The Rise of Muaythai in the East

by John Wolcott

Practitioners of Muaythai have been asking the powers that be for the implementation of full-rules into the New York fight game for years, and for years our cries have fell on deaf ears. It seemed as if those governing the sport did not have the same desire to grow Muaythai as the purists who yearned for a better rendition. They continuously denied promoters the rights to put together full-rules events, and for some time it felt as if there were a conspiracy against the advocates of traditional Muaythai. Fighters and gyms on the east coast where forced to dumb down their ring techniques to suit the standards of New York’s Muaythai directors. Because of this, it was the fighters who had received all the scrutiny from their western counterparts. And not once had their been an intervention from the people in the highest positions to make a change; at least not until now.

As most of you know, Friday Night Fights Muaythai has recently announced that they will start promoting full-rules events come January 2012. However, what did it take to get us to this point? Why, after all this time, have we just now been blessed with such a reward? Is it that the stars had been lined up perfectly for east coast Muaythai in 2011? Perhaps it was a chain reaction from the words of west coast fighters from earlier this year? In addition to the aforementioned reasons, I believe it has been the growing competition between tristate area promotions that have given Muaythai on the east coast its biggest push in 2011. I am a firm believer in the age-old phrase that steel sharpens steel. Usually we use this expression when referring to two fighters who meet in the ring and cause each other to improve. However, in our situation, the same can be said for the promotions who work so diligently to put these fights together.

In business, from a consumer’s perspective, competition is a good thing. When rivalry happens between companies it is the general pubic who usually make out in the end. This comes by way of lower costing products, special deals, et cetera. In our case, with Muaythai, this competition has provided those who truly love the sport with a much closer representation of it in New York. For most of Muaythai’s entire lifespan in the tristate area, there had been only one promotion controlling the scene. There was no competition or threat from other sources. We had the occasional Mayhem event, but as far as putting on consistent shows, it was always Friday Night Fights who delivered. Because they were the only major players in the area, everyone seemed to be content on where Muaythai was, and there was little desire to grow the sport in New York. However, sometime around the beginning of this year this had all changed.

Earlier in 2011 Weapons 9 Promotions broke ground with a truly historic event that featured the first full-rules Muaythai venue in New Jersey. With the help of the WBC and the NJSACB, spectators were gifted with a glimpse of what Muaythai could become in our area. At the same time, Take-On Productions had been attacking the New York fight scene with heavy artillery as they joined forces with Madison Square Garden. Soon after, they made a temporary trip across the Hudson to Atlantic City, NJ to put on a full-rules venue of their own, this time with select amateur fighters being allowed to use elbows. It was also during this period where both promotions started streaming their content over the Internet to a global audience. FNF Muaythai, probably feeling the pressures of competition for the first time in their long reign, was forced to counter with some moves of their own. This is when we first caught wind of a prospective television deal for FNF Muaythai, something which has yet to become a reality.

But despite the TV deal failing to come to fruition, those behind the scenes at Friday Night Fights Muaythai had another trick up their sleeves; one that would change the face of Muaythai in New York, and quite possibly Muaythai in North America, forever. With the blessings of the World Kickboxing Association, FNF Muaythai was granted the ability to promote full-rules fight cards starting in 2012. With that, we can only imagine what is in store for us as we become privileged enough to experience Muaythai in its rawest form; save for the smog, grilled pork, and sticky rice that can be found outside of Lumpini Stadium. However, we don’t have to visit one of Thailand’s concrete coliseums to experience all eight degrees of Muaythai now that full-rules are permitted in New York City. We have plenty of local representatives right here who would love to place their elbows on the brows of their competitors. And with the newly revamped stage that FNF Muaythai and other New York promoters will provide, fighters now have plenty of opportunity to do just that.

With New York finally closing a long, targeted chapter in its Muaythai history books, we can now turn the page to begin another. Although, as we do so we will come to learn that the next chapter has yet to be written. Instead, it will be us, the community, who dictates how the rest of this story will unfold. We will no longer be at the mercy of a distant author whose ideals about the traditions and cultures of Muaythai conflict with those of its own characters. Now, it will be the protagonists - the fighters - who set out across the pages of the New York City fight scene to write their own epic tales while yielding all eight weapons of Muaythai. For the first time in New York’s history, Muaythai will be done as it should be. And although 8,600 miles separate our home from the birthplace of Muaythai, starting in 2012, New York will have taken one step closer to bridging that gap. 

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