Mr. Tan not only came to visit Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee but also made his effort to visit us at headquarter of Chinese Taipei Muaythai Association to have a meeting with our president and general secretary. Mr. Tan pointed out that by the promotion of our president, more and more people devoted themselves to train in Muaythai and estimated that Taiwan has a great chance to host Asian Championships in Taiwan in just a few years.
會談中,秘書長分享了他在新加坡推廣泰拳的經驗,談到了泰拳之所以能夠在新 加坡興盛的契機,是因為當時知名電視頻道 AXN 到新加坡拍攝泰拳訓練的實境 節目「The Challenger」,當時的製作人,同時也是現任 IFMA 秘書長 Stephan Fox 找上了他協助協調劇組與政府關於拍攝地點的事宜。當時拍攝地點位於海灘,訓 練期間大量的曝光,加上近距離目睹泰拳選手訓練時打靶的震撼,吸引了群眾圍 觀,從此開始了新加坡的泰拳發展。
Mr. Tan shared his experience of promoting Muaythai in Singapore, mentioned that the reason why Muaythai is now a popular combat sport in Singapore was because of a TV program called “the Challenger” produced by a famous TV channel AXN. With the help of Mr. Tan, the producer, who is now the general secretary of IFMA, Stephan Fox successfully cooperated with the Singapore government for the shooting schedule of the program. Recorded at a beach, with a great chance of exposure, especially the first time people see the impact of athletes landing their kicks and punches on Thai pads, the show successfully attracted thousands of curious onlookers. Since then, Muaythai spread its seeds to develop in Singapore.
After the meeting, Mr. Tan approved our president’s effort in promoting Muaythai in Taiwan and showed his gratefulness by awarding us with a certificate of appreciation and a hard cover edition of “History of Muaythai” published by Department of Physical Education of Thailand. Mr. Tan hoped that in the near future, Taiwan will have the ability to host Asian Championships. By then, over 20 delegations from all around Asia and over 200 athletes will come to Taiwan. It will definitely be a great chance for our citizens to see such high-level Muaythai competitions and to meet athletes from world power countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Kazakhstan.
The 2019 Asian Muaythai Championships will be hosted in Abu Dhabi from December 16th to 22nd. Our president will lead our delegation to the event and also attend the annual general meeting of FAMA.