Message:

It was said to me that a true teacher teaches
with one clear objective, that being that his student may surpass the teacher’s
accomplishments. It is under this banner that I congratulate David Buirski and Demarte
Pena in their achievements in the Mixed Martial Arts arena in South Africa. After
having read their interviews and advertorials in the October issue of the
Fighters Only magazine, which in itself is currently the front-runner of a true
registrar of fighters and their achievements in South Africa, I felt compelled
to voice a message from the Muay Thai fraternity to both up and coming champions
in their own right.

I have cornered for both of you in a ring as you faced, at that time,
your steepest of challenges. I know your weaknesses and I know your strengths,
so it gives us great pleasure to see both you athletes apply the core of your
skills which you acquired through Muay Thai in your now current challenges in
the South African MMA circuit.

To David, we thank you as we understand your restraints to give
acclamation to Muay Thai directly, as you currently enjoy the patronage of the
MMA arena. However, it is only when we look closer at your reports back on how
you have won your fights one after the other using the same striking techniques
Muay Thai taught you, that we see that you acknowledge that the skills you have
learnt in Muay Thai have been paramount in your current accomplishments in MMA.
Is that modesty, David, you downplaying your achievements in MSA’s arena? Let
me assist you, it was 3 years you spent at Tiger-Dragon Fight Gym competing in the
challenging arena of MSA and nothing was given to you for free. You put in hard
training and many hours and your achievements were yours. I remember opening
the doors of the gym for you at 5am every morning. You competed at the WMF WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS in a very tough Heavyweight division and achieved bronze medal,
ranking you third in the world that year.

As for you, Demarte, a word of thanks to referring back to your
origins of Muay Thai and to the times when you trained at Tiger-Dragon Fight
Gym under my instruction alongside your fellow student Dimitri Bailanis, now in
the role-play of your coach. You were then a challenging fighter regardless of
what size opponent you faced. It’s good to see that that has not changed. The
phrase comes to mind “Once a Tiger-Dragon, always a Tiger-Dragon”. As I take a
step back, I want to reaffirm what I said to both of you personally on many
occasions. You have the raw talent for this game and with the right discipline
and dedication you would transform yourselves into acclaimed champions,
regardless of the arena. Hence the guarantee I give you and any other athlete
in this game. What you put in is what you get out, and I see both of you are
still practising that.

MSA and its Muay Thai fraternity would like to wish you speed in
your achievements in your MMA competitive events, currently nationally but also
internationally in the near future, I’m sure. For David, any father seeing his
son marry off into another family is but filled with pride and joy when he
hears his son speak out in praise of the care and love he is experiencing in
his new acclaimed family. In this context, it is good to know you have found a
great instructor in Arno Pienaar and a gym like Shido which has continued to
build upon your already acquired fighting skills, playing a role in your development.

I share with you both one last coaching parable:;As you boys become
super heroes, remember to not forget who you are and where you’ve come from. Keep
your feet flat on the ground for humility and look up at the stars for your objectives,
and don’t let this game change your core.

Kru Yai Mario Da Silva

Chief Instructor Muay ThaiSouth AfricaAssociation