Sandy the point I’m trying to make is that if Thailand changed the rules so that you could bring naked dancing ladies in the ring in rounds 3 and 5 so as to form a tag team, zealots like Nephilim and thaiguy would unquestionably accept it, as it's the 'Thai’s sport' and they can do what they want.

I stand by my point that a sport can not belong to one country; it goes against the very ethos of sport in my opinion. I think it's a nationalistic viewpoint.

'Thai scoring' seems to the main point of contention; now I understand it, went on a few courses and read up loads about it; never really for the purpose of being a judge, but so I could enhance my enjoyment of the sport. I still stand by the fact that the general public don't understand the nuances of MT and will never (unless they're involved in the sport) be bothered to do so. This creates a level of confusion when your average punter watches fights! People don't like being confused, not understanding something and as such they will lose interest.

Now MT IMO is the most exciting combat sport/art in the world when done well. I've been to scores of boxing shows and a handful of MMA shows and none of them IMO can match a great MT fight/show. So why in gods name is it still a minority sport? Because people don't understand it and are put off my 27 minute Ram Muay's by C-Class fighters and (in their opinion) an archaic scoring system. Cricket, Football, Rugby and ALL the worlds most popular sports will make subtle and sometimes not so subtle changes to ensure the sport is more exciting, appealing and easier to follow for your average Joe; this is the secret to the mass market popularity of these sports. Why are people in the MT community so loathe to do so? Is it because they are happy for the sport to stay a minority sport or is it down to sheer bloody mindedness? I genuinely don’t know the answer and don’t profess to. Or am I missing the point completely?