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Myth about Naga Naga is also intertwined with the history of Buddha, as seen in various legends where they play crucial roles in protecting and assisting the enlightened one. The story of Phaya Moot-cha-lin, the great Naga who provides shelter to Buddha under the Indian Oaktree, exemplifies the deep connection between Naga and Buddhism.
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Muay Thai in UK 16 : Helping To Develop Muay Thai
Matt Smith VS Wayne Broadhead
The Lee Smith Memorial Show at Newton Aycliffe on September 6th was a highly enjoyable, efficiently run show, with a marvellously warm atmosphere. As an afternoon’s Muay Thai it had its drawbacks, through no fault of the promoter. Last-minute cancellations took out two of three scheduled five-rounders (one other contest was then upgraded from three to five) including the top-of-the-bill fight in odd circumstances. Phoenix teenage star Lauren Humphreys was all ready to meet Pam McCarthy when the St. Helens boxer decided, after weighing in, that she did not feel in the right state of mind to fight! Fortunately a bit of juggling with the fight-list moved the Matt Smith-Wayne Broadhead clash to the end of the programme and that proved a fabulous finale which I will be replaying frequently when my DVD arrives!
But the quality of the bouts was not the sole issue here – or even, some would say, the main one. This annual show is the main revenue source for the splendid work of the Lee Smith Trust and it was a great pleasure to see an impressive turn-out, a much increased audience from last year.
Lee Smith, a member of the Kings Cobra club, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in June 2007. His career in Muay Thai had taken in appearances in the European Championships in Barcelona and the World Championships in Thailand and he picked up various World and British title belts. Already, by November 2007, Lorraine Moore had put together the first Lee Smith Memorial Show, but the key moment came when deciding what to do with the proceeds. Lorraine, Jacki Robson and Lee’s mother, Anne Smith, consulted with the local Community and Voluntary Sector and as a result the Lee Smith Trust was established in January 2008.
The work of the Trust goes right back to Lee’s career. He had been unable to get funding on the two occasions he fought in Thailand and Anne, Lorraine and Jacki decided to try to solve this problem for fighters in the North East of England. The trust makes grants to help the training and education of Thai boxing students and is especially delighted to help those training/fighting in Thailand.
Anth Shelton
What the Lee Smith Trust has achieved in less than two years is remarkable. In 2008 eight grants were made, to date in 2009 another six have followed. Many of these have been for equipment, and paying instructor fees for a course for young people at Trimdon Community College seems a great investment in the future. Most exciting of all, the trust has helped to fund Phoenix fighters to train and compete in Thailand: Sam Mitchell, Lauren Humphreys, Anth Shelton and Reece McAllister in November 2008, Anth and Reece again this year where Reece has just won the Stadium Title, a great triumph for the North East aided by the Lee Smith Trust.
The Lee Smith Trust is already a key part of Muay Thai in the North East. Local camps such as Soul of Sukhothai, Phoenix and Spennymoor Thai regularly make donations from the proceeds of their bi-monthly interclubs, but, as Lorraine says, ‘the Lee Smith Trust would not exist were it not for the Lee Smith Thai Boxing Memorial Show.’ With sponsorship (of which Hero/billionmore is proud to be a part) covering costs, the proceeds from ticket sales go straight to the trust.
Lorraine is the focus for everything to do with the show, but she is always ready to give credit to others, from sponsors and friends to the Smith family:
‘I am the sole organiser and promoter. However, I discuss all aspects of the show with his family. Lee’s family are in full support of everything I do and are behind me 100% (usually with a box of tissues and a strong cup of coffee!).’
A special event on the show is the fight for the Lee Smith Memorial Shield. This comes from an idea of Grand Master Kevin of the England Muay Thai Federation by which winners of specially designated bouts would have their names inscribed on a shield to be presented to the Smith Family. This has now been simplified so that it is fought for only at the Lee Smith Show and Lorraine matches fighters whom Lee was close to – last year there were three candidates and the successful candidate’s name was drawn from a hat. Unfortunately Lee’s best friend, Shaun Hall of Fire Cobra, found Mark Pitts (Prodigy) just too strong, quick and varied in attack and the second round knockout came as no surprise. That was only a small part of the story, however: Shaun’s presence in the ring was the most impressive feature of the fight. Taking up Muay Thai from scratch in March with the sole aim of competing on this show, he had lost three stone in weight, suffered a broken bone in his foot and overcome a virus in the last week of training in order to take part.
Oddly, for such an enjoyable show in such a positive mood, there were several little disappointments. Sitting with the Phoenix crowd, I shared their irritation (or something a touch stronger) at Lauren’s cancellation: Lorraine, incidentally, insisted on Lauren receiving a winner’s trophy and was delighted when she responded by saying she’d do her best to win one in the ring next year. (The cancellation of Lauren’s fight meant there were no female contests – which I, for one, found disappointing.)
"The Lee Smith Trust" Brochure
Jason Lee VS Glen Fowler
It was also disappointing that Phoenix’s great young prospect, Glen Fowler, lost the verdict after an immaculate display against local rival Jason Lee (Spennymoor Thai Boxing). In fairness, though I had Glen definitely winning, it was a very close contest and Jason did really well, too!
The Soul of Sukhothai where Lorraine trains (but doesn’t compete) also had my sympathy. One fighter was reduced to a demonstration bout when his opponent dropped out, John Bulch ended on the wrong end of the verdict in an all-action scrap with Gaz Price (Reaper Gym) and two stylish welter-weights ran into opponents who were just too powerful for them. Michael Hastings showed terrific promise in his first fight and began well, but found the aggression of Joel Buckles (Way of Life) too much to handle and was counted out early in Round 2. Jack Ridley (Spennymoor) took until the 2nd round to shake up the confident Sean Wheatley, but thereafter Sean used his classy footwork to keep out of his opponent’s way. Sean lost by a wide margin, but I really liked his style and will be looking out for both Michael and him on future bills.
But the fighter I’ll be looking for especially is Matt Smith (Fire Cobra) who put on a dazzling performance to bear Wayne Broadhead (Pegasus) on points. With a big height advantage, Matt used his speed and spectacular high kicks to dominate his opponent – except that, whenever Wayne managed to get close enough, he was extremely dangerous. Matt won every round in great style, but every time he was pinned on the ropes things looked a lot less certain!
Joel Buckles VS Michael Hastings
As I said before, the contests are only part of the story. Perhaps the importance of the occasion is well summed up by a story Lorraine tells:
‘It was fantastic to see Anth Shelton straight from the airport following his trip to Thailand walk in, absolutely beaming! As I said hello, his first response was, “Wow! Thailand was class! Thank you so much for all your support and the Trust for helping me get there!”’
Applications for help should be sent theleesmithtrust@hotmail.co.uk. Anne Smith co-ordinates applications and sends out application packs and monthly meetings of the trustees decide on grants.
Anyone interested in further information on the trust should write to the same email address.
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