Shogun, Regarding the thumb down punching style, I notice many of the russian fighters like Igor Vovchanchen and sometimes CroCop seem to strike like that on occassion. I have no idea why and it would seem to me you could break your hand much easier. As far as the race debate goes, many of the brazilians consider themselves to be white. And finding a quality muai thai instructor may be difficult in many areas around the United States so you probably have to settle with who is available. I also strongly suspect many of the fighters, black, white,Japanese etc., have racialist views but it would be professional suicide to publicly state so. I once overheard a well known fighter refer to his black opponent as a chimp right before he went out and soundly beat him. I personally make no bones about it. I want to see the white fighter win, simply because he is white. Believe me, most blacks are very racially aware and have no problems whatsoever voting, supporting, praising and promoting their own. It seems the only group that can't come to terms with the idea are caucasians.