Tuesday 9 October 2012

Similarity between music performance and muay thai

I'm writing a somewhat satirical comparison between music performance (mainly violin) and muay thai.

  1. In violin, you practice boring etudes and scales in order to improve your fundamentals so you can better play your beautiful pieces.  In Muay Thai, you practice boring conditioning, mitt, and heavy bag drills in order to improve your athleticism and technique so you can better hold out in your fights.
  2. In violin, technique alone is not enough.  At a high enough level, there's a deep, almost unteachable, element of artistic creativity and musicianship that brings the techniques alive in a coherent work of musical art.  In Muay Thai, technique alone is not enough.  At the high level, you need a great sense of strategy, movement, and mental determination that is almost unteachable to bring all your techniques together in a work of martial art.
  3. In violin performance, you "practice-perform" your pieces by getting nervous and playing in a Masters class.  In Muay Thai, you "practice-fight" by sparring with partners.
  4. Before a violin performance, you become frigging nervous about messing up.  Before a Muay Thai bout, you become frigging nervous about losing and getting messed up.
  5. In a Muay Thai fight, if you mess up you might get embarrassed and/or knocked out.  In a music performance, if you mess up you might get embarrassed and/or knocked out.
  6. When you're too old to be a travelling musician, you become a teacher in a music school.  When you're too old to be fighting professionally, you become a coach in a gym.
  7. If you cannot make a living performing music, you can always teach the instrument.  If you cannot make a living fighting Muay Thai, you can always become a coach or personal trainer.