The Fighters Ladder
written by Torin O'Brien Fighter & Owner at Snake Pit Gym
The ladder of progress that drove Snake Pit Gym (SPG) from a small room with one set of pads to Rockhampton’s largest and most experienced fight team within a couple of years.
Read on as Snake Pit Gym owner & fighter Torin O’Brien delves deep into his Muay Thai journey…
Every sport, job or industry has a hierarchy, some kind of ladder you can climb to get to the end goal you have.
I’ve always found a ladder and direction for everything I’ve done and MuayThai is no different.
For me (Torin) when I first entered the sport the ladder was very clear and easy to follow, you don’t need to look any further than a fight card to see what you have to do to grow in the sport.
At the bottom of the card in many shows, especially in QLD you’ll see the opening fights, usually 3×2 minute rounds with modified rules and or padding. That is everyone’s starting point and in most cases, as far as most fighters and gyms will ever get particularly in regional areas, it’s the intro to the sport which most will find to hard.
When I started in the region that’s the only step up the ladder i had seen, regardless of what gym or town.
That’s when I realised I had to branch out and do my own thing to get further up the ladder, despite it being crazy and being told I can’t just do that.
The next step on the ladder was 3×2 with elbows, MuayThai rules no modification no pads. Just MuayThai.
After that if I wanted to keep climbing, the fight card would next have the people a little further up, the 5 round fighters. 5×2 min rounds MuayThai rules. That was the next step up that couldn’t be avoided if you wanted to test yourself.
If you look at a card in order you’ll then see a jump to 3×3 minute fighters, pros, longer rounds and harder hits, generally only main card co-main events.
Finally, at the top of the MuayThai hierarchy were the 5×3 fighters. No negotiation in rules, no nonsense just long, hard MuayThai, the guys that made it through all the other steps of the ladder.
When I started SPG the goal was to get there, to get to the top of the card and to bring people with me.
I can say now that 3 years later the way i look at this ladder drives people to work harder and accomplish more.
You don’t need international superstars and world champions to look up to and try to be, the fighters at the top of the card will do and you can always upgrade your hero later once you’ve made it there.
I can say now that 3 years later the way i look at this ladder drives people to work harder and accomplish more.
Find your ladder, climb it, don’t settle for the first step.
