Warrior Profile: The White Lotus A glance into Buakaw Banchamek’s life, career, and legacy

BY MARCEL MARIAK

With the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued shutdown of almost all global sports events, the combat arts community continues to find itself lacking any form of fight entertainment. Although we may not be able to witness new fights or exciting matchups, we can use this time to look into and appreciate some of the world’s most outstanding martial arts, and their distinguished practitioners.

In this issue’s Warrior Profile, we take a journey to the sandy beaches and scenic mountain ranges of Thailand to explore the life of one of the greatest modern kickboxers: Buakaw Banchamek.

Muay Thai: The Art of Eight Limbs
Forged in the mountainous country of Thailand, Muay Thai (which translates to “Thai Boxing”) has gained a reputation in the global martial arts community as one of the world’s most brutal and effective fighting systems. Muay Thai, which is also the national sport of Thailand, takes place in a square boxing ring and its practitioners wear boxing gloves. Unlike its Western cousin, Muay Thai allows a wide variety of deadly and effective techniques such as punches, kicks, knees, elbow strikes, stand-up wrestling, and sweeps. Because of its unique collection of techniques, Muay Thai has been nicknamed “The Art of Eight Limbs,” symbolizing the use of two fists, two knees, two shins, and two elbows as striking weapons.

Personal life and upbringing
Very little is known about Buakaw’s early life. Like most native Thai boxers, Buakaw was most likely born into a poor household and began fighting as a means to make money and support his family. Only when he began his career as a fighter did records about the now globally recognized warrior begin to appear. The earliest records of Buakaw’s life indicate that he began fighting in Muay Thai competitions when he was as young as eight years old. As a result of the early start of his career, Buakaw has officially had 275 fights as a professional Muay Thai fighter.

Professional career
At fifteen years of age, Buakaw left his home province of Surin and moved to Chachoengsao province to join and fight out of the prestigious Por. Pramuk Gym. From 1997-2012, he competed under the name Buakaw Por. Pramuk (it’s common for Thai fighters to take the name of their gym as a last name,) where he defeated many notable opponents including K-1 kickboxing champions Nieky Holzken and Hiroki Nakajima. In 2013, after a dispute with the gym’s directors, Buakaw left Por. Pramuk Gym to start his own kickboxing academy in his home province of Surin: Banchamek Gym. Currently, Buakaw has fought out of his new gym a total of forty times and suffered only four losses.

Fighting style
Buakaw has made a name for himself in the global martial arts community as one of the most exciting Thai boxers to watch. His unorthodox fighting style, mixed with his physical prowess has made him a fan favourite for spectators, and a terror to face in the ring.

Traditionally, Thai boxers maintain a stiff and upright fighting posture. Unlike their Western boxing counterparts, they often dispense with head movements and fancy footwork for fear of the sport’s deadly knee strikes, low-kicks, and leg sweeps. Muay Thai fighters typically favour blocking or catching strikes rather than attempting to slip or evade them. Buakaw, on the other hand, makes creative use of head movement to dodge his opponent’s strikes and create angles before unleashing his own barrage of violent attacks.

Legacy
Buakaw’s impressive fighting style, skill in the Muay Thai ring, and his stunning 239-24-12 record have made him not only a celebrity in Thailand but also one of the world’s most recognized fighters. Before Buakaw, Muay Thai was a combat art isolated almost entirely to the country of Thailand; but because of his fame and skill, Buakaw helped promote Muay Thai around the globe, and allowed the impressive combat art to be recognized worldwide as one of the planet’s most effective and entertaining martial arts.