Sitsongpeenong Gym Review
May 26, 2010 by admin · 7 Comments
So a few weeks ago, I was watching Muay Thai videos online and I came across a fight between Kem “Sitsongpeenong” and the most recent K1 Max champion; Giorgio Petrosyan. I noticed that Kem (formally known as Kem Fairtex) changed his last name (the gym he represents) so I decided to do a little Google search and find out what this “Sitsongpeenong” gym was all about.
I found their website and from the looks of things, it seemed like a cool place to train. So, since I was in Bangkok, I decided to stop in for a session and check the place out. The gym is located about half an hour or so from the center of the city but with transportation in Bangkok being so inexpensive, you can jump into a metered taxi and get there for around 200 baht or so (which is around 6 dollars).
When I arrived, I was immediately impressed with the facility. This is a major Muay Thai complex and you can tell that a lot of money has been put into the place. I was greeted at the front by the owner and after a brief introduction, he guided me up to the gym area which is on the second floor. The owner, by the way, is half-Thai and half Australian – which is great because he’s fluent in both languages so if you have any trouble finding the place, just pass the phone to him and let him give the taxi driver directions (that’s what I did anyway). It’s a relatively new gym (about 9 months old) so most people don’t know where it is.
Anyway, in the gym area, there’s 2 full sized “top king” rings, a matted area with bags and an area in the corner with some strength training equipment. Here’s a quick video tour that I took of the training area..
As you can see, it’s a nice facility (much like Tiger or Fairtex) but the business model at Sitsongpeenong isn’t based around catering to the average foreigner who’s looking for a “fitness holiday”. Rather, it seemed like their main priority is on producing fighters (most of which are young Thai’s). Out of everyone in the entire gym, only 1 guy who was living/training there was NOT booked for a fight (and even he has had 7 MMA fights under his belt back in the states).
And speaking of the fighters they’re producing, here’s some footage I got of an up and coming “superstar” (as I’ve been told) doing some clinch work in preparation for an upcoming fight at Lumpinee. He’s in the red shorts and as you can see by the older trainer; stick in hand, and whipping them when they slow their pace, they’re taking the fight seriously – most likely because they’re planning on laying down a big bet on him next week.
It seems as though those kids never get tired. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for myself. The gym was nice, the trainers were friendly and knowledgeable but my workout sucked. I have bad asthma to begin with and even in Phuket, I’m usually hovered over gasping for air at around the 2-3 minute mark of the first round but for some reason, the Bangkok air made it a lot worse then it normally is. Rather than lasting 2-3 minutes, I could only pull off 15-20 second intervals before I’d have to stop and regroup.
That’s the main reason why I don’t have more reviews of the Bangkok gyms on here. I hate training there because it worsens an already shitty condition that I have. That being said, nobody else seemed to be negatively effected by the air quality as they were all doing 4 minute rounds on the pads with only 30 second rest intervals. I know because they had a timer in between the two rings (you can see it in the videos).
I’m not a big fan of Bangkok in general but if I was to train at one of the gyms there, I would definitely station myself out of Sitsongpeenong for a while. If you compete back at home or want to compete here in Thailand and are looking for a training environment free of distractions, then Sitsongpeenong might be worth checking out.
However, as mentioned above, if you’re looking to relax, chill at the beach, pick up girls and have somewhat of a “training holiday”, then Sitsongpeenong most likely isn’t the best place. There’s not much to do in the area and as the owner himself said, you “just wouldn’t be happy there” (unless you’re there strictly for the training that is).
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Lex Muay Thai Review
May 20, 2010 by admin · 3 Comments
So, me and my buddy were driving around on a motorbike looking for the Chay Yai gym. Having just arrived here a few days ago (and not knowing my way around), getting lost was inevitable as we were searching for an area that isn’t even listed on the maps that are passed out at most of the tourism booths throughout the city. We took a wrong turn somewhere (or several) and ended up at a cool temple (in the picture to the left).
From there, we asked some locals for directions and due to the language barrier, they couldn’t really get their point across so rather than giving us verbal directions to follow, one Thai guy jumped on his motorbike and guided us to a camp that was a couple blocks away. It wasn’t Chay Yai, but at this point, we didn’t care anymore as we just wanted to train.
When we walked in, we were told to warm up and that the head trainer would be there shortly. Apparently there was some sort of fight in town and he went to try to mediate things. At this point, the gym was really quiet and following our warm up, my buddy started his pad rounds. While he was doing that, I was just waiting for my turn as they only had the 1 pad holder.
At about the midway point of my friends pad-work session, Lex got back and so did about 8 of his students. Lex (the owner of the camp), then strapped up and hopped in the ring to finish off the rounds for my friend. Once he was worked to complete exhaustion, I got called in. Here’s a brief clip of me training with Lex (note the sick graffiti in the background)..
He was a good trainer and we both got as many rounds as we could handle. As for the actual students/fighters that were training there, the skill level seemed pretty low to be honest. For the most part, it was backpacker-types that were likely passed a brochure somewhere along the moat. That being said, I was only there for the one afternoon so that’s certainly not enough time to judge the quality of the students that roll through the gym on a more regular basis.
As I mentioned, me and my friend both got more than enough pad time from Lex himself and the atmosphere within the gym (with the graffiti and whatnot) was pretty cool. Another plus is that you can jog past the temples to start your training and in addition to the scenery, Chiang Mai has really clean air (unlike Bangkok).
I didn’t stay there long enough to really get a feel for what the training would be like for someone training there on a semi-permanent basis. From my initial perspective, it had its positives (nice running path with temples, cool atmosphere, good trainer) and its negatives (very few trainers, low skill level amongst the students). I didn’t see any on-site accommodation but in Chiang Mai, you can find a room to rent for about 100 usd per month and there’s plenty of rooms available so finding a place to chill and sleep shouldn’t be a problem.
It’s certainly worth checking out if you’re in Chiang Mai but if the purpose of your trip is purely about training, then there are much better gyms (throughout Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya) that you should base yourself out of. It was a good overall experience though.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Siam No 1 Review
May 12, 2010 by admin · 5 Comments
While in Chiang Mai, I checked out a couple of the gyms – Siam No 1 being one of them. Prior to arriving, I had high expectations for this gym because most of the trainers at my favorite camp (even my own trainer) were brought up at Siam. Not only that, but one of my buddies had been training there for a few months at the start of his trip (as he’s a student at the branch in Toronto) and he had nothing but good things to say about the place.
The gym is located in Sankampaeng – which I guess is an outskirt of Chiang Mai – and it takes about half an hour via motorbike to get there from the center of the city. I imagine it would have been tough to find had we not been with someone who had previously trained there.
When we arrived at the gym, I was surprised at how empty the place was. Siam No 1 is a pretty historical gym and I was under the impression that a lot champions have been brought up there (as indicated by the stack of trophies). But on this day, however, there was a couple trainers sitting ringside and a few little girls shadowboxing – and even they were just sort of playing around rather than undergoing a serious training session.
I wrapped my hands and did some skipping/shadowboxing to start things off and by the time I finished my warm up, a couple other people (guy from Holland and a girl from Germany) had returned from their afternoon run. So, in addition to myself and my two friends, there was only two other foreigners training there.
Before I go any further, when my friend was describing his experience here, he said everything was great (he even fought for the gym), but he said that during one of his pre-fight workouts, some random old guy just showed up and trained him. He saw him that one time and never again.
Well, apparently that “random old guy” was there again that day and he was the one who was training us. He told me he has been doing Muay Thai for 35 years, that he was a champion of the North and a Lumpinee champion as well. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure. You just never know in Thailand. I’ve had taxi drivers claim to be Lumpinee champions before (I’ve even had one guy prove it by showing me photos of himself in the ring with the belt via his cell phone).
Anyway, Lumpinee champion or not, this guy had a strange method of teaching. Sometimes you vibe with a trainer; sometimes you don’t. This time I didn’t. Actually, none of us did. He trained all 3 of us and we all had the same “is this guy serious?” expression on our faces. He would tell us to bob our heads up and down and throw knees without putting any sort of guard up – basically welcoming a counter-strike to the face.
That’s the downside to only spending a limited time at some of these gyms. I can hardly judge Siam No 1 as a whole based on a single pad-work session with a wacky trainer. Sure, I wasn’t impressed with the training I got that day, but apparently that trainer isn’t there on a regular basis. My friend Ian swears by Kru Pon and Kru Doe’s training (as does the guy who was training there from Germany).
This is one of those instances where I can’t recommend a gym (based on my personal experience) but I wouldn’t discourage you from going ether (based on recommendations by people that I trust). If you happen to be in Chiang Mai, then check it out and form your own opinion. Maybe YOU can let ME know how it went for you there – just don’t train with that old dude. Here’s a video tour that I took of the place..
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Songkran 2010
April 19, 2010 by admin · 3 Comments
Most people who have never been to Thailand have no idea what “Songkran” is. I didn’t either until I experienced it last year and since then, it’s become the yearly holiday that I look forward too the most. “Songkran” is how the Thai people celebrate the “Thai new year” and it basically consists of a lot of a lot of alcohol consumption and a country-wide water fight.
In Chiang Mai, “Songkran” lasts for almost a week but here in Phuket, it’s only celebrated for a day and a half (the evening on the 12th and the full day of the 13th). As fun as it is, I find that a couple days is enough because you literally get soaked within 2 minutes of leaving your room. There’s really no way to avoid it. Got cash in your pocket? Nobody cares. A camera or cell phone? You’re still going to get water dumped on you. You just have to wrap everything up in plastic bags, grab a giant water fun and hit the streets – which is exactly what we did.
Here’s a video that my buddy recorded of the scene outside “Jungceylon” (which is a touristy mall here in Patong). It looks wild but there’s no isolated area where everyone went. He could have whipped out his camera at pretty much any point (and at any location) during the day and it would have looked the same.
Once the “Sangsom” (Thai whiskey) started flowing, we didn’t remember much but luckily we had some funny video footage to check out the following morning. This first video was filmed at a street here in Patong that’s infamous for “happy ending” massages (we call it the “dirty triangle”). It’s pretty self-explanatory really. We were drunk so we decided to run upstairs, cause a ruckus and as my so eloquently stated, we were going to “spray all the dick we could see”.
Now, in the comments section, there’s no need to call attention to the fact that we knew exactly where to go or that the girl at the front called me specifically by name (haha). It is what it is. Anyway, in this next video, we apparently barge into an Indian restaurant and spray down the waiter (ah, the shit you do when you’re drunk in Thailand).
And for the 3rd and final round, we ambush yet another restaurant, only this time, we get a taste of our own medicine as some seemingly unassuming girl who was sitting there eating pulled out a super-soaker of her own and started firing back. Bottom line; Thailand is amazing and so is Songkran. I can’t wait for next year!
Anyway, after spending the last half a year or so here at the Patong Boxing Gym, I’m going to head up to Chiang Mai on Thursday because everyone keeps telling me about the “laid back” vibe up there. So. I’ll check things out and post up reviews on some of the gyms. A lot of the trainers at the Patong Gym come from Siam no 1 in Chiang Mai so I imagine that the training up there is pretty decent.
And speaking of the training, here are a couple semi-recent videos of me working on my boxing with Ming (who as you can see is an amazing pad holder).
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Buakaw Padwork, New Years Eve and some Lady Drama
January 14, 2010 by admin · 3 Comments
It’s been a while since my last entry so first off, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that good stuff. Hope all of you enjoyed the holidays because I know I did. I’ll get into all that a bit later but first, I’ll get right into some Muay Thai videos. A couple weeks ago, Buakaw Por Pramuk and Ramazan Ramazanov came through Patong and put on a demonstration at the stadium.
I’m sure all you guys know who Buakaw Por Pramuk is (2 time K-1 Max champion) but Ramazan, being the lesser known of the two, deserves an introduction. He’s the current heavyweight WPMF champion as well as the WMC Intercontinental champion.
So now that you’re caught up with who these guys are and what they’ve accomplished, you can fully appreciate what you’re about to see. These videos were filmed and posted courtesy of Tiger Muay Thai and I’m glad they did it, because their camera is a lot better than mine.
The first video shows the two living legends of the sport doing a “wai kru” – which is a traditional Thai dance performed for good luck before the Muay Thai fights. The second video shows Buakaw Por Pramuk rocking the pads with the same vicious kicks that made him famous.
The third video shows Ramazan doing his thing on the pads as well and finally, the fourth video is the actual demo fight that they put on. Baukaw’s reaction time in that video is incredible. You have to love how he throws Ramazan’s leg over the rope before he counters. So, without further ado, here they are..
Anyway, I mentioned above that I had a good (interesting) new years and if you’ve been reading this site for a while, “interesting” events that occur on holidays that involve alcohol usually involve some sort of girl drama. And of course, this was no exception.
New years started with a party here at the camp. It was awesome actually. Bow (the manager) bought an entire case of Sangsom, along with mixers, and of course, about 20 pounds of meat for BBQ kabobs. And so, we ate, we drank, we laughed and then at around 11 pm, everyone exchanged gifts. I ended up giving one of the trainers a soccer jersey, 2 big bottles of Japanese beer and a phone card.
As for my gift, I got a cool looking statue of Buddha. It’s really nice actually and I’m glad I got it. The only downside to it is the fact that when girls come over and see it, they don’t want to do anything “bad” in front of it. It’s certainly not helping my “game”. Ah well. Anyway, here’s a quick video of the party. The kids (son and daughter of a couple of the trainers) are so cute..
Alright, so to backtrack a little, I met a girl on Christmas day. At the risk of sounding whack, there was an instant connection and we ended up going to an after hours club until about 7 am. The next day, me and my buddy walk by her work and since my vision is garbage, I didn’t immediately see her and walked straight for the washroom.
When I walked back, I was greeted by a semi-jacked – yet still attractive – girl from Issan bitching me out in front of my buddy and everyone else within a 10 foot radius. She was upset that I didn’t acknowledge her right away since we spent the previous night at the after hours place and if she had been talking to her friends about me that night (who knows if she was), then she would have “lost face” as they call it in Thailand.
Anyway, I smoothed it over by explaining that my vision was terrible but I definitely took mental note that if I made this girl angry, she has absolutely no issues about causing a big scene in front of a large crowd of people.
We hung out a bit after that and then we went out drinking on new years eve. At around 4 am, I got a call from an “old friend” that I answered out on my balcony. She wanted me to be her “person” for new years (her words, not mine) but I was legitimately explaining that I couldn’t see her and that I had company. Anyway, apparently the girl didn’t like the fact that I was talking to another girl on the balcony at 4 am, so in the middle of my conversation, I just heard my door slam.
I came in to check it out and she was gone. I tossed my phone on the bed, went outside and saw her literally running away. A few of the trainers actually sleep next to the ring so in the middle of the night, all they saw was a drunken Thai girl running from my room. It must make me look like some sort of sex predator or something. It’s definitely not a good look.
Regardless, I asked my trainer to give me a ride on his motorbike so I could talk to her but since it was New Years Eve, even he had been drinking and the manager of the gym took away all their motorbike keys (smart move). So, he did the next best thing, he chased her down with me (or attempted too anyway). He was hammered and wobbling back and fourth while attempting to walk straight and me, well, I was jogging after her, in a secluded mountain, in the middle of the night, with no shoes on.
At the time, I felt like I was running pretty fast too but I just couldn’t catch up to her. It got to a point where I couldn’t even see her at all. “That’s the fastest girl alive” I said to myself as I was gasping for air. Well, not really, but it definitely reminded me of the scene in “Superbad” where the cop is chasing “Evan”. You know. This scene..
Anyway, I ended up coming back to my room and calling her. She answered. “Hey, where are you?” I ask. “I’m in my room she replies”. “How did you get down so quick?” I ask. Apparently she hopped on a motorbike taxi and made up some crazy story to get a ride down the hill since she didn’t have any cash on her. “Well, are you going to come back or what?” I say. “Do you want me to come back?” she replies. “Um, yeah, come back” ..and so she does.
She stayed here for a couple days after that too but it’s a few weeks later and we’re not talking anymore. Partly her fault but admittedly, partly mine as well. I guess it’s for the best though because the manager at the gym here knows of her and said that she does Yabba and whatnot (which could in part explain her erratic behaviour) but damn, why am I so attracted to these crazy girls? I guess I just love the drama.
On another note, my training is going really well. I’ve based myself out of Patong Boxing Gym (since I like it here so much) but I owe it to you guys to go around and check out some of the gyms that I haven’t reviewed yet. So, I’ll certainly be doing that in the near future (hopefully sometime next week). I’ll post a video of myself training soon as well and hopefully you’ll notice some improvement from the others.
And while on the topic of posting videos, I just got back from another one of the fight nights at the boxing stadium so I’ll post those up in a few days when I get around to doing another entry. In the meantime, here’s a completely unrelated, yet incredibly humorous video of some Guido doing a homo-erotic dance for some unfortunate bar girl. Note his impeccable fashion sense; tight jean shorts (which he most likely cut himself), a sleeveless dress shirt which expose the tattoos on his skinny arms and of course – while unapparent in the video – he had the hairy chest going on as well. Classy.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Settled In At Patong Gym
December 8, 2009 by admin · 4 Comments
The view from my room. Hate on, haters.
I’ve trained at the Patong Boxing Gym before. I even wrote up a review on the place, but as you could tell by the review, I really like it here so whatever, I figured I’d stop by once again. I’m staying on-site at the camp this time, which is a nice change of pace because it’s so peaceful up here.
Last year I was staying in town and there was way too many distractions (girls, nightclubs) down there so it’s easy to get sidetracked from the training. Up here, it feels like you’re a world away from all that but when you want to go into town for some shopping or to hit the clubs on a Saturday night, you just have to go down the hill – which takes a mere 5 minutes via motorbike.
And speaking of going “down the hill” on a motorbike, I had my first crash tonight. Me and another guy staying at the camp wanted to head into town. He wanted to go see his new love interest (more on that later) and I wanted to get a sub from subway to switch things up a bit (I’m really getting sick of eating rice for every meal).
We walked over to the convenience store next to the singpatong gym – which is where we usually get a taxi – only this time, the big SUV that they usually drive us in wasn’t available. As an alternative, he suggested that he give us a lift down the hill on his motorbike. Three guys; one motorbike – it didn’t seem like a good idea at the time but then again, it didn’t seem like a bad enough idea to prompt us to walk down the hill either.
So we hopped on and since I was quick to call “giving” not “receiving”, my friend was in the middle and I was sitting at the back. It was fine at the start. A little awkward sure, but we were getting from point A to point B and that was good enough. We made it to “the hill” (perhaps the steepest in Patong) and we weren’t going that slow either.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the driver pumped the breaks a bit (perhaps because we were going a little too fast) and when he did that, he completely lost control of the bike and I didn’t even have time to yell “oooooh sheiiiiiiiiiit” before I was sliding down the concrete.
Immediately after it happened, I stood up and walked over to the side of the road. My right leg was in pain, but aside from that, nothing immediately stood out as being injured.
EDIT: It’s the following day now and my right shoulder is messed up. I must have done something to my rotator cuff because it hurts when I elevate my arm upwards and I can’t throw a punch. I had to skip training today, which sucks because I could hear everyone else training from my room. When I’m healthy, there are times where I just feel like relaxing and taking the day off, but at least I like having the option to train. Hearing screams of exertion, followed by the sound of shins cracking into the pads was pretty discouraging knowing that I couldn’t throw on my gear and head down to do the same. Hopefully I’ll be back at it in a few days.
And Speaking Of The Training..
When I was able to train, things were going well. My cardio is still shit (with no signs of it getting any better either), but my trainer is awesome – and that’s really all it comes down too. The training here is all one on one so you get a lot of individual attention and since my trainer is really good, I couldn’t ask for more.
The gym is located on a really quiet, yet scenic road so I usually start my training sessions off with a run. I grabbed my camera the other day and filmed a bit so you guys can see. It was about to rain though and it looks much nicer when the sun is out – especially at the peak of one of the hills where you get a view of the Andaman Sea.
I was wearing my Ipod as I was filming that so I only noticed how hard I was breathing when I re-watched the video. Like I said, my cardio is embarrassing – which brings me to the next couple videos. My friend filmed these about a week and a half ago so I figured I’d post them up. Notice how neither of the videos elapses the .20 second mark? That’s because after that initial 20 seconds, I’m usually hunched over trying to catch my breath. Ah well, it’s a starting point.
The guy that’s holding the pads is the great trainer I was talking about above. He’s actually fighting one of the trainers from Tiger Muay Thai in a couple days so I’ll try to post up some video footage of that.
A Story in Development
Alright, so if you’ve been following these entries for a while, I’m sure you know by now that I tend to get myself into dramatic situations with some of the local girls. I mean, there was the “fatal attraction” entry where a girl named Fon threatened my life and balcony hopped into my room one night. Then of course there was the “trouble in paradise” entry, which is actually the most read entry of the entire training journal – but I won’t bother summarizing that one, you can just read it for yourself if you haven’t already.
Anyway, with this being my third trip here, I’ve finally come to understand how things work and I intend on using my knowledge to ensure that things go smoothly and I avoid the type of drama that I encountered during my first couple trips. After all, I like it here in Patong and I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for vengeful girls whenever I leave my room.
Luckily for my readers there’s a Thailand rookie here with me who seems to be making all those highly entertaining mistakes so I won‘t have too. He’s from Canada as well (about a 2 hour drive from where I live) and he’s started what promises to be a long and meaningful relationship with a Thai bargirl (sense the sarcasm there?).
What was supposed to be a drunken one night stand on a Saturday night has, at the time of this writing, developed into a 12 day whirlwind romance – at least in his mind. What he doesn’t understand is that this girl has come to Patong from Issan to work, earn money and provide for her family. That’s where her priorities lye and those priorities aren’t going to change.
That being said, he’s not paying her and she’s not going into work. So, either she has a lot of money as it is (in which case she wouldn’t be working in the bars) or she’s “working” him in some way or another. When you first speak with the bargirls, they ask you a series of questions..
1) “What’s your name?”
2) “Where you from?”
3) “How long you stay?”
4) “You come Thailand before?”
5) “What you work in *insert country here*?”
Friendly conversation? Could be. But perhaps it’s more than that. Perhaps they’re sizing us up with these questions and what they really mean is..
1) Just asking your name, not important, but they won’t remember if you ask them 10 min. later.
2) Are you from a desirable country?
3) Is there enough time to make you fall in love OR How long can I get money out of you for?
4) Are you a newbie? Because newbie’s are easy pickings.
5) Do you have “big money”?
Now, he’s from Canada, he’s never been here before, he’s just arrived and he’s staying for half a year; that has got to be a quality score of at least 98/100 with the bargirls.
The first girl he picked up immediately tried to move herself into his room and came on pretty strong with her intentions. So strong in fact, that he had to kick her out of his room and at 4 in the morning, she was running around the camp, banging on peoples doors and causing a big scene.
His current girl pulled the same thing, and by day 3, she had moved her laptop and wardrobe up to his room. He’s kept her around, so I guess he likes her, but I just don’t see this ending well. Even on the off chance that her intentions are not in the least bit money oriented and she genuinely just wants to spend time with him without any monetary compensation, he has the intention of being a “butterfly” (term for a player here) behind her back, and I see the potential for that to blow up in his face – especially considering the fact that she has already told him straight up that if he wants to change girls she’ll cut his dick off and kill him (she said this while wielding a knife as she was cutting up some fruit).
All signs with this point to disaster and I’m not the only one to warm him about this sort of thing. He’s got all the right advice, but he just chooses not to listen. It’s like we’ve all touched a hot burner on an oven, got burnt, warned him not to touch it himself because it’s hot, and he’s ignoring our advice and reaching out for it anyway.
I guess there’s nothing else I can do now other than observe and report the seemingly inevitable, drama-filled conclusion to the story. He’s been missing a lot of training sessions as well, but while he’s been hurting his chances of making it to Lumpinee stadium, he’s been dramatically increasing his chances of becoming the welterweight champion of the USC – the ultimate snuggling championships.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
RMB Gym Review
November 23, 2009 by admin · 4 Comments
I needed to get at least a few workouts in during our classy week in Pattaya and I wanted to try something new. I had already visited Fairtex, Scorpion and Sityodtong during my last trip so I decided to check out the RMB gym since I had heard good things.
It was a little tough to find since the website says that it’s located on soi 7 and when we went there, we found nothing but bars and bargirls. After asking around a bit, we realized that we were on the “wrong” soi 7 so we hopped onto a baht bus and the driver brought us directly to the gym, which as it turns out, is located around the big C.
Anyway, we walked in, paid the 300 baht for the day (it’s 4000 baht per month) and started to warm up by skipping and hitting the bags. I was eventually called into the ring by one of the trainers and he said his name was “Ekapol”.
I didn’t recognize him at the time, but I was familiar with the name. “Juke Ekapol” used to work at Scorpion gym and he has an insane record of 317 wins and only 19 losses. He’s a former Lumpinee stadium champion as well – at least that’s what it says here anyway.
Aside from the fact that I’m out of shape and got tired so quickly, the workout itself was great. I would have been given a full 5 rounds of padwork (if I could handle it) and I would have had the option to either spar or do clinching after that as well.
I trained at RMB twice and got a different trainer each time – both of which were awesome pad holders. Here’s a short video of me hitting the pads on my second visit there..
As you can probably tell, I’m out of shape but that’s because I wasn’t training the past 6 months while I was back in Canada. So, I’ll consider that video to be “starting point documentation” so I can monitor my progress. I’ll put up a more detailed review of the RMB gym once I spend a little more time there and get a better feel for the place. So far so good though.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Our Classy Week in Pattaya
November 23, 2009 by admin · 4 Comments
Armpit Sweat, Testicles, Adams Apples and a Giant Right Hand; Everything You Need For A Classy Night Out On The Town (I'm sure he will regret this picture)
We landed in Bangkok on the 11th, stayed for a couple nights, did some shopping and then headed straight to Pattaya. For those of you who don’t know, Pattaya is an extremely upscale and classy town that’s known for its architecture, museums and art galleries.
Naw, I’m just kidding. Pattaya is known for it’s bars and girls but after spending the last 6 months bored out of my mind in Ottawa, a week of booze and debauchery before I settled in and got serious about my training sounded like a good plan to us all.
Having never seen anything like it, my friends were in disbelief that a place like Pattaya actually existed. The looks on their faces when they were getting swarmed by beautiful girls was priceless. Here’s a quick video that somewhat captures what the experience was like for them..
Now, nobody spends a full week in Pattaya without racking up some interesting stories. It’s non-stop action there and you’re always on the go. There was a point where we were only getting 4 hours of sleep each night and we still felt wide awake.
Our Living Arrangements
We were staying in the apartments above club blue because I had stayed there before and I was happy with the room, the price, the location and the service. It’s right in the center of a party area so it’s definitely not a good place to stay if your planning on sleeping at a decent hour but for this week, we didn’t care about that at all. Here’s a quick tour of the place..
“Fuck White People”
On one of the nights – I believe it was the evening of the Friday the 13th – I had split away from my friends at around 4 in the morning. They were going to an after hours club called MIXX and I just wanted to do my own thing. I was walking outside of “Lucifer” and I heard someone behind me say “fuck white people”.
I looked back and it was coming from a middle eastern guy who had just come out of the bar. He was walking behind me and looking directly at me so I had no doubt who he was directing his comments towards. I’m not a big fan of getting into street fights – especially in foreign countries – so I just brushed it off and kept walking.
Then I heard his stupid “fuck white people” comment again, only this time, it was louder and when I looked back, he was walking right up to me. Clearly this guy had the intention of starting a fight and since he wasn’t Thai or Russian (don’t get in altercations with either in Pattaya) I just grabbed him and smoked him twice in the face.
The shots didn’t land clean since I was drunk but they were more than enough to scare him off. The whole situation was stupid. It was stupid on his part because lets face it, he doesn’t know me, I could have the fighting skills of GSP for all he knows (although I clearly don’t) and it was stupid on my part because I had to leave walking street right after, which put an end to what was turning out to be an awesome night.
A Round Of Applause
Clap, clap, clap – that’s exactly what one of my friends ended up getting after a night of mixing alcohol with reckless sex. He hooked up with a showgirl on one of our first nights in Pattaya and a couple days later, well, let’s just say he was experienced some undesirable effects from the exposure.
We were all just sitting around watching TV when “it hit” and he rushed to the washroom. He came out with a concerned look on his face and said that he needed to hit a pharmacy a.s.a.p. Being the dirty guy that he is, it really wasn’t anything new for him. He had it before so he knew exactly what he needed to take.
So, a quick trip to the pharmacy and 4000 baht later, he got a “cocktail” injection and he was good to go. As for the morale of the story, well, there really isn’t one. I guess it would have to be to not have unprotected sex, in any form, with Thai prostitutes – but whatever, as harsh as it sounds, it was good for some laughs. After all, him getting “clapped up” added to the classiness of the week.
The Training
The first week was mostly about letting loose and having fun but I was able to get some training in. I did a couple workouts at Scorpion Gym and then decided to switch things up a bit by going to RMB gym since I had heard good things. I only did 2 workouts at RMB but I was impressed with the place and I definitely plan on going back at some point. Here’s an RMB gym review that I wrote up based on those visits.
Training Videos
One of my friends went to the 13 coins gym in Bangkok prior to flying down to the Patong Boxing Gym (which is where I’m writing this from) and he was able to get some footage of Saenchai Sor Kingstar and Orono doing their training. Check it out..
Random, Slightly Creepy Video
Yeah, I don’t really know what to say about this one. We just thought his reaction when he was asked for money was priceless. A little rude sure, but funny nonetheless..
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Countdown To Paradise!
October 20, 2009 by admin · 4 Comments
Sure beats the Canadian winters..
And speaking of training, I haven’t been doing any boxing since I’ve been back. It’s not the same here and I have no desire to drive all the way across the city to do group class where other students will be the ones holding the pads for me. I figure I might as well just save the money that I’d be paying in membership costs and just put that towards my next trip to Thailand. So instead, I’ve just been doing my regular strength and conditioning workouts.
Today was a good day though. I finally booked my next flight back and I’ll be departing back to the land of smiles in just 3 weeks. I got my usual routing which is Ottawa / Chicago / Tokyo / Bangkok, but what’s nice is that this time I have one of my buddies joining me. Since I’ve been back in Canada, I’ve been talking about Thailand non stop so some of my friends have finally decided to book tickets and see what all the hype is about.
Some are into MMA and going for the Muay Thai training and of course, some don’t train at all and are just going to chill and party. I have a feeling that they’ll end up getting hooked like me either way though. This time around – which will be my third trip back in 3 years – I plan on doing everything that I haven’t done yet. I’ll still be hitting the usual spots (Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya), but this time I’ll be heading up to Chiang Mai and down to Koh Samui. I also plan to finally visit the Por Pramuk camp and train alongside Buakaw at some point as well.
So, I got my ticket and I’m just counting down the days now (20 days exactly!). Follow along once again and I’ll do my best to make updates at least a few times a week. Also, if you yourself or someone you know is planning on going to another country to train, then have a look at this page. Basically, we’re looking to get a few training journals going at once so there will be something new to read for our visitors each time they visit.
Anyway, if you have any requests, any specific camps you want me to visit, then just list them below and I’ll see what I can do. As usual, if you have any questions about training in Thailand, just hit me up via the “contact” tab above. Next entry will be from Thailand!!!
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Suwit Muay Thai Review
June 7, 2009 by admin · 7 Comments
Thought this was cool. Rope Climbing; an awesome way to increase your strength in the clinch
Before I came back – and before I even injured myself – I went to the Suwit Muay Thai camp in Chalong for the day to check it out. Actually, I had planned to go to Sinbi that day and despite telling the motorbike taxi driver to take me to Sinbi in Rawai, he dropped me off at Suwit in Chalong. So rather than wasting more time trying to explain the difference to him, I just said fuck it and did a workout at Suwit instead.
The gym itself was nice enough considering the fact that it’s the oldest gym in Phuket and they even have their own stadium there where they host live Muay Thai fights a couple nights a week. Here’s a quick tour of the place..
The daily cost for training was 500 baht (which is overpriced in my opinion) but the monthly training costs are actually really honest. I was given a price list that I ended up losing but if I remember correctly, you could get a month of training and your accommodation for approximately 15,000 baht or so plus any additional fees for electricity and surprisingly, the cost for electricity was billed out at the local Thai rates. That’s actually a major scam here in Thailand – they’ll jack up the electricity rates because they expect that foreigners won’t know any better. It was nice to see that they didn’t do that here.
I actually went to check out the rooms as well and took some pictures and video for those who are interested. They have rooms on site which are somewhat decent but the nicer rooms (same price) are located a couple minutes down the road in an apartment complex that they own. Here’s a quick tour of the place (ran out of batteries)..
As for the training, well – it was alright. Not bad but nothing stood out as being amazing either. I got a full 5 rounds of padwork which is great and the trainers all seemed pretty friendly. After the 5 rounds of padwork, I got to do some clinching with one of the Thai’s – who completely owned me by the way – and then just finished up on the bag after that.
The gym is located in the same area as Tiger Muay Thai. Actually, there’s 3 Muay Thai gyms right near each other in Chalong – Tiger Muay Thai, Suwit and a new one that just opened up called Dragon Muay Thai. They’re so close to each other that you could try them all before deciding on which camp suits you best. It’s all about getting matched up with a good trainer anyway.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
