A kick and a jab

A few years ago I thought of starting Sean on some form of martial arts. I happened to speak to his swimming coach and he mentioned Muay Thai. Honestly, it never crossed my mind because my impression of Muay Thai was that it was pretty rough. Besides I thought Sean was too young for it (he was six).

I asked around and luckily we have a friend who has several Muay Thai instructors on his payroll and he offered lessons for Sean. We decided to give it a try. I have to admit I was apprehensive as what I knew of the sport was what I saw on TV - lots of hard kicks and grappling. I didn't want my baby exposed to that!

After a few lessons I saw the beauty in the sport. How graceful the Wai Kru was (Wai Kru means to show respect to your teacher and only the head instructor can teach that. It may look like a dance but is acutally a way for the boxers to stretch). The fluidity in the kicks that belie how much it could hurt someone. The grappling that seems to be just two guys hanging on for dear life but in actual fact, skill and technique is involved

Sean has been doing it for close to three years now. He likes it and one day when he is older, I hope he appreciates the fact that he was given this chance to learn Muay Thai. One really good thing was that TH decided to take it up too after sitting in on a couple of lessons. Now, HE is obsessed with it and if he could, would go everyday. It is a good thing because he is doing things that he thought he could not do after his accident.

It is good for Sean because it is a very aerobic sport and at the same time, it teaches you to defend yourself. So once a week, my skinny little boy puts on his Muay Thai shorts and heads for the gym where he will kick, punch, elbow and jab his instructors. Occasionally, he will get to spar with an older child (one of whom is only 12 and already has 40 fights under his belt!).