Countdown To Paradise!

Alright, so it’s obviously been a while since my last entry. I haven’t been making updates simply because I haven’t had anything even remotely exciting to write about. I’ve been back in Canada, bored and just working on a few other internet based projects. After spending so much time in Thailand, and getting used to the laid back, stress free lifestyle, I’ve never been more motivated to make this internet marketing thing happen so I have the option to just hang out and train in Thailand for as long as I want.

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Suwit Muay Thai Review

So it’s been a while since my last entry. I actually ended up flying back to Canada and unfortunately, I’m still here. I had booked a return ticket when I booked my initial flight there and while I was planning on just letting the ticket expire and staying, I messed up my ankle during training and since it happened a couple weeks prior to my departure date, I figured I’d fly home, visit my family, my friends, and rest up before flying back to Thailand.

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Scenes From Songkran

Up until this past Monday, I had only heard of the day where everyone throws back booze and has a country-wide water fight. It sounded pretty wild and after experiencing it first hand, I have to admit – it was very, very fun!

I was woken up by the sounds of a Timberland beat blasting out of the two giant speakers they had set up here at the guesthouse where I’m staying. I obviously knew what Songkran was about but having just woke up and put on a fresh dry outfit, I was content to just watch the happenings from my balcony for a while.

Well, apparently one of the waitresses in the in the guesthouse restaurant saw me up there because within minutes of stepping outside my room, she ran up and hit me with a bucket of freezing cold water. From that point on, I obviously didn’t care about getting wet anymore so I just grabbed a water gun, a couple bottles of water and joined the action.

Throughout the day, I saw so many things that I would never see in Canada (and most places for that matter). For starters, along beach road I saw a few on duty Thai police officers drenched with water and covered with white powder. They had their guns wrapped up in plastic and of course, they were getting the worst of it because let’s be honest – who doesn’t want to throw a big bucket of cold water at an on-duty police officer and get away with it like they can during Songkran?

I also saw some things that were flat out reckless. Here in Thailand, most people drive motorbikes. During Songkran, a lot of people get really drunk – not unlike we do on December 31st. Drinking and driving is obviously a major problem (perhaps because the police officers are celebrating themselves and getting drenched and powdered instead of patrolling the streets) but not only that, there’s actually groups of people that stand at the side of the road and when a motorbike drives by, they’ll pour a bucket of water on them – and oftentimes they aim for the face.

I actually saw someone pour a bucket of water on a passing motorcyclist and the guy on the bike stopped, wiped his eyes, turned his motorbike around and actually ran over the guys foot. Obviously the guys reaction wasn’t justified – especially during a holiday where the tradition is to pour buckets of water on each other – but I can only imagine how annoying it must be to be driving around and regardless of where you go, you constantly have people tossing water in your eyes.

I actually got an email notification from a Thailand forum this morning and apparently the death toll for the week is at 373, the injury toll is at 4,332 and all the deaths and injuries are a result of 3,977 total road accidents. They actually call Songkran the “deadliest 7 days” (it’s only 1 day here in Phuket) so I’m assuming it’s like this every year.

But like I mentioned above, it’s extremely fun – just stay off the motorbikes and you’ll be alright. I took a few videos of the scene in the streets. Here they are..

I would have taken more but it seemed like every time I took out my camera – which I don’t think is waterproof – I had someone spraying me with a water gun.

As For The Training

My “home” gym right now is Patong boxing gym but I’ve been picking odd days and trying out some new ones. I went to the Suwit Muay Thai gym a couple days ago and I’ll have a review up on it soon. I’m also going to check out Sinbi and Rawai this week and post reviews for those as well..

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Swallowed My Pride

So last night I went to the stadium to watch some fights since a couple people from the gym were fighting and of course, because I was able to bypass the 1000 baht entry free – which is only 100 baht for Thai people. Actually, in the 10 combined months that I’ve spent in Thailand, this was the first time I went to watch live fights.

I just can’t bring myself to fork out 10-15 times the “regular” ticket cost based on my skin colour. Like I said in a couple other posts, just imagine the uproar this sort of duel pricing would cause in your home country. However, the one thing that’s actually good about it is the fact that the fighters get higher salaries as a result of the higher ticket prices – which is obviously a good thing. But still, I’d rather spend my 1000-1500 baht on 25-35 chicken/rice meals.

The fights were all pretty good and it was a cool experience, but I’ll come back to that. What I’ll get too now is what happened after the fights. I went to get some chicken soup at the same place I eat about 4 times a day once I had finished and was walking back to my room, I noticed some angry Thai guy yelling at some random shopkeeper.

At the exact moment I was passing by, he turned around and we bumped into each other. No big deal I thought. I just said sorry and did the “Wai” – which is a Thai greeting that involves putting your hands together and slightly bowing your head. According to Wikipedia, this is also a common way to apologize so it looks like I had it right..

Anyway, the guy – who was clearly drunk or high on coke – start screaming at me. It obviously got me a little upset but I figured it wasn’t worth it so I said sorry again and moved on. About a minute later (as I was walking towards my room) I heard the loud revving of a motorbike engine and I could sense it was pulling up beside me.

Great, just what I needed. The guy then proceeded to cut me off with his motorbike, step off and started screaming “you want to fight me?! ..you want to fight me!!”. Now, I’m fairly confident with my ability to defend myself – and I’m glad I have that piece of mind – but all bets are off when you’re alone in a different country.

The thing about Thailand is that when a foreigner and a Thai are fighting, every Thai within a 200 meter radius ends up jumping the “farang” – regardless of whether or not they know how the fight started. It’s bullshit, it’s extremely racist and it certainly demonstrates the fact that a lot of Thai people have some pent up rage towards foreigners – although they usually mask it with a nice smile and friendly demeanour.

As a matter of fact, here’s a video that I filmed last year that illustrates my point. I have no idea how that fight started but then again, it’s not far fetched to assume that some of the Thai people involved even know why they’re attacking either – just following along.

So there I was with this drunk idiot standing in front of me trying to start a fight. I should mention that he was about a foot shorter than me, 50 pounds lighter than me and he most likely doesn’t train (I don’t know many aggressive, coke-addicted, alcoholic Muay Thai fighters). Not to mention the fact that I’ve been to a lot of gyms on the island and I’ve never seen this guy at any of them. Also, most Thai fighters that you’ll come across are pretty respectful and don’t walk around picking random fights to prove their self worth – they can leave all that in the ring.

Anyway, I ended up trying to talk the situation down once again and walked away. He got back on his bike and followed me once again. At this point, I figured that he wasn’t going to leave me alone so I walked into a busy “family mart” and told everyone the situation. I figured that it would be a good idea to make people aware that I was not the one instigating the fight in hopes that it would reduce the chances of everyone jumping me based on the sight of a big foreigner beating up a little Thai (without knowing the story behind it).

At this point (while I was in the store), he was sitting on his motorbike outside and giving me the finger through the window. I walked outside and once again, he starts talking more shit and I once again ignore it and walk away. I walked about 50 meters to the next family mart (they’re everywhere here) and every night, there’s a guy there that sells BBQ kabobs. The place is right in front of my building so I talk to the guy quite often. Anyway, I just shook his hand (didn’t mention the situation) at all, went into family mart (bought some milk) and when I came out, the aggressive Thai dude was gone.

Why he left? I’m not really sure. Perhaps he just got bored and moved on to look for someone else to harass or it might have had something to do with the fact that he saw that I knew at least once person in the area. Either way, the whole situation was fucked up. I’ve been here for a long time and never once have I felt “alone”, but last night was different.

Aside from walking away, I really didn’t have any other options. I could have fought him and got jumped by a bunch of motorbike taxi drivers in the area, or on the slim chance that I wouldn’t have gotten jumped, the police may have gotten involved and something tells me that they wouldn’t take my side (the foreigners side) unless a bribe was involved.

I certainly question the integrity of the Thai police, especially when I hear about news stories like this..

Here’s the story

Here are the highlights to illustrate my point..

“Norwegian Simen Knudsen was robbed and stabbed to death recently on a quiet stretch of road near Kata viewpoint. The three boys arrested for the killing were released shortly after, undermining a high-profile police investigation.

Just this week, an Australian woman riding with her friend was pushed off her motorbike and robbed at gunpoint in the same area.

Cases like this are happening more frequently. Every time, after a week of the police being certain of their investigations bearing fruit, nothing happens and the attacks are quietly forgotten.”

Now don’t get me wrong here. I still love Thailand and its people. Incidents like this are extremely rare here and it’s not like this will change my overall perception of this awesome country. I suppose if Thai people judged all us foreigners on the actions of a few, then we’d all be sloppy, drunk, loud, obnoxious sex tourists in their eyes – which clearly isn’t the case. And likewise, I can’t pass judgement based on the behaviour of the drunk guy last night either.

Anyway, back to the fights from last night.. Check this one out, it’s what Muay Thai is all about – patience and amazing technique..

FIGHT VIDEOS BEING UPLOADED (COMING SOON)

My Training

Although I had a great workout today venting my anger from last night on the heavy bag, it’s been somewhat of an “off” week. I had to get an impacted wisdom tooth removed on Sunday and since then, I’ve been on the diary queen diet. Nothing but ice cream, noodle soup and bananas. I graduated to spaghetti today so that’s a good sign. But needless to say, in my malnourished state, I haven’t had much energy lately. I went in a few times this week and just lifted weights and threw a few punches but that‘s the extent of it.

I also have to do another one of those whack visa runs in a couple days but after that, it’s back to training hard. It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been here for 7 months. I don’t have much time left so I’ll be moving on rather soon – but not before I pay a visit and review the other camps in Phuket of course. I’m not really sure where my next stop is going to be but as always, I’ll keep you updated..

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Scorpion Muay Thai Gym Review

When I first arrived in Pattaya, Scorpion Muay Thai gym was the first camp that I visited. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, it was tough to find at first but now that I know my way around, it’s actually very convenient to get to since it’s on the baht bus route – which is a major reason why I’ve been going everyday.

Further adding to the convenience factor is the fact that Scorpion Muay Thai doesn’t have “set” training times. Rather, you can just show up (anytime between operating hours) when you want to train. This is Thailand and a famous motto here is “Sabai Sabai” – which basically means relax and take it easy. Shit happens – it’s easy to get side tracked here and I like the fact that I don’t have to rush to training.

Another thing that I like about Scorpion Muay Thai, aside from the convenience, is the fact that it’s not overcrowded. When I’m doing my pad-work, I don’t feel as though the trainer is rushing through the rounds and trying to get as many students in and out as possible. I trained at one gym here in Pattaya and I got 2 rounds of pad-work. In between the 2nd and 3rd round, the trainer called the next student into the ring and I was left standing there (with my gloves still on) wondering what the hell was going on. Needless to say, I never went back.

At Scorpion Muay Thai, I get a minimum of 5 rounds of pad-work. Three of those rounds focus on Muay Thai techniques (kicks, knees, elbows) while the other 2 rounds focus strictly on boxing with the focus mitts. When I first arrived, I was talking to Rosalie (the owner/professional fighter) and she said that as long as you still have “power”, you can continue on beyond the 5th round if you’d like. Five rounds is enough for me since I’m still trying to work on my cardio but if your conditioning rivals the likes of Urijah Faber or Sean Sherk – you can do all the rounds that you need to do. Here’s some footage I took of 2 of the trainers working with 1 of the students (keep in mind, they don’t have to do that).

Since Scorpion Muay Thai doesn’t have “set” training times, the workouts differ somewhat from a lot of the other camps. You’ll notice that when you look at other Muay Thai camp websites, they have a typical day of training laid out for you to view. The training usually involves a run, skipping, shadowboxing, heavy bag work and then simulated rounds with the trainer.

Well, at Scorpion, if you’re not in the ring doing pad-work, you’re sort of left to do your own thing. I don’t mind this at all because I can skip, stretch, shadowbox and hit the heavy bag on my own. I just throw on my iPod and go through the motions. My routine at Scorpion Muay Thai is currently as follows..

Skipping (3-5 rounds)
Shadow Boxing (2-3 rounds)
Boxing on the Heavy Bag (3 rounds) – although cut short if I get called into the ring -
Stretching
Simulated Pad-work with the trainer (5 rounds)
And as of late.. I’ll finish up with about 2-3 rounds of sparring.

I personally enjoy the freedom of not having to run 10K everyday and do countless push-ups when I’m still sore from my workout at the gym the night before. And it’s not because I’m some fatass that can’t handle the workout. It’s because, honestly – I believe those training methodologies are outdated.

Back at home, I earned a living via a day job as a personal trainer (in addition to working at a nightclub), so I enjoy designing my own workout programs. The typical workout I outlined above consists of between 15-24 rounds (all of which are done at varied intensities). 24 rounds of cardio – I’d say that’s quite enough to prepare yourself for a 5 round Muay Thai/MMA fight. So rather than run an additional 10K, I find it to be more beneficial to go to a traditional gym and perform “fight functional” exercises to develop power.

By “fight functional”, I don’t mean bicep curls and leg extensions either. I’m talking about compound, multi joint exercises such as dead-lifts and the bench press. And of course, as any fighter will tell you, you need to develop the rotary strength of the core – and that’s just not something that regular sit ups accomplish. I usually implement some of the exercises from a manual I got a while ago – check it out if you want. Unfortunately, it’s not free though.

Anyway, back to the Scorpion Muay Thai gym. Overall, it’s pretty good. Nice facility, friendly atmosphere, it’s not overcrowded and most importantly – the trainers know what they’re doing. In addition to all that, it’s actually one of the cheapest Muay Thai camps that I’ve seen. A single session is 250 baht (which is on par with most of the other camps around here) and if you pay monthly, you can get once-daily training for 3800 baht. If you want to do two-a-days, it’ll cost you 7300 baht. Most of the camps only offer the two-a-day price regardless of how often you train.

Now for the “Fon” update

Well, she called me a few days and asked if she could come over. I don’t know why, but I said she could. Actually, I do know why – when a hot girl calls you and wants to come over at 3am, it’s tough to say no (crazy or not). Anyway, when she showed up, I got a weird vibe from her. Before I let her in, I talked to her for a bit to feel things out and I came to the conclusion that she was obviously drunk or high.

I told her that I changed my mind and that she had to bounce because I didn’t feel comfortable with her staying at my apartment while she was like that. She refused to leave. Since she wouldn’t leave, I figured I’d just walk back upstairs to my room and just lock the door. When I tried to do so, she kept blocking off my path so I couldn’t get by.

I really didn’t what to do at this point so I just stood and tried to explain to her, over and over again, why she couldn’t come up. Nothing was really getting through to her and I honestly just wanted to go to bed at this point so I literally had to grab her and try to escort her out the door. In the process of doing so, she flipped out and started slapping me..

Anyway, I got her out, locked the door and luckily – I haven’t seen her since. I told her best friend via msn that I went to Bangkok. I even went to an internet cafe and got her on webcam so the Bangkok story was a little more believable (I have WIFI in my room and usually use my laptop).

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Down to Business

So I’ve been here for about a week now and I’ve enjoyed myself. Spent a lot of money, yes… but that’s alright in small doses. From this point on it’s time to cut out the drinking and nightly gogo bar visits and focus on my training. Actually, that’s not true. I’m still going to go to the gogos. Who am I kidding? Walking street is like a magnet and honestly, I can’t seem to stay away. I’ll just make the switch from Thai whiskey to orange juice and water.

So what better way to start things off and settle into a serious training groove than a visit to Sityodtong? Sityodtong is one camp that I was really looking forward to visiting just based on its reputation for producing quality fighters. The Sityodtong camp is what a Muay Thai camp should be. It’s far away from the madness of central Pattaya and the environment allows you to completely immerse yourself into the training.

As I arrived, I was welcomed by the thunderous sound of a shin hitting the heavy bag. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera ran out a little prematurely so the noise coming from the stable to the right wasn’t captured. Anyway, check it out, my arrival to Sityodtong…

Immediately upon arrival, I was greeted by a trainer I had seen in a few youtube videos. “You come for training? Ok, I train you” he said. He said his name was Paul but I’m pretty sure that’s just the name he gives to foreigners as they think it’s easier for us to remember. It’s like bargirls telling foreigners their name is “Ice”.

I started with the usual skipping. I asked how long I should skip for and my response was what seems to be the slogan of Thailand – “up to you”. So after about 20 minutes or so of skipping and some light stretches, I was ready to begin my pad-work. I grabbed my hand-wraps but Paul insisted that he do it for me. He had a unique way of doing it as I had never seen his method before. The finished product felt awesome though. It felt like I could punch threw a wall without hurting my hand. I’ll try to record it next time so you guys can see the wrapping technique he uses.

During the pad-work, he simulated things in a way that resembled a real fight (which is what a good pad-holder is supposed to do). Overall, I was really impressed with the place. There’s something about training in such a prestigious gym that’s really motivating. On another note, I should mention that before going to Sityodtong, I popped a couple Beta-Alanine pills for the first time. I noticed a difference for sure. I still couldn’t complete all the rounds at a fast pace but there was a definite improvement. Beta-Alanine = good stuff!

Here are a couple videos I took to give you an idea what the training environment at Sityodtong is like. I didn’t want to be the tourist “falang” (foreigner) that shows up for 1 workout and films the entire time so I tried to be a discreet as I could. Check out all the little soldiers jumping on the tires. Sityodtong has at least 20 young Thai kids training there (just from what I saw). These kids are going to be fighting machines in a few years. I wonder if any future Lumpinee champions were training there today.

On a different note, I think I messed up. I went out on Saturday night (my official get crunk night) and I dealt with the wrong girl. When I checked into this apartment, I told myself that I wouldn’t hook-up with any of the girls that work here because it’s obviously a recipe for drama. Well, when you drink, logical thoughts get thrown out the window and you do things you shouldn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, the girl is beautiful, but this is Pattaya – where the girl to guy ratio is somewhere around 10-1. Beautiful girls are everywhere here. It’s not the place where you want to be tied down. There’s this one girl that works here during the daytime named Rung. She’s beautiful as well and she’s who I paid for the room. I think she just does the administration stuff here.

Anyway, Rung came up to me last night to say hello and the other girl intercepted the greeting and basically sent Rung on her way. I think she’s claimed me. I’m dealing with a “stage 5 clinger” here.

Listen to me. Complaining about being stalked but a hot Thai girl. I guess that’s just life in Thailand for you. Rough stuff.. haha

I’m pretty sure that if I met this girl in Canada, I’D be the one lockin’ HER down…

Anyway, I’m going to take a video tour of this place so you guys can see how I’m livin’ in my next entry.

Next Entry = Pattaya, Thailand CRIBS

Stay Tuned..

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE