muayythai

[muayythai]

Kicking Down Barriers in Muay Thai

Muay Thai Club UCSC (2023)

Rohan's View

Preparing for this interview based project, my group that consisted of Christian, Sammy, Omar and I, all decided to choose the Muay Thai Club here at UCSC as the student led organization that we wanted to spread awareness about and learn more of. We all decided that was a good move, and Christian, already being a member of the club made it easier for us to schedule interviews with other members. Lucky for me, my friend and roommate, Richie Nimnual, was a member of the club and he attended classes frequently. One morning, I asked him if I could record me asking him a few questions about his time at the club and he was up for it. It was around noon at this point and we had just woken up, but I grabbed my friend Lucy, who lived directly upstairs from us to record it. We stepped outside and on the stairwell of our building in Crown, where there is a spot with no roof, showing a decent view with direct sunlight. I had my questions prepared, Richie was by my side ready to answer, and Lucy stood ready to record. I told her to count me down, and it went 3..2...1,

Rohan - What’s up guys! I'm Rohan and today I'm actually here interviewing my friend and roommate who is a part of the Muay Thai Club here in Santa Cruz. So let’s begin! Please let our audience know your name, major, year, and where you are from.

Richie - Okay, Hi guys! I’m Richie. I’m from Los Angeles, I'm a first year student, and my major is computer science.

Rohan - Nice Richie! Okay care to tell us a little bit about yourself? Like what you enjoy doing in your spare time or any hobbies you have and stuff like that?

Richie - Umm lets see, I like to go to the gym in my spare time, I love listening to music, and I also like playing my video games. I like playing Fortnite, yeah that’s fine. 

Rohan - Nice! So Richie, you and I have actually known each other since middle school, we went to the same school, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about. I am are here to learn about your Muay Thai experience here at Santa Cruz. So let’s begin. How did you come up on and start doing Muay Thai here at the club?

Richie - Okay, so basically my gym buddy, his name is Erick, he’s Thai and he’s really into Muay Thai, and he was like “You should go here,  it’s fun, it’s really good cardio, and it’s good for your back and chest”. So I was like sure it can’t hurt, so that’s how I heard about it and I pretty much started going with him, and it has been cool so far.

Rohan - Cool! Do you have any past background in fighting or anything of that sort? 

Richie - No, not really at all. 

Rohan - Okay, so this is all relatively new for you? 

Richie - Yeah pretty much, I've never done anything like this before. No martial arts classes or anything. I just played soccer and volleyball in highschool. 

Rohan - Nice! Do you ever wanna compete in Muay Thai or anything like that?

Richie - I mean, right now i’m still figuring everything out. I’m just starting so I'm really a student learning the basics and stuff, but maybe if I get better, then I am open to it. It’d be fun to test my skills against others, and the thing I like about Muay Thai or fighting in general is that it is one on one, which is the ultimate level of skill and competitiveness. 

Rohan - Okay that’s fair. So on a scale of 1-10, how much has being a part of this club elevated your experience overall here at school? Do you enjoy it?

Richie - I mean this is the first ever club I joined here at school because i'm not in anything other than that, so yeah I think it’s elevated my experience here quite a bit. I am learning something new and it gives me something to do, which is a good thing because it’s making me happier and less bored. I also met some cool folks who also go to the club which is lit.

Rohan - Forsure, is this something you see yourself doing for the rest of your time here at school?

Richie - Umm, I am not too sure because I feel like I'm going to be really busy next quarter and there's always other stuff to do, but as long as my gym buddy keeps going, I probably will too. He doesn’t seem like he’ll stop, he is big into it, and he is pretty good. I also think learning self defense is important for everyone to know because the world is unpredictable and dangerous and we never know when we might need to defend ourselves.

Rohan - Okay, would you say it's like a hobby you're picking up? Or do you do it for cardio and exercise purposes only?

Richie - Right now, it’s just my go to cardio, but I think i’ll enjoy it more as I keep going. It sucks being one of the newer, less experienced people there, but with time and practice, ill hopefully improve. Rohan - Awesome good to hear that. Have you made connections being at the club? Is it a good social environment?

Richie - I think so. Everybody is kind and welcoming. Lucky for me, I went with my friend so it was a lot easier to meet other people. I thought it was a great place for social interaction, as any other sport is. 

Rohan - Yeah I agree. Do you like watching fighting? Like UFC or Boxing?

Richie - Not really, I haven’t gotten into that yet, but it sure looks entertaining, I just have to be more consistent and develop a stronger love for it. 

Rohan - That’s fair, I love UFC. Alright well I think we are done here richie, I appreciate you for doing this.

Richie - No problem bro

(Both proceed to dap up)

Christian's View

On Sunday, March 10, I decided to interview Aidan Chang, a 2nd year student who is one of the officers running the Muay Thai club here at UCSC. I sat down with him just outside of McHenry library for our interview. It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun shining through the trees. There was a nice breeze to keep us cool. Aidan was such a chill guy to talk to. Everytime I would ask him a question, he would give me such in-depth answers. He would apologize for talking so much, but I told him not to be sorry. I knew his answers were genuine and authentic. His answers came straight from his heart. Below, you will learn a little about Adidan Chang and the Muay Thai club. We hope you’ll enjoy the interview. 

So tell me a little about yourself. Was Santa Cruz your first college choice? 

No, not really. I come from Wanna Creek, California. It’s a small town. I went to a competitive school. A lot of smart people there. Many people were aiming for high UCs (Irvine, LA, Berkeley, etc). Santa Cruz was not my first choice. I looked out of state. I was trying to go pre-med but it was expensive. I just ended up going here. It is relaxing at UCSC. I can focus on Muay Thai and have peace of mind.

What do you see as a career in the future? 

I guess the obvious answer is a doctor. I want to be an ER physician. I don’t want to sit behind a desk. I want to help others. Job security-wise, it's good. It is a stable job. There are other passions of mine: Pro-fighting, mma, artist. A doctor is the only job I see right now.

If you didn’t have to worry about pay, what career would you really choose?

 I honestly do not know. I really like art, writing, and film. My brothers do that. I enjoy my writing. I like to write in my journal. Movies do sound cool. I want to create my own novel. I enjoy fiction. I enjoy martial arts and philosophy, so my books would be based on that. I want my books to be deep into life if that makes sense.

I was really intrigued by these last two answers. When I first asked him about his career, he surprised me with the fact that he wanted to do something with writing. I feel like there is a stigma at times where all martial artists want to do is either fight or practice fighting. Aidan shows the complete opposite. Martial artists can have interests and passions beyond the gym. Anyway, back to the interview.

When you got here to UCSC, how long did it take you to get into Muay Thai?

 I was introduced to it before college. I did a little bit of it before. I did wrestling before and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (for a bit). I wanted to learn another martial art and stay consistent with it. I love watching fights. I envision myself as a fighter. I want to have that strength and confidence. Coming to Santa Cruz, I knew there was a club. I went to an informal spar for the club. From there, I just started training Muay Thai.

What attracted you to the martial art? 

I first was attracted by strength and confidence. I was still trying to figure myself out in high school. Now, I wanna choose my own thing. Martial arts is an outlet for that. Discipline, calmness, controlling emotion. A lot of men need control over emotions. Emotional intelligence. People do not let anger out in a healthy way. Additionally, There is a lot of philosophy behind martial arts. Muay Thai draws a lot from Buddhism. Get rid of the past and your ego. Do not hold in anger, emotion, because it bursts out and becomes ugly. Martial arts allow you to see people from an outside perspective. You also need to love others. Men and Women need to love each other. Control is the basis of martial arts. Women can also feel empowered through martial arts.

How did you end up becoming an officer so quickly? What was that process like? 

The structure of the Muay Thai club is flexible/loose. I became an officer because all the previous officers were seniors. Running it is a big thing. We had Jorge, a professional fighter who went to Thailand. He had the most experience. Me, Milli, and TJ were the most into it. The previous officers saw that and gave it to us. All of us have traits to be leaders. I came from a wrestling team who had leaders. I saw how to organize, raise funds, and be the leader I always wanted to be. I do not see myself as a coach. I see myself as another kind of student. 

How has Muay Thai influenced your life? 

Daily life, I watch Muay Thai clips almost every day. I have a huge love for it. For me, it is not just a violent sport. There is beauty in the art. It is like a chess game. A lot of my friends come from the Muay Thai club. The sport can bring people together. Personally, I believe we have one of the most diverse clubs. We have some people who come to just box and show off. Those people get weeded out very quickly. You get a lot of people who are down to earth. They are not fake. They learn to be confident in the correct way. That’s not to say we do not have flaws. Me and the other officers are always trying to improve ourselves. We all have something to work on. We commit the same sins. It teaches us to work on our mistakes. You have to be humble and accept improvement. I feel like everything in social media is negative. We are trying to portray this image of perfection. We want people to see us in a certain way. At the end of the day, who you really are will be shown through sparring in a sense. You have to be real. That is my motto for life. I feel like everyone is trying to work on themselves. 

I relate to what Aidan is saying here. As someone who practices martial arts, I do believe anyone can practice them. It is not just a sport where you fight others for dominance. Martial arts can be a tool to bring all kinds of people together. Your race, ethnicity, height , or size does not matter. As long as you are willing to put in the effort, you will achieve success. Furthermore, Aidan continues on here at the end about social media, but I let him because what he is saying is quite true. Social media has had such a negative impact on the lives of others. Martial arts, if anything, is a positive in life.

If you were trying to convince someone to try the class, what would you say to them? 

Come try it out. To get someone to come, I could say all these things. Some people see the physical aspect as scary or harmful. I am a very idealistic person. I feel like everyone should do martial arts. There are different types of school and arts. It teaches you discipline, self control, and confidence. It is beyond punching someone in the face. People who take it leisurely, there is nothing wrong with that. As long as you are learning it the right way. You do not want to hurt others. Be humble with it. Learning the right things. Everyone is learning at their own pace. You can be casual with Muay Thai and still learn all the right things. I guess I would say, “Try it out.” I have had people come to me, men and women, and tell us that we are intimidating. Just come try it out. Be confident. Push through it. Eliminate self-doubt. We are scary but nice people. It is a choice to spar. You do not have to hurt each other. If you hurt your partner, you cannot train anymore. You love your partner. Practice isn’t evil.

Time for some rapid fire questions:

Favorite food? 

I do not know, But I would say…I am thinking a lot about this because I love food. I guess quesadillas. I would say sushi, but I love quesadillas. It is a comfort food. You can put different things in it.

Favorite song?

 I play this song in class a lot. La vida es un Carnaval. It is a happy song. Just sing and all your worries will go away. Just be happy. Life is what you make of it. If you are happy, your worries will go away. Do not stress about the little things.

Dogs or cats? 

I would say dogs. Dogs and cats are on an even playing field for me. Dogs are more social, cats are introverted. I like cats, but dogs are cool too. I want a dog right now. You feed off the energy your dog has. My dog at home is a chihuahua mix. She is a little diva.

Are hotdogs really sandwiches? 

I don’t know. In a way it could be a quesadilla. I do not know if a quesadilla is a sandwich. The loaves have to be separated. If they aren’t it isn’t a sandwich. It depends on what bread is laid on or used. 

I decided to end the conversation off with some light hearted questions. Aidan joked with me about how the last couple of questions were actually the most difficult to answer. At the end of our interview, we stayed for a little bit just to chat about life. I really got to know Aidan as a person, and I loved it. He showed me that martial artists are not special humans. At the end of the day, they are regular humans with struggles just like all of us. Hopefully, people will see this and take interest in Muay Thai and other martial arts. From what I have heard, there are only benefits to practicing martial arts.

Omar's View 

It was a crispy, cold morning by the McHenry Library. The air around you would be cold enough to where if you were to exhale deep enough you would see the cold air leaving your mouth, but at the same time the March sun was finally out again after it had rained for a couple days and you could feel the sun rays give you a warm bath of heat as you walked down the road. As I slowly approached the steps of the library I get the text from my Interviewee Kevin, a first year electrical engineering student,  that he was sitting outside the cold and empty benches right outside the cafe area, which was uncharacteristically quiet but understandably so it was a Sunday morning in which daylight savings had occurred so most of the campus I would imagine was still asleep. 

As I walked past the cafe into the leading bench areas, I saw my interviewee reading the text message I just sent him, telling him that I had just arrived. “What’s up man, Kevin, right?” I ask to see if this was the person that I was going to interview as I had never seen his face before. “Yeah, and you’re Omar?” he replies as he stands up to greet me. I will admit I was a little shocked when he stood up at first since he was noticeably taller than me. As he stood up to dap me up and greet me I noticed the very clean and stylish watch on his wrist, it looked like it would cost you a pretty penny. You could tell he cared about his appearance but not to the extent where he was going all out on every outfit, despite the fact that his outfit looked simple yet so clean. 

After greeting each other we decided to sit in the bench that was basked in sunlight since all the other benches were very cold and unwelcoming. 

“So, well just get straight into it here I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“It's alright I came here planning to study a bit anyways.”

“Alright sounds good”

“Now then, First things first, how was your morning?”

“It was alright, nothing too much, I did wake up a little late confused as to why my alarm went off so early then I remembered that it was daylight savings which made a lot of sense.”

“Ah yeah no that got me too I was confused as to why the sun was still down when I woke up as well”

“Yeah it kinda sucks that the hour was just taken away from us, I needed the rest too.”

“Yeah especially for athletes rest is crucial”

“Oh for sure.”

“We put a lot of strain into our bodies but we do it because we enjoy what we do, especially for those in the martial arts like yourself. Do you enjoy doing muay thai or why do you do it?

“Oh yeah no for sure I like muay thai a lot. It has certainly been growing on me especially in these past couple weeks, it's something that I find myself enjoying a lot. It's something that gets me out of my dorm and it's a great form of exercise that keeps me very well in shape, the conditioning especially is very exhausting and a lot of cardio involved.” “Yeah for sure, I could only imagine how exhausting it is as you use pretty much all of your body in Muay Thai right?”

“Yeah we use pretty much all of our limbs when training, it combines kickboxing with mma varieties of techniques which can make for a pretty exhausting combination of training.”

“Wow both kickboxing and MMA influenced styles huh, I can only imagine how rough the conditioning must be.”

“It can vary practice from practice really, it honestly just depends on how the coaches are feeling that, but in general the conditioning is pretty tough since the core of it is essentially just circuits so you get minimal time rest. Especially since we do actual fighting conditioning like punches to the gut blocking attacks and all that stuff. 

“Damn, that sounds pretty intense, do you guys have competitions that you train for or is it all just for fun?”“Yeah there are like these tournaments and competitions that some of the members go to, we call them PMT tournaments and they’re in San Jose and stuff. They train you with the idea that they’re preparing you for competition if you don’t decide to go, so the way that they do things is very methodical so you can have the best chance in actual matches. 

“Oh i see i see, do you plan to compete any time soon?“Maybe in the future for next year but as of now most likely not, I still want to grab my bearings here as a first year student in college, I want to make sure I know or have a good idea of what my time schedule will be, since being an engineering student and everything is very time consuming. 

“That’s true it's important especially for engineering students to have their time management down but, if you’re so busy most of the time why do you do muay thai? What are the benefits you see from doing this martial art?

“I do it because it's something I genuinely enjoy doing and it's a thing that gives me the opportunity to better myself. There are a lot of benefits doing martial arts in general like muay thai. I found myself to be more physically fit as well as an overall improvement of my mental health. I can say that Muay Thai has been one of the factors that led to the overall improvement in my confidence and how I carry myself as an individual”

“That’s always a huge plus, would you recommend the club to others?” 

“Oh yeah for sure, despite the fact that it can be relatively dangerous at times since people forget to hold back or they have poor sparring etiquette or what have you I would still recommend the club since it is a great way to meet people and an amazing form of exercise. They even hold extra classes for beginners at the beginning of the week so that they can sharpen their fundamental skills and make sure that they feel like they are welcomed into the class. It is a very friendly and approachable environment so I encourage those who have the time to come and join. We accept people of all skill levels.

“Well that’s always nice to hear.”

My interviewee and I continue on the conversation for a bit and then ramble on to about how hard it is to be engineer not solely because of the content but because of the fact that we can hardly get into any our classes since they’re so full and lack availability when they’re the ones that are usually always highest in demand. But, all in all Kevin was an amazing person to interview and he seemed to have nothing but positive comments about the club so if you’re looking for something new to get into this year or just need a form of exercise then the Muay Thai club here at UCSC just might be a great fit for you. 

Samy's View 

On Sunday March 10th I had the opportunity to interview Diego Garza, a member of UCSC Muay Thai club. He is a first year student majoring in linguistics and is affiliated with Oakes college. I walked into McHenry Library looking for a good spot to conduct the interview. A place that is usually full of people studying was now empty with a few people scattered about. I ended up choosing a table on the first floor by the elevators so it would be easy to tell him where to meet up. I waited a couple minutes for Diego to show up and once he did we introduced ourselves. Then I started asking him the questions I prepared.  

Question: How long have you been participating in Muay Thai?

Answer: Diego stated that he had no previous experience in Muay Thai but used to participate in karate before he got here. He expressed that anyone could join and it did not matter if they had previous experience or not because this is a club in which the officers and members help to teach you. They hold 2 hour practices every Monday, Wednesday and Fridays but members are always welcome to stay longer in order to practice more or spar with other members of the USCS Muay Thai Club. This schedule does tend to change a bit or so every quarter because of classes. Every 3 or 4 months they attend a competition of sorts, but these competitions are completely optional and no member is ever forced to participate in them. Although members are encouraged to participate in these competitions because it is a good way to measure your own strength and progress. These are all decisions that you take for yourself and not as a team like a lot of clubs at UCSC. 

Question: How has your experience been participating in Muay Thai at UCSC (maybe differ from previous experience)

Answer: Diego found that it was really interesting to see that the Muay Thai Club actually had a lot more structure than he initially thought they would. He used to attend a karate studio, which he had to pay for, but the Muay Thai Club is student run so he does not have to pay to attend or be a part of the club. Having said that he thought that because it was a student run organization it would not be as structured as it actually is. He thought that it would not be taken seriously and people would goof around a lot, but that is also not the case. People are able to have fun while still taking it seriously and keeping things professional. 

Question: How has the addition of Muay Thai affected your ability to balance all of your other commitments?

Answer: Diego found that Muay Thai never got in his way of completing his other commitments or workload. He actually found that participating in the Muay Thai Club at UCSC is a great way of relieving stress. He gets to channel all his negative energy and emotions into training. This in turn makes his day better because he no longer has to carry all that negativity with him. Socially, joining the Muay Thai Club has been a bonding experience for Diego. He has been working closely with the same people all year and considers many of them his closest friends. 

Diego had his headphones rested around his neck as he held his head high listening to the questions that came out of my mouth. He took the information in and was thinking of an answer while maintaining eye contact. After every question that was asked he would take a couple seconds to think of an appropriate response. His face showed just how concentrated he really was. 

Question: Have you ever been in a situation where you have had to use Muay Thai to defend yourself?

Answer: Diego had been in situations where this might happen but he always de-escalated the situation. He stated that “The point of learning any martial art is to be honest, is not to use it. Unless you have absolutely no other choice.”

Question: What is your least favorite and favorite memory or aspect of Muay Thai?

Answer: Diego expressed that he was having issues last quarter with scheduling. This has been his only issue so far. Now for his favorite part, he said that his favorite part so far has been seeing his progress. When he was sparing against people he noticed that he could now hold his own compared to in the beginning when he was really struggling. 

Question: Why do you think people should join the UCSC Muay Thai Club?

Answer: Initially people join because they think that it would be cool to know how to fight, but once they actually participate they see firsthand how difficult it is they appreciate it a lot more. A big portion of these people will not stay because they find it too difficult. The people that stay are the ones humble enough to see that it is hard but determined to learn it and want to grow. There are also a lot of benefits. Some of the major ones being that you learn discipline both mentally and physically. You are holding yourself accountable in  both of these. 

Question: Any last thoughts?

Answer: Muay Thai or “The art of 8 limbs” is a very unique martial art. In most martial arts you use mostly just your fists and legs, but in Muay Thai you are also using your elbows and knees. 

Diego Garza is just one member of the UCSC Muay Thai Club, but many others have had similar experiences. Muay Thai is a way for them to expel any negative energy they have, which improves their mental and physical health. Not to mention that spending so much time with a group of people you are bound to make at least a few lifelong friends. Maybe you should give UCSC Muay Thai Club a try!