Club hopes to punch above its weight

A FORMER Muay Thai boxing champion who battled gender barriers is helping Thailand’s national sport flourish in Yorkshire. Thai folklore and long-held superstitions have maintained for decades that the presence of women in a boxing ring can affect a male fighter’s skill and leave him vulnerable to injury. The traditions have marginalised women wanting to take up the sport for years.

But they didn’t stop Britain’s former number one at 57kg, Cath Bennett, who became Hong Kong Champion in 2005 and bagged a silver medal in the 2003 World Championships. After a seven-year stay training with the world’s elite in Thailand, the 35-year-old mother is now training future Muay Thai champions at her Ossett gym.

Cath, who fought under the name Kru Cat, says the UK felt alien to her when she returned here six years ago. “It was a culture shock and took some time to adjust back to the British way of life. Thailand is so different. I went there with two friends on a gap year after university, and it felt like home from the minute I got there. It is a lovely country.”

Women were banned from most Muay Thai boxing rings after an incident in the 1970s. A female TV reporter stepped into a ring to take photographs and her appearance in the ring was reckoned to have brought bad luck to the boxers who suffered severe cuts in their fights.

Cath, who taught English on the side to pay the bills, said opportunities for women had improved since her time in Thailand. “I lived, breathed and slept the sport but there were lots of restrictions on me as a woman. Even to train I wasn’t allowed to step into the ring in some Thai gyms. For a fight I had to crawl under the bottom rope rather than being allowed through or over the ropes. In most cases I could only fight at the end, once all the men had fought.

“Whether the superstition was used to suppress women I don’t know, but there were certainly barriers for women doing the sport on the same level as men. Most of the major stadia are still reserved for men, but things have changed a lot since I was there. Promoters have seen there is a market for women fighters and money to be made, especially with the influx of foreign women travelling to Thailand in recent years.”

Cath has now settled into her new permanent gym offered to her by Sensei Donna Whittingham at Ossett’s Shogun Martial Arts Academy. A Muay Thai training regime involves running between 3km and 10km per day, skipping, shadow boxing, pad work, bag work, sparring, neck wrestling, sit-ups, weights, stretches and practising the deadly Muay Thai weapons of punches, kicks, knees, elbows and other combat techniques. Boxers have two three-hour training sessions each day, with an afternoon sleep in between.

“Muay Thai is a hard sport and it is so demanding to fight. I would never put anyone in the ring unprepared. If they show an interest and want to fight then they really have to commit to the training. Injuries can vary. I’ve luckily never had anything broken apart from my toe. But I have had swollen knees and noses, bad bruising and tendon injuries. You have to be truly dedicated both mentally and physically to excel.”

Cath spent two years teaching mainly female students for fitness but men are now in the majority. Some are nearing their first fight, a novice C-class bout at the Metrodome in Barnsley, on September 3. Cath needs help pay the training fees of some of her students. “It would be great to get some sponsorship from local firms because training fees can be up to £50 a month and some of the lads don’t work. For those that do work, the training can be completely exhausting on top of their job. They are often out running and would be happy to wear promotional T-shirts.” The poverty Cath saw in Asia also inspired her to volunteer for work with the SOS Children charity.

“I love helping people achieve their goals and ambitions and love it when people share my passion for this amazing art.”

More information on the gym: www.mandala.org.uk