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Like a pioneer discovering a new world, McPhail tried to grab in some cases, twist the arm of
every martial artist he could find. Just try it, he pleaded. Just give it a shot. Every knock at
the door was greeted with a resounding slam.
"I never really got frustrated," McPhail said of the lack of interest. "I just figured people would sooner or later fall in love with muay Thai the way I had." Riding "The Jet" Trouble was, back in the 1970s there was little in the way of true muay Thai training in the United States. In fact, unless you were a fan of Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, sister Lily or brother in law Blinky Rodriguez, you probably didn't see it at all. At the time, Benny "The Jet" was so good no one in America would fight him. And so the unbeaten kickboxer took his talents to Asia, where he ultimately was introduced to muay Thai. "There wasn't much over here during that time," explained McPhail. "Benny brought some techniques back and there were a few tapes, but overall the information wasn't redily available. We took everything we could |
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find and practiced the best we could. If a Thai fighter came over here for a fight or a seminar, we took everything we could. |
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