Paidaeng vs Chamuakpet Translated to English | 1994 Classic Fight

This is a public post, so everyone can get access to this history. 

Kevin and I like to watch movies. Lots of movies, old and new... everything. Kevin is older than I am, so often he has references to movies that I don't. A movie could have been groundbreaking at a time that now we take for granted, but even just knowing that context, even though it's from a different time, can make you watch the movie with different eyes. It's the same with art, knowing the political atmosphere or cultural pressures that an artist was experiencing at the time of the art makes you look at it differently. Fights are the same. You can find footage and watch the fight, enjoy it because it's just excellent fighting, but knowing the context gives you 3D Glasses, in a sense. 

Something that our Patreon has allowed us to do is hire a translator. We've used this blessing in a variety of ways already, but translating the commentary on old fights is something we've just started with this fight: Paidaeng vs Chamuakpet. It's a great fight just as it is, without any context or understanding of either fighter or what's being said. But it is something else entirely when you have all this additional information.   In this fight you learn about how odds shift during a fight, about fighting styles and how the overall performance of a fighter is judged. That's very exciting to me, because with the information about who these fighters are, what is at stake between the two of them at very different points in their careers, as well as being able to understand the commentary... well, it just wakes up more of your senses with which to experience the whole thing. I don't want to tell people how to watch a fight, with a breakdown or an explanation so that it's pre-digested. I want people to interpret and enjoy and see the fight with all the elements turned on for themselves. Get excited in real time, rather than watching for the "applause" sign in a studio, kind of thing. I'm very happy about this new project and I think this fight is a perfect first effort for this project. Enjoy!

Thank you to my patrons who support this kind of new and interesting content, always finding new ways to document, preserve, and examine Muay Thai. If you'd like to support projects like these, consider becoming a patron.

watch the fight here on YouTube, be sure to turn on English subtitles (you'll find a little gear icon on the lower right corner of the Youtube)

Thank you to everyone making these kinds of project happen! 

If you are a patron check out the two Chamuakpet sessions in the Muay Thai Library:

#81  Chamuakpet Hapalang 2 – Muay Khao Internal Attacks (65 min) watch it here 

#49 Chamuakpet Hapalang – Devastating Knee in Combination  (66 min) watch it here