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30
Mar
The Harrogate Thai boxing coach once ranked third in the world
Of all the martial arts in the world, Thai boxing is undoubtedly one of the most brutal.
Known as the ‘Art of the Eight Limbs’ due to the use of elbows and knees which are counted as ‘additional’ limbs, Muay Thai is a full-contact combat sport. Strikes to any part of the body, minus the groin, are permitted.
So you might think you’d have to be mad to participate in such a sport. But not necessarily.
When I met him at Kao Loi Gym on Skipton Road in Harrogate, Pierre Mahon was ending a coaching session with Thai boxing prodigies Nathaniel Kalogiannidis and Ciaran Smith. The gym owner and Muay Thai coach exudes authority and alertness, but also great calmness.
Pierre, 57, has been in the business for 34 years and has coached for 31 of those.
He started as a skier aged seven and became a ski instructor at 18. But he hated having nothing to do during the off-season and so at 24 he pursued other sports.
Muay Thai is significantly different to skiing — so what inspired the decision? He said:
I first thought about boxing but thought ‘I don’t want to get my nose broken.’ I then took an interest in Thai boxing but was unsure about that too because it was even more dangerous.
I saw a place in Leeds called the Northern Budo Centre and went to watch a session because I thought the name meant it would be calmer. When I went to watch, though, they were really going for it. I thought it was great and knew I had to sign up.
Amateur career
Age 24 is late to start a fighting career. But because Pierre had always been sporty, he became good quickly. By age 26, he was a black belt who coached and competed internationally.
He represented England three times: at the European championships once and the world championships twice.
In his final year competing, aged 35, Pierre was ranked third in the world at amateur level. Rankings were derived from points gained by winning fights at world and European championships.
He told me what it takes to make it to the top:
Persistence. I’ve had so many people who want to compete but as soon as they hit the first hurdle, they pack it in.
I had one guy who won three fights but then lost one and didn’t come back again. So, I’d say the biggest thing is to be purposeful and persistent.
Muay Thai is notoriously violent, and injuries are common. What's been Pierre's worst one?
I’m of the strong belief that any head injuries are the worst. Broken bones get better, head trauma doesn’t.
I’ve broken my jaw and my cheek bone, but they healed. It's not the most painful, but being knocked out is the worst injury you can get in my opinion.
A psychological battle
Pierre's biggest challenge during his fighting career was his mental state:
For quite a lot of my fights, I had no control over what my mind was going to do. Sometimes I’d be brilliant and other times I’d be terrible, all because of my state of mind.
I was getting in my own head about the quality of my opponents.
One of my biggest disappointments was at my first world champs. I had been trash talking my upcoming opponent after he watched me perform well in a fight. I then watched him absolutely destroy his opponent.
I started to get in my own head because I thought I’d wound him up and he was clearly a handy guy. My head was gone by the time I stepped in the ring, and he beat me. I was miles better than him. I could have beaten him, and I would have beaten him had I been the man I was a few years later.
I was putting so much pressure on myself without realising it, and that pressure was making me struggle to perform at times.
You can’t have that, if you want to be at the top level, you can’t have that wobbling about.
This disappointment led him to work with a psychologist for two years to combat his mental inconsistencies.
At his second world championships, Pierre went toe-to-toe with a highly ranked experienced Russian but narrowly lost out on points.
He said:
There was a time where I would have got in my own head about who I was fighting because he was brilliant, but I didn’t.
Learning how to do that and being able to compete with a guy of his level having only fought 24 times is something I’m really proud of.
Pierre Mahon wins a fight at the World Championships
Twenty-four contests is not many for a fighter. Pierre told me the winner of that tournament had stepped into the ring over 200 times.
He said it was all about frame of mind:
You can’t be out of control. It needs to be controlled aggression.
There’s an optimum level you need to be at. Any further in one direction is too much aggression, and too much fear in the other. You need to be somewhere in the middle.
Coaching career
Pierre set up a club in Harrogate, so as not to step on the toes of his previous coaches in Leeds.
He currently coaches two professional fighters, Nathaniel Kalogiannidis and Ciaran Smith. Nathaniel narrowly missed out on an opportunity for a six-figure contract in Canada last year.
Pierre explained the difference between coaching skiing and Thai boxing:
The principles involved in coaching are pretty much the same in all sports. The only thing that changes is the tactical stuff.
The thing that does go with both sports is that they are both exciting and dangerous. So, you must compartmentalise. Being able to control that element of fear and danger and still compete is something I really liked.
Nathaniel Kalogiannidis (left) trains with Will Hughes at the Kao Loi Gym
The master level instructor currently teaches around 80 students. 60 of those are members, with the rest paying as they go.
What does it take to be a top coach? Pierre explained:
You have to want to help people. One of the phrases I remember the most from training was ‘good coaching comes from serving the needs of the participant’. Your needs come before mine.
You also have to have underpinned knowledge. After every session you have to think: ‘could I have done that better?’
I’m learning stuff all the time. You learn technical stuff and then pass it on to your students who then practice it in different situations until it becomes a skill.
Pierre said that when he started there were two Thai boxing gyms in his hometown of Leeds. Now, there are six. Thai boxing, like many martial arts, has seen a massive spike in popularity in the past few decades and does not seem to be slowing down.
Pierre, Nathaniel, Ciaran and the rest of the fighters at Kao Loi Gym will no doubt be pleased to see the opportunities continue to increase with it.
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