Somphot Thotla

It’s fitting that this be the first instalment as this is the story that inspired me to create this section on the site in the first place. Rosalie - the owner of Scorpion gym in Pattaya, Thailand - was briefly telling me about how her husband got involved with Muay Thai. Somphot Thotla - who now has over 300 professional fights under his belt - got his start in the sport in an interesting way. This is his story..

As a child, Somphot used to spend his afternoons hanging out at a Muay Thai club. He was 5 years old at the time and rather than going in and participating, he would look through the gate and watch his brother - along with about 20 or so others - kicking the heavy bags, doing pad-work and sparring. One of the head instructors picked up on Somphlot’s curiosity and eventually came out to personally to invite him in.

Reluctant at first, Somphot followed the instructor into the club and decided to give it a try. Fast forward a year and Somphot found himself in the center of the ring in his first Muay Thai fight at the tender age of 6. Most Muay Thai fighters I’ve encountered say that an addiction to fighting comes via their first knockout victory. Somphlot won that day but it wasn’t the knockout that served as his motivation.

Rather, it was the 30 baht ($1 US) that he earned for the fight. Give most 6 year old children a dollar and you can rest assure that it will be spent on candy at the convenience store. Not in this case however. When Somphot was awarded his modest winnings, he was brimming with excitement as he rushed home to see his mother.

His mother - who at the time had 5 children to take care of - was having a difficult time providing for the family. Times were hard. Somphot walked in and instinctively handed his mother the 30 baht he had earned for the fight and he did so with a huge smile on his face for he - at only 6 years old - was able to help out his mother financially.

The sense of self-worth he gained from the experience served as his motivation and he soon found himself fighting at Lumpinee stadium. He ended up losing a hard fought decision in his first fight at Lumpinee but he was invited back regardless for putting on such a good show.

The rest is history …

Tiger Muay Thai - BBQ Beatdown

Fight night at Tiger Muay Thai! I love these things. The fights are usually great but what’s even more impressive is that these guys are fighting for the love the sport, nothing more. They’re not getting paid. The only payment they get comes in the form of self pride and of course - some free BBQ! As a matter of fact, one of the fighters had to back out as he got sick and on 20 minutes notice - most likely with a beer in hand - another guy offered to step up and take his spot.

The night started off with a fight between two of the Thai trainers. Last month when two of the trainers - who were obviously friends - fought, they were just sort of goofing around and taking sips of beer in between rounds. This time it looked as though they were a little more serious. Although they were wearing shin guards, they were still kicking with bad intentions. However, they were just body shots. Here’s a video clip ..

This months “BBQ Beat down” (as they call it here at Tiger) featured a 4 man elimination style tournament. The tournament fights were 2 rounds each with the finalists fighting twice in the night (obviously).

Rather than do a post-fight commentary style write up on the fights, I’d rather just throw them up and let you watch for yourself. You know the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” and a video is worth even more. Cliché I know. Whatever, here are the first 2 fights of the tourney..

Both of the fights were awesome. However, the victors - Jonas and Kristian - were both good friends and they were hesitant to really engage in the final. But who can blame them? I wouldn’t want to fight my best friend in a cage for some BBQ either.

That being said, they still came out and put on a show. It was more playful than anything as the fight - which didn’t last long - resembled a real life, choreographed version of “Never Back Down”. Both fighters were trying to pull off all sorts of wacky jump kicks and whatnot. One of the guys even did a flying summersault as he entered the cage - which was good for some laughs.

There were also few other non-tournament fights on the card. One of which was a classic striker vs. grappler showdown featuring Caden from the states and Brad from New Zealand. It was a good fight, check it out..

The Fight Of The Night

Now, the best for last! My favourite fight of the evening. This fight - had it taken place in a large venue - would have received a standing ovation as it was one of those Rocky style, odds-defying victories. The fight pit Ngoo Ditty - a tiny Thai boxer with about 18 months of BJJ experience - against Richard Dinkins, who trains BJJ amongst some of the greatest in the world in the heart of Brazil.

Richard Dinkins - although the camera angle doesn’t show it very well - towered over Ngoo as he must have had a full 12-inch height advantage. You can tell where this is going. This fight had potential for greatness and a great fight it was.

Overcoming all odds, Ngoo - the tiny Thai boxer - ended up not only beating the much larger Brazilian but he beat him at his own game. He submitted him! He submitted him via an armbar from the mount! As you can tell by the reaction of the crowd, everyone was just as impressed as I was. This guy is going places. First Thai in the UFC? Who knows. I suppose the UFC would first have to get some sort of mega-lightweight division but on second thought, as demonstrated in the fight, he’ll be able to overcome the size differences. Check out the fight!

Political Turmoil In Bangkok!

Regardless of where you live, I’m sure heard the news. It seems to be the top story on all the major media outlets. CNN, MSN - they’re all covering the situation at the Bangkok airport(s). Suvarnabhumi International - which is the 18th largest airport in the world - has been shut down by protestors.

Over three thousand tourists were left stranded at the airport as all incoming and outgoing flights have been cancelled until further notice. To make matters worse, the violence seems to be escalating as gun fights have errupted in the streets of Bangkok and bombs have been set off in the airport leaving several protestors seriously injured.

There have even been reports of a grenade being thrown into the crowd. However, it turned out not to be live. Needless to say, it looks as though a lot of the guests here will be staying a little than expected. Of course, I could think of worse places to be stuck than a training resort in Phuket, Thailand.

Stay Updated Here

Malaysia Visa Run

Yeah, it was that time again. I really don’t see the purpose of spending 12 hours in a van simply to cross over to a new country, fill out a couple forms, get a new stamp on my passport and re-enter Thailand for another 30,60,90 days (however long the new visa is valid for). The whole concept is frustrating but I ended up getting a new tourist visa so I guess I can’t complain. The 60+30 day visa that I got was worth the sacrifice.

I think I’ve finally figured out how these visa procedures work and if I time things correctly, I should be able to stay in Thailand for as long as I need. I was talking to one of the other guests here over lunch today and he said that he came here last year and decided he wanted to stay longer but they told him he couldn’t and that he had to leave - which was true.

However, the immigration officials didn’t mention the fact that “leaving” only entails crossing the border, paying a visit to a Thai consulate in a bordering country and re-entering Thailand. He ended up going back to Canada. Needless to say, when I told him about his options, he seemed pretty stoked and now he’ll possibly be staying even longer than he initially planned. Thailand really has that effect on people. Visiting Thailand - and southeast Asian in general - can truly be a life changing experience.

So as for Malaysia, the one night I spent in Penang wasn’t long enough to form a solid opinion of the place. The Penang residents for the most part spoke better English than the Thai’s. Of course, like I said, this is from only a days worth of observation. Perhaps they were able to speak English so well on account of dealing with some many foreigners as Penang is outfitted with all sorts of hotels and resorts that accommodate both the tourists and the thousands upon thousands of “visa runners” from Thailand like myself.

Here’s a quick video I shot of the scene while walking around ..

I’m trying to think of a way to make this all sound exciting but to be honest, it really wasn’t. I guess if you’re to take anything from this, it’s that there’s a lot of confusion regarding the visa regulations in Thailand.

Thailand recently limited the number of 30 day stamps that visitors are allowed to get to 3 within a 6 month period. However, they haven’t restricted the amount of back to back tourist visas and other types of visas that visitors are allowed to get. Worse case scenario is that you may have to switch up which bordering countries you visit in order to get them. And I suppose it’s also a good idea to occasionally get a new passport every now and then so they don’t see 8 pages of Thailand visa stamps in there and start to ask questions.

As For The Training

Last night we had another full moon “fight night” and BBQ here at Tiger Muay Thai. Once again, the fights were awesome. The best fight however was an MMA match between one of the Thai trainers and a BJJ practitioner straight out of Brazil. You’re not going to believe this but the Thai guy won - via an armbar from the mount! That’s right! The Thai submitted the Brazilian! It was amazing! A lot of exclamation marks I know but that’s how awesome it was!!!!

Within a few days I’ll have my write up complete along with the videos of all the fights.

Keep Checking Back!

Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Who would have thought the ultimate fighter reality series would produce so much talent. As a matter of fact, up until only recently, being a contestant on the show was almost looked down upon by the non-reality series UFC roster.

Well, thanks to guys like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, fighters coming off the show and into the UFC are now getting a lot more respect. Having both recently taken out former top ranked fighters - Forrest over “Shogun” and Rashad over Liddell - this showdown will certainly be interesting.

I’m calling this this as the fight of the night right now - and that’s saying a lot considering just how stacked UFC 92 is. As we all already know, Forrest Griffin is a workaholic warrior who just keeps pressing forward. It’s that never-say-die mentality that has got him where he is today.

Forrest Griffin isn’t the greatest wrestler, he isn’t the greatest striker, nor is he the best submission artist - yet he’s the champion in arguably the most competitive division in the UFC. How does that happen? Well, it happens as a result of work ethic and “heart”.

Rashad Evans - who up until this point has yet to be defeated in his 13 fight MMA career - embodies similar characteristics. Having gone to decision in nearly half of his fights, he’s no stranger to going into “deep waters” with a game opponent - which will likely happen against a guy like Forrest Griffin.

So How Do Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans Match Up?

Neither of these guys is a “master” in a specific fighting style. They’re both just well rounded, really tough guys with a lot of heart. If there’s any standout advantage, it would be Rashad with his wrestling ability. Rashad is a much better wrestler than Forrest - and most of the light heavyweight division for that matter.

As for whether or not it will make a big difference in the fight, I’m not so sure. While Rashad Evans is the better wrestler, Forrest Griffin will likely be the bigger of the two as he walks around and cuts weight from around 240lbs while Rashad looked pretty small compared to Chuck Liddell in his last fight.

Of course, you could throw a wrench in that theory by pointing out that Rashad used to fight (and toss guys around) at heavyweight. Just look how Rashad was able repeatedly slam Stephan Bonnar when they fought back in 2006.

Both Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans are fighting out of great camps so you can rest assured that they’ll both be entering the octagon with very detailed game plans. And speaking of strategy, one thing worth pointing out is the fact that the last man to defeat Forrest Griffin was Keith Jardine - who just so happens to be one of Rashad’s team-mates.

This is one of those fights where it’s extremely hard to predict a winner. The only sure thing in this fight is that both fighters will give it their all and of course, Rashad’s wife will be sitting somewhere within the first few rows screaming at the top of her lungs.

Click Here to check the latest odds in the Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans fight

Loy Krathong Festival

There’s a holiday here in Thailand called Loy Krathong. I knew nothing of it until last year when I was walking down the main street in Patong and noticed a bunch of vendors set up under tends selling all kinds of awesome food. There were smoothie bars where you fill an empty cup with assorted fruit and pass it along to be blended for you; there were stands selling mini-kegs of local beer; there were people barbequing fish, chicken, beef and there was even massage areas set up in the middle of the street where people could just kick back, relax and watch the happenings while getting a foot rub.

The food, drinks and massages aside - the real fun happens down by the beach (or any body of water throughout Thailand). The significance of the holiday - which takes place when there’s a full moon in November - is to honour Buddha and the goddess of water - Phra Mae Klongkha. “Loy” means to float and “Krathong” means a raft. When the Thai people set their raft afloat, they oftentimes add clipped fingernails and hair to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. However, that information is straight off of Wikipedia and I’ve never actually seen them do that.

The rafts are cool but what’s cooler is the hot air lanterns that everyone lights and then sets sail into the night sky. It’s really an awesome sight. I’m sure it’s pretty hard to picture based on just my description of it so check out this video.

As you can see by the random fires and people dodging fireworks from every which angle, you really have to be alert while you’re there. Another tradition of Loy Krathong is beauty pageants. Last year, there was actually a ladyboy pageant going on and this year it was women ..at least I think they were women. Ah, this is Thailand so who really knows.

Loy Krathong is also an awesome day to be a single guy in this country. It seems as though every hot Thai girl is looking for a date for the night. I almost want to compare it to Valentines day in other countries. Of course, on Loy Krathong, the guy doesn’t have to go all out and pay for fancy dinners and jewellery. 3 dollars for a meal at the festival, 3 dollars for a lantern and another 3 dollars or so for the raft and the girl is happy!

Training Update

I’m still living and training at Tiger Muay Thai. Now that it’s high season, there’s a lot more students coming in from all over the world and the classes have been getting busier and busier. The solution to that is a rush expansion and within a months time, the training area at the camp is going to almost double in size. I think they’re also hiring about 5 or so more trainers - one of which is ranked number 3 in the country.

In some of my upcoming entries, I’ll document the expansion and I’ll soon be doing my review on this camp. In my review - as I know a lot of you are curious - will be video tours of all the on-site and nearby accommodations.

Visa Time Again

Time flies when you’re having fun. Once again, my visa is set to expire and I have to head over to Malaysia on Wednesday. These “visa runs” are a major hassle but I guess that’s a sacrifice one has to make while living in this country. So, I guess my next entry will be live from Malaysia.

Keep Checking Back!

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Jon Fitch Seminar

There’s not many things that can get me out of bed at 9 in the morning - especially when I was up until 4am the previous “night” writing articles. However, today - the inspiration was there. Jon Fitch - who has been training here at Tiger Muay Thai for about 3 weeks - gave a free seminar today geared around wrestling for MMA. Being a Perdue wrestling standout and the # 2 rated welterweight in the entire world - Jon Fitch is certainly someone you want to get advice from when the opportunity presents itself.

With the seminar set to kick off at 9am, I set my alarm clock for 8:59am - as that gave me just enough time to roll out of bed basically sleepwalk about 40 feet to the cage area where the lesson was taking place. Staying on-site at the camp certainly has its advantages. Anyway, the seminar started off with Jon demonstrating a basic wrestling shot. I use the term “basic” loosely as while Jon Fitch made the technique seem so automatic and effortless, the majority of the spectators - when given the opportunity to practice it - looked like fishes out of water. What I mean by that that they seemed out of their element. It just goes to show how good these professionals really are. By the way Fitch was demonstrating the shots, you could tell that its something he’s been doing since childhood.

Throughout the seminar, Jon demonstrated about 5 techniques (all wrestling based) but what impressed me the most - other than his talent - was his teaching ability. He was explaining each and every detail by giving examples that people could relate too. Will, the owner of the camp, said that this was the best seminar they’ve ever had here - which is a major testament to Jon’s teaching ability as they have a lot of seminars taught by special guests. I was able to get a lot of video footage throughout the lesson but I was later informed that Jon requested that video clips not be taken as he - along with many other UFC fighters - have started a website called MMAInstructional.com where they demonstrate all sorts of techniques.

So, unfortunately, I won’t be uploading the video footage here. However, the seminar did finish off with an awesome question and answer session. I didn’t have a recorder or anything so these responses are based off my memory and they’re not word for word. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll find it interesting..

Jon Fitch on His Loss to GSP

He basically said that a loss is disheartening but it’s something that you have to expect in this business as losing is inevitable. “Nobody retires undefeated, it’s just not going to happen” he said. He then went on and said that you have to view a loss as a learning experience. Instead of being pissed off that you lost, you have to go back and say “Ok, why did I lose? What did I do wrong?”. In the GSP fight, he said he learned a lot. He said he learned not to throw sloppy leg kicks, 1 punch combos and not to drop his hands. He also said that he’s in Thailand now to correct those mistakes. The fight with GSP basically gave him a better idea of what he has to work on and I’m sure he’ll become a better fighter because of it.

Jon Fitch on Supplements

“98% of supplements are garbage” he said. “They’re only out there to get your money”. He said you can get everything you need for “free” through food and that supplements are exactly that - to be supplemented to your existing diet if you’re not getting enough of something. He was then asked what 2 supplements he recommends and he responded by saying “whey protein & vitamins”.

Jon Fitch on Steroids

He seemed quite disgusted with it. “I don’t know how those guys can look at themselves in the mirror” he said in reference to fighters that use them. He said he doesn’t know how guys can think they’re badass and then turn around and stick a needle in their ass.

Jon Fitch on Tuna

He said that as he was growing up, he had to eat canned tuna 3-4 times a day because it was affordable and he needed the protein. He followed that statement up by jokingly saying that “ if I could take all the canned tuna in the world and get rid of it, I would”. I guess the guy doesn’t like tuna very much.

Jon Fitch on training with a Gi

He said he still trains with a Gi because he views it like “adding weights to a barbell”. He said that training with a Gi is less forgiving and it forces you to be more technical. Obviously he feels that training with a Gi will improve your no-Gi game.

Jon Fitch on Fight Training

He said that in the months leading up to a fight, it’s very fight specific. His training camp is geared around the style of his opponent. If he’s fighting a wrestler, he’ll get more wrestlers in to train with. If he’s fighting a BJJ specialist, then he’ll train more BJJ. He’s already a BJJ black belt and a wrestler so if there’s anything he needs to work on, it’s striking and I suppose that’s why he’s made this trip out to Thailand.

Jon Fitch on Coming Through the Ranks

As he was talking about customizing his training camp around the strengths of his opponent, the conversation sort of branched off and he started talking about the “old days” when he was coming up through the ranks. He said that back then, he’d show up and he wouldn’t know who he was fighting. The only time he’d have to evaluate his opponent was while he was warming up. He’d say to his friend “dude, what’s he doing over there? Can you see?” his friend would say “Yeah man, he’s doing some crane-karate shit”. “Alright” says Fitch, “I have to watch out for the flying crane kick”.

He also said that back then, he’d often get asked to fight multiple times in 1 night. He said that on one occasion, a promoter came up to him after his first fight and offered him 100 bucks to fight again. Fitch declined and then the promoter offered him 500 dollars to fight, but not to knock his opponent out. Fitch said that he agreed, but knocked the guy out so he only got the 100 dollars. On top of that, he broke his thumb in the process which cost $700/$7000 to fix. I didn’t quite hear the exact amount. I hope it wasn’t $7000 to fix a thumb. If that’s the case, than wow .. I hope Obama improves the health care system.

Wrapping It Up

At the end of the seminar, Jon Fitch stuck around and took photos with each of the attendees. There was about 60 people in total. He seemed like a nice guy for sure. I think he and his team mates are flying back to the states tomorrow morning..

Brock or Randy?Who’s going to take it? If you think you know the answer, click here to throw down a bet!

My New Home?

So I haven’t written an entry in a while and I apologize. To be honest, I just haven’t been motivated. I sprained my ankle a couple weeks ago and since then, I’ve spent most of my time in my room watching bootleg DVD’s. I want these entries to be timeless - something people can read in a year or two from now and still enjoy. I just didn’t think you guys wanted to read about how I watched “old school”, “American pie” and about twenty or so other movies - which I had already seen - all throughout the week. Some of you may have thought that the past caught up with me and one of those Pattaya girls ordered my “hit” here in Phuket. Fortunately that’s not the case.

While I’ve been watching movies, I’ve been multitasking and writing articles to submit to article directories. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been researching ways to earn money online and someone in the message boards turned me on to “article marketing”. To sum it up, you basically research highly searched, yet non-competitive keywords in Google, write an article on the topic emphasizing those keywords and submit it to the article directories. Somewhere within the article (usually at the bottom), you insert a link to a product you’re promoting. The goal is obviously to get your article listed on the first page in Google. If you can manage that, you can potentially get a lot of page views and as a result, you increase the likelihood that the reader will follow the link to whatever product you’re promoting and make a purchase - as you then earn a commission.

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It doesn’t take much to live here in Thailand. The cost of living here is about 4 times less than what it is back in Canada. To put that in perspective, if you earn 50 dollars a day while living here, your lifestyle will be similar to the lifestyle you would have back home if you were earning 200 dollars a day. The reason I’m even mentioning this is because I know a lot of you guys are considering coming out to Thailand to train at some point. If you were to generate some sort of income while you’re here, you could then stay longer - because trust me, you’re not going to want to go home. I know I don’t!

Anyway, I’m still in Phuket and as you can see from the photo - it’s beautiful. I’m actually still living at Tiger Muay Thai and aside from the injury, things are going well. There’s no new crazy Thai girl stories since there really isn’t any girls around. Chalong - where the camp is located - is a very uneventful area. Me and my buddy went to “Chalong circle” the other night to get some food and we came across the “nightlife” area. It’s nothing but a few raggedy bars with a bunch of old, ugly ladies hollering at you when you walk by. Did I mention how old they are? It’s so bad that it’s almost laughable. For me though, that’s a good thing. There’s absolutely no temptation to go out and get involved with anything other than work and training.

And Speaking of my Training

Even though I injured my ankle, I’ve still been doing what I can. I obviously can’t kick so I’ve been doing some western boxing. The trainers have all been really good about working around my injury. However, today - for the first time in 2 weeks - I was able to throw a kick. I can only kick with my right leg (as my left foot is injured), but when you’re living on-site and you constantly see people kicking the pads - it’s just a frustrating reminder of what you can’t do! Needless to say, my workout today felt good.

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However, one of my workouts last week didn’t feel so good. Not because I got hurt physically - although I do have quite the black eye - but rather, it’s the ego blow that hurt more than anything. I was paired off with the biggest guy at the camp for sparring. This guy is about 6’7 or so and weighs about 270lbs. It was just light sparring and nothing was taken overboard (luckily for me). I usually do well when sparring against people my own size but against this guy, I just couldn’t get by his reach. I basically ate jabs for 3 rounds. It certainly makes me appreciate fighters that are able to overcome their opponents reach advantage like Mike Zambidis and even Fedor Emelianenko in his last couple fights.

Speaking of professional fighters, Jon Fitch is here - but I’m sure I already mentioned that. Here’s a video of him doing his early morning padwork (I was most likely trying to sleep in the room to the right of the motorbike when this video was shot.)

As you can see from the video, the pad-holders here are incredible. I’ve worked with about 4 of them now and they’re all amazing. It certainly beats the group Muay Thai classes back at home where your pad-holders are your fellow students.

Anyway, now that I’ll be spending more time training and less time watching DVD’s now that my foot is getting better, hopefully I’ll have a lot more to write about.

Also, if you want to learn more about that internet marketing stuff that I’m trying (start of the entry), check out these two resources.

Wealthy Affiliate
- This site is membership based (about a dollar a day) and it basically walks you through all the different techniques. This site is really good for beginners as it’ll teach you from scratch.

Warrior Forum
- This is the biggest internet marketing forum and it’s free. Any time you have a question about anything, just throw a post up in here and you’ll have an answer within minutes.