Thoughts on Writing from Muay Thai
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu stands as perhaps the most documented fighter EVER. This is through being prolific in documenting her experiences and training in Muay Thai from day one.
She also aims to document the stories of past legends of the sport, who often fade into obscurity after their careers.
Why should I care?
Sylvie is brutally honest and applies a spiritual lens onto her experiences. She reveals what it takes to be prolific and it isn’t pretty. Years of documenting her journey have shown the dedication, discipline and the struggles that come with being so prolific with documenting and fighting.
Sylvie in Master K’s Basement. Source: https://8limbsus.com/
You should care because you and I share this journey. Writing and Muay Thai are both creative endeavours with multiple similarities. In writing, you condense your thoughts and experiences onto pages, with fighting you display them in the ring.
Best Articles
Sylvie has an unguarded style of writing. Reading her posts are akin to getting a peek into her mind at that moment in time. Like all minds, it can be unclear, but like all thoughts, it has a purpose. I summarise some posts to serve as a starting point to Sylvie’s journey and add my takeaways after.
Source: https://8limbsus.com/
This post is co-authored by her husband Kevin, and Kero, a fellow westerner training in Thailand. Kevin helps document her journey, providing insights and philosophical perspectives. Kevin’s paragraph is a love letter to Sylvie and her journey, flowing with admiration for her achievements. The latter half is written by Kero, who is smitten by admiration, but not of Sylvie’s achievements. It is of her ability to face fear and every obstacle that has come her way. An ability to do more than others would. “She was the sole master of the intensity and length of her training. Because she didn’t have to train like that… Who would choose such suffering on purpose?”
Takeaway:
It is important to understand the importance of the process in everything, including writing. That accomplishment does not come from the path of least resistance but from the process itself.
Fighters battling in the ring. Source: Unknown.
Sylvie starts off with a reference to her story of being raped as a child. She has experienced real violence and states that consent and preparation in fight sport is not that type of violence. She continues by adding how important violence is in Muay Thai, that it is not the absence of violence but grace amid violence that makes Muay Thai beautiful. She shares that being strong doesn’t mean you have overcome violence. But instead, "When I say, “you can’t hurt me,” is that the effect of that pain isn’t going to stop me, because I won’t suffer it and I’m prepared for it.”
Takeaway:
Like Muay Thai, what makes writing beautiful is the act of it amidst everything. You publish by entering the ring. Displaying your truest self for the world to see, and the world becomes better from it.
Source: https://8limbsus.com/
This post speaks about the conflict she often experiences between her yin and yang. Even as an accomplished fighter, she often gets criticism about her looks. She has a frank discussion about self-esteem, that she often bounces between admiring her body as a product “by Muay Thai” and dealing with comments by older ladies waiting for their lunch. She also discusses what beauty is and how it is often used for the primary value of a woman. But beauty is much more, it is a feeling, an experience. It is not one thing but many, leading her to ponder on the concept of beauty and what makes her beautiful.
Takeaway:
This post led me to ponder the value of beauty in my work. I admire others for their beautiful writing but not my own. Part of learning to write is finding what is beautiful about our work and loving it.
Fear of Escalation in Sparring and Training Aggression as a Skill
In a clinch. Source: https://8limbsus.com/
Here, Sylvie writes about the role of aggression in Muay Thai. That similarly to violence, it is a skill that is learnt. She argues that we all have aggressiveness, it's just how much we use and tease it out in our lives. In Muay Thai, aggression is used to better your training partners and to show respect. If you don’t train like you’re fighting, you’ll fight like you’re training.
Takeaway:
In creative work, aggression is needed in feedback. Restraining feedback to be ‘nice’ may ultimately lead to the creator not knowing their weaknesses. It is a form of disrespect.
Your Technique is Perfect, Right Now, The Way It Is | Mental Training Reading
Mia Kang training. Source: https://8limbsus.com/
This is a reflection on training, which is something we can all learn from. Sylvie references the book The Inner Game of Tennis, reflecting that, “The beauty is noticing all the states of the rose, but not judging them. This is the hardest thing, in using our brains to learn on a conscious level.” She uses the example of learning to kick, that every stumble, miss and hit is perfect because you are learning from every attempt.
Takeaway:
This post resonated with me the most. Oftentimes, I beat myself up for not progressing quickly and comparing myself to my peers. In a society like Singapore, this is even encouraged. That we climb the ladder through our work by being better than others. Meritocracy is even in our national pledge. This post is a reminder that no matter where you are, you are on the journey and you are always whole.
“You cannot be half a thing,” Alan Watts said. “A wave cannot only crest and never flatten.”
Final Thoughts:
If life was a sport, I will place first in excuses not to write. We all struggle to be consistent. Starting a project is exciting, but continuing and doing it every day is where you get the most benefits and struggle.
“My initial goal was 50 fights, which quickly moved to 100 and then 200 as a way to just keep pushing toward the impossible. Now that 200 is achieved the drive is to keep finding ways to change the game and inspire others to go beyond what seems “reasonable.”
Sylvie with her husband Kevin. Source: https://8limbsus.com/
Sylvie has provided constant inspiration to all that have encountered her work. I have learnt to put myself in challenging situations and not be afraid to test my mettle. We constantly change expectations of what’s possible to suit our circumstances but Sylvie challenges people's expectations of what’s possible; it has already changed mine.