Some sports have a slightly different mindset than others.
“You got to have a little bit of a different mentality,” said muay thai fighter Jason Dudley of Okotoks. “You have to be able to walk into a ring and know you are going to potentially be punched in the face and be fine with it.”
Dudley didn’t receive too many punches in the face or kicks to the gut in his first official amateur bout, a draw to Quinn Wasylak at the Currie Barracks on Sept. 16.
A draw on the card, but Dudley walked away in better shape.
Meanwhile, Bruce Cartwright, a teammate of Dudley’s at Ryujin Muay Thai in Okotoks, won his first amateur fight by TKO over Graham Kersch.
While Dudley’s fight was a draw, it was the Okotokian who likely felt better the next morning.
“I walked away unscathed, no tender parts, I felt good,” Dudley said. “The other guy, his ribs looked like a strip of bacon from roundhouse kicks.”
It’s a combative sport – like all combatives – in which fitness is key.
“It is really tiring – not so much this time but in other fights you’re sucking for every bit of air,” Dudley said.
He teaches the children’s program at the muay thai facility located on Elizabeth Street.
He was interested in boxing as a younger person, but muay thai caught his fancy.
“Muay thai is boxing with big-flying knees and stuff and it just caught my attention right away,” Dudley said. “This is the beginning of what I hope is a long career… If I had a chance to go pro I would do it someday, but I would need a lot more fights.
“But I am the kind of guy if someone says ‘I can’t’ I say ‘I can.’”
Although muay thai is a combative sport, it’s a calming, confidence booster for Dudley.
“I used to be quick to fire off – I was a wound-up guy,” he said. “I’m calmer now, and that comes from the confidence and achieving the goals I set for myself.”
He passes that discipline to his young students at Ryujin Muay.
Cartwright, 23, was awarded the TKO in the final of three three-minute rounds against Graham Kersch at 175 pounds.
“I was pretty confident going in,” said Cartwright, who lives in Calgary but works and trains in Okotoks. “The first two rounds I was out-boxing him and he was changing his strategy – trying to outbox me. I was able to catch him while his hands were down.
“By the third round, they stopped it.”
Although in good shape, the well-toned Cartwright didn’t walk away feeling like he had an eight-minute massage.
“I was definitely feeling it – not beat up, but I was sore,” Cartwright said. “I had a black eye and some bruises (on his shins), but that was from me kicking him.”
Cartwright had experience in tae kwon do and karate before switching to muay thai.
“I work with my coach and I joined his class. He finally asked me if I want to start fighting and I said: ‘sure, I was waiting for you to ask me,’’’ Cartwright said with a laugh. “To me muay thai is more fun.”
Both Cartwright and Dudley train under Kevin Green Lustestica.
Cartwright wants to learn from his victory and go on from there.
“I looked at the footage and I did see a lot of mistakes I would like to correct,” Cartwright said. “Focus on that, do some more training and maybe jump into another fight soon.”
Although Cartwright and Dudley can both withstand a punch in the face, muay thai is a sport for virtually everybody.
“You can come down and train without ever getting in the ring, and not get punched in the face or kicked – all you need is the drive to get up and go to the gym,” Dudley said.
