I was lucky enough to attend a Thai boxing match while in Bangkok. Those guys can really dish out the goods, especially since they only have five 3-minute rounds to do it. Mum was along too, although I doubt she got as much out of it as did I.
For some reason, kneeing in the clinch is considered the pinnacle of the Art of the Eight Limbs. Every time it happened, the crowd would chant out "Yêe!" -- probably an abbreviation of "yêe-sìp" ("twenty"). I presume that a knee in the clinch is worth 20-some points, as the fighters seemed more willing to relinquish their man-hugs than is seen in Western pugilism. Then again, I don't want to make a PRES out of U and ME.
It was a blast trying out the 'sport' mode of the new camera -- I ended up taking about 200 snaps. Sadly, it was pretty dark in there, so most of them ended up blurredier than even this one. Luckily I'm not a sports photographer, so I'm content with the artsy, fluid depiction of my motion-streaked Muay Thai portfolio.
Comments
Doh! Re: snaps.
The sport mode does a good job, but it doesn't adjust the camera ISO for you. If you bump the ISO up to a faster film speed (like 1600) it will freeze the frame a bit in exchange for more visual noise -- but much of that can be filtered back out later if need be. Very cool photo!