after this step is established is though WBC Muay Thai does a decent job of international rankings I have yet to see an itemized list for the respective countries like the United States, Australia, the UK and so forth.  To that end I have requested this information so I can form an idea of the national picture as well as international ranking picture according to the WBC. Thus far I have gotten no reply.

While its easy to choose WBC Muay Thai over the complete lack of rankings of the World Muaythai Council (WMC), blacklisting practices, trinket dispensing and overall incompetence and in my opinion corruption, the WBC should not be given an automatic pass without inspection.  The only independent sanction power is granted by the fans, fighters and promoters of the sport.  Fans and their opinions give any sanction their meaningfulness. Do fans know enough about Muay Thai in their own respective countries?  Or will they end up being led around until they do know better?

This next step will be a test for WBC Muay Thai in providing further clarity and meaningfulness overall to international Muay Thai.  I would like to see region by region rankings updated, intelligently compiled and posted on the WBC Muay Thai website along with the overall world ranked fighters.  Nothing provides clarity like total disclosure. The publicly accessible rankings of the world were a huge boon when released and included last title defenses and number one contenders. The international world of Muay Thai according to WBC was making a lot of sense.  Matter of factly, other independent sanctions to this day in 2010 don’t have it and show no interest in having it.  They and everyone else knows they serve only as a trinket dispenser, fee collector, and propaganda dispenser and little else. The challenge was set to make something meaningful internationally.  WBC along with WPMF seem to be making some serious efforts towards that end. WMC announced they are making a new television show with Elite Boxing and it will be in 3D.

The WBC convention event is attended by past legends , promoters and personalities of the sport. So while there is indeed a festive atmosphere surrounding this event I hope there can be some serious work done as well. WBC Muay Thai is now at this point of their early existence that I sense some momentum has developed behind them.  I only hope they can press on in the right direction with the right tools in place. I’ll provide an update later and to see if my ranking questions ever gets addressed much less answered. This could be the step that brings WBC Muay Thai into future prominence or creates a new problem of a different flavor.

Frederic Jean Training in Thailand

Despite many, many requests I very seldom run information or posts on seminars.  There’s multiple reasons for this: first I am wary especially if someone reads my impression of it, pays money and attends and is disappointed or worse still feels ripped off. I’d hate to be part and parcel for someone paying money and losing out especially in the name of furthering their Muay Thai knowledge. Second, its apparent to my eyes that a lot of them are just flat out low quality or offer very minimal basic or even incorrect information.  Make no mistake I get a lot of seminar post requests of that category. With a clear conscience I won’t let that pass so long as I am aware of it. If I do post information on a seminar I believe in it, know the person doing it, or just plainly believe in the product or service they have to offer. Otherwise I flatout won’t do it. And I am skilled at the fine art of saying ‘no, thanks’.  Recently, I was asked by a gentleman named Frederic Jean to let people know he was available for seminars on Muay Thai in the United States and in Canada.

Naturally I asked the questions I would expect anyone reading my site to ask ‘Who are you and why should I learn Muay Thai from you?’ The first thing about Frederic that struck me is how incredibly honest and open Frederic was.  He quickly disclosed video samples of him teaching along with a price list and contact information. This was something virtually unheard of at least by me from seminar instructors.

Frederic Jean began his journey into martial arts at the ripe old age of 7 years old beginning with judo. Frederic earned his black belt at 15 and at 18 moved on to Shotokan karate. At the age of 25 Frederic discovered Muay Thai on a trip to Thailand. Like many of France’s current Muay Thai teachers Frederic was one of the first wave of Europeans truly immersing themselves in Muay Thai and Thai and Lao culture as well.

The legendary Podpadnoi Worawoot was his first teacher.  ”Golden Leg” as Podpadnoi came to be known is considered by most Muay Thai fans to be a true legend of Muay Thai and among one of the top 5 best ever. From the years of 1971-1975 Pudpadnoi was a 5-time Lumpinee Stadium champion.

Pudpadnoi "Golden Leg"Worawaoot

Frederic loved it so much that he soon had his first fight in Pattaya which would be a losing effort but the love of Muay Thai remained. Frederic would go on to compile a record of 25 fights, 20 wins, 12 wins by knockout with only 4 losses and a draw. Not too bad for a late start. But his biggest mark in the sport is as a teacher of Muay Thai. And what he doesn’t do is as notable as what he does do.  Frederic doesn’t refer to himself as ‘arjahn’ and even remarked to me “they don’t really do that in Thailand”.  He doesn’t have ‘secrets’ instead he has highly refined and smart techniques that will spark tactical thinking on your own.

Frederic began compiling his experience in Muay Thai after an extended 2 year stay living there. During his time Frederic spent in Thailand he learned at many different camps like Sit Sorn Thorn ( Khon Khien), Sit Or gym (Pattaya), Sor Vorapin (Bangkok), Kiet Ban Chong (Bangkok), and Sor Thanikul (Bangkok). Frederic impressed upon me the importance of experiencing different gyms in Thailand because they have specific skills in different aspects of Muay Thai. And that it was important to learn different aspects to make your Muay Thai better and more well rounded.

Frederic Jean diligently training in Thailand

Frederic also makes no bones about the knowledge he brings.  Having experienced Muay Thai for 26 years and counting, he like most people consider the 1990s era the best era of Muay Thai and that the French nak muay greats of this era learned in the same way he did. Among some of Frederic’s pupils are Clifton Brown and Patrice Quarteron. Frederic also pointed out even MMA fighters like Cheick Congo and Cyrille Diabate have strong Muay Thai backgrounds.

But Frederic is above and beyond a diligent enthusiast.  Aspects of his Thai experience are definitely now lifelong: Frederic speaks Thai and Lao fluently, and even eats only Lao food. Not that either is a prerequisite to be a good seminar instructor but it does indicate his love of Muay Thai extends to Thai culture.

Here’s another thing that separates Frederic from the typical Muay Thai seminar instructor:  He makes it publicly known what his curriculum is along with his price rate.

For seminars
You can choose 4/5/6 hours per day for example starting 9 am to 12pm and restart from 4 pm to 7 pm for 6 hours a day. Or 3 pm to 7 pm. Frederic emphasized his time will be adapted to your students and his time will be flexible.

Frederic states his objective is to teach Muay Thai seminars to the USA and Canada. Frederic tries to mirror training like going to train in a camp in Thailand. The difference is students are at home.

Frederic Jean’s Muay Thai Program
1.) Warm up , shadow boxing, basic techniques,
2.) Pads (pao) working, (using punches, elbows, knees, kicks)with attack and defense on combinations
3.) Sparring Muay Thai with padded protections Muay Thai full rules
4.) Bag working (how to use the bag)
5.) Special sparring using only punches, elbows, knees techniques.
6.) Clinch techniques, how to control the head using knees, how to enter the clinch  and how to escape from the clinch
7.) Strategy of fighting versus different styles of fighters such as a kickboxer

Some other topics Frederic covers with strategy:

• How to enter a clinch using the knees techniques
• How to use knee techniques versus an opponent with good international boxing skills
• How to get out from the clinch with elbows
• How to hold the head at the beginning of fight  and throw knees to the liver, solar plexus and the face
• How to sweep 2 legs with a low kick

8.) Technique combinations to chains kicks, knees, fists, elbows. How to grab a kicking leg in Muay Thai
9.) Set up and calisthenic work
The seminar will be adapted for all levels from beginner to professional fighters. And to be perfectly honest his rates are very reasonable and also made public which most don’t do:
150US$ per student for 4 days
160US$ per student for 5 days
170US$ per student for 6 days
4/5/6 hours per day won’t change the prices and the seminars are adapted for your students and the desired length of time. While it’s not as sexy or maybe from a fan perspective as cool as a big name fighter (I like them too) throwing a seminar sometimes the best teachers aren’t always the best fighters and there is no substitute for the kind of experience someone like Frederic has in its depth and variety.

Frederic Jean

Frederic Jean can be reached via email at fjean44@hotmail.com or via phone at the following contact numbers.

Home phone 00 33 2 48 59 84 68
Cell 00 33 6 16 03 84 52

Looks like though a big hurdle towards the legalization of Muay Thai in Ontario has been bypassed some issues remain. Why Ontario politicians, the CMTC-A (headed by Robin Finley), and of course the WMC/IFMA (based on Mike Miles direction from Calgary) now feel Ontario must have the need for an NF to regulate Muay Thai legally is left up to the same motives: monopoly and control. If you have been reading the comments you may have noticed a comment coming from a member of the Ontario Muay Thai community.  To give a USA citizen some perspective: imagine Japan now telling you how you can play baseball.  Or a state perspective: Montana now tells California how they should conduct boxing.

To be fair this is not unique to Ontario though their mentality seems to crave more centralized federal regulation than the United States, who seem happier to deal it with it in their own state and on their own terms. The United States is more than guilty of the same thing with thus far failed attempts to build monopolies in the guise of regulation. One only need to be a part of CSAC meetings to see the latest attempt with Muay Thai and then ask yourself why a Virginia based organization runs New York’s Muay Thai scene and New York state itself distances itself from both MMA and Muay Thai. I think the answers are as obvious as they are inevitable: control, influence and money. Thankfully in the United States most people in regulatory commissions aren’t quite as easy to dupe.

I think its worthy of viewing some comments  here to understand some of the underlying issues Ontario is experiencing to try to do the sport of Muay Thai independent from interference (especially now that the WMC is essence injecting themselves into Canadian politics as a foreign entity).

From Upset fighter of Ontario: As a member of the Ontario Muay Thai community I wish I could say that this is official but… those in charge of licensing professional combative sports in Ontario have a very long history of corruption and an obvious agenda against ring sports. They will not likely allow Muay Thai to slide in as a subset of MMA without a good fight and lengthy evaluation process.

Interestingly, they have already began using the UFC as an excuse to decline licensing Pro Boxing events until next year… promoters have been dismissed with a simple “we’re too busy, come back next year” despite the fact that the promoter had already booked a venue and secured sponsorship.

Further, its not going to be an easy task for the average Joe promoter to hold a card together. There will be heavy financial deposits and very stringent medical requirements that will scare away most promoters, except maybe the UFC who may be able to fork out enough money up-front and hold a few events per year. It is a system that is perhaps designed to fail. It is also not uncommon for fighters applying for a pro license in Ontario to be ordered MRI’s and CAT scans…. lengthy and expensive medical assessments in order to further burden the athletes and promoters

Pro boxing and kick-boxing is already legal here. However you will hardly find more than a small handful of events in Ontario each year, where as in Quebec alone there will be upwards of 60 Pro boxing events annually.

These will be challenges that need to be addressed.

As for Amateur Muay Thai, it is great to see that some brave souls have done their legal homework (others even spent considerable time in court) in order to uncover the truth of the legality of holding Amateur Muay Thai events so long as certain liability and safety measures are in check. A new association was formed that went beyond these minimum criteria and went ahead with events without a single hitch. However, there is a bill (C-31) before parliament at the moment which includes a new definition of Section 83 of Canada’s criminal code dealing with “Prize Fighting”. You can find it here:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3906483&file=4

The government has finally decided to amend this ancient law which was previously used by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion as well as the Athletic Commissioner’s Office as an excuse to consider Muay Thai and MMA as illegal, even at the Amateur level. The recent Amateur Muay Thai events have obviously proven that they are wrong and that this law does not deem Amateur MT as “Prize Fighting” and therefore illegal, so long as it is managed safely. But now its being re-written so that all events must either be sanctioned by the government designated “Provincial Sports Organization” or be licensed through “Permission from your Province” (yet to be determined who this will be in Ontario). Lets just hope and pray that this authority will not be handed to the same crooks in the Ministry of Health Promotion or the Athletics Commissioner’s Office, otherwise pretty much everyone in the Province is screwed once again.

Concerning CMTC-A in Calgary, they have certainly been playing an active role in dividing the Ontario Muay Thai community and are using their designation from IFMA as Canada’s official “National Sport Federation” for Muay Thai to intimidate everyone who participates in any event that it not sanctioned by them. They threaten black listing the athletes and coaches from both their events as well as from IFMA! They’ve been filling everyone’s ears with this Olympic Dream non-sense and posing as the “savior of muay thai in Ontario”. These are the same people who refused to recognize the previous Muay Thai Association in Ontario which was stripped of its “Provincial SPorts Organization” status from the government as a result. Now they want to come here and set up a new PSO that will be remotely managed by them???

Well as fortune would have it, some serious corruption at the hands of CMTC-A and IFMA has very recently been uncovered and I’m pretty sure that it will become public knowledge in the days to come.

Days later I became aware of a news bulletin this time from the medical end in Ontario against MMA and therefore Muay Thai: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/25/sp-cma-mma-ban.html?ref=rss

But the fight for Muay Thai in Ontario isn’t over I am still hopeful. It may have taken until the 21st century but Muay Thai can and will finally be done in the most populated portion of Canada with arguably the best potential talent to be developed.  The word has been put out and its now incumbent upon Ontario to make the right path for itself.  The community in Muay Thai is aware of the fight they have against all the outside parties that want Ontario’s Muay Thai run for them, by them or under them. It’s up to Ontario to make sure that doesn’t happen and they do their Muay Thai on their own terms.  It can and will succeed  if enough of a united front comes out for Ontario. Otherwise like other attempts to have Muay Thai outside of Calgary, they die summarily from an easy strategy of divide and conquer.

Adrienne Simmons Training

In the past week much has been written about Adrienne Simmons passing; some of it accurate, some of it quite a bit less than accurate and quite a bit of it consisting of heavy hyperbole. The International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) has finally responded in what can best be called damage control. When I decided I needed to take on this topic I was reluctant to  say anything more than what I had already written.  The reasons for this reluctance are many:

• The facts are emerging and should serve to tell the story on their own to anyone who pays attention.
• This event is being used as leverage for organizations already for their assorted personal agendas that I regard as at minimum inappropriate at maximum completely devoid of moral basis.
• In general the main stream press has done little in the way of due diligence to find the facts and report them accordingly.
• Too often people use a person’s death to attack their character post-mortem or in general talk inappropriately about the person with a lack of respect,  a practice that frankly revolts me utterly.
• Lyndsay Scheer and her coach Eric Haycraft have made their separate statements about this event.

There is however a point that I want to make clear to any readers of my blog.  The truth will become transparent to everyone whether by willing organizational transparency or by investigation as required by law.  Personally, I think it will be ultimately the latter.  I’ve made no shortcuts in reporting and commentating on events in Muay Thai that are controversial and I will continue not to.  But truth be said I wish there was no need for it at all.  However, its been proven that in some degree Muay Thai cannot police itself. Adrienne Simmons needs and deserves justice.

Could IKF have elected to have an ambulance on site?   In a prepared statement on IKF’s site they said the following in regards to a lack of an ambulance on site.

There was no ambulance at the event.

The State of Florida Athletic Commission’s rule for all amateur kickboxing / muay thai events is that if there is a hospital within 5 miles of the event venue, no ambulance is required. This rule is followed by all amateur sanctioning bodies in the state of Florida which include ISKA, USMTA and other Florida approved amateur kickboxing and or muay thai sanctioning bodies. This was not just a decision made by the IKF.

In nearly all USA States, an ambulance is required to be parked at an event for Pro and Amateur MMA & Pro Kickboxing. However, nearly all State Athletic and Boxing commissions do not require an ambulance present for amateur Kickboxing and even USA Boxing does not require an ambulance present for amateur boxing events.

IKF wanted an ambulance for the 2 full days (8:30 AM to 6:+ PM) but was informed that since the event was so close to a hospital that there was no need to take an ambulance out of rotation service to be parked at the event. Instead, the general medical necessities were present at ringside such as oxygen and other medical gear.

There are other statements regarding medical treatment and I have no doubt the doctors were qualified general practitioners but were not prepared to treat the trauma Adrienne Simmons had experienced. By IKF’s own account a call was made to 911 to airlift Adrienne to the hospital where she died.  While IKF is insistent that it did not take an hour for Adrienne Simmons to arrive at the hospital they never clarified the amount of time it really did take for Adrienne to arrive at the hospital.

I have been a part of tiny smokers with less than 70 people in the audience and 4 fights and there was always an ambulance on site. While IKF accurately states that most of the time it isn’t required, I will say most of the time an ambulance is on site by choice in the largest events and smallest events of Muay Thai I have attended.  Why wasn’t it on site for the biggest amateur event for kickboxing and Muay Thai in the United States? Especially with amateurs competing, one courts disaster without it. And especially with well over 200 fighters present? Meeting requirements of a state commission is one thing but perhaps exceeding the requirements may have made the difference. In every amateur event I have seen this requirement was exceeded.

The scrutiny is increasing on Muay Thai in the United States and for good reason.  Have no doubt the antics typical of alarmists willing and ready to hang Muay Thai as a barbaric and cruel sport are standing by to damage Muay Thai further. On the other end there have been efforts to build fiefdoms on Muay Thai’s amateur fighters under a smoke screen of regulation. I have no doubt this event will be cheaply used as leverage towards further personal kingdom building by people who should know better. The state of California and everyone in Muay Thai there, consider this your early notice:  its coming.

There are some that believe a low quality event can be marketed into relevance or that Muay Thai can be marketed into something worth attention.  There are some that believe you can only move forward when our own integrity in Muay Thai is intact.  Things are in motion now both for professional and amateur fighters and these sides are going to be easier to identify.  The coming months will prove where United States Muay Thai stands in whatever makes up our community. I’ve often said it but it bears repeating: The only people that can change Muay Thai for the better are the people in it. When this stops being a slogan and becomes a belief we all share maybe some more good can come forward and Muay Thai can begin policing itself correctly and become something the general public pays attention to.

Questions still remain following Adrienne’s tragic death. Was a representative present for the Florida State Athletic Commission?  And if not, why? If so what was their take on the proceedings of the IKF tournament? Answers in the coming days will follow I am sure but at what a terrible cost.

Adrienne Simmons was a positive force for Muay Thai.  She represented the best of us and embodied a competitive and positive spirit for the sport.  Adrienne never quit and always believed that the best in people can be developed. Adrienne said as much on her own site regarding her career choice as an educator. Please remember Adrienne when you make your own choices in the sport.

I do think on a positive note, change will be implemented across the board for the better because of this.  But I cannot help but ask myself:  ”‘Did someone really have to die for it?”  Please remember and be sensitive to the personal struggles of all parties involved including Lyndsay Scheer, Eric Haycraft, Chike Andjua, and all in Adrienne’s family and friends. And please support Adrienne’s fund that will go towards her family and help cover their costs.

Thanks for reading.