The Wai Khru and Sak Yant Festivals of Thailand remind me of other religious festivals like the Gin Jay processions and spirit possessions. I'd go to every year when I lived in Phuket town to just get caught up in all the hysteria and mayhem. Thailand is heavily invested in Buddhist off shoots and permutations, animism, folk religion and superstition. It's very deeply rooted in the culture itself. I'll dig up some photos of the processions from the Gin Jay festivals from years back. Interesting stuff... though not for the faint of heart! Spirit possessions, the din of firecrackers, people marching through the streets with all manner of sharp, large and bizarre object pierced through their cheeks... and people wrapped up in long garlands of fire works are set off! You'd be hard pressed to find a Thai person who didn't wear at least one amulet and those of you that train or fight Muay Thai will know how much superstition and belief is involved on the Thai side of affairs. Magically imbued tattoos and amulets are par the course. Legends, rumors and whispers all figure into the match making process and the scene surrounding Muay Thai. Below the Wai Kru Festivals - that celebrate and commemorate Buddhist monk Luang Phor Pern. Wai Kru Festival 2012 Sak Yant Festival Wat Bang Phra [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pmmuXkXPXQ&sns=fb"]Wai Kru Festival 2012 Sak Yant Festival Wat Bang Phra - YouTube[/ame] Wai Khru Ceremony, Wat Bang Phra, Bangkok, Thailand March 2009 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lQ_hsUC4N0&feature=related"]Wai Khru Ceremony, Wat Bang Phra, Bangkok, Thailand March 2009 by Samuel Morgan Shaw - YouTube[/ame]
Famed Lumpini nak muay Wanlop Sitpholek has long been recognizable by his yants - all heavily imbued with beliefs as to their protective power: Kings Birthday 2005, Bangkok - Wanlop Sitpholek VS Jean Charles Skarbowsky (and me shooting the fight from the ring apron/neutral corner - farang with shorts white tank top back prior to DSLR's when we still fumbled with rolls of actual film... imagine!) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbSu4z2JBpo&feature=related"]JCS vs Wanlop (part 1) - YouTube[/ame]
Here is one of the other fights that night: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG9cdm33XoQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1"]Jean-Charles Skarbowsky vs Paulo Balicha - YouTube[/ame] A bit of a back story that involved the traditional Thai tattoos (yants) that Skarbowsky displays at 00:47 of the video. At the time Skarbowsky was having trouble getting bigger fights. Which meant more money and notoriety. He was a fighter we were promoting at the time and while in Thailand he was training out of Jocky Gym in Bangkok. For the Kings Cup we took him and Bruce 'The Preacher' Macfie over for the fight. There were many last minute change ups in the card... and we were lucky that neither of our main fighters were cut from the event. At any rate... the rumor at gym level was that the Thai's were spooked by Skarbowsky. His awkward style put them off - despite hardly have the most imposing physique. Not long before he arrived here in Hong Kong he had his back inked. Quite the full on traditional Thai style yant ceremony. That didn't do anything to slow the rumor mill down. In fact it kicked it into high gear and there was much last minute worry if he was going to make the fight card at all. If you watch he's got an odd style. He can take a punch but he avoids some big shots with movement that always reminded me of Edward Scissorhands. He was never a popular fighter in Thailand... and I at times felt he didn't get quite the recognition he deserved. He was a firm believer in the yants and their protective properties. On the flip side.. if memory serves... Wanlop Sitpholek went out on a severe cut from an elbow. Somewhere I have a great shot of him being stitched up on a bare wood table... with a huge crowd of onlookers... about 10 feet away from the 4 latrines that served the thousands of people there that night. Ugh.I remember the little barefoot Thai kids scrambling between the gawkers legs to get a better look at the makeshift surgery. Lamsongkram Chuwattana went on to win the event... beating our fighter Bruce 'The Preacher' Macfie in a classic Thai style VS Westernized Thai style fight that turned into a full on war. Lamsongkram was only young them but tall and rangy for a Thai fighter and sans any of the traditional yant ink work. Go figure.
And if memory serves... this was the final fight of the night... a changing of the guards... Sithpholek was older by this time and had been through some wars. Was very well connected rumor had it with some not very nice people in Bangkok and Lamsongkram was the young, innocent looking upstart... nice little war this: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOz5wboDD0&feature=related"]Lamsongkram VS Wanlop Sith Por Lek S-1 2005 - YouTube[/ame]
the uk is seeing the wai kru/ram muay phased out as to appeal to the general public, a move i support. as a spectator sport outside of thailand the dance has no meaning at all. it can serve as a feeling out, warm up, stretch, alfa male thing.. but thats not what the public are paying to see. in thailand..fair enough. but i bet you anything that they would phase it out for big paydays and sponsors
That doesn't surprise me. I think certain elements of it (the context, the superstition etc.) get lost as the art migrates away from it's source. That's a double edged sword to my way of thinking. It's why I tend to cringe when fight commentators go on and on about 'putting on a show' or when fighters go on about 'pleasing the crowd'. The focus should be on a good fight and winning that fight. Not on some vaudeville notion of being an entertainer. I can't see how big paydays or sponsors would change this. They already have tons of sponsors for the fight and the money in Muay Thai is mainly from bookmaking/gambling - at least in Thailand. I don't really see the Thai's dropping it so quickly.... just for a bit of cash and a sponsor or two. They have a tad more national pride than that.
