IN the world of Muay Thai things don’t get much bigger or better than Kiw Eikkasit.
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Growing up in Thailand, where Muay Thai is the national sport and taught on the curriculum at some schools, Kiw began learning and perfecting his craft at just eight years old.
As the eldest of four sons, it fell on Kiw to help support the family financially and by 12 he had moved out of home and was permanently living at a gym so he could train and fight on the weekends.
“I started training at home with my dad when I was eight but by the time I was 12 I had to move to another town and live at the gym,” Kiw said.
This might all seem a little incomprehensible to many in the western world, but in Thailand, in many ways it is just part of life.
It is an honour to fight and there are very few fighters who make their way through the ring like Kiw has done, fighting around the world and winning two world titles along the way.
But it takes commitment and dedication and Kiw can remember those tough early days living away from home and crying for his family.
“Anyone with talent is taken in by a gym but you have to work your way up. I started out having to do chores for everyone but the better you are and the more fights you win, the less chores you have to do,” Kiw said.
Chores included cooking, cleaning and getting coffee for the better fighters, on top of training hard four hours every day, which would include a 10 km run, fight work, pad kicking and clinching.
Sunday was always a rest day and in his early years Kiw spent most of his Saturdays fighting.
Kiw’s wife Tracey said it was every Muay Thai fighter's dream to fight at either Lumpinee or Rajadamnern Stadium in Thailand, and Kiw won his first fight there when he was just 15.
“I got bought by another gym for $50,000 (worth of Thai baht) and if your boss had a good heart he would give you some of the money but he didn’t have to. I made my money from fighting but I always had to share my wins with my boss.”
Kiw said the harder the fights, the more money he was paid.
A Muay Thai fight consists of three to five three-minute rounds with a two-minute rest in between. You are not considered a celebrity until you have fought around 200 fights.
A fight consists of elbows, knees, punching, clinching and kneeing each other, and Kiw is known as the king of clinching.
“I can remember my first fight. It was three rounds and I felt like I nearly died but I won and was paid 70 baht which is about $3 (AUD), I learnt to love to fight and I really enjoy the training,” he said.
Kiw is a gentle and quiet husband and father outside the ring, but when he enters the ring that all changes.
“When I was young it was either fight or get hurt and so I learned to become a different person in the ring,” he said.
When Kiw was 25, and after being bought by three gyms, he decided to leave that world and began fighting for himself, with the ultimate goal of winning as many major fights as he could.
Approaching 41 years of age, Kiw is still in the ring today, and while fights might be few and far between these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he is just as happy training and working with his own team of clients and fighters in what is now his hometown, Echuca.
Kiw fights people half his age and he has had a remarkable and long career.
Still to this day he remains largely uninjured.
Tracey attributes Kiw’s longevity to a very healthy diet of spicy Thai food and supplements he takes daily, including fish oil, magnesium and garlic and horseradish tablets in winter.
He trains for 1.5 hours every morning, which includes a 5-10 km run and plenty of pad work.
Closer to a fight he ramps up his training, which increases to twice a day.
Kiw is a celebrity in Thailand and in particular in his home village, where old fighting posters remain pinned to the walls of the shop where the villagers gathered to watch him fight on a communal television.
“His family is very proud of him and his fighting achievements,” Tracey said.
Kiw came out to Australia to teach his craft and he met Tracey at the gym they were both working at.
The couple moved to Echuca after being sponsored by Wickham's Gym and around four years ago Kiw became a permanent Australian citizen.
“Kiw trains a few fighters and other people who aren’t interested in stepping into the ring - Muay Thai is great for self-defence, confidence, mental health, resilience and discipline, and we just love it,” she said.
Oh and if you think Kiw is ready to hang up the gloves, think again. He still believes he has a few good fights left in him yet.
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