Wai Kru day - Paying respects to a past teacher
Thursday, 02 April 2009 08:41
I try and get back to Bangkok to train with Kru Lek every three months, but duty called and was a welcome surprise to find out that I would be going up to Bangkok on March 8th for the Chaiya Wai Kru day, where we pay respects to the past Masters of our style. It wasn't necessary for me to go, but I felt that it was important enough to skip work and grab a flight up, to pay respects and show my thanks for the art that I now have the honor of teaching.
Held at the home of the late Kru Thong Lor Ya-La (in Sina-karin, Bkk), his younger brother Khun Aroon was as welcoming as ever, and a large gathering came to pay respects.
The last time we attended was about 4 years ago, and was a fun day with demonstrations of Chaiya and Krabi Krabong. Kru Pedro and Khun Tey also put on a good show, doing a long round of semi contact fighting Khad Cheuag style (bounded ropes on fist).
This years turnout was just as good with many of Kru Tongs students in attendance, and Baan Chang Thai put in a good presence. It was not sure that we would be putting on a show or not, but after arriving, it became obvious to Kru Aof and K.Tey that they would be putting on their tried and tested show (they hadn't practiced in a while, but Aof insured me they can do it in their sleep!).
First things first, we all assemled in the home and payed respect to Kru Thong in the traditional manner and presenting flowers.
Then the preperations began. Kru Aof and Tey dressed themselves in the traditional Chaiya gear, including binding their hands. Then they went outside so that Kru Lek could give them their Phra-Jiab-See-Sa (old style head band) and Phra-Jiab-Keyn (the arm bands). The show was impressive as always, but i did feel sorry for them as the ground was bone dry and hard, and the grassy looked really itchy. On one of the moves (Hanuman fad Goompagan) Aof landed hard, and had a sore hip for a few days after!
Straight after came a real surprise and treat. Kru Lek and Khun Aroon announced that they would be sparring for fun! This is particularly impressive because Kru Lek is in his 50s and Khun Aroon is 57! (although he doesn't look even 50). I haven't seen Kru Lek fight before so I was especially interested, as I wanted to see his fighting style. Khun Aroon is also a good fighter, and it seems that he must have done a fair amount of training with his brother, he has told me that he's more of a boxer than a muay thai fighter. I sparred with him a few years back (before the previous Wai Kru day) and was impressed with his spee, power and accuracy.
I wasn't disapointed, as even though the started slow, they got up to a good pace, and were hitting pretty hard. I've been on the end of Kru Lek's kicks in training, and seen the affects on other student's legs, so I knew that even though the kicks may not have look hard, they packed a lot of power. It was great seeing how easily Kru Lek moved and switched between the Yok Khao (raised knee) guard and counter attacks, and using a variety of the Chaiya tricks in the fight. The fight didn't last too long, but it was understandable because it was scorching hot in the midday sun!
After the fight, Khun Aroon called for more demonstrations. There were several Krabi demos (one of the masters taking on multiple opponents) and then some Chaiya students and teachers including Kru Aof and myself got up and performed the traditional Muay Chaiya Ram Muay (the dance performed before fights). I was pretty nervous, because to be honest I'd been a little lazy and hadn't practiced it in a while, but it came back pretty quickly after starting! Concentrating was hard though, especially as Kru Lek started talking about me over the microphone, even going so far as to tell the ladies that I was single!
After the shows were over, we took the opportunity to grab some photos in side to remember the day, said our goodbyes to Khu Aroon and family, and then we started the journey home.
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