The first leg of the 2008 NCR Muay Thai Tournament was held in Antipolo City and was participated by MAP Chapters from Pasig City, Quezon City, Las Pinas City, UA&P, Antipolo City and Makati. There were 8 bouts with 16 fighters. There is one surprise participant in the tournament, a US Marine assigned at the US Embassy is one of the fighters and will represent the Quezon City Chapter. There are four fighters from my team, MAP-Pasig City and we won all of our fights, making us the winningest team in the tournament.
Here are some of the pictures of the tournament:
Tournament Banner
The battle arena
Waiting for their match
Muay Thai Aerobics Exhibition
Muay Thai Exhibition
Round 1, Fight!
Take that! And That!
Sonic Boom!
Muay Boran Exhibition
Beck with Romnick Pabalate, Silver Medalist in 2007 Asian Indoor Games and 2007 SEA Games
The referees, all former RP Team and international gold medalists with Ajarn Pudpadnoy (in red shirt)-the Thai coach of the RP Team
June 5, 2008 at 10:09 am |
whos that pabalate i wanted to know him he may be my far relatives …Im nowat Maritime academy of asia and the pacific
mail me at juankirev@yahoo.com
June 5, 2008 at 11:01 am |
Hello John,
He’s from Dumaguete City. If you’re from the same province, chances are that he might be a relative of yours.
I’ll ask him when I meet him. Am currently on a business trip.
June 12, 2008 at 5:12 pm |
Aba, ang galing p s MT ang pare ko. Pag bakasyon ko sparring tau. OK
June 17, 2008 at 9:14 pm |
Sayang! Because of these lean financial times, I was forced to spend my training money for MAP for basic needs. I hope MAP opens a gym up in Baguio. It is easier and more convenient to travel there from the highlands and the lowlands. The officials there train in Muay Thai but MAP has no official gym in Baguio. Kase maraming Igorot at Ilocano sana ang magtrain pero walang established na MAP gym doon. Sina Brent Velasco, atbp, nag tuturo sa iba’t-ibang gym. MAP should have at least a Muay Thai gym in Baguio or the guys at World Muay Boran Federation will do so and established their own place. I know Kru Valdez has some animosity against WMBF, politics and such. WMBF is having monthly tourneys though to condition its fighters and nearly every month there’s Muay Thai and Muay Boran seminar by Ajarn Sane Tubthimtong. I’m not really into politics between the two Orgs. All I want is to learn Muay Thai. With regards to MAP, it would be best if they had a gym up in Baguio so that it would also serve as the MAP HQ of Northern Luzon. Why did Kru Valdez remove the “T” from Muay and changed it to MAP as opposed to BAP?
June 21, 2008 at 12:08 pm |
Hello Rayzor,
Yeah, sayang wala ng MAP Baguio. I heard Kru Edsel left the group. Brent Velasco is one of the best Filipino muay thai fighters I’ve met. Kindly give my regards to him and to his brother Alvin. There’s a MAP chapter in Benguet but it maybe too far from your place.
They have to remove Thai from Muay Thai because Myanmar and Laos claims that Muay also originated from their country and not indigenous only to Thailand. They threatened to boycott the sport if the word Thai will not be removed. So, during the 2005 SEA Games, the sport was officially called Muay.
June 22, 2008 at 7:46 pm |
Ah ok. Thanks for the info.
I’ll try my best though to save some money. As Kru Valdez said that training is done in Ultra. The fees are quite expensive for someone like me. But I shall do my best for the love of the sport.
About Kru Edsel, I won’t discuss it here as it is inappropriate. But anyway, we are trying to convince the MAP officials and trainers to consolidate their resources to establish a MAP gym. Have you heard about a Fil-Norwegian Thai Fighter named Ole Baguio Laursen?
June 23, 2008 at 9:08 am |
Hello Rayzor,
Nasa Manila ka ba ngayon? I know some people who got their training for free but of course, it depends on their relationship with the instructor.
About Kru Edsel, I know about, I’m an officer of MAP. Perhaps we can talk about it when we meet.
Yup, I met Ole when he was here in the Philippines 3 years ago. Planned to train in his gym in Ubon Ratchani, Thailand but I went somewhere else
June 26, 2008 at 8:51 pm |
Unfortunately I am here in La Union working as a volunteer worker in our Children’s Home. I train some of the boys here at the Home in Muay Thai – hopefully they will be able to compete in the kid’s division in the future representing La Union. I am under Kru Noel Sumingwa – MAP representative for Region I. Though I need to train for my Muay license as a coach and of course upgrade and learn new Muay skills.
Hopefully I too could save some money to train in Ole’s Legacy Gym for free if I cook for him Pinoy food. Hehehehe!
July 1, 2008 at 2:55 am |
What are the complete requirements to have a Muay license as a coach?
July 5, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
Hi Rayzor,
Sorry been busy for the last few weeks.
That’s a very good thing you’re doing and I wish that you will be able to help some more kids through muay thai.
Ole’s a good guy and I’m sure he’ll enjoy your cooking. I just think that his gym is too far from Bangkok (1 hour by plane) that’s why I haven’t trained there. I’ll be going to Kaewsamrit Gym (Bangkok) this month in preparation for a tournament.
To be a MAP certified instructor, you need to undergo the Instructor’s Training held at Ultra. It’s a 10-day course and I think the next batch will be this October. You have to be endorsed by your Kru to be considered in the line up of attendees for the instructor’s training.
Hope to meet you someday.
July 7, 2008 at 3:57 pm |
I will try then to save and prepare for the training. It will take a while. I might not be prepared in time for October. Maybe, I might join the next batch.
Thank you very much! I too am looking forward to see you Sir someday and hope to learn more from you.
July 11, 2008 at 10:30 am |
Hello Rayzor,
The instructor’s training is done around 4 to 5 times a year. So you have several chances to attend this seminar.
If ever you’ll be in Manila just send me a message. We can meet and introduce you to some of the muay thai peeps here.
By the way, last Wednesday, I was able to attend a muay thai seminar by Kru Vince Soberano. If you haven’t heard of him, you can google search his name. He’s the only Filipino American who won the King’s and Queen’s Birthday Muay Thai championship in the same year (2007). He won over several local thai fighters. I’ll be posting the pictures here in my blog soon.