A Night At Lumpini

So I'm in Thailand training Muay Thai, it's only natural that I go see one of the most famous Muay Thai Landmarks still in use today, Lumpini Stadium. Last Friday, one of the fighters from the gym, Rongniran Chor Kowyuha-Isuzu, was having a match, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to go. A little added bonus, a ticket for farang normally runs 2000 Baht, but Jakae was able to sell us tickets for only 1600 Baht. One of the most interesting parts of the stadium fights was the close ties between fighting and gambling despite the fact that gambling is technically illegal in Thailand. I even got in on the fun with some of the other guys from the gym who were at the fight. It definitely makes for a more fun experience. Here's some video clips of the Lumpini action.

1. A 360 view of Lumpini from the Farang ringside seats:


2. A look into the gambling culture of Lumpini:


3. My first celebrity sighting of the night... Former K-1 Max Champion Buakaw Por Pramuk. I should've known better than to bet against his camp... Ended up losing 100 Baht on his account.


Now on to the real Lumpini action. I got footage of the Wai Kru as well as all five rounds. They do five 3 minute rounds with 1 minute break. In traditional thai style, the first two rounds are much slower paced and mostly feeler rounds. You'll notice both fighters seem to have figured out a strategy by the third round and are moving with much more speed and power. The fourth round is usually an all out battle for determining the fight. Many times the momentum has shifted so far in one fighter's direction that the fifth round is mostly a formality. The losing fighter may one big attempt in the beginning to see if any new tricks will work. If it is more of the same, then it seems many times the rhythm slows tremendously. Without further ado, here is the video:

Wai Kru:


Round 1:


Round 2:


Round 3:


Round 4:


Round 5 with decision:



It was good to see the style of the gym heavily reflected in this fight. While his boxing was inferior, his leg timing was great landing many leg kicks and shielding most everything. More so, his clinch was far superior, and he managed to walk through the boxing to close the clinch and use his strengths to his advantage. These guys were weighed in at 131 lbs, the largest fighters of the night. I was very impressed with his energy level especially knowing he cut 5kg (about 11 lbs) and only had 12 hours to rehydrate, but then again the fact he's fighting in Lumpini has to be saying something.

It was a great night and gave me a much better idea of the style of Muay Thai that I am learning here and how it differs from Muay Thai in the USA or in Europe.