Back to Bangkok

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!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

MMA Workouts – 5 Training Tips

The recent explosion of mixed martial arts has prompted a lot of people to take their newfound interest in the sport to the next level. More and more people are wanting to enrol themselves in martial arts and MMA gyms are popping up all over the world to supply the demand.

The majority of these MMA gyms offer classes in Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Submission Wrestling (among other arts). What a lot (not all) of these gyms neglect is sport-specific strength and conditioning classes – leaving you to fend for yourself in the gym.

Here are 5 important guidelines for you to consider when you’re designing your MMA workouts.

MMA Workout Tip #1 – Train Your Core!

There’s a lot more to core training than just sit ups and lower back extensions. The power of your punches, kicks, and throws are all dependant on the rotary strength of your core. The core region really is your strength center and your MMA workouts should be packed with core strengthening exercises.

The muscles of the body function together as a kinetic chain and you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Since the core is involved in pretty much every MMA-related movement you do, weakness will completely throw off your game.

There’s all sorts of exercises you can do to strengthen your core. There’s actually a book that profiles over 100 MMA-specific core exercises. Some of the exercises will get you some weird looks in the gym but it’s worth checking out for sure.

MMA Workout Tip #2 – Don’t Forget To Stretch

With increased flexibility comes increased versatility as a fighter. Want to throw Crocop-like head kicks? You need to be flexible! Want to work from the rubber guard? You need to be flexible! Want to look like a contortionist while you stuff takedowns like B.J Penn? You need to be flexible! Want to reduce the chances of sustaining an injury while you’re training? Of course you do! You need to be flexible!

Flexibility is something I’m personally trying to implement into my MMA workouts at the moment. Out of all the fitness components, flexibility is the easiest to gain but the quickest to go when you stop doing your stretches. Since improvements in flexibility come rather quickly, I had high expectations for myself. Unfortunately, I haven’t been getting the results I had been hoping for.

However, it looks like my problems are solved as today, for the first time, I did my stretches in the sauna at the gym following my regular MMA workout. The increased temperature made a huge difference and I felt more limber immediately after. In addition to the sauna stretching, you can enrol yourself in some “hot yoga” classes. I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback about them from various Muay Thai & MMA students.

MMA Workout Tip #3 – Perform Only “Functional” Exercises

If you want to be a fighter, you’ll have to ditch those old bodybuilding workouts. Your MMA workouts should consist of primarily compound/multi-joint exercises that will carry over to your fight performance. When you’re about to perform an exercise, just think to yourself – what aspect of MMA will his help me with? If the exercise doesn’t directly simulate a related movement – replace it with something that does.

So, in other words ..

• Ditch the triceps kickbacks and do more close grip presses.
• Ditch the preacher curls and do more close grip, supinated grip pull ups.
• Ditch the leg curls and do more straight leg dead-lifts.

Get the idea?

Just in case you don’t, here’s the explanation..

• Close grip presses = increase in the power of your punches
• Supinated grip pull ups = increase in your Thai “clinch” strength
• Straight leg dead-lifts = increase in the strength of your takedowns/slams

These are just a few examples of many.

MMA Workout Tip #4 – Vary Your Training Intensity

Fighting is performed at a very high intensity. Your MMA workout should always mimic the demands of your sport so you should implement high intensity training. You can accomplish this through high intensity interval training or “HIIT” for short. The purpose of training at a high intensity is to increase your tolerance to the accumulation of lactic acid. For an extended/detailed explanation, click here. In short, the accumulation of lactic acid decreases the contractile strength of your muscles.

With that being said, you can’t ALWAYS train at an extremely high intensity. In Thailand, a lot of the training camps vary the intensities of their runs. They’ll do a long distance, low intensity run in the morning and in the afternoon, they’ll either do intervals or simply run a much shorter distance, at a much faster pace. The low intensity jogs allow for some “active recovery”.

However, depending on your MMA training program, you may not have room to implement low intensity runs. The training demands for a fighter can be pretty demanding so it’s important to keep in mind that low intensity training can be anything from skipping to light rolling.

MMA Workout Tip #5 – Circuit Training

Circuit training refers to performing multiple exercises in concession without a rest interval between each set. Depending on your exercise selection, circuit training can be a great way to perform your HIIT training (as discussed above). When you’re working on your muscle endurance (high repetitions & long time under tension), the circuit training format is ideal as it best mimics the demand of your sport.

When your performing your “traditional” bodybuilding-style workouts, your set will last for approximately 40 seconds (depending on your rep ranges) and your rest interval will be around 2 minutes. In MMA, you certainly don’t get a 2 minute rest after only 40 seconds of fighting. In an MMA fight, you work hard for 5 minutes, then get only 1 minute to recover. You should tailor your MMA workout around these demands.

Circuit training is the best way to structure your muscular endurance programs as you can train for 5 minutes straight (providing you implement a proper split) before taking your 1 minute to rest. Here’s a video by Craig Ballantyne (author of “turbulence training”) that will give you an idea as to what exactly circuit training is.

He’s got a book out (SEE IT HERE!) that provides all kinds of various training circuits. You may want to switch up some of the exercises for your personal MMA training as a lot of them may not be specific to fighting.

Anyway, that about wraps it up for now. When designing your MMA workout program, it all comes down to common sense. Well, common sense and some basic knowledge of human anatomy and energy systems.

If it all seems overwhelming, don’t worry. We’ll be uploading all sorts of MMA workouts to the site so keep checking back.

Picking a Muay Thai Camp

Having already been to Thailand to train, I have a good idea as to what to look for in a Muay Thai camp. I tried out a few last time, and each one offered something unique. The first camp I trained at was up in the hills of Patong. Do a search for “Sing Patong” in Google and I doubt you’ll even find any relevant results. They don’t have a website and I highly doubt they’re familiar with computers at all. I was the only foreigner training there. They call foreigners “farang” in Thailand by the way.

Anyway, first sign that I was getting authentic Muay Thai camp was the chickens walking around the place. Ahh.. nothing to add credibility to a Muay Thai camp than random chickens clucking around. David; who was my main trainer at this gym, was a former lumpinee champion. He was a great teacher however, I’d often show up for training and find out that he went to Bangkok for a few days. This was a hardcore camp and many of the fighters were ranked at lumpinee and he’d always go back and fourth, from Phuket to Bangkok with them. While he was away I was paired up with different “pad-holders”. Notice how I didn’t say “trainers”? Trainers they were not. They were nothing more than mobile punching bags as they never once offered any sort of advice.

I assumed that they wern’t fluent enough in english to offer any sort of constructive critism but that theory went out the window when one trainer constantly tried to hit me up for money. “You buy me food” “you buy me lady”, he all but asked for the shirt off my back. Oh wait, he asked for that too. No joke! He wanted my chute boxe shirt. Needless to say, I ended up changing Muay Thai camps.

The next Muay Thai camp I trained at was excellent. It was right by Patong Beach and the best part – you could show up anytime you wanted for training. I usually timed it so I’d be my trainers last session of the day. Got a little extra time that way. The trainers at this place spoke fairly solid english and all were trained at the Muay Thai Institute in Bangkok so their teaching ability was pretty solid. They would of course own me in sparring since they start training when they’re 8 years old or so. Luckily they don’t do much grappling so I was able to restore my ego a little bit when they wanted to try some jiu-jitsu.

Walking to the camp was always interesting. It was located on a street called soi kepsup. Soi kepsup is packed with “questionable” message parlours and the girls would come right out into the road and literally grab you and try to bring you into their establishment. You’d shake one off and there’d be another trying to block you off 10 seconds later. Kinda felt like a running back trying to shake off defenders while I was walking down that street.

That Muay Thai camp was great. I’ll be going back there on this upcoming trip but I feel like I need to try something new. After all, travelling is all about new experiences, right? So I’ve been spending hours upon hours doing research on the Muay Thai camps around Thailand.

I’ve managed to narrow it down to a few choices..

• Tiger MMA & Muay Thai Camp (Phuket)
• Fairtex Pattaya
• Fairtex Bangplee
• Jitti Gym
• Sityodtong Muay Thai Camp (Pattaya)
• International Muay Thai Club (Pattaya)
• Scorpian Muay Thai Camp (Pattaya)
• Sinbi Muay Thai Camp (Phuket)
• Kaewsamrit Gym (Bangkok)

There’s so many to choose from. Perhaps the best thing, for both my development as a fighter and for the purpose of this training journal is to visit as many as I can.

Anyway, back to my training camp research ..

THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Interval Treadmill Training

Thailand Here I Come

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bill and I currently bored out of my mind here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Everyday is the same. I wake up mid-afternoon, stumble out of bed, flick my laptop on and make my way downstairs for some breakfast while I wait for the computer to load. I’ll eat, check my email, waste some time on msn, check a few forums – all super exciting stuff. A few hours will pass, I’ll eat again, head to the gym (highlight of my day), then it’s right back home for a whole lot more of nothing until I go to bed. Yup, I’m really living the dream.

You’re prob. thinking – just get a job you lazy bastard! Well, I do have a job. I work security at a nightclub here 3 nights a week. I’m not going to lie. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the sloppy-looking drunk girls. I’m sick of metrosexual gino-juicepigs with tight shirts and big ego’s. I’m sick of the whole scene really. I’m stuck in a rut and it’s time for a change.

You’re probably thinking I have a really negative outlook on things. Well, it’s true – I do. But I wasn’t always like this. This negative outlook really started when I got back from Thailand last December. I went there for 3 months to train Thai-boxing and it was the greatest time of my life. The training, the beaches, the food, the people and of course, I’m not gonna front – the girls! You go there and it’s a complete role-reversal. In the western world, a hot girl is in total control when it comes to the dating scene. She’s hot, she holds the cards, she knows it and she uses it to her full advantage. Guys with these girls will often feel like they’re walking on eggshells when they’re with them as they know they can easily be replaced in a matter of minutes.

Well, in Thailand, it’s a complete role reversal. YOU become the hot girl so to speak. You walk around and legions of hot Asian girls attempt to get your attention. “Handsome man” ” You very lovely” – admiration like that is what you hear pretty much everywhere you go, everyday you’re there.

And the training, I just have one word for the training – amazing! Muay Thai is meant to be learned in Thailand. There’s really no substitute. I was there for 3 months and I was really impressed with how I was progressing. Then, I come back to Canada and injure my back at the gym. I haven’t trained since and I miss it. Well, my back is better, I’m missing Thailand, I’m super depressed and basically, I’m going to do something about it. So I’ve decided – I’M GOING BACK!

This time, I’ll be documenting all the adventures. The training (of course) but not only that. For everyone that has thought about going to Thailand to train but have never had the chance, I will give you the opportunity to get an inside look at what it’s like. You’ll witness the training, you’ll witness the girls, you’ll get a sense of the culture, the food, the people. And trust me, I will not censor my experiences for the purpose of this blog.

Thailand here I come!!

Stay tuned,

It’s going to be a wild ride..

Bill

THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Cardio for MMA (LSD vs. HIIT)

So, what do you believe? Well, you just have to obtain as much knowledge as you can through both reading and personally applying various theories. The answer often-times lies somewhere in the middle. One topic that comes to mind is the whole HIIT (high intensity interval training) vs. LSD (long slow distance) steady state cardio debate.

Both training methods are supported by very credible sources. One “guru” will claim that low intensity, steady state cardio training is needed in order to speed recovery time between intervals while another “guru” will totally dismiss the theory and label it as one of the greatest training myths around.

When it doubt, the best thing you can do is closely analyse the demands of your sport and have your training mimic them as closely as possible. Most MMA organizations are utilizing a 3-5 round format (5 rounds for title fights). Each round is typically 5 minutes long and the fighters get 1 minute to rest between rounds.

Based on the “principal of specificity”, it would then make sense to mimic those demands through HIIT (high intensity interval training). After all, one wouldn’t think that 1 hour of low intensity jogging wouldn’t translate very well to a 15 minute, high intensity fight. Especially considering that low intensity cardio doesn’t trigger an increase in lactic acid the way that high intensity interval training does. To learn about energy systems and lactic acid accumulation, click here.

But what if the “guru’s” who promote low intensity cardio, along with the fighters who have been doing it for years, are right? What if there IS something to steady state cardio and its effects on recovery time? Well, like I said, the correct answer often times lies somewhere between the two theories.

Should MMA fighters jog at a low intensity for hours on end? Definitely not! Should MMA fighters perform steady state cardio? Absolutely, and they already do. You see, an MMA fighters training routine already includes steady state cardio with all the grappling they do.

A sample MMA training routine would include the following..

• Grappling 3-4 days per week. 45-90 minute sessions
• Sparring
• Pad-work
• Strength & Conditioning circuits implementing sport-specific movements
• HIIT (interval training) sprints implementing the appropriate work-to-rest ratios

Your training routine will vary depending on your experience, goals and training discipline. As you can see, a typical MMA fighter already trains using varied intensities. The key to success is to relate all your efforts to sport specific movements. Jogging isn’t sport specific enough. Light rolling or even skipping are both better options for low intensity work. Skipping for footwork and calf endurance and the light rolling is pretty self-explanatory.

All in all, just use common sense. Read as much as you can and form your own opinions based on your accumulated knowledge. Study the demands of your sport and chose exercises/training routines that will maximize your training efforts.

Muay Thai

The air is warm and dry. Your feet are burning from the hot canvas underneath, not quite to the point of blistering. Sweat pours down your face like a tap, as if someone is slowly pouring water over your scalp. Your lungs take every individual breath like it’s the first one you’ve ever taken. Your senses are sharp. Your body is heavy with fatigue. Voices are shouting orders at you, and you absorb them without thinking. The bell rings. Anxiety builds. You take a deep breath and enter the 13th minute of your first Muay Thai fight.Nothing I have done is as exciting, challenging, and rewarding as Muay Thai.

The national sport of Thailand comes from thousands of years of history and culture. Muay Thai is not only about fighting, it is about honor and humility, persistence and dedication. You don’t just hone your fighting skills, you learn to understand your limits, both mentally and physically. Your body will try desperately to convince you to quit, so your mind has to be strong enough to ignore pain and fatigue.Muay Thai comes from an ancient form of fighting, used by the Thais to fight the Burmese during ancient wars, called Muay Boran.

When the wars ended, everybody still loved seeing people get their faces smashed, so large organized fighting events were staged everywhere. After loads of deaths and critical injuries, however, rules and equipment were altered so that fighters wouldn’t leave the arena crippled or dead. Fighters used to use hard-packed banana leaves or tree bark for groin protectors, thick ropes to cover their hands and forearms, and would sometimes cover their wrapped hands in glue and broken glass, until thick gloves and metal groin cups were introduced in the early 1900’s and became mandatory shortly thereafter. Groin hits, headbutts, and biting were banned from use in the sport as well, although they were all legal attacks until the 1930’s. In any case, nobody actually knows the accurate history of Muay Thai up until the early 1900’s. Everything known about Muay Thai before that time is based purely upon hearsay, legends, and poorly recorded texts. Kind of like the bible!

Another side to Muay Thai is the clear and distinct fitness benefits. A Muay Thai class starts with skipping rope for 3-5 minutes, followed by 15-30 minutes of pad hitting, followed by 10-15 minutes of conditioning workouts such as pushups, situps, burpees (a pushup followed by a jump, repeated several times), etc. Typically students cool down on their own. In Thailand, however, all vomit-inducing sessions start with a brisk run of between 3-15km depending on your ability, 5-10 minutes of skipping rope, and then as many rounds of pad hitting as you can handle. Most studies regarding Muay Thai’s fitness benefits estimate that an average person will burn upwards of 800 calories in one one-hour training session. Most sessions in Thailand last an hour and a half, and most fighters train twice a day. It’s their job – train, eat, nap, train, pee a little blood, eat, sleep.

Fighting is, in essence, the main purpose of Muay Thai, but’s not as simple as stepping into a ring and kicking your opponent in the head. It takes loads of practice and dedication. Plus you must learn the traditions of Muay Thai, such as performing the “Wai Kru” which is a sort of ritual dance before you fight to honor your trainer and gym, and get yourself into the right state of mind to get kicked in the leg 30 times. It might look a little ridiculous to people outside the sport, but once you do it you realize you can’t go without it. I’ve had 2 girls leave me for doing the wai kru before having sex with them, but in my defense they were needy and impatient. Just kidding, that never happened. But I digress…once you’re done the wai kru, the ref tells you not to smack each others’ nuts, you go back to your corner, bell rings, and it’s game time.

Now the thing that a lot of people seem to have a tough time wrapping their head around is that fighting in the ring isn’t really like “fighting.” Most people take the first round to figure out their opponent’s weaknesses and strengths, then start building steam in the following rounds. It takes skill and sharp senses to predict your opponent’s next move, and also to keep your opponent guessing as to what you’re about to do. Your mind figures everything out, your body only does what your mind needs it to do. Then again, some fighters (usually first-timers) enter the ring and go balls-out swinging, throwing grenade-like fists and kicks at their opponent. You’d think that works, but really those people get knocked out pretty fast by a sharper, more alert and aware opponent.

If you’re curious about Muay Thai but worried that it’s all about face smashing, leg kicking, and blood peeing, check out a class at a local gym sometime. Fighting sports are rapidly growing in popularity, causing MMA and Muay Thai gyms to pop up like that rash you got that time you slept on your friend’s bed that smelled like sugar crisp and salmon. In the gym I train at, there are about 140 people doing Muay Thai, and only a dozen of us are fighters, which goes to show that the vast majority of people who do Muay Thai do it for the fitness and self-defense aspects of it rather than the fighting. But if you’re interested in fighting, your gym will get you in the ring as soon as you’re ready. Just make sure you’ve cleared up that rash or they won’t let you fight.

As they say in Thailand – Chok dee, yed katoy mai dai! (Good luck, and don’t sleep with ladyboys!) Well…I say that, anyways. Happy training!

By: Cameron Fraser
Originally Published By Star7Mag