*Let me preface this with the fact that my fight was only a Smoker an (exhibition) fight. Two minutes for three rounds. And… I did not have to weight cut at all, so I didn’t experience that aspect of the fight prep. I know I was missing a huge part of the experience. I also opted for no clinch as I was at a weight disadvantage from my opponent.

Another school that we were affiliated with was hosting a Smoker. We had hosted a few and they had supported us. I had experienced my husband, my trainer and my friends fighting. I knew the deal, or so I thought. I casually asked one of our trainers who was organizing the fight card for the other school if there were any heavy weight females. I thoroughly expected him to say no because there are never any heavy weight females who fight. When he said, “Yes.” I was shocked and I said, “I might take a fight.”  During that time I had been experiencing terrible disappointment about not achieving a professional goal I had set for myself. I knew as I walked away from him that I would say,  “Yes”. The “A” type personality in me needed to have another goal to work towards and that was what I needed to distract me from my perceived professional failure.

Deciding to fight is a crazy journey. Everyone carries their own reasons why they are doing it but it is definitely an ultimate test of your perseverance, character, fortitude and guts.The journey to fight is a rollercoaster of emotions. While I have been training and taking Muay Thai classes on and off for years, it has been for fitness and enjoyment. It is all together a different story when you decide to actually apply what you have learned. Added to the difficulty factor is the fact that I have trained in a style of martial art for twenty-two years and that style is ingrained in all of my movement and muscle memory. As much as the two styles are the same they are also very, very different. I have really enjoyed training in Muay Thai with the intent to apply it. It has opened me up to the true meaning of the moves and techniques. It is an elaborate game of chess with kicks and punches thrown in. It is an awesome sport to learn. Most of all I’ve enjoyed being able to draw from the experience of the trainers and fighters at our gym. I’m getting access to the “inner circle” of fighters who have stepped in the ring.

*I took the fight with 3 weeks notice.

**My crazy roller coaster thought process…

Day 1-3: What the hell are you thinking? Pull out of it while there’s still time.

Day  4-8: You got this. I can out cardio her.

Day 8-11: You can’t do this. You are going to get killed. What were you thinking?

Day 12: All Muay Thai is going to go out the window once I get pressured and I’m going to start doing karate.

Day 12-14: I don’t even care. It is what it is. I’m not doing cardio anymore.

Day 14: “Shark Tank” I can’t do this.

Day 15-17: I’m too old for this. Everything hurts. There’s a reason forty-year olds don’t do this.

Day 19: What if I embarrass myself? our gym? or my husband?

Day 20: I got this. What am I going to wear? Muay Thai shorts make me look really fat!

Day 21: What do you mean I’m in rest & recovery? I have more I need to learn!

Day 22: Why? What the hell was I thinking?

Day 23: This has been quite a journey.

Day 24: (Fight Day) It’s only six minutes of my life. I can do anything for six minutes. It’s just like class. This is no big deal.

Can you guess which technique we don’t have in karate? Yes, the leg kick. So, blocking it really wasn’t my thing. This was from a pre-fight “Shark Tank” night. No one should hit you as hard as your teammates.

My co-workers think I’m crazy. I know this because they have all said so to my face. I was asked what if I get hurt? My thought was, my co-worker blew out her knee walking down the stairs at work. Technically one can get hurt walking so I might as well just live and not worry about getting hurt. I told people it was on my bucket list. That really is true. I have always wanted to have a fight but a full-time job, a martial arts gym, two kids, and my weight have always held me back. I have slimmed down but in heavy weight it doesn’t matter and for the first time in my life my weight has me at a disadvantage as my opponent has forty pounds on me. ( that isn’t normal usually fighters are matched equally in weight but heavy weight females is everyone 155 and over. Doesn’t matter how over you are.)

When I decided to write this blog I began writing it prior to my actual fight. In pre-writing I decide I would save the last paragraph to write about the actual fight. Now that I have had the actual fight… Trust me when I tell you that will fill another blogs worth… So stay tuned. I have many thoughts about the fight and will share those soon.

In the meantime, I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything. It was such a meaningful experience on so many levels. I always tell my students to be a true martial artist you must go outside your comfort zone. I definitely did.

I’d like to thank all my friends, teammates, my trainer and Kru Ed for all of their support and encouragement.

Sincerely, Nak Muay(Student/ practitioner  of Muay Thai)