SCIENTIST TANYA’S FIGHTING FIT!
BY day, Tanya Merrett is a hard-working scientist – but at night she is a champion Muay Thai fighter, having not lost a fight in two years.
Although she’s not superhuman, Tanya’s training schedule is hectic. She trains every day – even on her days off – for three hours, to maintain her rank as UK number one in her weight category in the martial art. But it’s not easy. “I train every day,” she said. “Normally, that’s seven days a week. Even on a day off, I’ll do a 10k run. I’ll finish work and go straight to the gym. Then I’ll eat and do Thai for three hours.
“I’m a chemist at a chemical plant in Barry. Every day is different. It’s a very busy lab and you have to be on the ball with that.
“I work 12-hour shifts and sometimes I’ll work nights. It can be hard when you’re training so intensely but I have got a good team around me.”
But it turns out being a top fighter and being a scientist aren’t that different.
“My job is very precise and I take my training the same way,” Tanya said. “I’m very analytical about my training. I like to plan everything.
“My diet is very on point. I know exactly what I’m eating and drinking. I have six meals a day, with a diet depending on my weight. It’s a lot of p protein, fresh vegetable table and good fats.
“The way I work goes hand in hand with the way I train rain and live.”
For Tanya the he hard work is worth rth it. The sport gave ve her the confidence ce she needed when n she was a teenager.
“I started when I was a lot ot younger,” she said. d. “I was bullied in n school and my dad took me when I was 13 to try out a class and I really enjoyed it. I was really shy and didn’t really socialise much, so it was a way to gain more confidence. Any time you’re y in a gy gym environment, y you have to intera interact more. ““I did it for a ye year or two, th then I went to un university. I to took it back up after unive versity and I fel fell in love wit with it again. I’ve been doing it for fo about 12 years now.” Dating b back several hundred years, Muay Thai is a comb combat sport origin originating in Thai Thailand, develope oped as a clo close-combat sp sport which u uses the en entire body as a weapon.
Otherwise known as “The Art of Eight Limbs”, the sport uses eight points of contact of the body to mimic the weapons of war, with hands becoming swords and daggers, for example.
The first formal rules were introduced after World War II ended, with fights divided into five rounds with a time limit. Most recently it has received provisional recognition as an Olympic sport.
For Tanya, it’s the discipline that she enjoys most.
“I’ve been to Thailand quite a lot and I love the intensity of the training,” she said. “It’s really hard and you have to dig deep a lot.
“I love the discipline. There’s no bad-mouthing, which you can find in other martial arts.
“I also love how challenging it is. It’s a really simple but complicated sport. The moves are simple but you have to out- smart your opponent quite a lot.”
Now Tanya is set to take part in a night of full-contact Muay Thai in an MMA cage, with her taking on Adriana Tatu from Romania at the Vale Sports Area in Cardiff.
She will be fighting to retain the ladies world title at 57kg.
UK number one Tanya isn’t fazed by the fight.
She said: “I am ranked number one at the 57kg weight. The last two years I haven’t lost a fight. I’ve had European titles and a world title at a heavier weight of 61kg.
“I’m looking forward to the fight. I’ve trained hard, I’ve dieted for the last 10 weeks.
“Normally, it’s for six weeks, but after Christmas and a hen do, I started earlier. Everything has gone as I wanted it.
“I’m really excited to get back in the ring and show people what I’ve learnt.”