17 March is the international Muay Thai holiday. This day was celebrated extensively in Renil Fernando’s dojo. The dojo with the boxing ring was eagerly prepared and illuminated by the students the day before. Muay Thai as we know it today means ‘free boxing’ and has its roots in Muay Boran, which means ‘old boxing’. The story from the year 1775, which takes place in what is now Myanmar (formerly Burma), is particularly fascinating. The Burmese King Mangra offered his prisoners of war freedom if they managed to defeat ten of his best fighters. The Thai prisoner of war Nai Kanom Tom actually won his freedom by accepting this challenge. In honour of Nai Kanom Tom, a holiday is celebrated in Thailand on 17 March, on which his story is told and fights are held. On this day, new Muay Thai aspirants receive their ordination, the so-called ‘Wai Kru’. They receive the blessing of their trainers Renil Fernando and Kaushalya Nirmana. All aspirants prepare their own plate with incense sticks, coconut oil candles and a total of seven different types of flowers with which they ask for the blessing of their last seven generations. After the aspirants have been traditionally oiled, they prepare their illuminated plates and ceremonially enter the dojo. There they receive the blessing of their trainers one after the other and are given the ritual headdress, the mongkon. All candidates then enter the ring in pairs and perform their rehearsed traditional dance, which is ritually performed to Thai music. Each dojo has its own dance in which scenes of a warrior are symbolically represented, e.g. polishing the sword, shooting the bow, throwing the spear, etc. In future, the Muay Thai fighters will perform this dance before their competitions, which not only prepares them mentally for the fight, but also shows that they belong to the dojo. A very special day for the Muay Thai fighters came to an end, the crowning glory of a special martial arts week.