Two wiry young men in tracks jog across the courtyard at The Slate hotel. They don’t look beefy. Ah, it should be easy dealing with them, I assume as I hop into the Muay Thai arena. They reappear, this time in a pair of shorts and vests. Now I am nervous — these are lean men with mean muscles.
Tanachoot Panayarsung and Aphiwat Ketchat, better known as Lin and Tom respectively, are Muay Thai instructors who have flown in to Chennai from Bangkok to train students at the Krukhom Muay Thai Training Academy, Maison Restaurant’s new venture. “During a duel, I have broken an opponent’s forehead with my elbow and Lin has broken someone’s nose,” says Tom calmly, as he walks towards me for my first lesson. They show me their range of punches and its when they repeatedly kick in the air, their legs going up like spring, that I strap on my boxing gloves and... run. One of the hotel staff members laughs from the gallery. “These guys have been teaching in Thailand for the last eight years,” he says, calming me down. And so mortified, I head back into the ring and an hour later emerge unscathed.
The first few classes are all about basics. A warm up, followed by techniques, and cool down. Lin (32) and Tom (25) are gentle teachers — a far cry from their fight night avatar. They smile patiently and correct my punches. “Its jab, jab, hook and upper cut,” explains Lin as he throws slow punches keeping pace with my languid moves. “To begin with, kick sideways instead of straight and keep shuffling,” he adds.
So when do I get to fight? “After you get the combination of these three right. That could take two months,” grins Tom, shuffling as his calf muscles throb.
“It’s important to start from scratch. Many of us may have learnt some form of martial art at some point. But our techniques may not be right. You need to generate power from your core,” says Lin. Injuries are common if the right techniques aren’t followed, he believes. The team at the Academy has spent the last year shuttling between Chennai and Bangkok, meeting Muay Thai experts to teach the students here. The classes start from July 1 between 6 am and 6 pm.
It is a novel concept as there aren’t any hotels in the city that have a fighting ring. The monthly fight night is something the team at Slate is looking forward to. They plan to sell reservations and diners can enjoy their meal and watch a fight in progress.
Fight nights will take place on Sundays, because that’s when the city doesn’t have much going on. Each of these fixtures will have at least six different fights with fighters from all over the world. As months progress, Krukhom plans to rope in Thai actor and martial artist Tony Jaa as the brand ambassador and to bring Jaa’s trainer Noom here to interact with learners and create awareness about the sport.
