John Wayne Parr. Part 1
John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr
An Australian Muay Thai legend, who at 39 years old not only travels to different countries for seminars and workshops but is also an active professional middleweight fighter. With 11 world Muay Thai championships (WMC) to his name, Parr holds a personal record of 122 fights, with 91 wins, 41 of them by knockout.
Parr owns his own gym, Boonchu Gym, located on Australia's Gold Coast.
He was one of the first foreigners to go to Thailand to study Muay Thai at its core and compete in local rings and arenas.
John Wayne Parr
John Wayne Parr was born on May 26, 1976, in Australia. At the age of 11, he began practicing Taekwondo, and at 13, he was introduced to kickboxing. During this time, his family moved around a lot, so he had to change gyms frequently. At 14, he had his first kickboxing fight, which he lost by a controversial decision from the judges.
In 1993, at the age of 16, Parr and his family moved to Queensland, where he faced the choice between boxing or kickboxing. He began training under Blair Moore, who at the time was a Muay Thai promoter.
At this age, Parr also began participating in his first professional fights. By 17, he had already won the Australian Championship in the 63 kg weight class. At 19, Parr met Richard Well, who owned a Thai restaurant in Australia. They became so close that their relationship could be described as family-like, and within a couple of years, Richard became a sponsor for Parr’s training trip to Thailand.
In 1995, Parr went to Thailand, where he initially trained for 3 months in Pattaya at the Sidyodtong Gym, then moved to Bangkok, where he was fortunate enough to train with Muay Thai legend Sangtien Noi (Deadly Kisser). During this period, while training at the Loomingkwan gym, Parr was nicknamed "John Wayne Parr" after the famous Western show actor John Wayne.
From 1995 onwards, Parr spent 4 years living in Thailand, where he trained in several Muay Thai clubs and fought in tournaments, competing in 30 bouts and winning two world championships. During his time in Thailand, Parr developed a unique gesture: at the end of his Wai Khru ritual before a fight, he would pull an imaginary gun from his holster and shoot his opponent, which earned him the nickname "The Gunslinger" and made him a fan favorite in Thailand. His dedication to the sport, determination, and will to win earned him the recognition of the Thai people, leading to him being named the Best Foreign Fighter of the Year in 1997. Parr fought three times at the Lumpinee Stadium and participated in a tournament dedicated to the King's birthday, a prestigious honor in Thailand.
In 1999, Parr returned to Australia, where he resumed boxing training, opened his own gym, and continued his fighting career.
Here’s what Parr himself says about his childhood and life in Thailand:
“I have always loved martial arts. I was drawn to karate, taekwondo, and I wanted to be a ninja... I went from Taekwondo to kickboxing and then to Muay Thai.
At 13, I sparred with adults and felt comfortable. The biggest challenge in my life was moving to Thailand. It was a real cultural shock. As a child, I moved a lot, changed about 11 schools, and at 19, I went to Thailand and lived there for 4 years.
I slept on the floor, ate on the floor, trained 6-7 hours a day, 7 days a week. But I didn’t mind, I was ready to sacrifice anything to become the best, but the hardest part was that I didn’t know anyone around me.
Eventually, I started learning 4 words a day, and after 3 months, I felt confident enough to have a conversation with someone on the street. After 4 years, I was singing Thai songs and bargaining with vendors. I became one of them.”
In one of his interviews, Parr also talked about his life in Thailand:
“When I arrived in Bangkok, they showed me one of the training camps. It was something like, 'Here’s the bedroom!' — it was a room packed with people sleeping back-to-back. All the amenities were outside, there was no hot water, no shower; you had to wash with a small bucket. There were no luxuries whatsoever... That’s how I lived for 4 years. I had to fight in the ring for a $20 reward to make a name for myself and become somewhat noticeable and famous, to move to a higher level. But it paid off, my name started appearing in newspapers and on television. Later, when I traveled to other countries, people already knew who I was.”
After returning to Australia, Parr continued his fighting career, showcasing his skills in traditional boxing, K-1, and even mixed martial arts. He opened his own training gym with his wife, and in his free time, he worked as a coach, traveled a lot, and held seminars.
John Wayne Parr
In June 2012, he had his final Muay Thai fight and announced a break from his fighting career. In the same year, Parr invented and founded a new format of Muay Thai — Muay Thai in a cage. He became the promoter of this new style, organizing tournaments and promoting this new form of fighting.
By January 2013, Parr signed a contract with the promoter company Powerplay Promotions, marking his return to professional sports.
In fact, Parr has announced his retirement multiple times but has always come back. When asked what motivates him to return to professional sports time and again, Parr answered:
“As a little boy, I always wanted to be a fighter, to study martial arts. No matter what happened, I never gave up on my goal to become a professional fighter. That’s why, even at 39, I’m still that little boy dreaming. I love living this life. I love coming to the gym in the morning, training, and teaching people. I try to spend more time with my family, then I go back to training. It’s wonderful when your life and work bring you joy and fun.”
Currently, Parr conducts training seminars, continues his fighting career, owns his gym, and organizes his own tournaments.
It’s worth noting that Parr is now 39 years old, but he shares that he doesn’t feel his age and still imagines himself to be 20.
“My preparation and training haven’t changed since then. I still train intensely in Muay Thai, which gives me strength, energy, confidence in victory, and in life. My only goal is to win, so intense training and my experience will help me beat anyone in my weight class on this planet.”
In one interview, Parr was asked if starting a professional fighting career at 16 was too early, to which he replied that gaining experience is the only path to success in professional sports.
“When I was young, I reached heights that seasoned fighters usually achieve. At 20, I fought against a fighter named Orono, who had over 300 fights in Thailand. If I had waited and saved my strength, I would have missed a lot of opportunities and, at 20, would have been fighting in amateur rings or just hitting pads in a camp.”
Among the most important and memorable events in his life, Parr highlights his victory at the Ratchadamnoen Stadium in Bangkok when he became the world champion and won a prize of 1 million baht. Only the famous fighter Ramon Dekkers had achieved similar success in Thailand.
Parr says the main secret to his success is being happy every minute.
“It’s important to feel this and not get weighed down by little things. Or at least you can feel happy during a Muay Thai training session when you show your masculine strength, becoming a true warrior. I’m happy when I win and devastated when I lose. But in most cases, I catch the positive from everything — from my lifestyle, my kids, my wife, Muay Thai, and teaching others. I’m living, and while I’m living, I enjoy every minute, no matter what it is.”
Parr also considers himself lucky because he hasn’t suffered any serious injuries. Although when talking about his injuries, he says, “I’ve never had particularly serious injuries except for knee and shoulder injuries. Once, I had a severe cut on my forehead — they put about 207 stitches. There were also various degrees of tendon injuries, muscle strains, etc., but overall, nothing too serious.”
This man’s life is indeed rich and diverse. He even managed to spend some time as a monk in Thailand. He once shared about this ascetic life in an interview: “I really liked it because being a monk away from the outside world is great. When we arrived at the monastery, we put away all our phones and wallets, shaved our heads, and spent the whole week inside the monastery without leaving its grounds. While in the monastery, you reflect a lot, meditate, and walk around the grounds. People passing by give you donations for the temple, and you pray for them. All of this helps you change, become calmer, kinder, and more peaceful. It helps you stop worrying about what will be written in the newspapers tomorrow or what will be said on television. Day after day in the monastery, it’s so great to feel the absence of the constant need to fill your mind with worries and thoughts about tomorrow, filled with everyday problems. It’s a very good place. You start to think that maybe wealthier countries with their problems are less happy than poorer countries. These are probably the main important things I managed to take away from my time at the monastery.”
Like many Muay Thai fighters, Parr believes in the spiritual aspect of the sport
