FIGHT N T H E N AT I O N | F E A T U R E
A
I Competed in a Pro Muay Thai Competition in China… and Lived to Tell the Tale By Lars James Hamer
10 | MAY 2021 | WWW.THATSMAGS.COM
s I’m standing barefoot on the hard concrete, I hear the emcee call my name and begin the ascent onto the stage. Hundreds of people are crowding around the small metal barriers, stopping them from spilling into the ring. Head to toe in traditional Muay Thai garb, I turn to my coach and say: “I’m going to knock this guy out.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Living in China brings about countless opportunities for foreigners. From making a bogus speech at a Chinese company meeting to impersonating an antique buyer, these random gigs are always an adventure. I once starred in a Chinese rent-a-car commercial, despite not being able to drive and never acting a day in my life. I had only been in China for six months when my colleague said her friend was looking for someone to help with some filming. I thought I’d be a small part, a background character. When they sent me a script, however, I quickly realized I was the only actor that day. Nevertheless, another story in the book and a couple of thousand yuan richer – I’m not complaining. So, when I was offered the chance to fight in the main event of a professional World Boxing Council-sponsored Muay Thai tournament in Shenzhen in November 2020, I was never going to say no. I initially got into Muay Thai during the coronavirus lockdown to kill some time. Back home, I’d dabbled a little bit in boxing, but my skillset was nothing to write home about. Even after training for over a year, I still punch like I did when I was five years old and fighting with my brother. On my first day of training, I kicked the bag the only way I knew how – like it was a football. The trainers couldn’t help but laugh as my foot slapped against the bag, sending a sharp pain up my leg. They began spurting out jokes in Thai and then dribbling medicine balls around the gym as if suddenly teleported to the World Cup. After a mere six months of training (and some improvement in my kicking), the coach signed me and another fighter up for the WBC competition in Shenzhen. We’d expressed some interest, and he said the event would be a good experience – but I don’t think any of us were ready for the level of fighters we’d be up against. There were professionals from some of the best fighting gyms in China in this competition, and our gym had only been open for 18 months. The tournament itself had several rounds before the final, where the winner would be given an actual WBC belt.
