As AP journalist stationing in Bangkok Eliza Bates' 30th birthday approached, her fear of becoming a mid-dle-aged woman plagued with mystery ailments, huff-ing and puffing up flights of stairs, finally started to out-weigh her exercise phobia. So she decided to get in shape while learning Thailand's notorious national sport, Muay Thai, known in English as kickboxing.

美聯社駐曼谷記者艾莉莎‧貝茲30歲生日快到了，她擔心自己變成中年歐巴桑，奇奇怪怪的病痛上身，爬樓梯時氣喘噓噓，這種恐懼終於開始戰勝她對運動的厭惡。因此，為了保持身材健美，她決定去學泰國令人聞之色變的國家運動：泰國拳。

This was no small commitment: she attended a Muay Thai camp near Bangkok for 10 days, training for five hours a day. Muay Thai is performed with boxing gloves in Western-style boxing rings, but uses knees, elbows and legs, in addition to fists, as weapons. It is considered the most violent of all martial arts because of the damage an elbow can inflict on an opponent.

這可不是兒戲：她參加曼谷附近一個泰國拳訓練營10天，每天受訓5小時。打泰國拳通常在西式拳擊場，要帶拳擊手套，但要膝蓋、手肘和腿部並用，再加上拿拳頭當武器。由於手肘可能造成對手受傷，泰國拳一向被視為所有武功中最暴力的。

She chose her training camp by scouring the Internet. A Thai kid Sarun Inta was her trainer. He showed her Muay Thai moves, mostly by pantomiming, as his English was limited. Then he held up pads and told her to kick, punch, and jab with knees and elbows until her arms felt like rubber and her kicks came out sloppy and in slow motion.

她從網上搜尋訓練營。一個叫印塔的泰國小伙子是她的教練，由於英文能力有限，他透過手勢展示泰國拳的動作。他接著拿起襯墊，叫她踢腿、揮拳，再用膝蓋和手肘捅戳，直到她的手臂感覺有如橡膠，而她踢腿時軟弱散漫，有如慢動作。

Women were once barred from entering Thai box-ing rings, as they were seen to bring bad luck to the competitors. But that tradition has changed. Four out of the 25 foreigners training at the camp were women. Bates wasn't the only one hoping to get fit. Fellow stu-dent Gary O'Brien, 28, a Muay Thai instructor and a-mateur fighter in Scotland explained: "A stint like this won't work to lose weight and keep it off. You need a permanent lifestyle change.'' Photo shows Eliza Bates doing a training session at a Thai boxing camp outside of Bangkok on August 22.

女人過去一度禁止步入泰國拳擊場，因為一般認為，她們會帶給參賽選手霉運。但那項傳統禁忌已經打破。現在在訓練營的老外，每25個就有4個是女人。貝茲不是唯一希望能保持身材健美的。和她一起受訓、28歲的歐布萊恩已經是泰國拳教練，同時也是蘇格蘭業餘拳擊手，他解釋說：「這種運動量無助於減重而且不再復胖。你必須一勞永逸改變生活形態。」圖為艾莉莎‧貝茲8月22日在曼谷郊外訓練營練拳的檔案照。