Muay Thai

In my search for a documentary on muay thai, I came across two with the same title: Raised in the Ring. As the name suggests, both documentaries look at Thai kids who will often have a hundred fights by the time they turn sixteen. The documentaries show how muay thai offers kids a way to make money for their families who struggle with poverty. However, the perspective and message differs between the two documentaries.

They remind me of The Fighter's Heart, written by an American guy who makes some money after graduating from Harvard and decides to live in Thailand to train in muay thai. There, many Thai would ask him why he would voluntarily train at a camp, since he already had money and a degree from a prestigious American school. The majority of the book essentially focuses on this question - Why fight? - as the author travels and trains in major styles around the world.

Unfortunately, the 20/20 report - the second video - doesn't do much to ask why these little girls get in the ring. Instead of investigating the sources of poverty in Thailand, it focuses on a symptom of that poverty which makes for shocking television. Forcing kids to fight for money is monstrous and should be illegal. But outlawing boxing for children does not address the cause that drives many of them into the ring.