Travel

My First Fight Night

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Thursday night after evening training one of the trainers let me know that one of our other trainers was fighting that tonight at a local stadium. When someone from your gym fights the thing to do is buy a ticket, which they sell at the gym, to support the fighter. Most people from the gym bought a ticket and so I did the same. After a quick shower and a meal I headed out to get to the stadium. My bike has been a lifesaver, especially since this trip was still about 40 minutes by bike!

The first fight essential was a match up of what I estimate to be 11 year olds. They had them listed on the bout sheet as 102 pounds, but there wasn’t a chance either of them was over 80 pounds. The only thing I could think of was my job last summer working at a summer camp. I thought about the 11 year olds there and then I thought about the 11 year olds here. The reality for these kids to so incredibly different. A lot of kids start fighting because their family is struggling and they can’t afford to go to school. So to help the family out they start training in a gym in the hopes of getting enough fights to earn money to send back to their parents. Makes me, once gain, feel blessed for all the opportunities in my own life that I have been blessed with! I can only imagine the long term detrimental effects fighting that young causes, especially with what is now known about CTE and other brain injuries.

The next fight was between two women, which was never that popular, but recently more and more women are beginning to fight. After that there were some younger guys who were really sluggers. They had some huge hits on each other. The one fight ended in a TKO after repeated body and head shots. The referee put an end to that one.

To split the fights up there were a couple of side shows or “acts.” There were 4 out of shape guys dressed up as fighters and put in the ring. Then the referee blind folded them and they did this act where they were beating each other up while tripping over each other and falling over the place. It was actually pretty funny! After that there was a sword fighting show. The two guys fighting with the swords were really skilled! They did a lot of dangerous and neat choreographed moves. There were a lot of Westerners in the crowd, and they were just eating this stuff up! That’s not what I was there for though!

I was there for my trainer, Teenoi’s fight! This is a picture of him before he steps into the ring. The headpiece that all fighters where before they step in the ring is supposedly ceremonially blessed by a Buddhist monk. Then both fighters go through a traditional dance called the Wai Kru. The dance is done to pay homage to their teachers and family. It also done to bless the fighter for victory in the ring. Each gym has their own dance that is passed down to the fighters from their trainers. After the dance, the fighting starts. Teenoi was doing a really great down in the “clinch.” The clinch is when both fighters are tied up together and essentially head locking each other. There is a lot of technique involved and Teenoi obviously was the superior technician as he used his skill to throw his opponent onto the canvas several times. After a couple more clinches Teenoi started landing some heavy knee shots to the other fighter’s ribs. After a couple of knock downs it only took one big blow for the referee to stop the fight. Teenoi and Team Quest Thailand got the win this time!

Coming up next is my adventures at the Loy Krathong and Yee Peng Lantern Festivals! Check back soon!

My First Fight Night

Church in Chiang Mai

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Well, I officially made it through my first week of Muay Thai training! It wasn’t technically a full week, because there was no training on Thursday. On Thursday, the whole country of Thailand was practically shutdown due to a special ceremony for the cremation of the former King of Thailand. He died at some point last year and this day had been picked as the official ceremony day. 7/11 wasn’t even open. Some people have asked me if this meant that there would be political unrest and a struggle for power. Don’t worry, the son of the former King has been peacefully ruling since. So nothing to worry about there!

I am starting to get more accustomed to the weather here, but thank goodness for the winter months. I’ve seen the 70s for the first time since arriving in Asia and I only saw 78°! The rain has been interesting, however. It mostly rains at night which is good, but one morning I woke up to the street flooded in the picture above. I completely soaked my socks and shoes. There really wasn’t another option! I’ve also witnessed 45 minutes rain showers while it is fun sunlight. Interesting stuff!

I look forward to Sundays with a lot of enthusiasm not only because it’s the one rest day from training, but because I get to get out of my apartment and go to church! This Sunday didn’t disappoint! We had a quick service at the church in town and then the whole congregation caravaned an hour north of the city to have a special service for a member who just had a new house built. The couple takes in orphan children and does a lot of other really great outreach. This second house next to their first will bless a lot of lives I’m sure! They have a fair amount of property and banana trees and a lot of other fruits growing in the yard.

The food at the get together was amazing! I haven’t had a feast like this my entire time in Asia! The portion sizes in these countries have been so small, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to eat as much I want. It’s also an amazing blessing to enjoy the Christian fellowship!

After another quick service we hit the road home. I was super blessed to be given a bicycle by the family there, so threw that in the back of the truck. I had been looking for a bike, so this was a great find. Having a bicycle should really increase my ability to explore! I have a whole list of local spots in Chiang Mai I want to explore.

Next blog post will likely be about my side hustles to make some side cash while settled here. Thanks for reading!

Church in Chiang Mai

Cribs: Thailand Apartment Edition

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So after my first ever Muay Thai class I wandered around nearby trying to find an apartment. The plan was start near the gym and slowly hit every apartment complex in a radius around it to find something in my price range. The gym had a contract with a nearby place and it was something ridiculous like 7,000 baht a month ($211). After wandering, I ended up finding a nice cheap one, but the lady said I couldn’t move in for a week. She was one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met! She felt bad she had nothing I could move into immediately, so she offered to help me find another apartment! She took me to the other apartment and talked in Thai with the landlord there, but no luck. Next, we went to a complex where I couldn’t find the property manager’s office, so she even called the owner of that complex to see if she could get me in it. While I was waiting for her to do that she offered me Coke and water!

She never gave up. Her and another nearby elderly apartment owner, Auntie Nung I called her, drove me to one last apartment complex where I ended up getting a room with AC for 2800 baht a month ($84). That is just the base price, but it came with free internet and water and electric are charged by the unit of energy/water used. Only thing I might want is a fridge which can be rented for 200 baht ($6) a month.

I did get a rice cooker and have been using that for the past couple of days. I cook the rice and mix that with sardines, since they were cheaper than tuna. So that’s my plan for supplementary meals even though eating out can be done for under a dollar. I went on a shopping spree to buy the essentials like a towel, detergent, toilet paper, a pillow, and pillow case. Only thing that would make things perfect is a bike. A lady at church might have offered one. I’ll follow up on that next Sunday.

To get a real sense of how I’m living I filmed a quick little apartment tour that you can view below!

Cribs: Thailand Apartment Edition