THE ART OF THE EIGHT LIMBS

I wasn’t the most obvious new student when I first rocked up to try my hand (and elbows, legs and knees) at Muay Thai. My physical prime was sailing by and, aside from being a consistent gym bunny, my exercise regime was decidedly vanilla.

But walking by a training camp on the island of Koh Samui one afternoon, hearing the sound of fists striking gloves, legs jettisoned skyward and the smell of Tiger Balm dribbling through the stifling tropical heat, I thought, I’ll have some of that.

Maybe it was the holiday bravado, but when I went back the following day for the two-hour class, it was one of the