Real Fighters - Louisville, KY
Muay
Thai champion Lindsay Scheer describes her entry into
the sport as “serendipitous”—already an athlete, she
was deep into soccer when she first took a fitness
boxing course in order to cross train. Impressed with
its cardio benefits and missing the class, Lindsay
later took a Krav Maga course in college at a
classmate’s recommendation. She didn’t care for it so
much—“it was all fish hooking and groin strikes and
that kind of thing”—so she stuck around for an open
gym one night. Although unfortunately none of the
grapplers were willing to work with her, she was
approached by Eric Haycraft, who would become her
future teacher, mentor, and manager. He invited her to
try Muay Thai, and like many fighters I’ve
interviewed, Lindsay was caught by the immediate
appeal of the art—those athletes who are always
striving for perfection and the next hurdle tend to
fall in love with Muay Thai on the first try. Always
up for a challenge, Lindsay was attracted to how
mentally and physically demanding Muay Thai is.
Competition
was a natural next step: “I like to perform at the
highest level possible in anything that I do.” She
began training in mid-2005, but took Muay Thai to the
fullest in 2007 when she finished with soccer,
entering into competition as soon as she could devote
all her energy to the sport. Since then, with the aid
of a passionate coach and an incredibly supportive
team, Lindsay has gone on to build up a record of 16-6
with many title fights and many international fights.
She traveled to Surinam last August and will return
this August for a rematch with an opponent she fought
on Slamm, and this time it will be for a Dutch title.
Lindsay went to Germany to fight on the WKA National
Team in 2007 and joined the team again in Spain in
2009, this time taking home the gold, defeating the
previous year’s Greek champion. She won the open
division of the WKA’s North American tournament in
2007 and won the WKA US Amateur Welterweight Title in
February 2010. She has competed at the world level in
several other tournaments as well, taking the silver
in 2009 in both the TBA and the IKF World tournament.
Lindsay was also the USKA US champion and the Shikon
Southeast champion in 2007.
In
addition to her demanding training and fighting
schedule, which involves a good deal of travel,
Lindsay went to University to become a physical
therapist and now works full time with children with
developmental disabilities and at-risk diagnoses. “I
love kids,” says Lindsay, who finds her chosen
profession just as fulfilling as she finds her
fighting career. “I enjoy my life, and I’m very happy
with what I’ve accomplished.” Concerning her goals for
the future, she’s happy where she is but is always
interested in stepping things up: “I’ll just take it
where it goes. I’ve got a few more years fighting and
I’m interested in making the most of it.”
For her fights, Lindsay trains twice a day every
day—though this is just a normal training
schedule for Real Fighters. As coach Eric Haycraft
keeps the work ethic of the gym at such a high level
on a routine basis, the only difference when fights
are coming up is a bit more sparring and a bit more
cardio along with the weight cut. Though she admits
that the Sunday parachute sprints are “pretty awful”,
Lindsay acknowledges the good they do for her and for
her teammates’ performance. As Haycraft pointed out,
“My team has awesome cardio. Our fighters may not win
every time, but they never get beat up, and they never
get tired.”
Lindsay appreciates her team and coach. “Eric is so
well-rounded and has been in the game for so long that
he’s really good at figuring out what works best for
each particular person.” In Lindsay’s case, these are
her low kicks—during a tough weight cut on one
occasion, Lindsay remarked, “I’ve got big soccer legs,
and they’re not going anywhere,” which is quite
unfortunate for any opponent on the receiving end of
one of Lindsay’s Dutch-style low kicks. She also says
of training with her team that they work well together
in an extremely dynamic method; each fighter uses each
other fighter’s particular skills and strength as a
learning experience. For instance, Lindsay says as an
example, “We all help each other. The bigger guys
maybe can’t hit me as hard as they can hit each other,
but then, I’m a lot faster than they are, so they have
to learn how to deal with my speed.” She notes that
Muay Thai “really is a team sport, even though you’re
in the ring on your own.”
Lindsay
cites her parents as an inspiration. Married for over
thirty years, they always took the best care of her
and supported her in everything she did. “They may not
be crazy about the fighting, but they support me in it
because I love it.” She says they also help her keep
things in perspective. She is thankful for the good
life her parents worked to give her and keeps this in
mind in her work, where she often works with
low-income families. When she isn’t training, Lindsay
enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities, traveling
(although she ruefully notes that most of the
traveling she fits into her schedule isn’t for
pleasure but for—what else?—the fight game), attending
concerts and listening to music, and reading. No one
who has met her could fail to be cheered by Lindsay’s
positive attitude and easy-going, kind personality—but
at the same time, no one who has seen her fight would
want to be on the end of her heavy right hand.
