I came across this on FB. After giggling at the silliness of their capes, especially when the young Thai girl nearly trips on hers getting into the ring, think 'The Incredibles'. I decided what the heck, it's only a few minutes.... If you can make it thru to the end, great, if not, then at least watch the 1st, starting at the 5 min 30 sec mark and last rounds, of which there are 5. Thou the last two rounds are definetly the best. I usually get bored silly watching kids stuff, but this is just little slow to get going and ended with all sorts of techniques going on. Elbows, knees, they're all getting thrown in there. I wouldn't personally let my 11yr old girl do this, but am still full of admiration for these young girls for getting in the ring and going for it. The Thai girl just keeps going forward no matter how many punches or kicks to the face she takes and as for the lanky young Aussie girl, give her 10 more years and those punches and elbows are going to be famous I reckon. Would you, or do you, allow your kids to compete full contact like this? Good thing, bad thing? Thoughts?
My daughter (at the moment) does not do a martial Art, her passions are dance and gymnastics - but in the future who knows? Lets hope the Australian chapter of the bleeding heart brigade don't catch wind of this - judging by the lack of head gear and shin padding, they would have a field day, but on the other hand I would like to see someone try and bully Charlie.
im not sure i know it happens in Thailand particularly, I watched some when i was there, I dont think I would want my son to fight full contact at a young age, especially in muay thai knees to the head im sure not good for a growing brain, I have enough injuries that I picked up competing and training so wouldnt necessarily want him to do that, I want him to train but not neccesarily compete full contact untill he can make an educated decision if this is something he wants to pursue understanding the risks
Ouch! Synical much I mean come on, be realistic, there's no way you'd get an 11yr old white Australian into a sweat shop factory
This girl trains in Queensland apparently, at Hervey Bay, Street Smart Thai Boxing Centre. I have no idea where that is in relation to you, but then I don't keep cane toads for pets either As to the full contact, apparently this is what she wanted and unable to get it here in Aus her parents and club raised the money to get her over there, etc... Like I said, not for my kids at such a young age, but still can't help but admire this sort of enthusiasim and dedication from kids so young. Good luck to them I think....
This is more my point Dave... I can't quite pinpoint it... but somewhere in here allowing pre-teen girls to fight full contact / no pads... There just seems to be some exploitation tone in here, somewhere... ...color me "old fashioned"
Aussie Aussie Aussie OY OY OY. Sorry it had to be said If you set aside the fact of children fighting I thought it was a good fight. There were some good combinations from Charlie and she used her reach advantage well. Still she was not afraid of getting in close either. The other girl must have a head like a rock from the punishment it was taking.
Hoping it is dry Aussie humor here... Let's think of some other good quotes that could fit here: If you set aside its extinction, Nubian lion meat tasted great.
Thailand has a reputation as a place to go to get what you want. Fights are no different. As an adult, I can fly over there, train at Tiger Muay Thi for 2 weks and have a fight lined up for me. From the guys I've trained with that go there and do this, it's almost unheard of for the foriegner to loose these 'pre-paid' fights. Ego builders and record padding. So if we take this conversation that way, then yes, I suppose the synic in me would have to admit that it was probaly arranged so as to give the young Aussie girl an opponent she could beat, that's what her family and club have forked out all that money for. To help her confidence, give her a positive memory to spur her on, etc... For the young Thai girl, I suppose a lesson learned young about the realities of the fight game I wasn't thinking about all of that when I posted it thou. I was just saying that allthough I wouldn't let my kids do this at their age, I still can't help but admire these young girls for their courage stepping in there like that. Same as I admire the kids at BJJ comps who step onto the mats, often vs much larger, heavier opponents and sadly, sometimes getting hurt, despite the ref's doing all they can to limit any harm. So now that you've sufficiently depressed the hell out of me, I'll just say, that I hope the synic in us is wrong.
Yeah, let's sit back, smoke a nice juicy cigar and watch pre-teen girls disfigure each other. My idea of "sport" ...
I always thought Nubian lion meat was a bit stringy. Seriously though, the fight has already been done and there is nothing I can do about that. There will also be other fights, no matter how much I disagree and there is nothing I can do about that either. So I decided to analyse the fight from a technical point instead of emotional. This sort of thing happens everywhere, there are three year olds in taekwondo tournaments on youtube. All martial arts that I know of have their child practitioners and they spar too. Hmmmm, wonders if everyone is getting upset because they are girls?
Sounds like an argument that could have been made before child labor laws were made. That is a cop-out attitude. Either it bothers you or it doesn't, which is fine either way, but don't be so defeatist! If it bothered enough of them, people would get together and stop it from happening, so there is something you could do about it!! Have meetings, get a petition, call someone in power, write newspapers, even complain about it on facebook! Sorry if this comes off as attacking, but I really have a hard time with statements made as such. It comes off as a very defense statement.
If I may play devil's advocate here for a moment. Martial Arts often takes a lot of flak for allowing children to compete - regardless of how much safety equipment they actually have. All the countries represented on this forum have sports like Rugby League/Union; AFL; NFL and so on. No one objects to kids playing these games and the risk of injury is just as high if not higher. Its my experience that people tend to object more to the fact that it is actual combat - and not just a rough sport. I mentioned above that my daughter does gymnastics - I worry about her getting injured by stumbling on the beam, doesn't mean I stop her from training (no the cost of the training and assocsiation membership will do that ) Our kids will get injured - it happens - its a part of life that we all went through. As good parents, we try to prevent it as best we can, but we can't be everywhere. Any responsible parent would not put their kid in the ring without knowing the risks. Yes the ring can be dangerous - but no more dangerous than a football field or a gymnastics meet. This is a training video posted on youtube by John Wayne Parr of his daughter in training. He has been criticized for putting his daughter in the ring, but both him and his wife are Muay Thai Champions. If ANYONE knows the risks of putting their girl in the ring, it would be them.
Haha actually, not honest at all. You used an excuse so you wouldn't be held accountable for your opinion, hence cop-out. If you believe in your statement, you aren't being honest with yourself. At least, I hope that is the case, hate for it to be the alternative.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with it myself. I think they appear to being doing a good job in terms of safety. I'm sure he is getting critisism, he should be, it is a delicate subject. Kids used to fight ALL the time, and no one died, but then all the anti bullying (for children) and other laws came around and ruined it for two consenting people who generally want to solve their problems with each other by fighting. I am all against the pussification of America. Thank you and god speed!(steps off soap box)