Here I am in Pai on Day 7 of training. My wifi and access to proper computers has been quite limited so I will try to get everything I remember from my notes in one post. It will be long. And now with VIDEO! YEAH!. Coming to Pai was very high on my list both for personal reasons (this place has a very special place in the hearts of my wife and I) as well as for training. Pai is home to Charn Chai Muay Thai and famed trainer/fighter True Bee. He has fought over 300 times and on top of training Thai Champions he has also had a hand in training K-1 and Glory Kickboxing Champions out of Mike's Gym in Holland. This is where fighters like Gokan Saki, Artur Kyshenko, Badr Kari and Alistar Overeem have gained their skills to become world champions. This is perfect for me as it has the best of both worlds in traditional Muay Thai and Dutch Style Kickboxing! I took the 762 turns up from Chiang Mai to Pai on Wednesday morning, checked into a Bungalow and then after a quick nap went straight to training. It's even hotter here in Pai then CNX and I was sweating buckets in the 40C heat on the way to the gym. I got there right before 3:00pm thinking I'd have a few minutes to get siturated. Nope. Unlike most gyms here this one is run on a very punctual clock. Bee saw me, asked if I had shorts, and when I replied yes said "get changed and start skipping in 1 minute!" There was about 30 people training and when there's that many the trainers need to keep everything flowing and organized well. No mucking about here. After a quick warm up we got right into sparring. Bee asked me if I knew what I was doing, I said yes, and that was it. Gear on and go! I sparred with quite a few people - from Chile to Australia, Holland, Thailand, Hungary, America... everything was very cool, even though the mats were packed. The best part was sparring with Bee though. Man, this guys is very good, very quick and has some tricks. He was throwing leg kicks and I was doing a typical Thai style check. On the third one he quickly changed the kick to an ankle hook and sent me flying to the mats. This would not be the last time he tossed or dropped me with barely an effort. I got him to show it to me and I will definitely be practicing it and trying it out when I get back to Vancouver! After that we clinched for awhile and that went pretty well. Sabai Sabai for the most part, with one exception. With a group this big you'll always get that ONE GUY. I won't get into it too much but let's just says those that go too hard are soon shown the floor. Typical finisher was next. 50 round kicks on each leg, 100 knees and then pushups. Then came the abs.... We sit in a circle and each person counts to 10. Not ten reps, just count to 10 fast. Probable about 3 reps per person Keep in mind that's still about 90 reps. We did about 8 or 9 exercises (including planks, side planks and superman) so somewhere around 500 reps and then isometric holds. This is done everyday, 2 x a day. You can try to slack on it but be careful, Tree (another trainer there) was walking around with a stick wacking people who got lazy. That stick is pretty much used whenever you slack, do something wrong, or just happen to be walking by a trainer who's feeling in the mood to whack someone. It's not super painful, just a bit of a sting (to go along with the Bee name?) but it definietly keeps you on your toes! After that, we stretched and that was it. For 50 THB you can stay and eat with everyone or just hang out and talk. Very tight community there with people just hanging out between sessions playing chess or cards or relaxing. Day 2 at Charn Chai went pretty much the same, only with a lot more pad rounds. I did 3 x 4 minute rounds with Phone Det (No idea how it's spelled, but something like that). He didn't really seem to into it and didn't show me much, but I got a good workout. He was super helpful in the clinching that came after. Unfortunately he was more helpful to my 230lbs training partner who went from being manageable to beastly very quickly, which my sore neck will attest to! After that was a S&C Circuit with Bag rounds and weights as well as some calisthenics. 1 minute work with a 10 second rest to get to the next station. Pretty well organized and though not super taxing definitely complimented the rest of the training session. More kicks, knees and abs followed and then stretching with Tree. He also led a "bow out" but in a very comical and entertaining manner. I haven't worked with him much but I hope too because he really seems like he's having fun but still taking the training seriously. Day 3 - Today was technique drills taught by Ben. These were very, very similar to what I do in Canada and more along the lines of the Dutch Style as far as the fast hand combos and low kicks you see in Glory and K-1. Claudia was my training partner and other than a few questions we had everything flowed really well, except that the mats were a little too packed. Here's a quick video I took of one of the combos. If you've done my class I am sure this looks really familiar: After that we (Claudia and I) started on Pads. She got my trainer from the day before (and like me, was not overly impressed) but I got to go with Bee! And man, what a treat. He made so many little tweaks and showed me some very simple ideas to help with my movements and really get some good power in my kicks. He advocates leaning back and to the side while throwing a body kick as opposed to coming up and in. He also had me throwing my hand out to the side even more, as opposed to "reaching for the back pocket" like I am used to. He also threw me on my ass again. Sorry, no video for that. After that it I was pretty much on my own. I caught my breath while talking with Claudia for a bit then joined in on the S&C circuit. I didn't feel like I need to go too hard on the weights but I did push myself on the bags when I had a chance, doubling up on them a couple times if there was an open space.
Kicks/Knees/Pushups and Ab finisher then stretched. Also, Bee broke his stick on someone who was slacking so much - he must have hit that guy like 15 times while doing abs. Tomorrow: More Sparring!
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Ok - Day 4 found me at a new gym, right in town near the Night Market and Kalare Boxig Stadium. Why did I make the switch? A few reasons. 1- I slept about 2 hours last night. I woke at 4:45 and knew I wouldn't get back to sleep and dreaded the 5:45am alarm. 2- Mornings at Hongthong are slow, and it's mostly focused on conditioning as opposed to technique, which I do not prefer. 3- I thought it would be good to check out a new gym to compare, should I come back this way again I picked Sit Thaharnaek for a few reasons, not of least is their start time of 9:00am! When I finally woke and was feeling ok it was about 7:30 and most gyms are already in full swing by then. It was actually closer to 8:20 when I found this on Muaythailand and saw the start time at 9:00 so I brushed my teeth, double checked my gear bag and took off! I have been to this area many times as this is where the Night Market is (where I got my sweet shorts last night, pictured right), but navigating the one way streets on my motorbike was a just wee bit of a hassle so I got there right at 9:00. Which, to be honest, doesn't really matter. Everyone here is on Thai Time, which means everything starts/ends 20 minutes later than stated. So I arrive and I am greeted by Kru Hua's young son, who I think is named Fah Baet. He showed me the lockers and asked me my name, then asked me if I would like some nam rawn (water, hot) to make some coffee, which of course I did! I then talked to another falang named Matt from Philly and we chatted about the gym, what I should expect and how freaking hot it was in there. "IN" being the operative word, as this is one of the few indoor gyms I've seen/heard about here. Kru Hua showed up and got us to do the warm up (skip for 10 minutes, then stretch) then we started the workout. It was just Matt, me, Fah and I think his sister, who's name escapes me. Fah is 9 years old and his sister is 15. They have over 100 fights between them, but you wouldn't know it to talk to them. They are both very friendly and happy kids, and the sister was very sweet and a bit shy as we spoke as she doesn't speak English well, but she got a good chuckle from my crappy Thai. Training went like this: 1 Minute Rounds Straight Punches for 10 Minutes - I usually reserve this for finishes in my classes, but when in Thailand ... We would throw straight 1-2's for 1 minute, speeding up at 40 seconds (20 seconds left, FASTER), 50 seconds and 5. The cadence was probably around 2 punches per second at the start and about 6-7 at the end. Hua had a big yellow stick with him and I know enough to keep my head down and just punch when the trainers say to punch! We would then rest for 1 round which also included 10 situps and 10 pushups. Whatever was left was your rest time (so about 30 seconds). Then we did... 3 x 4 minute rounds on the bag 3 x 4 minute rounds on the pads And... that was pretty much it. It's up to the fighter to work or not after the main training so other than a few more rounds on the bag that was it. Doesn't seem like a lot but I did get a TONNE out of the Pad rounds. Not only is there a longer break (2 minutes) between to talk and ask questions, Kru Hua showed me a LOT of cool stuff during the rounds and would get me to repeat it a few times to make sure it stuck. I really appreciated this and found it was the one thing lacking at the previous camp. Techniques included: Checking kicks with opp hand outstretched to prevent follow up Punch Turning/inside pivot to avoid knee, clinch and knee. Turn/Trip in clinch. Clinching Arm bump to throw elbow over top Round kick to check, no foot down between. Teep, rope bounce, flying elbow (or punch, many options here!) There was a few more but those were the ones that were new to me. Kru Hua's English is very, very good and we spoke a bit about my previous training. He asked if I knew Andy from Lanna because we're both from BC, and when I said I did and had trained with him he said that I should come and fight for his gym instead! I told him I had no plans to fight and he said that I should think about it and maybe come back if/when I want to. Pretty flattering coming from #2 ranked Ratchadamnoen fighter! As we were finishing up I noticed the kids doing their finisher. 100 Situps while their mom hits them in the belly with a focus mitt! While, of course, holding their youngest sibling. It's definitely a family affair at Sit Thaharnaek! Well, Day 3 was pretty awesome. I had Sunday off as there is no training anywhere. Not one gym is open anywhere in Thailand as far as I know. I skipped the morning session in favour of having a proper breakfast with Claudia and her dad and then explore Wat Chiang Man, which is the oldest temple in the area, built in 1297. I also wanted to save some energy for what would likely be a grueling afternoon session. I went out the gym around 3 :15 or so to make sure I'd have enough time to battle traffic and to get some food. Glad I did too because the normal 20 minute commute turned into about 40. The Super Highway gets pretty goddamn crazy that time of day. Anywho, I got to the gym and it was biz as usual. Skipped and shadow boxed for 30 minutes then started on Pads with Gen. Same Same. Then I did my bag rounds for 20 minutes. Unlike Chinnarach's gym there is no one around the bag area to hit you or correct techniques. You're expected to work . That's it. After that we all got in the ring and worked clinch. The way it's done here is the way I try to do it back home - Sabai Sabai = Easy Easy. Not sloppy or lazy, but relaxed and taking care of your partner. There was anywhere from 8-12 of us in the ring at a time and there's isn't a tonne of room to move, so you're expected to watch out for each other and to move out of the way for others if they're fighting soon or if they just happen to be having a good exchange. By training this way you can work on technique properly, every day, and not get injured. I was pretty on par with everyone else there, except Cody, who eats, sleeps and breathes Muay Thai. Seriously. The guy sleeps on the floor in the house next to the gym. He got me with some nice trip throws which I was not expecting. When I crossed faced him into the corner he climbed up on me like a koala and did a nice spike elbow to the top of my head. Lightly, of course, but if that was real fight I'd been in big trouble. After that we sparred full kickboxing. I went with Lennart, who is still pretty new. He hasn't learned to use his reach yet but when he does he''ll be quite dangerous, I am sure. I did really well with him and since he was new took the time to work on some of then new techniques I had been taught. After that Gen saw me and said "NEW STUDENT! YOU SPAR ME NOW!!". Fuck. This was a whole new level of fighter for me. The guy has over 300 fights and anything I know or can do he has seen it 1000 times before. That said, I did ok at the start, landing some nice teeps and countering his body shots with uppercuts. But I'm sure at any time he wanted to he'd light me up. We worked on some kick catching - and he corrected my footwork a bit. Near the end we started to go a bit faster and harder and he hit me (lightly) with a beautiful elbow to the body. This was the same elbow he had me working on during pads rounds, which I thought at the time "This would never work!". Man, was I wrong. He hit me at Maybe 10%-20%, just nicking me near the liver. I was ok but I immediately felt that numbing, semi paralysis that a nice liver shot brings about. Midway through I got hit with something and my nose bled a bit. I hopped out of the ring and stuffed some paper up my nose and got back in the ring after asking if it was OK too do so. I got a few looks from the trainers and a few of the other Thai's who were watching from outside the ring. I am not sure if they were looks of respect, disgust or just concern (maybe a combo of all 3?) but I finished up with Joe and then seeing the time, ended my session at 6:10 with 200 knees and 100 teeps. I was due fr dinner at 7:00 and didn't want to keep anyone waiting for me. So yeah, the 4:00 heat wasn't so bad and it was well worth it to get to learn some new clinch techniques and to spar with a high, high caliber fighter. Now I know I can handle it I plan on doubling up some days up in Pai at Charn Chai (True Bee) Gym!! Alrighty, despite some initial malady Day 2 went pretty well. I woke at 5am, pretty awake (got about 6 hours which is amazing even at the best of times for me) and headed off to the gym around 6. It only takes 20 minutes but I wanted to get some real food and not keep Claudia up. I was feeling really good which I attribute to drinking tonnes of water and taking some Amino Acids before and after training. I am not one for supplements anymore (I used to use a LOT) but I find BCAA and some glutamine are essential for dealing with soreness and recovery. However, my good health soon changed shortly after arriving to the gym. The gates were locked but there is a food vendor out side who grills bananas, taro and other goodies inside banana leaf with rice. Very tasty and not too filling but gives some good carbs for the 2.5 hour session. Right after eating I started feeling really, really off. Probably from food the night before but possible from accidentally using sink water too - not sure, but I am really glad I learned some Thai before coming here. Simple things like "Where" (tee nye ee) and "toilet" are good things to learn when going to developing countries. Well, any country really. Anywho, I started training shortly after (around 7:00am). I was the only one there so I just skipped and shadow boxed on my own. A few others showed up later and went for a run. I am doing my best to stay out of the sun, especially as I was still feeling a bit nauseous but now that I am acclimatized somewhat I'll be running with them tomorrow. I continued on my own for about 45 minutes when I was then called into the ring by Joe. We did 3 x 4 min rounds then I went and hit the bag for about 30 minutes on my own, finishing with 200 knees and 100 teeps. I was feeling a bit dismayed as I had been there for 90 minutes and had yet to learn anything new or have my technique corrected. If I just want a work out, I can stay in Canada and do that, right? That changed quickly enough though. The other Nak Muay finished their rounds and then we geared up to work on technique. I was paired with Eddy, from Switzerland. He's really good and we're roughly the same size, which was perfect. We started off on kick techniques and were coached very thoroughly by Joe (mostly) and Gen. There was a LOT of techniques taught from blocking and catching/returning. Some cool tricks involving misdirection and changing hands before landing a counter. I'll try to get video tomorrow. The cool part was the ideas behind what to do and when, and of course why. Strategy and Tactics. Perfect. Here are a few things that were taught:
Eddy fights similarly to me - lots of low kicks. Joe calls this Farang kicks (pronounced "falang" = foreigner) . He said if Fighter A lands 10 Leg kicks and Fighter B lands 10 Body kicks, Fighter B wins. Even if he only landed 8 to 10, he would still win. They also admonished us (well, Eddy mostly) for moving back to much. Again, according to Thai rules, moving back too much is a sign of weakness, or lack of conditioning. This will lose you a fight if it goes to the judges, who judge the fight as a whole. He said that when you're at the fights you'll hear the trainers screaming out "Strong!!" to their fighters if they look like they're evading too much or getting tired. Basically, keep your poker face on and keep pushing forward. As for the kicks, he said it's better to block in the first 2 rounds and start catching in rounds 3, 4 and 5. I am not completely clear as to why. From what I gathered, the first 2 rounds are to keep it simple and low risk and to ascertain if your opponent is going to try some sneaky stuff. Basically a feeling out process. The 3rd round is when things start to get serious and the real dangerous techniques start to come out. More catching, throws, elbows and such. I watched a few fights last night at Tae Pha Stadium (I use stadium very, very loosely here) and the legit fights did indeed seem to follow that protocol. Joe and Gen taught all this in very good English while demonstrating and, of course, joking around and making us laugh. Joe kept pointing to Eddy and then would do these funny dances to remind him not to back up and such. Good guys these two, getting your ass kicked by the heat and hard work is much better when you get a good laugh in here and there. I feel this is pretty typical of most of the Thai trainers I meet (they don't call this the Land of 1000 Smiles for nothing), but you can tell these guys really enjoy teaching us and having some fun, too. Today (Sunday) is a day off so I'll just be chilling before going to get some custom shorts made (very excited) but I really wish I could train some more. I was wide awake at 5:20 and ready to go! Looking forward (sort of) to tomorrow - Going to try to do the late session and get some clinch work in! Day 1 of Training at Chiang MaiFinally! After 4 months of planning and three days of traveling I finally made it to Hongthong gym, home of trainers and twin brothers Gen and Joe.
We (my wife Claudia and I) woke at 5:30 after about 4-5 hours of sleep. I was groggy but excited to go, and a lack of sleep was not going to stop me. Besides, caffeine and a bike ride is enough to wake me up! We quickly ate a quick breakfast of croissants and amino acids at the ubiquitous 7-11 then rode our motorbikes about 30 minutes south and arrived at 6:40am, 20 minutes before training started. We were greeted by Christian, a friendly and experienced New Zealander (who now trains/lives in Sydney), who took us through a quick run down of how our 2 hour session was going to go. I have trained here (Thailand) before and know the basics of Thai style training, but I just let him take us through the basics and try to learn and absorb as much of that as possible. I am a big believer in mastering fundamentals so I would rather focus on that then act like I know it all and miss out on some simpler but effective stuff. And I am glad I did! He took us through some simple drills with a focus on elbows, stance and defense (all of which I need!) before we started our bag and pad work with the twins. For those who do not know how it works here it goes something like this: Skip or run (I opted to skip with a HEAVY rope today) Shadow Box Technical Drills Pad Work (4 minutes work, 1 minute rest, 3 Rounds) Bag Rounds Clinch or Spar 100 Knees 100 Teeps (front/puch kicks) Pushups Abs I will get into the details of each later but the Pad Rounds - man, that was tough but fun! Learned some cool elbows techniques (involving the body, if you're reading this Tom - I'll show you when I get back) and lots of knees and kicks. Nothing to technical or new, but I don't expect them to show a brand new guy off the street all the cool stuff right away. That needs to be earned, which I plan on doing! Probably by training from 3-5 in 42*C heat when "it's more fun" according to my pad holder, Gen. I don't think I have ever wanted to do something so much while at the same time dread it more than this. |
AuthorDan Slobodin - Archives
February 2024
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