Ajarn Mike Walrath (1956 - 2018)

Father, Fighter, Artist, and founder of Bigfoot Gym

Excerpted from The Beautiful Fight, dedication to Mike Walrath by Dante Zuñiga-West. Click here to read the full article.

Considered to be the “grandfather of muay thai” by those in the martial arts and combat sports community of Oregon, Walrath and his Bigfoot Gym were a cornerstone in Eugene for more than three decades. Ajarn dedicated his life to his family, his students and the Bigfoot Gym School of muay thai and krabi krabong, the weapon-based martial art of Thailand.

In an era where martial arts, mixed-martial arts and physical fitness became commodified and appropriated for business, Ajarn Walrath’s gym stood as a beacon of legitimate bushido.

An original backyard student of Ajarn Surachai Sirisute — the man credited with bringing the martial art of muay thai to the United States in the 1970s — Ajarn Walrath presided over a gym of fighters he treated as an extension of his family. He was also a student of the late Ajarn Samai Masamarn, at the Buddhai Swan School of krabi krabong, in Thailand. Masamarn is widely considered to be the last great master of krabi krabong.

One would be hard-pressed to find a traditional muay thai instructor in the state of Oregon who has not passed through the doors of Bigfoot Gym. There, in a humble warehouse filled with worn equipment, Walrath accepted all who came, teaching them traditional muay thai, krabi krabong and self-defense, as well as mentoring them in every aspect of the human experience. He was as much a community advocate, counselor and therapist as he was an Ajarn.

Walrath’s classes were taught daily, involving every skill-level and age-level. He taught more than muay thai, and his students learned to be more than just fighters. His goal was to shape fierce and compassionate martial artists who fought out of “the pure joy of living."

Walrath was also a well-known artist and painter in the Eugene community. His realist and sometimes surrealist paintings, most of which were inspired by his gym, his family, or his strong political beliefs, continue to be hung and sold in local art galleries such as New Zone.

On Oct. 9, Ajarn Mike Walrath died unexpectedly at the age of 62, passing over the great divide surrounded by the family he loved, the friends he enlivened and the instructors he built. If, as it is said, death and love are two wings that bear the good man to heaven, Walrath flew swiftly.