Thoughts from Caroline, Erick, Margaret, and Sarah - Part 2

#3 Margaret

I am an opera singer who enjoys learning Muay Thai.  What I have come to realize is that training as a Muay Thai fighter is virtually identical to training as an opera singer.   I know this sounds crazy, but when it comes down to it, in Muay Thai and in opera your body is your instrument.  You practice your basic techniques: hours of kick pyramids, working on angles for your elbows, and 1000s of sit-ups. For me, every kick pyramid is a set of 6 scales on one breath to strengthen my breath support. Extending my jab is singing, “how now brown cow” for 30 minutes a day to get my “o” vowel in just the right spot.  My 1000s of sit ups are the hours of practice I put in daily so that I don’t get tired when I have to sing for long stretches of time.

We carefully train and shape our bodies to make them as effective as possible, but our bodies aren’t everything - they are the blank canvas necessary to execute our chosen discipline. By the time I start rehearsals on an opera, the technique required is engrained in my muscles allowing me to focus on other aspects of the opera because it’s not just about belting out your notes and words - you have to know WHY you’re singing them. Who is your character? What’s their background story? What is their purpose within the story?

In Muay Thai, your neutral ground is the muscle memory you’ve created through all of your technical work.  The rest is intellectual - there must be purpose behind your movements.  A kick doesn’t mean much if you don’t have a reason for throwing it. When sweep someone, do you want them to simply fall or is your goal to knock their wind out? Having purpose behind your actions allows you to maximize the work you’ve done with your technique.

One of our main challenges is incorporating our practice into the reality of a fight or performance.  Lets be honest - whether you’re on stage or you’re in a fight it’s not really about you, it’s about you and the other person/people working with you and the story you create together. Every brilliant and weak moment your opponent has allows you the opportunity to learn.  As you learn, you can start to adapt to their style, exploit their weaknesses and minimize their brilliance (this works for Muay Thai, in singing it’s better to minimize your cast mate’s weak bits!) If you look beyond individual kicks and punches, you gain the opportunity to become inspired by your opponent, to improvise and create an entirely unique experience together.


I am no expert on Muay Thai, nor am I really an expert in opera, but the more I learn about both disciplines the more I believe that Muay Thai and opera are two in the same. As an opera singer, the only time I will be punched will be fake and if I fall it will be planned in advance, but I do believe that my training in Muay Thai is symbiotic with that of my vocal training and it’s been fun watching those two parts of my life work together.