Heroes, I think I’ve mentioned this idea before: the Gap Year. Have I mentioned it? I don’t recall. I’ll recap: a gap year is a year kids can take between high school and college to travel and get amazing experiences. I know of one young man who spent some time in Australia and then another part of his year studied martial arts at a dojo in Japan.
Another option: go to Thailand and study Muay Thai, a form of martial arts that involves boxing and stand up strikes. This martial art has been gaining in popularity for some time now. There is even a professional league governed by the World Muay Council. When I looked it up, I discovered schools even in my area for the art.
How cool would it be though, to study in Thailand? Muay Thai and Thailand have a strong bond that cannot be broken down…two parts of a coin as it were. This relationship exists because Muay Thai originated in Thailand during a war. Using Muay Thai – soldiers of an army can beat the opponent without using any weapons. There can be situations when opponents meet that they do not have any arsenals with them. In such situations, you have to be physically stronger and apart from being physically stronger, you are taught the art of attack. If you are not much stronger with respect to physique but know how to attack and where to attack then it is much better than being physically too stronger and this is what Muay Thai teaches.
While Muay Thai is a fighting art, learning this sport is also directly related to your dedication. If you are dedicated to studying then you can be a master. By finding a Muay Thai Camp such as Suwitmuaythai.com, you can study the sport right in Thailand. Of course if you are out of Thailand you can still find a school. Just use the Internet to find a camp running in the country where you want to learn MuayThai.
After finding a camp, take time to meet your trainer to learn the pre-requisites you need. It’s important to set your mind, as you have to do a lot of work to learn this art. You will have to be ready to sweat a lot every day. You have to do warm up for hours every day. You have to be ready to learn each step very cautiously because a mistake may lead to unwanted results. So, if you are ready to learn Muay Thai from the bottom of your heart then you are ready to be a champion.
Disclosure: I have not personally studied Muay Thai and have no experience with this particular martial art.
Image courtesy of Fight-Club via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.