Muaythai Journal Documentary Blog: The Beginning

My path through Muaythai has been one of unsettling growth. I started my journey simply to get into shape; to ease the pains of a herniated disk in my lumbar spine. But as time passed I’d soon realized that through Muaythai, I wasn’t only repairing my body, I was also repairing my mind and my soul. Muaythai has forced me to confront my innermost demons and face my greatest fears, and in return it has given me a greater understanding of what it is to be alive. I could have never imagined that the journey would one day take me this far. And because of this, I am truly humbled to be able to share my thoughts with everyone on what I believe in my heart to be the greatest sport of all time.

The purpose of this documentary is to shed light on the all-too-often unspoken details of Muaythai in Thailand. Fighters in Thailand sacrifice their entire youths for a chance to make something of themselves, to bring in extra income for their families, and in return they are bastardized by the majority of the Thai populace. Why would the people of Thailand want to let go of such an important way of life? In too many industrialized countries we have already seen the disappearance of the Rite of Passage; a undertaking a young person must go through in order to fully enter adulthood. This is what Muaythai is. To ignore it is to ignore the process of life.

For you tech junkies, I will be shooting with my Canon 7D. I have put together a rig that will allow me to focus on composition and capture quality audio at the same time. Like my beginnings in Muaythai, I am sure to come across some fatal flaws with shooting this documentary. However, I am hoping that my passion and love for Muaythai overshadow the mistakes that I will most likely make as a virgin documentarian. Though, I do have help in the from of a translator. I can get by with the Thai language in everyday use but to convey and interpret the depth of what I am trying to capture is something I feel I should leave to an expert – or at least an expert in the Thai language.

I hope that each of you will join me in this quest for a deeper understanding of Muaythai. I will be blogging about my experiences during the documentary right here on MTiL and I will try to keep all of our readers updated as much as possible. In the past I have written mostly objectively, but for the following few months I will turn to a more personal approach, an effort to cast my own concepts on the community, to build new ideas with like minded people.

I’ll end this entry by thanking Eric Rivera, creator and chief editor of Muay Thai Is Life, for his continued support and for providing me with a platform to express my ideas on Muaythai. I would also like to thank you, the reader, for your continued support here at MTiL. Without your eyes my words are meaningless. Lastly, I would like to thank the fighters, especially those from Thailand. Because without their struggle, none of this would be possible. I thank them for letting me into their world, and in return I can only hope that I will be taking you into theirs.

Write On!