Padwork Progressions
January 13, 2009 by admin · 8 Comments
So there’s been a longer than usual delay between entries and I should probably explain why. I’ve been putting 8 new sites together (7 exercise sites and 1 new Muay Thai one) in an attempt to get some money rolling in so I can stop stressing about having to leave this country that I’ve fallen in love with.
I don’t plan on leaving until May (so I still have plenty of time) but I plan on coming right back here after the summer to pick up where I left off with my training. And speaking of my training, for the first time I’m going to post up some videos of my pad work.
I haven’t posted any videos thus far for a few reasons. The main reason was because I didn’t want some of the owners to see who I was because if they know I’ll be reviewing their camps, they’re more likely to treat me differently and go above and beyond to secure themselves a good review.
The benefit of posting my progress – which in my opinion, outweighs the negatives – is that it will serve as motivation to improve even more over the next few months. I’ll feel more accountable knowing that my readers will be critiquing my technique and progress so I’ll be obligated to take the training seriously.
Prior to coming here, my experience was very limited. I came here last year for a couple months but to be honest, I was only training about 4-5 times a week. I made a lot of improvements but about a week or so after I got back to Canada, I ended up messing up my back while performing bent over barbell rows at the gym. And yea, that actually links to one of the exercise sites I’m working on – just trying to get Google to index it..
In addition to coming here the first time, I had done some submission grappling (for about 4-5 months) but never any striking whatsoever. The extent of my striking experience was hitting one of those “wave master” punching bags in my basement. Anyway, here’s a video of myself training near the end of my first trip..
Not so bad, right? Well, due to the back injury, and about 8 months of no training any martial arts at all, here’s what my pad work looked like during one of my first sessions this year at Scorpion Gym.
So that’s the “before” video. As you can see, I’m completely awkward in my stance, I’m slow, my technique is terrible (especially the kicks) and I can’t even stay balanced. Believe it or not, at the time I actually thought I was awesome. You go through the motions and it actually feels good. Then you check yourself on video tape and it’s really an eye-opener.
So that video was filmed about five months ago. Since then, I’ve been training 6 days a week – with the exception of some time off due to a sprained ankle and pink eye, which sucked! I’ve trained at a lot of different gyms, but the three gyms that have helped me the most are Scorpion Gym, Tiger Muay Thai and most recently – where I’m at right now – Patong Boxing Gym. These two videos were shot last week ..and yes, I know – I need a tan!
Comparing the “midpoint” videos – which is what those are – to the first video, it shows a lot of improvement and I’m pretty happy with it. I’m still far from where I’d like to be though but I still have 4 full months of training to go. I really want to get those rapid-fire kicks down perfectly so lately, during every pad-work session, I take off my gloves and do nothing but work on my repetitive kicking for a full round.
And I’ve sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t had much lady-drama to talk about lately. That’s because when I was staying at Tiger Muay Thai, I didn’t really bother going out much since it’s so far away from the nightlife district and even now that I’m living in Patong, all I really do is focus on my work and training. I think now that I’ve completely cut out drinking, I’ll make even better improvements over the next four months.
I did however go out and party on new years eve – but who didn’t, right? The scene here was pretty crazy. I wanted to start by drinking a couple beers while getting a foot massage – which only costs about 6 bucks an hour here. When I got to the massage place, all the massage girls were having their own new years party with free food and drinks out for everyone.
They kept giving me belvedere mixed with orange juice – which I’m sure was bought by one of their rich, foreign boyfriends – and to be honest, the rest of the night is a bit of a blur. I did however check my camera the next morning and found this short video. It’s not overly exciting by any means but it’ll give you an idea as to how they celebrated new years here.
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!
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 …
MMA Gear Reviews: The purpose of this site is to help consumers make educated buying decisions when it comes to selecting the products that best suit their training needs. You can read reviews on products that you’re thinking of buying or if you’ve used any of the products featured on the site, you can write about your experience and leave your own reviews on them.
Purchasing products through the links on this site, which no extra cost to you, will help support FightPassport as well.
Thai Boxing Tube, as the name indicates, is a Youtube style website that’s home to a collection of awesome Muay Thai videos. You’ll find highlights reels from the greats such as Saenchai Sor Kingstar, Yodsanklai Fairtex, Buakaw Por Pramuk, Namsaknoi and many others. You’ll also find Thai boxing documentaries, training videos, fights, footage shot from the gyms throughout Thailand and soon enough, there will be exclusive Muay Thai instructional videos as well.
Sawadee (Goodbye) Pattaya
October 12, 2008 by admin · 5 Comments
Pattaya Thailand; this is one place that every man should experience at least once in their lifetime. It’s hard to even believe that a place like this actually exists. I’ve never seen so many beautiful women in such a concentrated area anywhere else and I spent 3 months living in Las Vegas. Vegas was cool, but it was tough to meet women when me and my buddy would be talking to a couple good looking ladies on LV Blvd. and high rollers would drive up and holler at the girls from the window of their Bentley GT. That’s a tough decision for the girls – hop into the Bentley with the millionaires or stick around and kick it with the guys on foot who would rather sit at the 10 cent slot machines and pretend to play in order to get a few free rum and cokes than stay in the bar and pay 9 bucks a drink. Although the first option (our approach) is much more financially sufficient, it doesn’t exactly impress the ladies in Vegas.
Aside from the seemingly thousands of insanely beautiful women, Pattaya also offers great training. Sityodtong was awesome, as was Scorpion. I’ve spent the last month training exclusively at Scorpion as it offers a laid back, un-crowded environment with great trainers who are eager to help. Both camps are situated away from the nightlife and both camps are surrounded by affordable accommodations. Not only are the nearby rooms affordable, but so is the training itself. A single session at both camps will run you a mere 250 baht (about 7 dollars). Just think, how much would a personal training session with a former champion Muay Thai fighter run you in your home country? I actually just found a new, well decorated room within 100 meters of Scorpion gym atop a convenience store with a large fridge, queen size bed, private washroom and air conditioning for 5000 baht per month (5000 baht is about 150US dollars).
I will certainly be keeping that room in mind for the future. Both the room and training costs will come in at less than 9000 baht per month. I’ve yet to see a more affordable combination that throughout both my time in Thailand and the time I’ve spent researching countless Muay Thai camps online. For someone like myself who a) doesn’t want to go home to Canada and b) wants to develop phenomenal stand-up skills, it’s important that I make things affordable so I’m able to stay as long as possible.
However, tomorrow at 12:45pm I’ll be boarding a plane to Phuket where I’ll be living and training at the ever-so-popular Tiger Muay Thai gym. I get more questions about Tiger Muay Thai than I do about any other camp in Thailand so the interest is certainly there. I’m curious myself to see how the training at Tiger will compare to the training I’ve received so far at some of the other Muay Thai camps I’ve visited.
The “Twist”
In my last entry, I mentioned a “twist”. Well, it’s possible that the “twist” has made me a marked man. Well, that’s a little overdramatic but I’ll explain. If you read the “trouble in paradise” entry, you’re then aware that I was living with a showgirl for a while. I lent her money, we had a falling out, haven’t gotten the money back yet etc. In my write up, I told a story of how she went nuts, started throwing electronics, sat in an empty bathtub for a while and there was also mention of drug usage.
About 85% of my readership comes from North America so it’s highly unlikely that people in Pattaya even know this site exists as I do absolutely no advertising here. Well, a local news website picked up on my Thai girl adventures and started profiling some of my entries. That’s all well and good as every bit of extra traffic helps the site grow. However, the latest entry, which can be viewed here, runs photos of her, mentions her name, mentions my name, and at one point, it even labels her as a “known yaba addict”.
Thailand is an extremely anti-drug country and it’s not entirely uncommon for “known yaba addicts” to be executed by the police. As you’d expect, with such harsh penalties for drug usage comes harsh consequences for those who draw attention to people using drugs. In all fairness, the girl does not use yaba (that I know about) and I met up with the author of the site in an effort to clear that up.
We exchanged text messages and met up at one of the more popular bars here in Pattaya for a drink (I had orange juice of course). Turns out that he was a really cool guy and he understood that the drug mention wasn’t critical to the story so he agreed to take it out. On a side note, it was pretty cool hanging out with a Thailand “local” (he’s originally from Jersey) as he was able to immediately pinpoint the best deals across town on a given night. It happened to be a Friday so he showed me a place with 50 baht beers ($1.75) and with every drink purchase, they gave you a free slice of pizza. Not that I eat much pizza, or even drink much beer for that matter (training), but that’s an incredible deal. I could never see an establishment in Canada offering prices like that.
Scenes From Walking Street
Walking street is an area situated along the beach that gets blocked off at night so cars can’t drive through. Hence the name, walking street. It’s basically a concentrated area that’s jam-packed with all sorts of go-go bars, nightclubs, shops and restaurants. It’s also possibly the most fun street I’ve ever spent time on. The gym I train at (traditional gym) is situated just off walking street so I see all sorts of crazy things being done by all sorts of crazy people. Here are just a few random videos/photos that I’ve taken of some of the scenes..
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!
Trouble In Paradise
October 2, 2008 by admin · 36 Comments
Apparently I left my brain at the airport and like most guys in Pattaya, I've been thinking with something else..
I’ll backtrack a little. The girl I was staying with goes back and fourth from Pattaya to Issan quite frequently as she has to take her dad to the hospital in her hometown. It’s the typical Thai sob-story. The girl is a “victim of circumstance” as she’s forced to provide for her family via sketchy, unconventional methods (use your imagination) since working at the local 7-11 doesn’t pay near enough.
She has this guy and apparently he thinks that he’s her boyfriend. He sends her money all the time and in return, he gets about 10 minutes of generic (what you eat? how was your day?) conversation via collect call from her every night. Meanwhile, there’s usually some guy in the bed next to her that’s told to “be quiet” until she’s off the phone. Sounds like a good investment on his part, doesn’t it?
Anyway, it was the 18th of September and she was talking to her “boyfriend”. A brief break in the conversation arose and she pounced on the opportunity to ask the ever-so-sly question – “can you send me money?” A question that – judging by her collection of western union branded apparel – has been asked many times. However, this time he shot down her request. After all, he had just sent her 10,000 baht (about 300 US) a week before. Once he denied the request, the call ended pretty quick. I mean, how dare he not send her money. Who does this guy think he is? *sarcasm*
Here’s where it gets embarrassing, for me! Once he refused to send her the cash, I knew I was the next target since she had planned to rent a car and go to her home the next day. I snuck out onto the balcony to get some air and I psyched myself up to shoot her down. “Fuck that shit, I’m not giving her any money” .. I told myself. I went back in and about an hour past before the speech started.
“I only have 1 dad” “ I have many friends here but nobody will help me” .. “I think you know what I’m going to ask”. “NOOOO!” I said (as rehearsed on the balcony). Surprisingly, she was very accepting of my refusal. I laid on the bed pissed off that she would put me in that situation and she started to get ready to go out. While she was pulling a low-cut shirt over her silicone “money makers”, she started coughing uncontrollably.
So, here this girl was ..tired, sick and about to go wonder the streets to find a “customer” for the night so she could take her sick dad to the hospital the following day. Maybe I’m too nice or maybe I’m just stupid – but it got to me. As she was about to leave, I walked to the front door, grabbed her, told her to take off her shoes and go back to bed. The next morning I found myself at the ATM pulling out 15,000 baht (almost 500US) for her dads hospital bills.
As I handed her the stack of 1000 baht bills, I emphasised the fact that this was nothing more than a loan and that I expected to be fully compensated for the money. “I’ll pay you back, I promise” she said. I had a bad feeling about it right from the start and I know now that I should have trusted my initial instinct (as you always should).
So here I am today, on October 2nd and I still haven’t seen 20 baht of the 15,000 that I lent to her. And to make matters worse, this chick storms around the small apartment bitching about every little thing. Forget Quinton Jackson, this girl is the real “Rampage”. Last night I was sick of getting bitched at for seemingly breathing so I basically told her that I just wanted my money so I could bounce. After all, this is Pattaya. A city where a man doesn’t have to put up with the bitching and nagging. It’s much easier to switch-up-girls than it is to get into dragged out arguments over stupid shit.
When I requested the cash, all hell broke loose. Apparently, by her logic, requesting money that’s owed to you is out of line and that “I only care about myself”. Was this girl fucking serious? We argued back and fourth and what happened next made me convinced that this girl has some psychological issues that would rival even “Fon” in a “win a straight-jacket” competition.
She took the remote control for the television, said “now your money is all I think about”, smacked the remote against her forehead about 3 times, then whipped it against the wall. She then proceeded to run to the bathroom and sit in the bathtub for about 2 hours. I mean, that’s a normal stress reliever, isn’t it? Having a nice long bath, I’m sure it’s very relaxing. Only in this case, the tub remained empty and she remained fully clothed.
Needless today, as soon as the rental office opened today, I found my own room. I got my new key and went back to pack up my shit. As I was doing so, we got into another argument over the money and for a second, she tried to pull the “I’m not paying you back” routine.
Can’t Hustle A Hustler
Sure it was stupid to lend her my money but I’m not dumb enough to do so without getting any sort of reassurance that I’ll get it back. When she tried to test the waters by saying she wasn’t going to pay me back, I gave her a few options. Let me rephrase, I gave her 1 option and a few reasons why she should take it.
The Option
Pay me back in 1 week.
The Reasons
1) I had the foresight to predict this situation so I pulled her “boyfriends” number out of her cell phone while she was in the shower. You know, the same “boyfriend” that sends her money all the time. I told her that if I didn’t get my money, I’d call him up and tell him everything. Not only that, I have all sorts of photos that she sent me (taken by another man) that I could always forward to him if he needed proof.
2) I just used this one as a scare tactic, I wouldn’t actually do it. On Saturday night she stumbled into the room all drunk and high. The next day she asked me to urinate into an empty water bottle in case the police came to her bar to randomly make the girls take a drug test. Thailand is different from the States or Canada in the sense that you don’t have to have possession of the drugs to get charged for drug use. The cops can just randomly make you take a urine test as they see fit and if you get busted, the penalties can be pretty serious (if you don’t have money to pay your way out of it). Anyway, I told her that if she didn’t pay me then I would call the cops, tell them that she jacked my money and spent it on drugs. Thus, she would be tested and as she believes, she’d get busted. Truth is, ecstasy is only detectable for 4-6 days after usage but I highly doubt she’ll think to hit up Google for that information.
3) I made sure to get her admitting that she owes me the money through SMS (text message) conversation. I have the whole conversation saved so at least I’ll have some sort of “proof” that the money was indeed a loan.
So, what’s the morale of the story?
As a wise man once said..
Don’t lend $500 dollars of your hard earned money to a drug-addicted prostitute.
So, leave some comments and let me know if you think I’ll get the money back or not. We’ll make it a little poll. And of course, I’ll keep you updated..
Coming Soon
In about a week or so, there’s a fight night here in Pattaya and the fight card features about 3-4 cast members of the Contender Asia. I’ll be going with Rosalie (the owner of Scorpion Gym) as she’s fighting on the card as well. Hopefully I’ll get some cool footage and perhaps a couple of exclusive interviews with the fighters.
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!
Sor Vorapin Gym .. Sucks!
September 18, 2008 by admin · 13 Comments
Of course, that’s just my opinion. I ended up at the Sor Vorapin gym nearby Khao San road on a Sunday simply because Kaewsamrit gym (where I had originally planned to go) was closed. With its location in backpacker central, the trainers at Sor Vorapin gym have a lot of experience when it comes to teaching foreigners – which is usually a good thing as they can relate the techniques more effectively.
Well, in this case – it wasn’t a good thing at all. At Sor Vorapin gym, I felt like I was viewed as nothing more than an ATM machine. I was asked for 500 baht before I was asked my name. In fact, they didn’t ask what my name was at all! I was simply referred too as “you!”. And at 500 baht per training session, the Sor Vorapin gym is very overpriced. Especially when you consider that you can get a session at Sityodtong or Scorpion gym for half the cost. Fairtex was 800 baht per session but that price is justifiable when you consider how much money they invested into the place. Sor Vorapin gym on the other hand is nothing more than 1 ring and about 4 punching bags in a back alley.
Now, I’m not knocking back-alley type gyms or modest training facilities. All you really need is basic equipment and a good trainer. The trainer I was matched up with at Sor Vorapin gym didn’t know how to hold the pads at all. He would tell me to kick while standing about 2 feet away from me. So I’d kick (as to just be respectful and not correct his teaching methods) and my knee would hit the pads instead of my shin.
This annoying occurrence went on for about 10-12 kicks and I eventually just got frustrated and asked him to move back a bit. After all, I’m the one paying 500 baht for the session – I at least went to get off some decent kicks. Well, I guess he felt like he lost “face” or something because he told me to “go kick the bag”. That was fine with me. I’d rather kick the heavy bag with my shin then kick the pads with my thigh and knee like a goof.
Throughout my session at Sor Vorapin gym, the only bit of good advise I got didn’t come from a trainer, but rather ..one of the students. While I was hitting the heavy bag, he stepped in and started showing me some combinations that he thought would work well for me. I never caught his name but he told me that he had been coming to Thailand since he was 14 (he’s now 22) and that he has now fought in Lumpinee stadium 3 times with his fourth Lumpinee fight coming up in a couple weeks. Here’s some footage I got of him doing pad-work at the start of the session..
I also got some good footage of his clinch work with one of the Thai fighters. While I was watching the clinch-session, one of the other students pointed out the pictures along the wall and apparently the Thai-fighter is a former Lumpinee champion himself. However, it’s pretty bad when the highlight of your workout is watching other people train after getting only 2 rounds of sub-par pad-work in yourself.
I DO NOT recommend coming to Sor Vorapin gym at all. It’s experiences like this that make it worthwhile for me to keep the fact that I’m a Muay Thai journalist a secret so I get to see how anyone who walks in off the street for a workout gets treated.
Again, there’s so many gyms throughout Thailand. Don’t waste your time and money with Sor Vorapin!
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!
Living With A Showgirl. A Recipe for Drama?
September 16, 2008 by admin · 7 Comments
Kind of makes you want to book a flight to Thailand, doesn\'t it?
Well, it looks as though I’ve managed to bring a slice of walking street to my home life via living with a Thailand showgirl. Throughout my bus-ride from Bangkok, me and the girl I met on my birthday were sending text messages back and fourth. When I told her I was on my way back to Pattaya, she extended an invite for me to stay with her at her apartment. I decided to take the plunge and move in. She seems cool; her apartment is in a perfect location as it’s just a 2 minute bus ride from Scorpion gym; the rent is only 200 US a month and of course, let’s not overlook the fact that she’s so hot that if while I was a chubby, horny, 16 year old, someone somehow showed me what my 26th birthday hook-up looked like through a crystal ball, well ..let’s just say I’d probably be willing to skip an entire decade of my life just to rush to this point.
So it’s been about 30 hours of so since I officially unpacked my suitcase and with the exception of a couple minor arguments, things have been going pretty good. Actually, come to think of it, I suppose arguing prior to even completing day 2 isn’t a good sign of things to come. Either way, regardless of what happens – living with a showgirl surely make for some interesting entries for you to read and of course, it‘ll make for some interesting evenings for me to enjoy : )
Seeing as how the only other 2 girls I’ve officially “lived with” are my mom and my sister, this should make for a unique experience. As for the camps I trained at while in Bangkok, I’ll get the reviews up very soon. I went to Sor Vorapin and Sasiprapa. One was good and the other was absolute shit. Stay tuned for the reviews and camp tours.
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!
Back to Bangkok
September 12, 2008 by admin · 6 Comments
So I’ve went from a modest, all-Thai village in Issan to the huge, mega-city that is Bangkok. I arrived here yesterday via a bus from Pattaya that cost me a mere 128 baht (about $4.50) – not bad for a 2 hour ride. To be honest, I really dislike Bangkok. Sure, it has it’s positives. The shopping is incredible and the girls that you see on the sky train in their university uniforms are really, really hot but .. The air here is very dirty and like any big city, the traffic is insane. I spent about an hour in the back seat of a taxi last night to get from Lumpinee stadium back to my hotel near the MBK shopping centre (a ride that without heavy traffic would have taken about 5 minutes).
I went to Lumpinee simply to check out the stadium (I didn’t have the 2300 baht to shell out for a ticket). It just so happened that there was a fight-night and the atmosphere was really live. There’s a bunch of cool Muay Thai shops all around the place and I picked up a pair of “King” MMA shorts for about $15 (I’m not really a big fan of the traditional Muay Thai short-shorts that ride up your leg while you’re doing your hamstring stretches, thus almost putting your nut-sack in display for everyone in the gym to see). Okay, that’s an exaggeration I know, but I just don’t like short-short shorts. I think I’ll get a pair of the longer Thai shorts custom made. I know Scorpion gym will let you customize your order.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand (I got a little side tracked there) – I’m going to Kaewsamrit gym this afternoon. I have no idea to get there but I have the address so I’ll just give it to the taxi driver and a) hope that he doesn’t rip me off and b) hope that he doesn’t simply disregard my desired destination and take me to see a variety of “ping pong shows” and “soapy massage” venues so he can collect a commission. I’m excited about it though. Kaewsamrit won the “gym of the year” award twice (see video to the right) and it’s where former Lumpinee champion Anawut Kaewsamrit still currently trains as well.
As always, I’ll be bringing my camera along so I’ll get a video tour of the place and hopefully, some good footage of the fighters training as well. My plan is to visit Kaewsamrit gym today and perhaps Sasiprapa gym tomorrow. Sasiprapa also has a very good reputation amongst the Muay Thai community for delivering quality training. After Sasiprapa gym tomorrow, I really have no idea where I’ll be going. I might check out Fairtex in Bangplee or I might check out Ingram or Eminent Air here in Bangkok. I might even fly down to Phuket or I might hop a bus back to Pattaya. I honestly have no idea at all.
Anyway, check back within a day or two for the pictures, videos and camp review for Kaewsamrit and in the meantime, check out this video I took of one of the car stores in the Siam Paragon shopping centre. Siam Paragon is certainly the biggest, cleanest and most expensive malls I’ve ever seen in my life..
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!
Scorpion Muay Thai Gym Review
September 3, 2008 by admin · 13 Comments
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!
This Is Sad
August 31, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
She is five years old. How old were you when you started working?
Well, there are things that I see on a daily basis here in Thailand that really put things into perspective. For example, last night was Saturday and if you’ve been following my entries, you know that I go out drinking on Saturday nights. And yes, I know it’s not good for me but I view it as a reward for training hard all week. Anyway, I was about 11 or 12 drinks into the evening and it was about 4:30am while I was walking to a club appropriately called “Insomnia”. I was with a really hot girl too. Money hungry, yes .. but hot nonetheless.
While we were walking towards the entrance, a little boy (he was about 8 years old) ran up, grabbed my leg and tried to get me to buy a pack of gum. “Mai Me Sataing” I said. Mai Me Sataing is Thai for “I have no money”. It’s become an automatic response along with “Mae Ow Khap” (no thank you) because as a foreigner, I’m constantly being hit up to buy shirts, suits, bootleg movies, watches and as I mentioned in an earlier post – vaginas.
As I was walking towards the club entrance, the journalist in me (I guess that’s what I am now) kicked in. Why is this 8 year old kid selling packs of gum at 4:30 in the morning? Where are his parents? What is the money going towards? So, I had a decision to make. I could either go into the bar with the girl I was with and spend a ton of cash on overpriced drinks for her and her sister or I could go and talk to the kids. I chose the latter. After all, I was too drunk to “boom boom” anyway.
There was actually a lot of them out there. I’d say about 10 or so. The first girl I talked too was 14 – which is about the same age as my little sister. She was selling glow-sticks which, when you think about it, is pretty smart. She’s selling glow-sticks in between 2 after-hour nightclubs that are full of E-Heads (ecstasy users). She said she was using the money to pay for school (2000 baht per month) and her apartment (3000 baht per month). When I asked her where her parents were, she simply replied with “no hab” (no have).
The little 8 year old boy that tried selling me a pack of gum earlier walked by again so I waved him over. I gave him some money and let him keep the gum. After I gave him the money, he slapped my hand, turned it into a handshake, gave me 3 “daps” (“daps” are just a fist-to-fist greeting) and ended the combo with a peace sign. It was really cute actually. I guess he was selling enough packs of gum to afford a TV to watch hip hop videos on. I really wish I had got the handshake on video.
Some random girl then walked by wearing knee high boots and little jean shorts and started hitting on me. She was clearly a prostitute but I ignored her advances and decided to ask her about why the kids were up all night, alone, selling gum and glow-sticks to the club goers. She said that most of the kids are doing it because their parents are making them and that they’re not allowed to sleep until they make a certain amount of money.
I’ve mentioned that in Thailand, often times the kids are expected to provide for their parents but when they’re 8,9,10,11 years old – that’s a little extreme. After talking to the girl for about 20 minutes, I went looking for the cute kid that did the ghetto handshake so I could give him some money and also, so I could get the handshake on film. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find him again. I did however, come across this little girl…
I’d estimate that she’s about 7 years old and just like the others, she was working all night, alone, without any adult supervision. She told me that she wasn’t allowed to go home until she made 100 more baht and that her dad beats her mom etc.
Stuff like this really makes you think. I’ve seen so many orphan kids since I’ve been here. After seeing these kids last night, it makes me have an even greater appreciation for what they do over at Sityodtong (story here). Then of course, there’s the kids that I came across in Bangkok who were forced to sell flowers to the tourists and if they didn’t sell enough, older Thai men would basically beat them down (story here).
Anyway, I felt this was worthy of an entry. Since it’s sort of sad, I figured I might as well leave you with something funny. So, check out this old dude that was on walking street last night. As if the bright white hair and outfit wasn’t enough of an attention grabber. And yes, those 2 gigantic “ladies” he’s strolling hand-in-hand with are actually men. You’ll also noticed that he gets approached by one of the kids trying to sell stuff.
In my next entry, I’ll be doing a camp profile on Scorpion Gym. I also have a “Fon” update (yes, the crazy girl!) and now I’m even more convinced that she’s a psycho.
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!
A Potentially Fatal Attraction
August 24, 2008 by admin · 22 Comments
While this is a Muay Thai Blog, I figure things will get pretty boring if all I write about in my entries is skipping and hitting the heavy bag. My vision with this is to not only to document the training, but also, the entire experience of coming to foreign countries to train. As a single 25 year old guy, part of that experience is of course – the ladies that you meet throughout the journey.
Which brings me to a girl named “Fon”. I met Fon about 10 days ago through a mutual friend and of the 10 days that I’ve known her, she’s probably stayed over at my apartment for 8 of those nights. At first, things were great. The thing about most Thai girls I’ve met is that they really take care of you.
She would bring me food, clean my room, fold my clothes, give me massages (she’s a masseuse) and even cut my nails. I’ve met a few girls in Canada that were similar, but I’d say that Fon tops the list in terms of how she takes care of a man.
She’s actually very beautiful too. Sort of like a Thai Barbie doll. She has blonde highlights, implants, tongue ring, belly ring and she’s incredibly fit (most girls here are). Here’s a photo of her and her friend at the salon (Fon is to the left in the black dress). Honestly, this photo really doesn’t do her justice. I find that most Thai girls aren’t very photogenic.
Anyway, about 5 days ago I was playing pool in a common area for the residents of the apartment and I was talking to one of the girls that works here (below is a nightclub). I told her that I was dealing with a girl and she almost immediately replied with “don’t say you love her”. That struck me as being somewhat of an odd comment and when I inquired as to why I shouldn’t say that (not that I’d say that anyway), she made the action of her throat being slit.
Literally about 15 minutes after the disturbing conversation, Fon sent me a text message and for the first time, after only knowing me for 5 days, she dropped the “L-bomb” (I love you). After what the girl at my apartment had just told me, I obviously didn’t return the affectionate words.
A couple days later, her best friend added me to msn and started asking me if “i love she” (poor English obviously) and when I tried to explain that I didn’t know Fon well enough to “love her” and that “love takes time to build” blah blah .. she really didn’t understand. After that conversion, she then tells Fon that I said I didn’t like her. Needless to say, that causes all sorts of drama.
Which Brings Us To Last Night
Since there’s no training on Sundays and I have nothing to do all day but sit around my room and well, type up these entries, I allow myself to go out on Saturday nights and have some fun. Due to how quick Fon was moving with things (her friend was even asking me about marrying her), I knew I had to slow things down a bit so when she asked me to go see her, I said that I just wanted some time alone.
Well, she didn’t take that very well. She literally started screaming “you come see me now!” on the phone. I declined. She then responded with “ok, I kill you now”. Obviously, the death threat didn’t sit well with me so I told her off, hung up, went to the bar and started talking to some new girls just to spite her. She called non-stop for about 2 hours straight so after about the fourth call, I turned the volume off, set it to vibrate and put my phone in my front pocket (I’m not going to lie, it felt kind of nice .. haha).
Curiosity eventually got the best of me and I ended up answering to see what she had to say. When I did, she just started rambling on about the most random things. “You want me die?” she asked. “Why you want me die?” she repeated. At this point, it became pretty clear that there’s something psychologically wrong with this girl. I never said, nor implied any such thing. She’s the psycho that threatened to kill me, not the other way around.
Based on the things she was saying, I was a little concerned that perhaps this girl could be suicidal. I also knew she had been drinking so I just tried to be as nice as I could and I reassured her that while tonight wouldn’t be a good time to meet up, I’d could see her tomorrow (today) to talk about things. I also told her that I had booked a room at the Mariott so she wouldn’t show up at my room later on (she had done so before).
While I was walking back to my room, we were sending texts back and fourth and she kept asking me where I was, and when I was going home. I made it to my apartment and all looked well. I was expecting her to be standing outside my building to make sure I didn’t have another girl with me or something but no, the coast was clear.
I walked up the stairs, unlocked the main door and entered the building. The second security measure is a password protected door so I went ahead and input my password. From there, I walked up another small flight of stairs and approached my apartment. While I was in the process of sticking in my key, the door was pulled open from the inside.
My heart rate shot up, my stomach dropped and I immediately jumped back a bit and got into a fighting stance with my right fist cocked back. She then peered her head around the corner. I immediately charged into the room and checked to make sure she didn’t have any sort of weapon in her hands. She didn’t.
I then did a quick search of the room and made sure the safe was still locked and that my laptop was still where it was stored. Nothing was gone. Actually, not only did she not rob me but.. she cleaned my room. But as nice of a gesture as that is, it doesn’t quite overshadow the death threat and the B & E (break & enter).
I told her straight up that I thought she was “ting tong” which translated from Thai to English, means she’s crazy. Her reaction to that was nothing more than a creepy laugh. I knew I really had to get this girl out of my room but at the same time, I wanted to stay on her good side because after all, if she was able to get into my room so easily, I’m sure she could do it again while I’m sleeping.
I told her I was hungry and that I wanted to go across the street to get some food. Prior to leaving my room, I grabbed her purse did a quick scan of my room to make sure she didn’t leave any of her belongings behind. She strongly objected to the fact that I was bringing all her stuff with me (she knew she wasn’t welcome back at this point) but too bad, I basically nudged her out the door, followed, and closed it a.s.a.p.
I really needed to know how she got into my room so while we were eating, I kept drilling her with questions. If this girl was able to pick locks, I’d basically have to change rooms, move to Bangkok, fly to Phuket – basically just get the hell out of here. She finally admitted that she didn’t pick the lock but rather, my neighbour let her into her room since she recognized her.
From my neighbours room, she basically went out onto the balcony (keep in mind she was pretty drunk) and climbed from her balcony onto mine. She then got into my room via my balcony door. I guess it was unlocked but in my defense, I really didn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to be balcony jumping from a few stories up.
Here’s a couple photos. The first is of my balcony in relation to my neighbors and the second is of the distance from my balcony to the ground level concrete. If she had fell, she would have sustained some pretty serious injuries.
Right now it’s about 2am and I haven’t heard from her yet. I’m sure I’ll get a text message or a call within an hour or two though. I’ll give you guys an update on the situation in my next entry.
As for the Muay Thai, I’m still at it. I’ve been training at Scorpion gym lately and it’s been going really well. The owner (Rosalie) is cool. It’s on the baht bus route so it’s cheap to get there and the trainer I’m working with is pretty good about correcting my form. I’ll be here in Pattaya for another 10 days or so then I’ll be heading to Bangkok to check out Fairtex Bangplee, Kaewsamrit Gym and a few others.
Stay Tuned..
..and of course, if you have any tips on how to deal with crazy girls, feel free to leave a comment..
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!
