Chicks that Kick and Make a Difference

Interview with Sarah Thompson, founding member of Chicks that Kick
By Astrid Bidanec

On September 30th, 2007 Ontario’s first all-female Muay Thai collective, Chicks that Kick, will host eight Thai boxing bouts featuring female amateur kickboxers at the the Eglinton Grand in Ontario, Canada for charity. All event proceeds will go the women shelter, Yellow Brick House. 
This is the group's second charity fundraiser. The founder, Sarah, tells us what Chicks for Kicks is all about.

Photo courtesy of Chicks that Kick

Astrid: When did you found Chicks that Kick?

Sarah: A team of girls who were taking Muay Thai about four years ago decided that women needed more opportunities to compete in the sport. We ended up sitting down and coming up with Chicks That Kick over coffee and created our first event in 2005. This year marks our second event for Chicks that Kick.

Photo courtesy of Chicks that Kick~ Amy vs. Ant

Astrid: What was your motivation for founding this group?

Sarah: We really wanted to give more women an opportunity to compete. Most of the Thai Boxing events that we went to had on average one fight per year.    

As well, most women didn't even know the Muay Thai was an option for both fitness and to be competitive. Our goal is to give women the opportunity to compete or get involved with the sport and support women who can fight for themselves - this is why we chose Yellow Brick House, a women's shelter as our cause for 2007. It is an underfunded organization that really needs more support. With this event we get to deliver a nice combination of helping build awareness for Thai boxing, give women a place to compete (in some instances this is their first fight) and support women who need it.

We also wanted to give Thai boxing events a better showcase than in the back of gyms. It is a world-class sport and we like to treat it that way. 

Astrid:  How many members do you currently have?

Sarah: We just recently became a sanctioned gym under Council for Amateur Kickboxing in Canada. At this point, we simply use Chicks that Kick as a centre point for awareness for women in Thai boxing and even men. After our first event, we referred over 200 people to Ontario, and Canadian gyms for them to learn Muay Thai. That in itself is a reward. We don't really need to be affliated with one gym - we want to be that organization that everyone can be a part of  - all they need is to love and respect Thai boxing.