I’ve been training Muay Thai in Thailand for over two months now. My first day training started on October 20th. I figured with a new year I should reflect on my time here and how much I have progressed.

For those reading who don’t know much about Muay Thai I’ll quote a quick intro of it here:

Muay Thai or Thai boxing is the cultural martial art of Thailand. The origin of Muay Thai dates back several hundred years, and was, essentially, developed as a form of close-combat that used the entire body as a weapon.

Essentially it is like Western boxing except there is kicking, kneeing,  and elbow striking. Some people call it the art of 8 limbs because it uses all parts of the body as a weapon.

Some people are probably wondering what would make me want to do this. Not really sure entirely. It’s one of those things that if I never tried I would never know. I have always been drawn to combat sports. When I was around 10 I spent a couple years learning Tae Kwon Do. That was more of a fitness class and method of developing discipline and self control rather than seeing what type of physicality and fighting ability your body is capable of.

Socrates explains it better than I can when he says,

“It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.”

Coming from a Tae Kwon Do background and a wrestling background there is something very addicting about a sheer struggle between one man and another; with no teammates, no timeouts, no one to blame but yourself. In these type on competitions you are often stripped down to just the bare essentials. Wrestling shoes to protect the feet and a single to keep yourself decent. In Muay Thai it’s just gloves to protect your hands and shorts to keep decent. It doesn’t matter the background of either person or the struggles one might have with work or school. Each person is exactly the same in the ring. They are just one human versus another and it’s as simple as that.

When you are out on that wrestling mat or standing in the ring you have no choice but to be fully 100% present and I think that in itself is a rare thing in a world with so many distractions. Nothing really compares to the feeling of competing like that. In the end you gain a lot of respect for the other fighter because, like you, they stripped down and submitted themselves to their basic human form and put their skill and training on display for the whole world to judge, just like you have to. In the end you learn more about yourself than anything else. Anyone who has ever competed like this knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Training

The picture above is the lone ring at the gym. Team Quest, you can see the sign in the background of the picture, is where I have been for the entirety of my training. When I first came to Chiang Mai I toured around and tried to find the right place for me. I initially like the vibe of the Team Quest gym, but I still went and looked at other places. In the end this gym was the closest to where the church was and that was an important factor.

Fortunately, after training a while I realized I had made the right choice. There isn’t a lot of ego at the gym and everybody is friendly and likes to help out. The trainers are funny guys and speak decent enough English, but more importantly they care about helping you improve. They teach good technique.

The gym does have a handful of Thai students, but being here for over 2 months I’ve seen that a lot of their business is from foreigners coming to train for a couple of days up to a couple of weeks. There is only one guy here, not on the pro team or the local Thais, that has been here longer than me. It’s been nice meeting so many people, but it can be sad when a good training partner is ready to move on. I do get to experience a lot of different fight background, however, which is always a good thing.

I have been training twice a day, six days a week since getting here. The only exceptions are my week off for my concussion (you can read about that story here) and my week off traveling Korea visiting friends (there are a couple of recent posts about that as well).

My typical training day schedule looks like this:

6:30am	WAKE UP	I typically read for a half an hour and brush my teeth and that good stuff
7:35am	ARRIVE AT GYM	Get in early for around a 20 min. run through the neighborhood
8:00am	TRAINING 1	This is the actual training time and morning is technique work
10:00am	POST TRAINING WORK	Depending, this is a 30 min stretch to an 1 hr workout
11:00am	BACK AT APARTMENT	Shower and make lunch. Then a lot of Netflix and reading
3:45pm	ARRIVE AT GYM	A little early for a stretch and 10 minutes of jump roping
4:00pm	TRAINING 2	This is a more intense bag work, pad work, and sparring session
6:15pm	BACK AT APARTMENT	Shower and dinner. More reading and Netflix
10:00pm	BED TIME	I like to get to bed early so my body can recover

..and that’s how it goes Monday through Saturday. In some of my reading and Netflix time I run errands like grocery shopping and made go to the mall or movies. I live a pretty independent lifestyle. It can be lonely, but it keeps me regimented and strictly adhering to my budget and training plan.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc9_wWSFUhi/?taken-by=wild_boom

There is a video taken in late November of me doing some pad work. When I first started I was way worse than that, and now, even only after another month, I’m a little embarrassed how bad I was in this video. It just means I’m progressing every day!

Next post should be about some New Years activities and some other updates. God bless!

 

In a surprising development on Saturday afternoon I found out that Thai Fight tickets were free! I skipped out on afternoon training and headed to the show with about 10 people from the gym. Now I know you’re thinking, what’s Thai Fight? The best way I can explain it is that it’s a cross between UFC and the NBA All-Star game.

Obviously, it relates to the UFC because it is fighting, but it relates to the NBA All-Star game because it has the biggest names in the sport of Muay Thai. Often their matches don’t really count for much, just like the All-Star game.

In the photos above you can see Saenchai. He is regarded as one of the best fighters of all time. His record, after the win I witnessed, is 308-23. He has numerous accolades as champion at multiple weights at top stadiums in Thailand as well as several world titles. Now, at age 37, he more or less fights lower class, inexperienced opponents for show.

Thai Fight, like the UFC, also has legitimate match-ups and potential for some good fights like a couple I saw Saturday night. However, every single fight, at least at this specific event, was a Thai versus a foreigner.  The foreigner was almost always supposed to lose. Only in one fight, the last of the night, did a 19 year old Ukrainian kid upset one of the popular Thai fighters.

This was actually the first time Thai Fight has happened in Chiang Mai. Normally Thai Fight takes place in Bangkok when it is in Thailand. Like the UFC, Thai Fight takes place often in different cities and venues. Recently there has been Thai Fight Barcelona, London, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

After the fight, I took the opportunity to get up close and see the ring. We had decent seats, only about 6 or 7 rows back, but it was cool to see it up close and personal. It’s hard to tell from my pictures, but this was a major production. There were cameras mounted everywhere on robotic arms and the stage was massive. When the fighter is first announced they pop out of the floor of the stage and then make their way to the left side where they bow to a picture of the King of Thailand. They also knee and bow before a Buddhist shrine, though I did notice fighters didn’t  always bow to the shrine.

After that the fighter walks down the main bridge high-fiving fans as he goes. Then into the ring. I am posting a video below that shows the whole event in it’s entirety. You can just skip around to different parts in the video, if you’re interested, to get a sense of the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13W_nhoq1F8

Overall, it was awesome to get to see one of Thailand’s legendary fighters even if it was mostly for show. There were some real solid matches throughout the night, and for free you can’t beat it! It’s only got me more excited to keep training!

Tomorrow is Christmas and I already have a blog post planned to fill you in all the festivities I’ve already had and will have tomorrow! God bless your holidays!

This blog post is a bit unfortunate that it has to be written, but it only adds to the adventure. Essentially, I got knocked out in Muay Thai training and had a fun little visit to the emergency room for some stitches. This is the story:

So I was sparring in the afternoon session of training. It was around 5:30pm and I was sparring against this big guy I had sparred before. He’s probably 6′ 4″ 240 lbs. He’s a pro fighter from Canada. Real nice guy. I’ve had a lot of great conversations with him. Being that big he generally takes it easy sparring and it helps.me learn a lot. Today was different. Right from the get go his punches were heavy and he was putting some real gusto behind his hits. I was doing well.. Like literally getting destroyed. I was backpedaling after each blow. I remember he had me almost off the mats and I was trying to fight back on and he was just obliterating me. That was the last thing I remember.

Then I woke up. Not sure how long I was unconscious for. I apparently fell and hit my head on the concrete. There was a puddle of blood next to me and there was a crowd of people around me. My skin pads, ankle supports, handwraps, gloves, and mouth guard were already off me, so I must have been out for sometime. Then people started asking my name, where I was. Next thing I know the ambulance is there. I couldn’t remember anything, but people helped me gather my stuff and I got in the ambulance. When I got up I realized how badly hurt I was. I don’t know if anyone reading  this has been knocked out, but every nerve and my neck and arms down into my chest even was killing. Like this throbbing pain that just makes you want to roll around with a strained face.

Then, at the hospital I laid there and and I started to remember things. I remembered in the ambulance I was trying to figure out how I was going to get home that night and I couldn’t even remember where I lived… Literally no relection of how to get there. Another scary thing was they had to cut some of hair to make room for stitches. No idea how much, I just know some is gone. Then I got some stitches and they gave me a shot. I tried to ask what the shot was for and all they said was “bacteria.” Seemed like a decent thing to get a shot for I reckoned. A guy from the gym rode with me and he paid for all the medical expenses because I had no clue what was going on. The gym manager showed up to.

I got some X-rays done and my skull wasn’t fractured so that’s good. Then I was handed some pills. I left shortly after with the gym manager. I honestly don’t have a good idea of what I’m supposed to do. No idea how long I’m out for.. How to shower with the bandage on my head? General procedurial stuff couldn’t be communicated because of the language barrier. So there was no consultation. I’m  just left to figure it out I guess.

When leaving with the gym manager, I got on the back of his moped and we immediately got onto the highway. All I was thinking was, I’m not wearing a helmet, and I just had a major head injury. If I fall off I’m dead… Luckily I made it home, and at this point I am at home and the pain meds are starting to kick in so the throbbing is easing a little.

When I first looked in the mirror at home I noticed a new black eye. It’s not that bad but adds to the story! The next day I wlaked to the gym to talk to people and check out the blood stain on the concrete. They already had it mostly cleaned, so that was a bummer. I also found my blood stained mouth guard in the pocket of my shorts so just by looking at that I could tell I didn’t do that well sparring…

All in all, the trip to the emergency room which included an ambulance ride, x-rays, stitches, a shot, and 4 different types of meds only cost me the US equivilant of $113.11. In the United States an accident like this would be enough to bankrupt the rest of my trip. So thankful for the inexpensive, yet still quality Thai healthcare. I’m also thankful that it wasn’t any worse. It could have been much worse, so I’m thankful just to be alive!

3 days removed my shoulders are still killing me and I’ve been advised by my doctor sister-in-law to get an MRI done to make sure the spine is all good and see what is the cause of this potential nerve damage. I guess there are potential long term consequences at stake. So tomorrow morning I’ll be handling that.

Check back at some point for an update on my ever evolving health situation.