BUCKET LISTS: DREAMS OF MUAY THAI! Travel to the Source!
I have always wanted to take off to some small beach village in Thailand and spend a month training in the art of Muay Thai Boxing. In case you are at a loss for what this is, other than a really cool couple of words to say, Muay Thai Boxing is the premier combat sport of Thailand. It combines the physical actions of kicking and clinching with extreme mental discipline forming what is known as "the art of eight limbs" because it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, shins, being associated with a good physical preparation that makes a full-contact fighter very efficient. Sure they have training schools all over the world now, including my own backyard of Chicago. But for my bucket list I want to go right to the source and immerse myself in the sport, just like I did with Hatha Yoga in Bali and Scuba Diving in Grenada. I studied yoga in Chicago, but it was the immersions in paradise that made it bucket list worthy. Naturally I have a friend that has done this and more. I reached out to my friend, author and philanthropist Norm Schriever, to talk about about his experiences training in Thailand in Muay Thai.
ML: Norm, you’ve written about a school that empowers impoverished children in Cambodia, your Karate friend Judd Reid’s amazing experience as the first foreigner to graduate as a Young Lion, and my personal favorite book about your time stranded on a remote island when Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in Queens of Dragon Town. In a nutshell, Norm you get around. In so many of your journeys you are working on a book, while training in some local sport and saving lives, or as least trying to improve the lives of those less fortunate around you. It seems you’ve done it, so how did you get into Muay Thai?
Norm: I didn’t know much about Muay Thai until I first visited Thailand, where it’s become a popular bucket list item for many tourists. So when Clint, a good Australian friend, invited me to train one day at Saman Muay Thai on the island of Koh Samui, I thought I would jump in and start throwing punches like a natural. Big mistake! Muay Thai – or the art of eight deadly limbs – is completely different than boxing or even other conventional stand-up martial arts.
ML: I’ve looked online and it looks like there are a lot of packages now to try Muay Thai. Is that the way to go?
Norm: In Thailand, there are a lot of places to try out Muay Thai, but some of them have turned into tourist traps so I recommend finding a small, local Muay Thai gym (which are usually open-air and often in someone’s backyard!). Just go in and ask for a private or group lesson for beginners and they’ll be friendly and accommodating. And Muay Thai isn’t just confined to Thailand these days, as people train all over Asia and the rest of the world – including some amazing gyms in the U.S. I currently live in the town of Dumaguete in the Philippines, where I leave pools of sweat on the mat at the Fit & Play training center with Muay Thai pad and conditioning work.
ML: It does seem like a great workout. I know you study Karate too, what’s your favorite part about this sport specifically?
Norm: The balance, technique, and strategy of Muay Thai are all different – but deadly effective. And yes, it’s also an insanely good workout. My core, butt, and legs were screaming for days from all of the intense kicking. You can get one of the best workouts of your life, learn an important aspect of Thai culture, and meet some great new (very dangerous) friends.
That’s what I always appreciate about Norm’s experiences. He trains hard and make friends everywhere he goes and I always see him giving back to that community in some way. I think that’s why training in Thailand has always appealed to me.
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