ST Sports’ Play of the Month – Muay thai
In a special series, Play of the Month, The Sunday Times’ sports desk will dive into a sport. Every month this year, an expert in a sport will provide tips for readers. The September spotlight is on muay thai.
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Winnia Leow, a professional muay thai fighter and coach at a training session with a fellow coach at Pineapple MMA.
ST PHOTO: LUTHER LAU
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SINGAPORE – When Winnia Leow first picked up muay thai as a 15-year-old, she had to hide it from her parents as she was afraid that they would stop her as the sport was perceived as violent and male-dominated.
Today, the 25-year-old trains young enthusiasts at martial arts gym Pineapple MMA and is one of Singapore’s most exciting female prospects in the sport. The super flyweight (52kg) is also 17th in the World Boxing Council (WBC) muay thai rankings.
Leow, who had her first amateur fight at 18, won the WBC MuayThai MuayYing Prestige Championship after beating Hong Kong’s Penny Fung at the Royal Thai Embassy in Singapore on Aug 31.
Her growth in the martial art, along with muay thai’s transformation from a traditionally male-dominated discipline to a fitness activity embraced by people of all ages and genders, highlight its global rise. Leow noted that it has become increasingly mainstream, driven by fitness influencers and gyms promoting it for conditioning and self-defence, not just for combat.
Leow said: “Back then, there were not many girls doing the sport and for any girl looking to get into it, it would have been very daunting. Your training partners were men.
“But today, there are so many females who do muay thai. That stigma of it being only for men is not there because it has become something that is not just for combat but as a fitness activity to get in shape or be fitter.”
Muay thai is a traditional martial art from Thailand which involves fighters engaging in close-quarter combat using fists, elbows, knees, and shins for striking. It is practised as a competitive sport and for self-defence, and many fitness gyms have also introduced it as a fitness activity.
According to mixed martial arts (MMA) training site Dynamic Striking, a typical training session can burn between 500 to 800 calories per hour, depending on factors such as intensity, individual body weight, and the nature of drills or sparring involved.
As a result of its popularity among women, the sport has since made “a very important breakthrough” in the sport’s symbolic arena, Bangkok’s Rajadamnern Stadium, noted Leow.
It was not until 2021 that women were allowed to fight in Thailand’s national stadiums due to conservative and superstitious beliefs. The Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, which was opened in 1956, was infamous for its signs around the ring forbidding women to touch the stage.
But the iconic venue hosted its first female fight three years ago and the Rajadamnern Stadium, the world’s first muay thai stadium, ended a 77-year ban on women boxers in 2022.
With the popularity of the sport picking up in Singapore, there are at least 20 establishments that offer muay thai classes including Pineapple MMA, all-women muay thai outfit Van Lee Fitness and Evolve, the largest muay thai gym here.
Pineapple MMA had about 48 members in its first few months when it first opened in 2022, but today it has at least 380 members – with a 50-50 split between men and women.
The gym’s Australian founder, Nigel Smith, said: “Post Covid-19 more people are trying to do something active and Singaporeans are looking for fun ways to stay in shape, to exercise. Previously the options were mainly running and lifting weights. It’s really boring to do that every single day.
“Muay thai meanwhile is very engaging. You are focusing on a technique... For people who are working all day, they find it very refreshing to do something that gets their mind off work as they are burning the calories while hitting the pads and improving their kicking or striking.”
Muay thai also helps with character-building, he added, as respect is a core value in the sport.
Wesley de Souza, senior vice-president at Evolve MMA told The Sunday Times that the ratio of male to female clients has changed from 80-20 to about 60-40 now.
He added: “I think another one of the reasons why it is such a popular option for people... is because muay thai training is also a community sport where people get to work out together. While you are the one throwing the punches and kicks, you need to have friends around you to encourage you, to be your training partners, and your instructors to teach you and spur you on, there is a lot of fun and stress relief in it as well.”
Three tips from the pros
Equipment: Always wear proper hand wraps to avoid injury. Hand wraps are used to protect wrists from twisting and prevent bruises on knuckles.
Perseverance: Muay thai involves intense physical conditioning and repetition as it takes time to master the precise timing, power, and accuracy of strikes. Pushing through fatigue helps build better cardio and technique.
Coaching: Selecting the right coach and training partners are important as having the right mentor to guide proper technique and form are essential in muay thai. A good coach will focus on correcting flaws but also help provide motivation and encouragement.
Fun fact
Muay thai is also known as the “Art of Eight Limbs” and has roots dating back to the 16th century – it was developed as a military combat technique in Thailand.
