Kickboxer Tsoi Tung-hiu
Tsoi Tung-hiu, aka Tsoi Sifu, has been a Thai kickboxing trainer for years. He was interested in the sport when he was a kid, but it wasn’t just a little boy’s dream - in 1998, he began his own kickboxing studio.
HK Magazine: How can you kill a man with bare hands?
Tsoi Sifu: I’ve never tried, but it is definitely possible to murder someone with your bare hands. It would be terribly damaging to use an elbow or a fist to punch someone’s throat, back of the head or temple. Even beating on the cheeks are dangerous, because it has a strong effect on the brain. You can lapse into a coma and die.
HK: What’s the most painful accident you have ever had?
TS: During a match last January, an opponent kicked the bottom of my ribs – it broke one of the ribs and I was out of commission for two months. However, I wasn’t knocked out during the match. As a matter of fact, I won the competition because my soul and mind were stronger than my body and were able to take over. I had this same accident 10 year back as well, but that was on my left rib.
HK: Besides those, any matches you’ll never forget?
TS: The “The Supreme Champions of Muay-Thai” last January. I won the match against my opponent Khamdee Sodsri, the greatest Thai kickboxer of the world.
HK: What’s your favorite punch?
TS: You need to know all the different punches to use the right tactics at the right time. My favorite is the elbow. I recently won many competitions using my elbow. I also like to use my knee to kick the stomach area of my opponent. It’s not easy to use these two methods to knock someone out - you have to wait for just the right moment.
HK: Could you be a match for a World Champion Wrestler?
TS: WCW wrestling is not a real sport. You can’t compare a wrestler with a Thai kickboxer – it’s not fair. One wrestler weighs around 100kg and they compete with everyone, no matter how much you weight. In the Thai kickboxing world, you only compete with someone about the same weight as yourself. If there is only me and the wrestler in the ring, I can’t even tell who is going to win. We both play the game differently.
HK: What’s the worst injury you ever inflicted on someone?
TS: Last August, I had to compete with the Dutch boxer Haas, and I gave him a strong elbow. Afterward, he bled terribly and had to go to the hospital for a total of 12 stitches on the top of his head and forehead.