Mai Bpen Rai

October 5th, 2023

The callus under the middle finger on my left hand serves as proof that I did indeed survive my first Muay Thai class.

Shortly after meeting Zoe, one of 16 (incredible) people in the ETA Fulbright cohort, I learned about her passion for boxing and her invigoration for Muay Thai: the national sport of Thailand. I was curious to tag along with Zoe to a training session without an ounce of certainty as to what was to come. Zoe was reassuring with her “you can just watch” as we made plans to meet at the local Buddhist temple, Wat Hua Lamphong––not exactly where I was expecting a Muay Thai ring to be. Upon entering the gates of the temple, passing beyond the shops and restaurants, it became apparent how this temple––that up until this point I had only glanced at while on my way to the metro––was the epicenter of local social activities.

Arriving to the Muay Thai gym part of the Matthayom School (middle/high school), we found an open-air workout center with a ring and several picnic tables. Zoe and I were rather quickly ordered to “wing” (run) round and round the small asphalt courtyard. And immediately, I was smiling. A young woman, Bam, in soft pink crocs joined Zoe and I pointing to the lines where we should’ve been running; I wondered aloud how to say funny, learning “dta-lok”. Soon enough, we came upon our first obstacle: Kruu Mai (Teacher Mai) placed a ball in our running path. From there, we were hopping, ducking, punching, stretching as we made our circles round the courtyard.

With the sweat steadily flowing in the humid heat (upwards of 80 Fahrenheit/30 Celsius), the subsequent 30 minutes only brought on more as Hen, Non, (two younger men), Zoe and I lined up and (a)synchronously practiced stances and throwing jabs and crosses. The instructor assessed all of us, devoting diligent attention to my particularly poor boxing techniques; transcending languages and a great lack of boxing experience. Zoe, faithfully stood close by, thankfully translating better than I in addition to the advice she could offer me given her extensive boxing experience.

Let me tell you, body language and “chai mai?” (right?) goes a long way on your first day of Muay Thai! One of the most comical experiences came when Kruu Mai had me standing in front of the mirror, practicing my stances. When push came to shove and words failed us both, he turned to shove me, gracefully and successfully pushing me over. Shaking his head, we were both laughing, and by the time I was vertical I knew my feet needed to be spread further apart. New stance unlocked, I then, pushed him over (following his cues), and with his imitation of my previous stance, all it took was a single finger: he was stumbling over. That was just the beginning of mindfulness. Once my stance was wider, I then needed to remember to keep my hands in front of my face, my right shoulder further behind, to not forget to step with my front foot, left always first, heels lightly lifted, fist parallel to the ground, all on one, and then on two, to turn my right hip forward, to return my left hand next to my cheek. Then, came movement and count offs.

From the “champion” or Kruu Singhao, an older man whose only English word was in fact “champion” who at some point motioned for me to punch his chest harder––then harder––to the younger boys who counted rounds and held my punching pads, everyone took turns guiding me.

With my limited Thai communication, I clung to the phrase “mai bpen rai” (don’t worry) each and every time it came out of another’s mouth. And I still laugh at the memory of my premature “set laaeo” (finished?) as Kruu Mai ordered me to hit the punching bag over and over, advising my techniques.

Towards the end of class, our teacher gathered everyone in the studio to go around introducing themselves. I nearly melted when the three little girls who had joined us for boxing waied (slightly bowing) and referred to us as P’ (their older sibling). Kruu Mai then quizzed us ensuring we all knew one another’s name, building a chorus of laughter alongside a sense of community. As we all cleaned up, a couple of boys went into the ring where they performed a “Wai Kru” to pay respects to the gym, teacher, and training partners as well as their “Ram Muay” a boxing dance performed prior to every fight, usually gym or regional specific.[1] Zoe eagerly asked if we could join and soon, I too was participating in paying respects.

By the end of the dance, my shirt was clinging to me once again, and our teacher came over to deliver quite the invigorating soliloquy to us. Afterwards, Zoe turned to me asking “Did you get any of that?” to which I replied “Nope” in laughter. Nevertheless, I had captured a bit of his encouragement towards our learning more Muay Thai. To wrap up an already excruciating workout, somehow, someway, Non and Zoe convinced me to do a round of sit-ups, an unnecessarily long plank, and a handful of pushups.

As we said our khub-koon-kas and sa-wa-diis, I was asked to sign a piece of paper. The moment came to write my Thai name for the first time. My chuu len inspired by my English nickname: Moo. The Thai letter for M happened to be one of the few Thai letters Thaipod101 had taught me before my arrival to Thailand earlier this month. As I began to draw the letter on the sheet and I was met with applause and with the help of Zoe and Non, I was able to complete Muu:

มู

We then wandered our way away from the Muay Thai ring and back towards the front gate where the champion, Kruu Singhao, also a police man, welcomed us to sit and eat bags of fresh pineapple. When he offered to buy us dinner Zoe sprung to action ordering us some Pad Thai pet mai (no spice) from the vendors just outside the gate. Within seconds the woman was pouring chilis into the stir-fry and despite my very best effort not to breath, tears were rolling down my face. I quickly retreated to the police officer’s stand. Sitting in the silence between rough attempts to speak at one another, I am reminded of the rough transition I will have once moving to an Isaan (Northeastern) province away from all my English-speaking friends. However, as the night progressed and Taylor Swift began playing out of Non’s speaker, I was also reminded of the universal language. Kruu Singhao smiled and shook his head as he attended to cars exiting the compound following a funeral ceremony.

After finishing our dinner and exchanging lots of smiles, we ventured to Zoe’s Airbnb with Non since Zoe had forgotten where it was (555). We then, decided to show off some of our American culture by breaking the pool rules that Non nervously recited over and over. We jumped in after hours. The water held my aching limbs as we counted the handful of stars aloud in Thai.

Zoe and I went on to discuss how one of the most empowering parts of moving abroad is the way it forces us to break our old habits and how it enables us to adopt some of the most beautiful parts of the people around us. My brain is finding a whole new form of expression with Thai and my body through Muay Thai! With all the mixed emotions of the day and the move, I thought to myself mai bpen rai!

[1] https://krumuaythai.or.th/history-of-the-wai-kru/