Strictly Baby Fight Club

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By Lesley Jackson, on 16-05-2008 20:59

Now some people would accuse me of going soft but when I see the little dots I teach doing Taekwondo in their mini doboks you cannot help but admire their zest and enthusiasm as they learn all the aspects of this traditional martial art. At the beginning of class, they tear around like lunatics chasing each other but as soon as I call the beginning of class, there they are, all in line and ready to start with a resounding ‘Yes Miss’. After of course I have tied their belts, wiped their noses and stopped one special boy from chewing his dobok.

What is clear though is that what creates the champion, no matter what age they are, is the personal desire to win and not to live one’s life through your children’s success. - Lesley Jackson

However, watching Channel 4’s recent episode of Cutting Edge entitled ‘Strictly Baby Fight Club’ was a real eye-opener as what was shown was a very different side of children’s martial arts to the traditional style I teach as we are told the story of several young children under the age of ten who take part in one of Britain’s biggest growing martial arts, full contact Thai Boxing. From the opening minute of this strange insight into an extreme world of fighting we witness to two skinny boys knocking the crap out of each other with a mother screaming obscenities that would make your hair curl.

Hundreds of Thai Boxing clubs have opened all over the country and as yet, there is no minimum age for competitors. Therefore, it is both permissible and increasingly common for children who have only just started school to be fully kitted out and competing in a ring in a full contact Muay Thai bout. Although UK rules state that children are not to kick or punch to the head and must wear full protective equipment, they are still most serious in competing for titles in a ring fully backed by the full verbal force of their parents.

It is when we see the individual stories of the children and learn about them through their personalities that we see how Thai Boxing shapes their lives and influences they way they live out their childhoods. Some of the stories are encouraging but some are downright disturbing as we are witness to parents who insist they achieve success through their children, whether their off spring want to or not. We are introduced to ten year old Connor whose unmistakable East London accent and hilarious swagger hides one of the most skilful and determined fighters I have seen in quite some time. His full-bloodied mother who opens with the exclamation, “If anyone’s watching, you can’t get a decent groin guard for a junior,” and who also takes the family bull terrier everywhere, later presents herself as the most well balanced of the parents as she clearly supports and encourages her son with a fierce loyalty but prepares him for defeat whilst always giving him the choice to train.

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Conversely, we see his eventual opponent train for the fight finale in the questionable arena of an adult audience paying to see fighters in a cage entitled, “Cage Brawl”. Young Thai Barlow’s life is chosen for and dominated by the world of Muay Thai with his obsessive parents even calling their son after their chosen sport. Already by the age of ten this boy has had sixty fights, losing only two but what is most shocking is their insistence on taking their son on an annual trip to Thailand where their son is allowed to fight full Thai Boxing rules, with full kicks and punches to the head wearing only a pair of shorts, a groin guard and gum shield. When asked about his son and their hopes for his competitive success, Thai’s father telling states, “I don’t know what his dream is.” Which they would not as they are far too wrapped up in hot-housing their son for what can only be burn-out or injury in the not too distant future.

This programme is essential viewing for any teachers of a martial art and contains many more stories of children than there is room to mention here. What is clear though is that what creates the champion, no matter what age they are, is the personal desire to win and not to live one’s life through your children’s success.

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