I was watching the reality series Contender: Muay Thai this evening and it really brought something home to me. The programme is about 16 fighters who are at the top of their sport. Some are proven world champs, others up and comers being given a big chance to make names for themselves. Basically, they all fight one another in a knockout format, reducing the numbers each week until there are only 2 left. These 2 fight in the final and the winner gets $150,000 USD. That is mega bucks in Thai boxing. Obviously there is a lot to fight for.
In this series there were 2 Thai's. That amount of money would secure their families and many more for the rest of their lives in Thailand. These guys are from a different world to the rest of the contenders and have grown up in extreme poverty. They are also the best. A couple of weeks ago, by pure misfortune, the 2 Thai's were drawn to fight each other. They had been best friends for many years and fought out of the same gym back home. It was hard watching them trying to come to terms with this, they had to fight. Only one of them could advance. One of them ended up knockin the other one out. It was heartbreaking to see the victorious guy stood in his corner, not looking remotely pleased to be one step closer to a lifechanging sum of money, watching his best mate getting oxygen and coming to without a clue what had just happened to him.
The competitors all live in a house with one another and become very close. They spend 24 hrs a day together and have very little contact with anyone else. Expectedly they become friends, they know that to win they're going to have fight each other but try to put it to the back of their minds. This week 2 more close allies fought. The end result was a devastating knockout victory. The victor was in bits, his mate was out cold and in a bad way. He had to do what he did in order to progress but it was abundantly clear that he took no pleasure from it. It's a harsh reality but in fighting there will always be a winner and a loser, although in my opinion anyone who steps into the ring is a winner as it takes imense courage. You will only really understand this if you have done it.
My main point is the way that these fighters showed each other the love and respect really got to me and made me glad I am part of this way of life. There are not many other sports where the winner, and in extremely emphatic fashion, looks like someone has ripped his heart out.He is worried about his friend and fellow warrior so much that his success is marred by his friends trauma, I find it humbling. So next time you here someone branding fighters barbaric and thugish,aim a shake of your head to the uneducated idiot making these sweeping generalisations.
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