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Originally Posted by GorillaPalmz
well, seeing as i was the one being critical, i guess your post refers to me.
first of all, no fighter would say the tba test is harder than training and actually fighting. maybe those who think the tba test is hard should go fight-train with a true thai boxing trainer for a month, then get in the ring for 3x2 class c fight. try that a couple times. the tba test is hard in its own way, granted - it's obviously set up to deal out punishment, not test for technique. what does the test actually show, as far as thai boxing skill goes? who can't hit someone that can't hit back (at least the seniors should have to spar a round with the guy they just held pads for, to show actual thai boxing skill)? and what "instructor" qualifications does it show? it's the equivalent of board-breaking - difficult but pointless, in terms of showing skill. it's classic hazing, it allows senior members to haze prospects and reaffirm the hierarchy. it's the equivalent of a martial arts fraternity.
i give much more props to those who train their ass off and actually get in the ring and fight, at whatever level. some of those people are tba certified, but they get props for the fighting, not for "testing." there's nothing like passing the tba test? try winning your first fight, man. like a lot of people, i hit pads to train, i don't train to hit pads, and certainly not for the promise of some certificate that has nothing to do with the sport. "the belt is in the ring" is a popular thai boxing saying, i don't know why that should change.
as far as respect and humility go, some of us are adults, we don't want to be treated like children with some transparent carrot-and-stick ploy. i don't need anybody threatening me with 3-mile runs or a million push-ups or promise of some certification to get something done.
that being said, i think master chai is a good guy and, you know, maybe he's just giving the western audience what they expect from martial arts - karate, but thai boxing style. the instructorship certificate is like having a black belt, i guess. i mean, who wants to go out and train and fight (or even just train active fighters properly) to earn respect when you can just hit pads all day and get an instructor's certificate? i mean, to each their own, but whatever.
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Obviously, you're just a flamer just trying to get in here and rile up everybody's tail feathers. And I admit, you got mine tussled up pretty good.
You're arguments are so weak it's almost sad to give them a response. Anybody can step between the ropes and get beat on. And anyone who's really been around the so called "fight scene" knows that it's easy enough to set up an easy opponent for a fighter. That's where we get the term "Tomato Can". At the professional level this called getting a tune up fight and it's a relatively, widely accepted practice. So, so much for getting a win being such a tough challenge.
Of course fighting can be challenging and under the right circumstances, down right brutally revealing. But no more so than the TBA Thai Test. I have not yet tested in the TBA, but I have fought (amature Muay Thai and No Holds Barred) and I have trained and cornered fighters in over 30 NHB and Muay Thai Bouts. Based on the Logic of it alone, the TBA test is more challenging.
First it takes years to get there, and second, and perhaps more importantly, you've got to have the nuts to walk into a situation where the odds are stacked against you. In a fight, your opponent can be made to respect your tools. He can't come at you with reckless abandon for fear of getting caught with a counter. He can tire, feel pain and be dazed just as easily as you.
But in the TBA Test, the pad holder cannot be hit (only his pads can), he stays relatively fresh (as he does not have to evade and is replaced by a new holder each round), and can deal out punishment without fear of reprisal. What this means is that you've got to summon up the guts to throw kicks and knees, knowing full well that sooner or later you're going to get dropped. Then you've got to get up and do it again, knowing that as soon as you toss that kick, you're going to eat some more leather. That my friend takes real courage (and Khuen Khru Tim, to get up again after realizing that there is no possible way to successfully finish the test, well, I don't know if there is a word to describe what that is, but whatever it is it lies somewhere well beyond the realms of courage and honor).
It's kind of like the story in old Norse Mythology about the test of a man's soul. You see in old Norse Mythology, they believed that there were two Gods (one Good one Evil) who battled for the fate of all mankind. The Evil God was destined to win no matter what. Thus the question arose, what is the point in doing any good in this world as we are all damned to burn in Hell anyway. To which the true warriors would answer (and I am paraphrasing here) "Because F**K the Evil God, that's why". So unlike popular western thought were most do good to recieve their reward in paradise and avoid being punished in purgatory, the Norse were given a lose, lose situation which gave them an opportunity to display true goodness, strenght and nobility.
But back to the TBA Thai test. One of the most daunting things about the TBA Test is that chances are, your pad holders will be those mentors and role models that you have striven to be like. People that you've looked up to and tried to emulate for years as you've risen through the ranks. These are the folks that have taught you everything you know (but not everything they know). The are the ones who have prepared you for your fights and becasue of that, you fear no opponent. Oh and one more thing, there are no weight classes.
As far as the question concerning the level of skill that the test demonstrates. I think that Chalambok has raised some valid points. And to them I would like to add the following. The test itself (the kick/knee round portion of it) may not demonstrate the widest assortment of skills but the fact that someone is testing does. Put another way, you simply wouldn't be testing if you hadn't demonstraited a solid skill set consistently throughout the years prior to being asked to test.
I don't consider myself a fighter but I have spilt and had my blood spilt on the canvas and inside the cage AND I would say that training for and taking the TBA Thaiboxing Test is much more difficult than actually fighting.