• South Asia’s first all-female Muay Thai competition held to raise funds for breast cancer 

World Boxing Council (WBC) Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Muay Thai Federation of Sri Lanka, is scheduled to launch the ‘Pink is stronger than you think’ Muay Thai Women’s Championship Sri Lanka 2023. Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that is a discipline known as the ‘art of eight limbs,’ as it is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, and shins.

The championship will also act as a charity event where all proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Unit of the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama. The fight night, which consists of eight bouts, will be held on Saturday (29) from 4.30-8.30 p.m. at the Royal MAS Arena.

WBC Sri Lanka is a sanctioned organisation which operates directly under its international counterpart. The aim of the organisation is to build the infrastructure to enable professional combative sports to be a viable revenue stream for long-term sustainability of both the organisation and its stakeholders. There is also the Muay Thai Federation of Sri Lanka, which is the national body under the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Brunch, WBC Sri Lanka Business Development Manager, Muay Thai coach, and Vanquish Muay Thai dojo Founder Vimukthi Abeynayake said that through this championship, the WBC hoped to create opportunities for professional international competitions for Sri Lankan fighters and to highlight the potential of women in combat sports. 

Abeynayake shared that WBC Sri Lanka had officially been recognised by its parent body in 2020 and in the years since its recognition (much of which had been hampered by the pandemic), the organisation had undertaken a considerable amount of work to promote the sport. 

As a sport, Muay Thai is incredibly physical, technical, and dynamic in its presentation, Abeynayake explained, adding that these qualities ensured that Muay Thai was the perfect spectator sport. “To watch a competition is electrifying,” Abeynayake shared. “The current generation is into consuming sporting content like this and there is a lot of interest in mixed martial arts. There is a lot to be gained from promoting this as a spectator sport,” he said, adding that this could be a golden opportunity for sponsors to create visibility for their brands using something fresh and exciting. 

Muay Thai is very much an emerging sport in Sri Lanka, but that is not to say that it is not vibrant. Sri Lanka currently has top-tier fighters who have been World Champions in different men’s categories. However, as has been the case for many lesser-known sports, what has been done in terms of facilities has been the bare minimum.

Women in Muay Thai 

Considering the upcoming Muay Thai Women’s Championship, Brunch asked Abeynayake about women in combat sports such as Muay Thai. He stated that owing to Sri Lanka’s cultural context, the gender expectations for women were such that they were “supposed to behave a certain way”. Women face significant challenges when it comes to choosing sports such as Muay Thai which are perceived to be violent and aggressive. Even parents oppose the pursuit of such sports for women, Abeyanayake noted, adding: “Even if they train, they do not go so far as to compete because they are discouraged.”

Abroad, there is significant female participation in Muay Thai. Abeynayake attributed this to the fact that the sport was essentially about rhythm and women were inherently better at picking up these techniques. “It is incredible to watch women who have excelled technically in Muay Thai in professional competitions. I believe we have the talent to develop our women to that level of competition,” he asserted. 

Abeynayake shared that there was only one annual national competition for fighters at present, stressing that this was simply not enough. “If you look at Thailand, by the age of 18, fighters will have had about a 100 fights. Compared to the 10-15 fights our fighters have, it is not enough in terms of developing their skill. To get more fights, we need to get the word out, to have more people come to watch the sport.”

The female perspective  

Vindula Jayasinghe, who will be taking part in her very first professional fight at the upcoming championship, also spoke to Brunch about her experience as a martial artist and a Muay Thai fighter. As someone who had a full-time corporate gig and as one who engaged in Muay Thai only as a discipline, she had been able to incorporate that discipline into her day-to-day life incredibly well, Jayasinghe shared, noting that what she had developed and gained through her training had been invaluable. 

Jayasinghe’s growth due to Muay Thai has not only been in terms of functional fitness (though this has improved immensely), but also in terms of helping her to build up her self-confidence. “As a girl, your self-confidence really improves. Even when you travel anywhere alone, you know you can defend yourself,” she said. 

The key to practising any sport, competitively or otherwise, is finding a good coach. “When you watch the sport, it can look quite aggressive due to its physicality, but it involves a lot of technique and if you get yourself a good coach, then you are far less likely to get injured,” she shared. 

The chance to be able to compete in the first women’s championship of its kind is also very inspiring for Jayasinghe. She shared that such championships were an incredible opportunity to introduce and promote the sport amongst women in Sri Lanka, something she was very passionate about because of how greatly Muay Thai had supported her in her daily life. She therefore expressed every hope that it would be able to do the same for other women as well.