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!
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!
Tiger Muay Thai Review
December 20, 2008 by admin · 46 Comments
Tiger Muay Thai
I remember using my laptop outside (since I wasn’t getting any connection in my room) while getting eaten by mosquitoes. It was about 20 minutes after 9 and the restaurant had just closed. The camp is in a very isolated area and after about 9pm, the food selection is limited.
So, as you can imagine, I didn’t find getting multiple bug bites – as a result of having to spend hours outside due to the poor internet connection – and going to bed hungry very appealing. Especially considering I had come from Pattaya – where a 7-11 and a 24 hour Thai food restaurant are fixtures on every block.
But you know what? While I was a little frustrated the first couple nights, I’m writing this – about 58 days later – and I’m still here. Once you get used to it, the location isn’t so bad. Actually, the way I see it, if there’s nothing around – there’s no temptation. No temptation to party, no temptation to drink, no temptation to do anything but train and in my case, get some work done.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so productive. I just train, watch the stacks of 50 baht DVD’s that I buy from the market and write for websites. I’m watching the 5th season of entourage right now actually – Ari Gold is awesome by the way! I’ve even used the location to my advantage. I’ll purposely avoid buying food for the night which forces me to run about 6km to a place that sells plates of chicken, rice and soup for about a dollar.
Tiger Muay Thai Review – The Training
The training here is a lot better than I expected. Every single pad-holder that I’ve worked with – and I’ve worked with about 8 different trainers – has been amazing. The thing about Tiger Muay Thai is that they probably have more students than any other camp in Thailand. More students – in most cases – equates to more money and since they do so well here, they can afford to pay their trainers an attractive salary.
So, it comes to no surprise that they have a lot to pick from. That’s not to say that you won’t find good trainers at some of the less financially stable camps. There’s actually a couple lumpinee champions over at Sityodtong without foreign students to train. That’s just their loyalty though. A lot of times, if a camp brings up a fighter, they’ll stay there for decades and help train the younger students coming up. When they fight, a lot of them even take on the camp name as their surname. Yodsanklai Fairtex, Buakaw Por Pramuk – get the idea? Although, for the record, Yodsanklai wasn’t brought up by Fairtex – but that’s besides the point.
What’s unique about Tiger Muay Thai is that they implement a lot of western training methods with the traditional Thai way of doing things. Each class begins and ends with a great warm up/cool down and a lot of time is spent on flexibility. They also have a free weight area – which is currently undergoing expansion – and a personal trainer available to help students out with their form and answer questions. In the new free weight area, I’ve been told that they’re getting all sorts of new equipment – even a full set of kettle-bells.
The students here are split into classes based on their skill level. There’s beginner, intermediate and advanced. There’s plenty of beginners so if you’re just starting out, don’t even worry about it. There’s plenty of people here that have never even thrown a kick before getting on that flight to Thailand – at least that’s what it looks like anyway.
The advanced class is run drill sergeant style. The trainers push you hard. They’re the sort of workouts that you hate doing at the time, but feel good for getting through them when they’re over. When you’re doing pad-work and you’re pushed to exhaustion, the trainers will just say “come on man!” and start hitting you with the pads. It sounds bad but it’s not, it’s great actually. They really push you.
In 2 months time, only twice have I been completely overlooked by the trainers and skipped over for pad-work. I was obviously disappointed at the time seeing as how the pad-work and individual attention is what people (myself included) come for. If I just wanted to skip and hit the bag, I’d stay home – save myself thousands of dollars – and just train in my basement.
But in all fairness, that was 2 workouts in 2 months. The other 50 or so training sessions have all been pretty good. No gym I’ve ever been to is perfect, they all have their flaws. There was a point here (before the airport protests) when I found that the place was just too packed. It was during that period though that the owner of the camp was really pushing for a big expansion to accommodate the influx of guests.
The expansion – which is going to see the camp almost double in size – should be done in a couple of weeks. Although, in Thailand – you never really know. So while the place was way too busy for a while, effort was being made to fix the problem and that’s really all you can ask for.
As for the MMA program, to be honest – I haven’t really done any of the MMA classes. I’ve just been focusing on the Muay Thai while I’m in Thailand but from what I’ve seen, the instruction is pretty good. Ray Elbe is the head MMA instructor here and he certainly knows what he’s doing. He’s a BJJ purple belt but I’ve watched him roll with BJJ black belts here and surprisingly, it looks pretty even – at least from my perspective anyway.
Just the fact that there’s BJJ black belts and UFC vets that come here to train says a lot about the calibre of fighters you’ll have to spar with and learn from. While it’s unlikely that you’ll get to spar against one of the UFC guys while they’re here – since they’re usually off getting private lessons – there’s still plenty of other high level guys on hand.
Tiger Muay Thai Review – The Accommodations
I’ve been staying in one of the “budget style fighters rooms” that are advertised on the site for 4000 baht per month but for some reason, the price was jacked up to 5000 baht when I arrived. The website still actually says 4000 baht. The room is good enough. Its got a TV, DVD player, mini fridge, bed, dresser and a fan. It gets pretty hot here but surprisingly, a fan seems to do the trick.
The site says that the rooms here have “high speed wireless internet” access. Well, the truth is that most rooms don’t. Most of the students here have to bring their laptops to one of two locations – near the office or near the restaurant. When I first got here, I was living in one of the budget rooms near the back of the camp and since I couldn’t get a connection, I had to switch to a room that was closer to the restaurant.
Even here, the connection is still pretty weak and I get signed in and out every 5 minutes or so. There’s nothing more frustrating than constantly getting logged out of msn when you’re in the middle of a conversation with your friends from back home or writing up a detailed email, then trying to send it off only to realize that you’ve lost connection and even worse – lost your work.
The camp offers accommodation to suit all budgets. Even if you don’t want to stay at the camp, you can stay in one of the nearby resorts that were built specifically to accommodate the Tiger Muay Thai guests. Truthfully, the pricing on all the nearby rooms has been jacked up for the foreigners. There is no way that a Thai would be charged – nor would they pay – 12,000 baht for a basic room with a basic washroom.
Staying nearby the camp is certainly more convenient but if you’re on a budget and you don’t want to stay in one of the budget rooms, you can go a little further out and find a room with hot water and a washroom for about 4000 baht a month – the budget rooms at the camp don’t have a washroom. It’s really not a big deal though. You don’t really need your own washroom, the public facilities at the camp will do just fine.
If you’re only staying for a month or so – or if you’re a baller and money isn’t an issue – some of the nearby resorts are awesome. Here are video tours of both the rooms at the camp and the nearby accommodations. I didn’t film these by the way. I had planned to go around and film them myself but TMT beat me to it. So, to save myself time, I’ll just use their tours..
Budget Room at the Camp (where I’ve been staying)
Family Bungalow at the Camp
Willow House (Looks pretty nice actually)
Salinee Bungalows
Ruam Mai Bungalows
Floraville Bungalows
Coconut Village
I-Com Hotel (Boxer Bar)
Tiger Muay Thai Review – The Food There’s a restaurant on site at the camp and it’s decent I suppose. I eat there every now and then just for the convenience of it although just down the road, there’s a place called “country restaurant” that’s a lot better. The portions are bigger and the prices are a bit lower. Everyone just calls the place “mommas” and a lot of the guests live and eat there. The food is great but the rooms are overpriced for what you get in my honest opinion.
There’s also a place in chalong circle that’s amazing. The portions are huge and the prices are more than fair. I’ve actually once gone there once since I don’t have a motorbike and it’s a bit out of the way but now that I’m thinking about it, I’ll have to go back there once more and get the giant chicken salad before I leave chalong and move on.
As I mentioned earlier in the review, I usually run late at night to a Thai food stand that sells chicken, rice and soup for 30 baht – which is under 1 USD. I’ll eat a couple servings there then bring a couple servings back to the camp to eat throughout the night (I’m a night owl).
Since the food selection is so limited after 9pm, I mentioned to Will (the owner) that he should look into getting a microwave so students can heat up their meals and about 2 days later, there was a brand new microwave sitting on the restaurant counter with a sign saying that students are welcome to use it. That really impressed me. A perfect example of an owner who is always looking for ways to try and improve his services.
I’d also recommend that if you’re planning on coming to Tiger Muay Thai (or Thailand in general), you should bring your own protein supplements from back home. They’re much more expensive here. A small 2 pound container of most likely poor quality protein will run you around 3000 baht or so – which is almost 100 bucks.
Tiger Muay Thai Review – The Pro Shop
There’s a pro shop here that sells shirts, shorts, gloves, hand-wraps etc. The prices here are cheaper than back home but compared to what I’ve seen throughout Thailand, they’re a little jacked up. They sell twins gloves for about 1950 baht and hand-wraps for about 375 baht. I’m using Fairtex gloves at the moment and while they’re normally a little more expensive than the Twins – I bought them for about 1450 baht in Pattaya.
You can scoop a pair of Twins gloves for about 1400 baht in Bangkok or Pattaya as well. I’ve noticed that the Muay Thai gear in Phuket to be a little more expensive all around but there’s a shop in Patong that sells the gloves for around 1600 baht. It’s not that big of a deal though, most people – even knowing that they can get the gloves cheaper elsewhere – would just end up buying them at the Tiger Muay Thai pro shop for the convenience of it.
They also sell Tiger Muay Thai shirts for just under 500 baht – which is expensive for Thailand – but I’ll probably end up buying one anyway because they look sick and you can’t get them anywhere else. A couple of my buddies from back home actually want me to send some shirts back (even though they don’t train) so they can wear the shirts at the bar and look tough. Whack yes, I know!
Tiger Muay Thai Review – Final Thoughts
After having spent 2 months here, I can certainly recommend it. The trainers are excellent and the entire staff – the owner included – seem to do whatever they can to help you out. They have a guest services manager who will organize trips & visa runs for you, they have a laundry service that is the cheapest I’ve seen so far in Thailand and a personal trainer that seems eager to answer questions and help people out.
For first timers who have never been to Thailand and are a little nervous, you want to pick a camp that has good guest relation services so that if anything were to go wrong, you wouldn’t be alone. Tiger Muay Thai is also a good place to make friends since on average, there’s around 100 guests from all over the world training here at any given time.
That being said, since Tiger Muay Thai is a very isolated, foreigner oriented gym – it has a summer camp feel to it. You’re in Thailand, but you’re surrounded by people from western countries. For that reason, I also recommend eventually going off on your own (once you feel comfortable) and putting yourself out of your element so to speak.
Doing so will enable you to experience a completely different culture and training alongside Thai’s – even the 8,9 and 10 year olds – can be very motivating. Travelling to foreign countries is all about new experiences so if you’re planning on staying long term, I recommend that you train in a few different gyms and environments.
I’m about to move on now but I know I’ll be looking back on my time spent at Tiger Muay Thai with fond memories. The bottom line – Tiger Muay Thai is a well equipped gym with awesome trainers. Certainly worth checking out..
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!
Tiger Muay Thai – BBQ Beatdown
November 26, 2008 by admin · 7 Comments
Fight night at Tiger Muay Thai! I love these things. The fights are usually great but what’s even more impressive is that these guys are fighting for the love the sport, nothing more. They’re not getting paid. The only payment they get comes in the form of self pride and of course – some free BBQ! As a matter of fact, one of the fighters had to back out as he got sick and on 20 minutes notice – most likely with a beer in hand – another guy offered to step up and take his spot.
The night started off with a fight between two of the Thai trainers. Last month when two of the trainers – who were obviously friends – fought, they were just sort of goofing around and taking sips of beer in between rounds. This time it looked as though they were a little more serious. Although they were wearing shin guards, they were still kicking with bad intentions. However, they were just body shots. Here’s a video clip ..
This months “BBQ Beat down” (as they call it here at Tiger) featured a 4 man elimination style tournament. The tournament fights were 2 rounds each with the finalists fighting twice in the night (obviously).
Rather than do a post-fight commentary style write up on the fights, I’d rather just throw them up and let you watch for yourself. You know the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” and a video is worth even more. Cliché I know. Whatever, here are the first 2 fights of the tourney..
Both of the fights were awesome. However, the victors – Jonas and Kristian – were both good friends and they were hesitant to really engage in the final. But who can blame them? I wouldn’t want to fight my best friend in a cage for some BBQ either.
That being said, they still came out and put on a show. It was more playful than anything as the fight – which didn’t last long – resembled a real life, choreographed version of “Never Back Down”. Both fighters were trying to pull off all sorts of wacky jump kicks and whatnot. One of the guys even did a flying summersault as he entered the cage – which was good for some laughs.
There were also few other non-tournament fights on the card. One of which was a classic striker vs. grappler showdown featuring Caden from the states and Brad from New Zealand. It was a good fight, check it out..
The Fight Of The Night
Now, the best for last! My favorite fight of the evening. This fight – had it taken place in a large venue – would have received a standing ovation as it was one of those Rocky style, odds-defying victories. The fight pit Ngoo Ditty – a tiny Thai boxer with about 18 months of BJJ experience – against Richard Dinkins, who trains BJJ amongst some of the greatest in the world in the heart of Brazil.
Richard Dinkins – although the camera angle doesn’t show it very well – towered over Ngoo as he must have had a full 12-inch height advantage. You can tell where this is going. This fight had potential for greatness and a great fight it was.
Overcoming all odds, Ngoo – the tiny Thai boxer – ended up not only beating the much larger Brazilian but he beat him at his own game. He submitted him! He submitted him via an armbar from the mount! As you can tell by the reaction of the crowd, everyone was just as impressed as I was. This guy is going places. First Thai in the UFC? Who knows. I suppose the UFC would first have to get some sort of mega-lightweight division but on second thought, as demonstrated in the fight, he’ll be able to overcome the size differences. Check out the fight!
Political Turmoil In Bangkok!
Regardless of where you live, I’m sure heard the news. It seems to be the top story on all the major media outlets. CNN, MSN – they’re all covering the situation at the Bangkok airport(s). Suvarnabhumi International – which is the 18th largest airport in the world – has been shut down by protestors.
Over three thousand tourists were left stranded at the airport as all incoming and outgoing flights have been cancelled until further notice. To make matters worse, the violence seems to be escalating as gun fights have errupted in the streets of Bangkok and bombs have been set off in the airport leaving several protestors seriously injured.
There have even been reports of a grenade being thrown into the crowd. However, it turned out not to be live. Needless to say, it looks as though a lot of the guests here will be staying a little than expected. Of course, I could think of worse places to be stuck than a training resort in Phuket, Thailand.
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!
Loy Krathong Festival
November 17, 2008 by admin · 2 Comments
There’s a holiday here in Thailand called Loy Krathong. I knew nothing of it until last year when I was walking down the main street in Patong and noticed a bunch of vendors set up under tends selling all kinds of awesome food. There were smoothie bars where you fill an empty cup with assorted fruit and pass it along to be blended for you; there were stands selling mini-kegs of local beer; there were people barbequing fish, chicken, beef and there was even massage areas set up in the middle of the street where people could just kick back, relax and watch the happenings while getting a foot rub.
The food, drinks and massages aside – the real fun happens down by the beach (or any body of water throughout Thailand). The significance of the holiday – which takes place when there’s a full moon in November – is to honour Buddha and the goddess of water – Phra Mae Klongkha. “Loy” means to float and “Krathong” means a raft. When the Thai people set their raft afloat, they oftentimes add clipped fingernails and hair to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. However, that information is straight off of Wikipedia and I’ve never actually seen them do that.
The rafts are cool but what’s cooler is the hot air lanterns that everyone lights and then sets sail into the night sky. It’s really an awesome sight. I’m sure it’s pretty hard to picture based on just my description of it so check out this video.
As you can see by the random fires and people dodging fireworks from every which angle, you really have to be alert while you’re there. Another tradition of Loy Krathong is beauty pageants. Last year, there was actually a ladyboy pageant going on and this year it was women ..at least I think they were women. Ah, this is Thailand so who really knows.
Loy Krathong is also an awesome day to be a single guy in this country. It seems as though every hot Thai girl is looking for a date for the night. I almost want to compare it to Valentines day in other countries. Of course, on Loy Krathong, the guy doesn’t have to go all out and pay for fancy dinners and jewellery. 3 dollars for a meal at the festival, 3 dollars for a lantern and another 3 dollars or so for the raft and the girl is happy!
Training Update
I’m still living and training at Tiger Muay Thai. Now that it’s high season, there’s a lot more students coming in from all over the world and the classes have been getting busier and busier. The solution to that is a rush expansion and within a months time, the training area at the camp is going to almost double in size. I think they’re also hiring about 5 or so more trainers – one of which is ranked number 3 in the country.
In some of my upcoming entries, I’ll document the expansion and I’ll soon be doing my review on this camp. In my review – as I know a lot of you are curious – will be video tours of all the on-site and nearby accommodations.
Visa Time Again
Time flies when you’re having fun. Once again, my visa is set to expire and I have to head over to Malaysia on Wednesday. These “visa runs” are a major hassle but I guess that’s a sacrifice one has to make while living in this country. So, I guess my next entry will be live from Malaysia.
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!
Jon Fitch Seminar
November 10, 2008 by admin · 7 Comments
There’s not many things that can get me out of bed at 9 in the morning – especially when I was up until 4am the previous “night” writing articles. However, today – the inspiration was there. Jon Fitch – who has been training here at Tiger Muay Thai for about 3 weeks – gave a free seminar today geared around wrestling for MMA. Being a Perdue wrestling standout and the # 2 rated welterweight in the entire world – Jon Fitch is certainly someone you want to get advice from when the opportunity presents itself.
With the seminar set to kick off at 9am, I set my alarm clock for 8:59am – as that gave me just enough time to roll out of bed basically sleepwalk about 40 feet to the cage area where the lesson was taking place. Staying on-site at the camp certainly has its advantages. Anyway, the seminar started off with Jon demonstrating a basic wrestling shot. I use the term “basic” loosely as while Jon Fitch made the technique seem so automatic and effortless, the majority of the spectators – when given the opportunity to practice it – looked like fishes out of water. What I mean by that that they seemed out of their element. It just goes to show how good these professionals really are. By the way Fitch was demonstrating the shots, you could tell that its something he’s been doing since childhood.
Throughout the seminar, Jon demonstrated about 5 techniques (all wrestling based) but what impressed me the most – other than his talent – was his teaching ability. He was explaining each and every detail by giving examples that people could relate too. Will, the owner of the camp, said that this was the best seminar they’ve ever had here – which is a major testament to Jon’s teaching ability as they have a lot of seminars taught by special guests. I was able to get a lot of video footage throughout the lesson but I was later informed that Jon requested that video clips not be taken as he – along with many other UFC fighters – have started a website called MMAInstructional.com where they demonstrate all sorts of techniques.
So, unfortunately, I won’t be uploading the video footage here. However, the seminar did finish off with an awesome question and answer session. I didn’t have a recorder or anything so these responses are based off my memory and they’re not word for word. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll find it interesting..
Jon Fitch on His Loss to GSP
He basically said that a loss is disheartening but it’s something that you have to expect in this business as losing is inevitable. “Nobody retires undefeated, it’s just not going to happen” he said. He then went on and said that you have to view a loss as a learning experience. Instead of being pissed off that you lost, you have to go back and say “Ok, why did I lose? What did I do wrong?”. In the GSP fight, he said he learned a lot. He said he learned not to throw sloppy leg kicks, 1 punch combos and not to drop his hands. He also said that he’s in Thailand now to correct those mistakes. The fight with GSP basically gave him a better idea of what he has to work on and I’m sure he’ll become a better fighter because of it.
Jon Fitch on Supplements
“98% of supplements are garbage” he said. “They’re only out there to get your money”. He said you can get everything you need for “free” through food and that supplements are exactly that – to be supplemented to your existing diet if you’re not getting enough of something. He was then asked what 2 supplements he recommends and he responded by saying “whey protein & vitamins”.
Jon Fitch on Steroids
He seemed quite disgusted with it. “I don’t know how those guys can look at themselves in the mirror” he said in reference to fighters that use them. He said he doesn’t know how guys can think they’re badass and then turn around and stick a needle in their ass.
Jon Fitch on Tuna
He said that as he was growing up, he had to eat canned tuna 3-4 times a day because it was affordable and he needed the protein. He followed that statement up by jokingly saying that “ if I could take all the canned tuna in the world and get rid of it, I would”. I guess the guy doesn’t like tuna very much.
Jon Fitch on training with a Gi
He said he still trains with a Gi because he views it like “adding weights to a barbell”. He said that training with a Gi is less forgiving and it forces you to be more technical. Obviously he feels that training with a Gi will improve your no-Gi game.
Jon Fitch on Fight Training
He said that in the months leading up to a fight, it’s very fight specific. His training camp is geared around the style of his opponent. If he’s fighting a wrestler, he’ll get more wrestlers in to train with. If he’s fighting a BJJ specialist, then he’ll train more BJJ. He’s already a BJJ black belt and a wrestler so if there’s anything he needs to work on, it’s striking and I suppose that’s why he’s made this trip out to Thailand.
Jon Fitch on Coming Through the Ranks
As he was talking about customizing his training camp around the strengths of his opponent, the conversation sort of branched off and he started talking about the “old days” when he was coming up through the ranks. He said that back then, he’d show up and he wouldn’t know who he was fighting. The only time he’d have to evaluate his opponent was while he was warming up. He’d say to his friend “dude, what’s he doing over there? Can you see?” his friend would say “Yeah man, he’s doing some crane-karate shit”. “Alright” says Fitch, “I have to watch out for the flying crane kick”.
He also said that back then, he’d often get asked to fight multiple times in 1 night. He said that on one occasion, a promoter came up to him after his first fight and offered him 100 bucks to fight again. Fitch declined and then the promoter offered him 500 dollars to fight, but not to knock his opponent out. Fitch said that he agreed, but knocked the guy out so he only got the 100 dollars. On top of that, he broke his thumb in the process which cost $700/$7000 to fix. I didn’t quite hear the exact amount. I hope it wasn’t $7000 to fix a thumb. If that’s the case, than wow .. I hope Obama improves the health care system.
Wrapping It Up
At the end of the seminar, Jon Fitch stuck around and took photos with each of the attendees. There was about 60 people in total. He seemed like a nice guy for sure. I think he and his team mates are flying back to the states tomorrow morning..
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!
My New Home?
November 3, 2008 by admin · 15 Comments
From Canada to Thailand .. Permanently? .. I hope so!
While I’ve been watching movies, I’ve been multitasking and writing articles to submit to article directories. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been researching ways to earn money online and someone in the message boards turned me on to “article marketing”. To sum it up, you basically research highly searched, yet non-competitive keywords in Google, write an article on the topic emphasizing those keywords and submit it to the article directories. Somewhere within the article (usually at the bottom), you insert a link to a product you’re promoting. The goal is obviously to get your article listed on the first page in Google. If you can manage that, you can potentially get a lot of page views and as a result, you increase the likelihood that the reader will follow the link to whatever product you’re promoting and make a purchase – as you then earn a commission.
It doesn’t take much to live here in Thailand. The cost of living here is about 4 times less than what it is back in Canada. To put that in perspective, if you earn 50 dollars a day while living here, your lifestyle will be similar to the lifestyle you would have back home if you were earning 200 dollars a day. The reason I’m even mentioning this is because I know a lot of you guys are considering coming out to Thailand to train at some point. If you were to generate some sort of income while you’re here, you could then stay longer – because trust me, you’re not going to want to go home. I know I don’t!
Anyway, I’m still in Phuket and as you can see from the photo – it’s beautiful. I’m actually still living at Tiger Muay Thai and aside from the injury, things are going well. There’s no new crazy Thai girl stories since there really isn’t any girls around. Chalong – where the camp is located – is a very uneventful area. Me and my buddy went to “Chalong circle” the other night to get some food and we came across the “nightlife” area. It’s nothing but a few raggedy bars with a bunch of old, ugly ladies hollering at you when you walk by. Did I mention how old they are? It’s so bad that it’s almost laughable. For me though, that’s a good thing. There’s absolutely no temptation to go out and get involved with anything other than work and training.
And Speaking of my Training
Even though I injured my ankle, I’ve still been doing what I can. I obviously can’t kick so I’ve been doing some western boxing. The trainers have all been really good about working around my injury. However, today – for the first time in 2 weeks – I was able to throw a kick. I can only kick with my right leg (as my left foot is injured), but when you’re living on-site and you constantly see people kicking the pads – it’s just a frustrating reminder of what you can’t do! Needless to say, my workout today felt good.
However, one of my workouts last week didn’t feel so good. Not because I got hurt physically – although I do have quite the black eye – but rather, it’s the ego blow that hurt more than anything. I was paired off with the biggest guy at the camp for sparring. This guy is about 6’7 or so and weighs about 270lbs. It was just light sparring and nothing was taken overboard (luckily for me). I usually do well when sparring against people my own size but against this guy, I just couldn’t get by his reach. I basically ate jabs for 3 rounds. It certainly makes me appreciate fighters that are able to overcome their opponents reach advantage like Mike Zambidis and even Fedor Emelianenko in his last couple fights.
Speaking of professional fighters, Jon Fitch is here – but I’m sure I already mentioned that. Here’s a video of him doing his early morning padwork (I was most likely trying to sleep in the room to the right of the motorbike when this video was shot.)
As you can see from the video, the pad-holders here are incredible. I’ve worked with about 4 of them now and they’re all amazing. It certainly beats the group Muay Thai classes back at home where your pad-holders are your fellow students.
Anyway, now that I’ll be spending more time training and less time watching DVD’s now that my foot is getting better, hopefully I’ll have a lot more to write about.
Also, if you want to learn more about that internet marketing stuff that I’m trying (start of the entry), check out these two resources.
Fat Cat Blueprint
- To this day, the “fatcat” blueprint is considered to be the best guide on the Google Adsense program that was ever released. This is extremely detailed and it’s helped me out a lot. Highly recommended!
Warrior Forum
- This is the biggest internet marketing forum and it’s free. Any time you have a question about anything, just throw a post up in here and you’ll have an answer within minutes.
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!
Myanmar Visa Run
October 24, 2008 by admin · 4 Comments
So, for the people that want to stay in Thailand long term, oftentimes they have to sacrifice a day of their lives in order to gain another twenty-nine. Yesterday I spent a combined 10 hours in a van and another half hour or so on a little boat to cross over the border of Burma. My initial visa that was issued to me from the Thai embassy in Ottawa, Canada was set to expire today so I was left with minimal options.
I had originally attempted to obtain a “non-immigrant type ED” visa as I had supplied all the necessary documentation. Turns out, I was given a single entry “type O” visa which was valid only for 3 months. I tried taking all the documentation to the immigration office here in order to get an extension but the immigration officer I was matched up with didn’t consider “Muay Thai” to be education.
His statement was ironic considering that dozens of guests at this very camp have “ED” visas for studying Muay Thai. However, the officer (without even looking through my documentation) simply said “Muay Thai? No! Cannot!”. He then walked to a nearby cabinet, pulled out a handful of paperwork from one of the drawers and handed it to me. After having the papers translated by a Thai friend, it turns out that the papers he handed me were completely irrelevant to the education visa I was applying for as they were for those wishing to work in Thailand.
Just bad luck I suppose as standing there and arguing with the immigration officer wouldn’t have done me any good. My solution was to leave Thailand and simply re-enter for a 1 month extension. Thailand allows you to do this 3 times within a 6 month period. However, next month when I leave Thailand I will likely be going to the Thai embassy in Malaysia to apply for the proper education visa. Even if I’m unable to get a “non-immigrant type ED”, I’ll just get a 60 day tourist visa which can then be extended from within Thailand for another 30 days – giving you 3 months in total. Through a combination of tourist visas and 30 day stamps, you can pretty much live in Thailand providing you time everything right (although clearly, I’m not visa expert so don’t quote me on that). If you’re thinking of coming to Thailand, the best source of visa information can be found at ThaiVisa.com
Anyway, when I finally arrived at the Thailand departure port, the only thing I could focus on was the awful smell. Most of the people in line were holding their shirts over their mouth and noses. Some Thai guy then took our passports, which at first made me a little paranoid. One of the fellow visa-runners had to re-assure me that it was a normal procedure. We then got onto a Thai-style boat and headed toward Burma. This was actually the highlight of the day as the scenery was pretty cool.
When we arrived in Myanmar (Burma), I didn’t really know what to expect. The extent of my Burma education was from the Seinfeld episode where Elain’s boss (Mr. Peterman) randomly goes there and she has to go see him to get his approval on some of the company expenses, at which point, Mr. Peterman questions her about the “Urban Sombrero” on the cover of his magazine. Yup, I certainly live a sheltered life in Canada.
As I’m writing this, I’m simultaneously watching Myanmar-related videos on Youtube. I’m sure most of you are more up to date on world issues and current events than I am so you likely already know about the fucked up problems that the villagers of Myanmar have to deal with. And just in case you didn’t already know about Myanmar’s corrupt military government, check out these videos..
From the time our boat docked to the time we were back on it and headed back to Thailand, not more than 15 minutes had elapsed. That was the extent of my stay in Myanmar and that was quite enough. One of the border “hustlers” – since they just post up and try to sell all kinds of stuff to the stamp-runners – called me “Fred Durst” from Limp Bizkit on account of how I was dressed and then started talking to me about his favourite rappers. It’s interesting to see how widespread American music really is. I wonder if Snoop Dogg knows about “Ali Baba” – his loyal fan at the Thai/Myanmar border?
“Ali Baba”(as he called himself) tried to sell me steroids for seven bucks, Viagra, cocaine and ketamines – all while I was walking back to the boat. He even offered to deliver it to me. It’s a good thing I declined as about 5 minutes after we set off, there was a check-point in which either Thai or Burmese soldiers came into the boat and searched us.
The process tuned out to be a success as I was let back into Thailand with a new – “admitted until Nov. 21st – stamp on my passport. At which point, I will have to go to the Thai embassy in either Cambodia or Malaysia and make another attempt at getting the proper, education visa that I was supposed to have gotten in Canada. Of course, this time I’ll actually double check it to ensure I got the right one before I leave. So all in all, the process is a bit of a hassle but hey, I got to add a new country to my list of travels and a story to tell.
Muay Thai Training Update
Having mildly sprained my ankle last Friday in sparring, I’ve been unable to train all week. I’ve just been limping around the camp. From my room ..to the restaurant ..to the internet area – just back and fourth. Limping around a Thai boxing camp while watching everyone else train isn’t actually what I call a good time. It’s not like I’m still in Pattaya either where I could certainly find entertaining – perhaps not as “constructive” – things to do. I’m in Chalong and there really isn’t much else here to do but train.
Anyway, this afternoon I jumped into the Muay Thai class and explained to the head instructor that I had injured my ankle and was unable to kick. He was pretty understanding and sent one of the other trainers to work straight boxing on the pads with me. Then, for the technique component of the workout, the same trainer would work the clinch with me while the other students worked on kicking technique & defences.
Basically, I was put through a custom workout based on my restricted mobility with a sprained ankle. If I couldn’t do something that was shown, a trainer would either adapt the technique so I’d be able to do it or just show me something completely different. I was pretty impressed actually. I wasn’t just left on my own to hit the bags.
As for Tiger Muay Thai itself, there’s a few negatives and so far, a lot of positives. I’m going to jump into one of the MMA classes either tomorrow or early next week to see how those are. I haven’t done any sort of grappling in about half a year so I’m sure I’ll be tapping a lot. Actually, with a sprained ankle, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to hold guard. I was watching Ray Elbe – the MMA instructor – on the mat today and he was pulling off all kinds of submissions. One was a slick choke from rubber guard, one was an inverted heel hook and another ..well, I’m not sure on this but it looked like he secured a choke and tap out with the sleeve of his shirt.
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!
Fight Night At Tiger Muay Thai
October 22, 2008 by admin · 7 Comments
So the other night I witnessed a couple of the best MMA fights I’ve ever seen, and no – I wasn’t tuned into UFC 89. The fights I watched were “smoker” fights and they were the entertainment portion of last night’s “full moon BBQ party” here at Tiger Muay Thai. “Smoker” fights are unsanctioned, inter-camp fights that give fighters a chance to gain experience without effecting their professional records. Usually these smoker fights resemble nothing more than hard sparring sessions but last night, the fighters came ready to brawl and came out swinging.
First up was a light, drunken, boxing-only sparring session between two of the Thai trainers. This fight was more about fun than competition as the fighters were throwing back chugs of beer in their corners between rounds. They would also randomly take swings at the referee in order to get a few laughs from the crowd. Following the boxing match was a Muay Thai fight in which the fighters were going about 70% as I think they were friends.
After that, it was time to move things over to the cage for a grappling match and two MMA fights. The cage is situated about 20 feet from my room so I decided to quickly run and get my camera. In the process of doing so, one of the fighters pulled off a flying armbar and within a matter of seconds, the match was over. I completely missed it as by the time I walked backed to the cage area, the crowd was laughing in disbelief and what they had just witnessed. Luckily, the match was being filmed by some of the other spectators so without further ado, here it is..
It was now time for the MMA fights. In the first fight, one of the guys was throwing out really powerful, technical kicks – one of which landed flush to the face of his opponent. He was tough though as he kept pushing forward. However, he eventually had his back taken and got choked out. Both fighters fought with a lot of heart and put on a great show. Here’s the fight..
Next up was the “fight of the night” as the best was clearly saved for last. These two guys stood toe to toe and swung for the fences. Even Jon Fitch – the special guest referee – was impressed. Had this fight taken place in the UFC, I’d imagine that Dana White – as well as about 17,000 people in attendance – would have given it a standing ovation. It was one of those fights where if you had never seen an MMA fight, you’d have a whole new respect for the sport (sort of like what the Griffin/Bonner fight did for the UFC). I know you want to see this one, so here it is ..
After the fights, the party continued as the beer was included in the cost of the BBQ/fight tickets. The scene got rowdy as the guys started holding each other under the beer tap. It eventually become a competition to see who could chug the longest. By the end of it, I think the time to beat was around 20 seconds. “Fitch! .. Fitch! .. Fitch!” .. The chants began and at first he was hesitant, saying “I need a water!”. He was eventually coaxed into it though and I believe he even broke the previous record.
When the beer ran out, everyone headed out to Patong Beach for a night on the town. I have to say, Patong isn’t what I remembered it to be as at this time last year, it seemed a lot busier. The girls last year also seemed to be a lot more attractive but perhaps that’s just a result of me spending the last 3 months in Pattaya – which I don’t think anywhere else in the world can compete in terms of women. I think all the recent turmoil in Thailand has had a very negative impact on the tourism here in Phuket as several anti-government protests have taken place at the local airport. I suppose the fact that Patong isn’t as exciting as it used to be is a good thing as I won’t have the temptation to go out and party. I can now not only save money, but also, I can focus 100% on my training (which is what I need right now).
And Speaking Of My Training
I was put through my first workout on Friday afternoon. To be honest, I really didn’t know what to expect. Tiger Muay Thai is a lot more foreigner-oriented than a lot of the other camps I’ve trained at. I’d estimate that there’s around 60-80 students here (which is a lot more than any other camp I’ve trained at) and it has somewhat of a summer camp feel. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t get a lot of one-on-one attention from the trainers as I would roam the camp and oftentimes see some of the students getting “privates”.
“Privates” are basically personal training sessions with the Thai trainers and there’s an additional cost associated with these workouts. Since I saw so many students paying extra for these private sessions, I was worried that perhaps they weren’t getting enough attention from the trainers during their regular workouts.
Luckily, this isn’t the case at all. My first training session began with skill-evaluation in which I was asked to kick the heavy bag. I threw a couple kicks and as moved to the intermediate class. I find it to be a perfect fit as the class had about 10 students and servicing those 10 students was about 5 trainers. One of the trainers (Nazee) is the head trainer here (I believe) and he was working with me on the pads. I was actually told to train with “Nazee” before I even came here so I was familiar with the name and it looks as though I really lucked out since he’s an excellent trainer.
The workout itself was very complete. It began with skipping, stretches – the usual. Once we were all warmed up, we went through some techniques and cool elbow combinations – some of which ended with a flying elbow strike to the top of the head, like something you’d see in a Tony Ja movie. After technique, we moved on to sparring. I ended up doing 3 rounds (each round against a different opponent). After sparring I was exhausted and it was then time for pad-work with Nazee. The instruction was great but not only that, I didn’t feel like I was being rushed and I felt like they actually wanted me to get better. The worked was finished off with some more group technique instruction, some sit ups and some stretches.
I was impressed with the session but unfortunately, during the sparring, I sustained a mild sprain to my ankle and as a result, I’ve been limping around for the last couple days. Hopefully I’ll be good to go in a day or two as I don’t think it’s very serious. All in all though, I was impressed. So far so good. I still have quite a while here before I form my official review though so keep checking the entries.
On Another Note
It looks as though I’ll be doing a visa run tomorrow since I was given the wrong visa by the Thai embassy in home town. I’ll likely be going to Ranong so I’m sure it’ll be interesting.
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!
