大象传媒

Ever since I heard that I would be attending King Of the Ring (a Thai and kickboxing event being held at the Concert Hall), I have been locked in a debate. Are martial arts a sport or an art?

In order to answer this, my job involved the process of heading down to a local training session to mix with kickboxers, Thai boxers, and coaches to discover the truth. Obviously this was a purely professional mission... isn't my job demanding?!

Can you kick it?

Of course I couldn't possibly get to the bottom of this debate without finding out exactly what life as a martial artiste is like. I managed to persuade Thai boxer Tamai Harding, and his coach Owen Comrie to take a break from their heavy training session to help me out.

Martial arts demand a lot from participants in terms of training and attitude. Tamai trains for approximately four hours a day at the moment, and then there are gym sessions and lifestyle choices on top of that.

I quickly jump in with the question of how this affects his social life. Both Tamai and Owen smile and tell me that it can totally take over your life.

Clearly to become a professional you have to have passion and determination. As I once heard a kickboxer say... 'Train hard, fight easy'.

Within this point I quickly associate martial arts with a sport... could I have been wrong? Training and looking after yourself each day sounds similar to the lifestyle of professional footballers. So martial arts are a sport, but could they be art too?

Appreciation of style

I went along to Sport Nottingham gym with absolutely no idea about kickboxing, Thai, boxing, or even the difference between the two.

To be honest, I was a bit unsure as to what I would find when I was there. The whole interview was a learning process for me. But when I actually got there I was completely fascinated.

Surely the fact that every second of Tamai's training is an incredible visual experience must prove somewhere that martial arts are just that... art.

Some would stand for hours in an art gallery analysing at the image before them, I would stand for hours in a training session, completely mesmerised! This was a completely professional point, and not because I was stood in a gym with a couple of toned boxers!

Final thought

Having been so fascinated by the Thai boxing, I spent a bit of time researching the art after the interview. When it came to the rules, I got lost.

I cannot wait for King of the Ring now, and not because I am an avid sports fan. The event takes place on Sunday 26 August. I am looking forward to watching a visual art of which I am now completely fascinated... I want to know more!

This year the well established event has top professionals fighting it out to see exactly who is king of the ring. As I hope I have pointed out by now, the show is not simply for boxing fans.

These martial artistes work hard and train hard to deliver an exceptional performance in what I can only term as a stylised sport. I can honestly say that I have seen martial arts in a new light and have the greatest respect for their work.听