Muay Thai and Cannabis
Muay Thai, the art of 8 limbs, which is the national sport of Thailand is growing in popularity globally. With the rise in popularity in MMA, and muay Thai being a foundational striking art for one's stand-up game (when a fighter is striking standing up), more people are training muay Thai to improve their striking. Like the other martial arts that revolve around MMA, such as BJJ, cannabis is very popular in fighting culture, muay Thai included.
Many fighters know that cannabis offers neuroprotective benefits to treat brain trauma, and getting hits to the head, as well as helping with inflammation — bruises and the like. Cannabis has grown to be a big part of the recovery process to supplement training.
I've trained in Thailand multiple times, for 2 - 3 months at a time, averaging 3 months every year since 2014. And it wasn't until around 2018 did I start using cannabis for recovery. I was having difficulty sleeping and I smoked some herb and got one of the best sleeps I ever gotten when I was in Thailand. In 2019, I used cannabis as part of a weight-cutting ritual: I would smoke some cannabis before heading to the sauna, and then spend about an hour and a half cycling between the steam room and the ice bath. The weight would just drop. In addition, I would smoke before I sleep and find that it boosted my metabolism, as I'd wake up the next morning shredded (as opposed to other days I didn't smoke before sleeping). The trick is, of course, to avoid the munchies before sleeping.
As I started to use cannabis more and more for training, I grew to appreciate the plant a lot more. I used to smoke in college, and I was super-sensitive, and I would hallucinate, often losing my way while driving or almost getting in car accidents — so that scared me off cannabis for most of my 20's.
As the old adage goes: "everything in moderation", it does not exclude cannabis and I believe it should be used responsibly. If used with discipline (as one would take vitamins or medicine), it can definitely open up a world of benefits for one's personal growth and development — especially fighting, since it helps with recovery.
Cannabis is a medicine – and like they say, the difference between a medicine and a poison is the dosage — and I think it's time the rest of the world gets educated to change its consciousness around the plant, as it can help a lot more people who otherwise would not use it due to being influenced by propaganda or religion. It can help with creativity. It can help improve social situations with boosted moods and put a humorous filter of perception with things that happen, thus inducing laughter. And laughter is always good.
But for sports and athletics, cannabis is definitely beneficial, as it has been for me. And I would like to continue to do my part to promote its usage as part of recovery and training. Like the song "The Next Episode" goes, "Smoke weed everyday"... smoke cannabis everyday... especially if you're training like a beast like they do in Thailand.
Muay Thai is awesome. Muay Thai literally saved my life. And cannabis helped enhance my experiences with muay Thai by allowing me to recover better and thus, train harder and smarter. I will continue to supplement my training with cannabis and hope more fighters and athletes discover its healing benefits.