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February 27, 2017

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Thai boxing: the hot new trend in women’s fitness

By Zhang Qian | February 27, 2017, Monday | Print Edition

CHRIS Chen, a 35-year-old white-collar worker, looked at herself in a smartphone photo and decided it was time to do something about her appearance. Makeup? New hairdo? Fancy clothes? No. Chen simply wanted to look fit and healthy.

That goal took her to Muay Thai.

“It makes me feel so good to hear the sound of punching a sandbag and to feel sweat pouring down from my face,” says Chen. “It refreshes me all over.”

Muay Thai has gained increasing popularity since it became associated with exercise fitness. What was once a somewhat fierce sport for men is now attracting many young Chinese women, with Muay Thai clubs popping up all over the place.

Chen says she first took notice of the sport after reading a story about Victoria’s Secret models doing Thai boxing to stay fit and keep their shapes.

Before taking up the sport, Chen describes herself as a girl that never stood out in a crowd. She took out memberships in gyms, tennis clubs and yoga schools to get rid of unwanted fat, but she never kept up the regimes. Her annual membership in one gym was used only three times.

It was that unflattering photo that galvanized her into action.

In her first Muay Thai session, a professional coach had her jogging, skipping rope, doing basic punching and practicing kick training. Although she found the session grueling, she fell in love with the sport.

“It’s not like running alone on a machine, but rather a fun game with real people featuring in much of the interaction,” says Chen.

“Though I get exhausted, I feel excited. I have finally found the sport that suits me best,” she adds.

With her office within walking distance of PlanBee Combat Training Club in Xuhui District, Chen attends sessions at least once a day, either during the lunch break or after work.

Her weight didn’t drop even a kilo in the first two months, but she found her belly fat turning into firm abdominal muscles. Since then, she has been gradually losing weight.

“My dress size shrank from medium to small,” she says, “even though I have lost only 6.5 kilos.”

Impressed by the change in her appearance and spirit, four office colleagues have signed up at the same Thai boxing club.

“I am just like a moving advertisement,” says Chen, who posts her boxing pictures on social networking sites, attired in an array of colorful boxing suits.

Lucy Wang, a 39-year-old accountant with a 13-year-old son, has long been a fitness enthusiast.

Her interest in Muay Thai came from a movie called “Tom Yum Goong,” in which the hero defeated 30 villains with his Thai boxing skills.

“Every movement of the hero was accurate and powerful,” says Wang. “I realized that the movie may have been a bit exaggerated, but it stirred my curiosity about the benefits of Thai boxing.”

She attended her first session last September, at a friend’s invitation.

Different from standard boxing, Muay Thai is known as “the art of eight limbs” since it practices attack with hands, elbows, knees and legs.

Most standard Muay Thai courses emphasize physical coordination and strength training rather than pummeling opponents. Some clubs, however, do schedule combat bouts among members.

Wang says she felt like a rabbit thrown into a tiger’s cage when she stepped into the ring for her first real combat.

Even though she was praised for her kicking skills in training, Wang found herself incapable of executing any of the movements when facing a real opponent.

“I couldn’t punch or kick with strength because I was afraid of hurting my opponent,” says Wang.

But failure in combat didn’t dent her passion for Muay Thai. Apart from its benefits in shaping her figure, the intense training also relieves much of the stress of work and home life.

“Showering after a Thai boxing class, I feel all those negative feelings washing down the drain with my sweat,” says Wang. “I feel thoroughly refreshed.”

Boxing training clubs also forge new friendships.

“We work out and sweat together,” she says. “None of us wears makeup here. We joke that seeing one another as we really are creates the truest friends.”

Ivah Zhou says she has been aware of Muay Thai for years, but it was only recently that she started classes.

The 22-year-old police school student has been working to lose weight for years. A 10-kilometer jog every day managed to whittle her weight from 90 kilos to 70 kilos, but she hit a plateau and couldn’t lose any more.

An online article stating that Thai boxing is a more efficient calorie-burner than jogging caught her eye. She now attends Thai boxing classes four times a week and managed to shed 3 kilos in the first month.

“Aerobic exercises consume sugar and fat, while strength training shapes your figure,” says Zhou, who has come to love Thai boxing. “I didn’t quit jogging; I just added new spice to my exercise regime.”

Gao Lijun, the 32-year-old owner of PlanBee Combat Training Club and a former professional boxer, says Muay Thai is beneficial both physically and mentally.

In 2006, Gao won the championship in the WBA women’s 57-kilogram class. She went on to get an office job because women’s boxing didn’t hold many career prospects in China at that time.

Gao started her own boxing training club last August. It now has more than 100 members, 60 percent of them women.

Gao says Victoria’s Secret models may have helped publicize Muay Thai, but the new trend is also buoyed by features such as personal interaction and the ease of starting up in the sport.

“Losing weight often is the motive, but many women members at my club told me that Thai boxing has gone beyond that and become an enjoyable pastime,” Gao says. “And, of course, punching and kicking help vent anger and relieve anxiety, which is a good thing for stressed-out white-collar workers.”

Professional coaches and qualified facilities are essential in providing the best boxing experience, she adds.

As the popularity of Muay Thai increase, the number of top training clubs will expand.

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