Loh, strike! tighter! Now a kick with the knee! Higher! Five more times,” shouts “A” into the boxing ring, “a right straight line!” Despite jet lag, the five German women give their all. With bandaged wrists and padded boxing gloves, they literally knocked their stiff joints out of the eleven-hour flight from Frankfurt to Phuket. Trainer Vorapong Sriphet takes on the role of the punching bag and acts as a mobile target. Because his name is even more difficult to pronounce than the coordinated brawl, he calls himself “A” . He stands barefoot in the ring, bouncing and elegantly absorbing the punches of his students.
But just hit it, that’s not all in the ancient martial art Muay Thai. Thai boxing is a national sport and thrives on technique and concentration, on coordination, body tension and speed. In other words, about skills that you don’t have at hand, exhausted from the long-haul flight. Nevertheless, the sequence of movements, the exertion in the thirty-degree hot and tropically humid air is liberating, almost like a catharsis, and yes, the sweating, it should become a leitmotif of this Asian retreat at the Thanyapura Resort. “Kickboxing is a good sport for women,” says A. “It works through balance, rhythm and choreography, less through strength.” That’s why more and more women are joining the sport here in Thailand and also in Germany. After an hour of fighting, kicking, and slapping, the bright red faces of the boxing students glow in attractive contrast to the green of the jungle on the nearby national park hills.
