An Interview with Sylvie Charbonneau

I’ve known Sylvie Charbonneau through internet communication for over a year and have recently had the pleasure of meeting her in person here at Lanna Camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I’ve been training for 4 weeks, and where Sylvie’s been fighting and training for the past 3 years.

Sylvie agreed to meet me for an interview, so long as it was early enough before PM training that she could still get a run in before holding pads for the afternoon session.  Even as a woman in serious contemplation of retirement, training is still prominant in her daily rhythms.

She moved to Thailand three years ago in order to fight – an opportunity that comes hard for women in the western world, and more rare still for women Sylvie’s size: around 5’2″ and 100 – 105 lbs (like myself).  Interestingly, Sylvie is still small in Thailand and has faced off against opponents both bigger and heavier.  Nontheless, the opportunities for fights have been consistant and Sylvie has accrued a career of 50 fights, with a record of 39-11-0.

After winning the North Thailand Championship belt, Sylvie has been considering retiring from fighting and moving out of Thailand to begin a new chapter in her life.  In our interview we examine the arc of her career as a female Muay Thai fighter in Thailand – the bends and bumps of the road that has led her to the crossroads that is now asking her to forge on to an unknown path.

(Total interview time 16min 21sec, in three parts.)

For more in this series on the women of Muay Thai see our interview with and documentary of Natalie Fuz, “We”, here.