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I think everyone keeps misunderstanding my comment, I never wrote '4oz gloves are bad and they create more concussions". What I did say is that modern One rules

I think everyone keeps misunderstanding my comment, I never wrote '4oz gloves are bad and they create more concussions". What I did say is that modern One rules with 4oz gloves and punches scoring equally as other weapons encourages a style I don't like to watch. You have less guard to work with in smaller gloves and you see a lot more straight attacks to the head. One rules I feel encourages more brawling and repeated punches to the face because blood and damage draws a crowd. They are trying to draw an MMA crowd and often even pass out KO bonuses to encourage that style. Just compare two Rodtang fights, someone widely known for his Muay Mat (punching) style, in One with 4oz gloves versus a bout in 10oz gloves [1][2]. I prefer watching the larger gloves, it's just personal preference, even though Superlek is keeping a lot of distance in the One bout since he's known for attacks at kicking range. But I disagree that gloves only protect the hands, as gloves protect the face and head too. There is more volume in my guard in larger gloves that allow me to protect from head attacks while wearing larger gloves. Anyway, if you watch fights from other promotions that have more traditional Muay Thai rules (even if it is still entertainment Muay Thai), you see a lot more attacks to the body with kicks and knees. I just find the more traditional style to be more artful. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZtadif15WU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZtadif15WU [2]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFv4mpUPvBc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFv4mpUPvBc

panick21_ 3y ago
> One rules I feel encourages more brawling and repeated punches to the face because blood and damage draws a crowd. One could also say the encourage to have excellent boxing, offense and defense rather then putting a premium on everything else giving the defender pads to hid behind. You actually have to be good at dynamic defense, using head movement, footwork, clinching, hand fighting, distance and so on. Combine that with the large ring and you have a more dynamic fighting sport. I do wish they would not separate clinches so fast as that is a vital element that makes MT different and interesting. But generally they have been striking a decent balance there, it depends a lot on the ref. A lot of traditional MT is just two guys hiding behind gloves while spamming low kicks against each other while standing in the middle of the ring. Its just a reality of the world that in actual fights punching people in the head is effective, so by that measure One MT looks more like an actual fight rather then ceremonial combat sport. I do agree that the gloves protect the face, but mostly because you can use them defensively, not because of the actual padding on the hands itself. Of course, one can have preferences what is more enjoyable to watch. I think One MT is a amazing striking competition. > They are trying to draw an MMA crowd and often even pass out KO bonuses to encourage that style. I am not disagreeing that, that is what they are doing. Having a promotion that deals in many different fighting styles they also have to differentiate, where the retained the large gloves and MT where they have the small gloves. Bonus for KO are a pretty logical intensive, to make sure fighters want to win, rather then run out the clock when they are ahead in points. Also it makes it hard to do lots of illegal things regarding buying or influencing the refs. Something that we know was common in lots of combat sports for the last couple 1000 years and in MT too. Of course that has a lot of issues too.
- mtalantikite 3y ago
  Yeah these are all valid points and I don't disagree with any of them! Except maybe the ceremonial combat sport one, I wouldn't want to diminish how talented and brutal the golden age fighters were. You could say Superlek spams tons of low kicks too. I've seen Liam Harrison do the same, and in both cases it's strategic to take out an opponent's best weapon. I totally understand that people want to watch a fight that is more true to what would happen on the street. Clearly all the bouts on One are filled with super talented people and all these fighters deserve to make more money than they were making even a few years ago if they can. I just have a lot of aversion to it and don't find it as beautiful as watching, say, old Karuhat fights.
  - panick21_ 3y ago
    > I wouldn't want to diminish how talented and brutal the golden age fighters were I wasn't trying to suggest that, being partly ritualized doesn't mean that these were not incredible fights and athletes. And MT was far ahead of almost everything else in terms of how 'real' the fights were.

panick21_ 3y ago

> One rules I feel encourages more brawling and repeated punches to the face because blood and damage draws a crowd. One could also say the encourage to have excellent boxing, offense and defense rather then putting a premium on everything else giving the defender pads to hid behind. You actually have to be good at dynamic defense, using head movement, footwork, clinching, hand fighting, distance and so on. Combine that with the large ring and you have a more dynamic fighting sport. I do wish they would not separate clinches so fast as that is a vital element that makes MT different and interesting. But generally they have been striking a decent balance there, it depends a lot on the ref. A lot of traditional MT is just two guys hiding behind gloves while spamming low kicks against each other while standing in the middle of the ring. Its just a reality of the world that in actual fights punching people in the head is effective, so by that measure One MT looks more like an actual fight rather then ceremonial combat sport. I do agree that the gloves protect the face, but mostly because you can use them defensively, not because of the actual padding on the hands itself. Of course, one can have preferences what is more enjoyable to watch. I think One MT is a amazing striking competition. > They are trying to draw an MMA crowd and often even pass out KO bonuses to encourage that style. I am not disagreeing that, that is what they are doing. Having a promotion that deals in many different fighting styles they also have to differentiate, where the retained the large gloves and MT where they have the small gloves. Bonus for KO are a pretty logical intensive, to make sure fighters want to win, rather then run out the clock when they are ahead in points. Also it makes it hard to do lots of illegal things regarding buying or influencing the refs. Something that we know was common in lots of combat sports for the last couple 1000 years and in MT too. Of course that has a lot of issues too.

mtalantikite 3y ago
Yeah these are all valid points and I don't disagree with any of them! Except maybe the ceremonial combat sport one, I wouldn't want to diminish how talented and brutal the golden age fighters were. You could say Superlek spams tons of low kicks too. I've seen Liam Harrison do the same, and in both cases it's strategic to take out an opponent's best weapon. I totally understand that people want to watch a fight that is more true to what would happen on the street. Clearly all the bouts on One are filled with super talented people and all these fighters deserve to make more money than they were making even a few years ago if they can. I just have a lot of aversion to it and don't find it as beautiful as watching, say, old Karuhat fights.
- panick21_ 3y ago
  > I wouldn't want to diminish how talented and brutal the golden age fighters were I wasn't trying to suggest that, being partly ritualized doesn't mean that these were not incredible fights and athletes. And MT was far ahead of almost everything else in terms of how 'real' the fights were.