Muay Thai was different from every other after-school activity Georgia Ralphs had tried, but it didn't take her long to fall in love with it — now she's a world champion in a sport that has traditionally been for men.
One was to become a Muay Thai world champion.
Although the central Queenslander had only been involved with the sport for a few years, it was clear the martial art was different from all the other after-school activities she'd tried.Ralphs won the belt for the Under 65 kilogram 16–17-year division at the ISKA Muay Thai Championships in November, travelling to Türkiye from her home in Rockhampton to compete."I was like, 'This is crazy, I actually did go this far.
That perception is slowly changing — in part because of young women such as Ralphs and her coach, central Queensland gym owner Chloe McLachlan.She'd been dancing for three years but would wait at her brother's Muay Thai gym for his training to finish before their parents could pick them up."Dad was like, 'You can't do both,'" McLachlan says.Under Chloe McLachlan's influence, more girls have tried Muay Thai.
"Whereas here, you walk in, male or female it doesn't matter — you're spoken to the same way, treated the same way and everyone's equal so it's a good environment.""It was hard once I worked my way up the ranks over the years teaching the men because … they didn't really want to be taught by a little girl," she says.
Ralphs is also driven to encourage more girls to take up Muay Thai and is coaching younger students alongside her regular training.
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