Hey all! This post is dedicated to the NUS Muay Thai team for all their contribution to our Muay Thai education! We will now be featuring all the interviews that we conducted on the day we attended their training session. (:
Our first interviewee is a first year, Koh Kah Min who joined Muay Thai out of curiosity!
He thinks that Muay Thai is interesting and something special. He finds it useful as it will help him in self-defense. The interview was very brief as Kah Min had to begin training but I think we got a gist of why someone may want to join the art!
Next up, we asked the President, Kim Khai Ching, a few questions regarding Muay Thai. He was very shy about being video-recorded, so we only managed to took down his words:
"Muay Thai uses up all essential parts of the body with the elbow as an extremely lethal weapon. It is efficient, swift and utilizes all limbs. There is a reason behind every move.
It is also an extremely practical sport (for those seeking a workout.(By participating in) Muay Thai fitness, (one) can burn up to 100 calories per hour.
It is quick and easy to pick up if one trains religiously, daily. (In SingaporecMuay Thai,) there is no presence of hierarchy. There is no belt or any other symbol to mark level of skills or expertise. The only difference is experience which will be seen only in the ring."
We then organized an elaborate interview with the NUS team's Public Relation Officer. He is Melvin Lim Wei Wen, a forth year Sociology Major. He was very kind to answer our long list of queries and was very cooperative and patient in the process of filming! Many thanks to Melvin! We will list the questions that we bombarded him with, accompanied by the videos of his answers. We would like to apologize for any lack in quality of the visual and audio aspects of the video!
1. When was the club set up and by who?
2.What do you know about the history and origin of Muay Thai?
3.Why is Muay Thai so popular? Did you pick it up because of its origin and history?
4. Why did you choose to take up Muay Thai? What makes it different from other sports or martial arts?
5. Why is Muay Thai gaining recognition and popularity across Southeast Asia?
6. What do you think of Muay Thai as a compulsory sport in the Thai children's education? (This question is rather sweeping an assumption. We were only further enlightened on it being less mandatory than we thought it was after reading up more on Muay Thai.)
7. Does your club practise any special rituals before a fight for self-protection?
After that lengthy interview, we managed to catch two new girls who just joined the club on their break! They are Natasha and Naomin. We proceeded to ask them what sparked their interest in Muay Thai and what they hope to achieve by learning it?
Alright, thats all the material we were able to collect on that brief session we had with the NUS Muay Thai team. It was great to be able to get local insights on Muay Thai. We were able to note several differences between the local practise of it and the traditional Muay Thai experience in Thailand.
A clear distinction is seen in the value of the spiritual aspect of the traditional Muay Thai. The locals do not adhere to the spiritual customs of those in Thailand such as the Wai Khru. The NUS team believes in opening competitions with a boisterous team cheer and using their own faiths or Gods as guidance in the competition.
Above all, it was a fun experience to be on the site, collecting info and gaining knowledge. Thanks to everyone who helped us again! Make sure you keep up with the updates on this blog!
We then organized an elaborate interview with the NUS team's Public Relation Officer. He is Melvin Lim Wei Wen, a forth year Sociology Major. He was very kind to answer our long list of queries and was very cooperative and patient in the process of filming! Many thanks to Melvin! We will list the questions that we bombarded him with, accompanied by the videos of his answers. We would like to apologize for any lack in quality of the visual and audio aspects of the video!
