Friday, 9 July 2010

And Its All Over...

Back in the UK now after a fairly long but uneventful flight.  Still jetlagged and feeling rubbish but at least managed a bit of sleep.  The sick thing is that I woke up at 6:30 and got up and immediately banged out 100 pressups and shadowboxed for 15 minutes...I don't know if its just nostalgia or genuine force of habit but I felt compelled to do it.  Still, if that's a permanent change, I don't think its a bad one!
So, having completed a month of training in Thailand, would I recommend it to anyone?  Yes, absolutely.  In fact, I'd recommend training for longer.  At 3 or 4 weeks, I was hitting my stride and my body was coping with 2 sessions a day, 6 days a week (with one afternoon off in the middle).  Staying for shorter periods, you can't train as intensely - you'll burn out, get injured and/or sick.  I'm not the most physically robust person in the world (hence the repeated sprains and strains) but I'm pretty pigheaded and can train through most things.  The camp I visited was, to a man, filled with some of the nicest and most awesome people I've met abroad.  Everyone was there to train and as such, we had some great cameraderie and making friends was easy.  There was a big mix of abilities - from complete beginners, to a bit shit (me) all the way to seasoned fighters on serious training camps.  No egos at all (a first for any MA club I've been in - most have at least one or two or occasional displays...there was ZERO attitude at Sinbi).  If you want to train in Muay Thai, you can do a lot worse than visit Sinbi - beautiful surroundings and plenty to do besides train (let's face it, Phuket is tourism central) as well as a clean, well appointed gym and trainers that are as decorated as any gym in Thailand.  Plus, they speak basic English, unlike a lot of places.
So - family atmosphere, beautiful setting, great gym and brilliant instruction...Sinbi has it covered.

Things I have learned from Thailand
1) Don't brake for dogs on a bike.  They'll get out of your way.  And if they don't, consider it a selective cull.
2) Wear shoes when riding a motorbike
3) Try to train both sides of your body equally.  You undoubtedly have a 'favourite' side for every move (grappling included).  Having my right side taken away from me for 3 weeks was a big blessing in disguise.
4) Man, there really is a lot more to the teep than at first glance.
5) Elbows are awesome as long as you can manage to land them and not get elbowed back.
6) Knees finish fights.
7) Head kicks are overrated.
8) I need to learn to box and generally get hit in the face more often
9) I miss BJJ
10) Be careful about what and where you eat - I didn't get sick but saw lots of people get laid low for days.
11) Be aggressive but don't be stupid.
and, finally, the biggest thing:
12) It doesn't matter what martial art you do.  Grappler or striker, everything comes down to HIPS.
Owning the clinch and then getting kneed in the balls by a Frenchman.  Is the 'Cup Chieck' part of their school curriculum or something?


Det, my favourite trainer (and chef extraordinaire)

Bao V - my other favourite trainer.  Old, utterly nails.  Kinda like a Thai version of Mr Miyagi...but can actually fight.  And much more violent.

THANK YOU SINBI MUAY THAI!!!
Oh, and look, here I am (scroll down) http://www.sinbi-muaythai.com/Sinbi-muaythai-student.php

Thanks to all my readers as well.  Check out http://www.fightlinker.com/ and http://www.scramblestuff.com/ for more martial arts awesomeness!

Guy

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Nearly there! TRAINING PHOTO UPDATE

Well, my plan to honour 'X' by also cultivating a tache of power seems to have paid off.  My kicks on the pads were stronger, my punches harder and elbows more...slashy?  I attribute this improvement entirely to the concentrated manliness that was present in my moustache.  It was really hot today and I sweated gallons on the warmups in both sessions, leaking all over the floor.
My old Domyos gloves have finally had their last use from me - not bad for something I got for 20 quid from Decathlon 4 years ago.  They had compacted into rock hard weapons and were really unpleasantly smelly.  So, after checking the UK prices, I got my hands on some nice new Top King bag gloves - I decided I needed a treat!  They're rather swish and the difference is amazing, both in weight and support.
Had Det in the morning and Ped in the afternoon on the pads.  Lots of kicks today, had some little defensive pointers from Pet about where my hands should be - I didn't even realise I was crossing my opposite hand over my face rather than protecting my temple but it has even been captured in a photograph, plain as day.  So, that's been rectified at least.
Made the mistake of chugging an M-150 (imagine Red Bull on steroids) before afternoon training.  Felt awesome during the warmup then crashed badly on the pads.  Error.  Won't be doing that again.  Finished the afternoon with some clinching practice which I seem to do quite well on.  I drove the arms in relentlessly and ragged my opponent against the ropes and to the floor.  I felt bad when I saw the rope-burn on his back and arms though...
Mike kindly took some photos of me working the pads in the afternoon with Ped.  Here's a selection, all of them are on Facebook.  Some little things to improve on in most of them but I really have come on massively since training here - especially for a strking-retarded grappler.
Last day of training tomorrow!!
With X - Power Taches of the world unite!!

Monday, 5 July 2010

Busy Weekend and then some more TRAINING!

Trained on Saturday morning, got a good workout on the pads from X and another thrashing on the bagwork, this time from Sing.  Decided that since it was a beautiful day, I should skip training with a few friends and head to Nai Harn beach again.  We stopped off on the way for some delicious Thai barbecue (2 quid for all you can eat, chicken and marinated pork!) and played frisbee on the beach, had a few beers and generally chilled out.  My plans to go to Patong to visit a rock bar fell through, so after a super-cheap bite to eat at another Thai restuarant we filled up on booze and stockpiled it at the gym and went out in search of a good bar.  I found one that had some live music on - just a couple of Thai guys with 2 expat drummers (2 kits on stage) playing covers.  Obviously what this needed was MORE DRUMMERS so I jumped on the conga drums and played along for a few songs.  I got some approving looks from the band (probably because I could actually keep time, unlike some of the others who joined in on the bongos) and I had an awesome time.
Headed back to the gym for more booze and drank until after 2.  It was at this point that I went feral and disappeared off on my bike...so drunk I can't remember what happened and I decided that it was a great idea to drive.  Bad Guy.
Anyway, Sunday was a nice, relaxing day.  Helped Jake the fighter move house and then, in the evening, Det led a large convoy of us to Phuket town to visit a massive night market there with his wife.  It was such a lovely thing to do, he had no real need to but he looked after us all, kept us in a group and made sure no-one got lost and even bought us dinner!  What a legend!
Managed training twice today as well - pads by Det both times and some sparring in each session - morning sparring was Thai with Duc (real name Jerome, from France) and boxing in the afternoon.  Thgai sparring was quite evenly matched.  Duc's teep worked well whereas I found a home for the low kicks and dominated the clinch.  Was clinched up with the plum locked up and just placing the knees in his abdomen, being gentle and then suddenly he kneed me really hard 3 times on the inside of the thigh...what the fuck?  Some people need to calm down.  Still, he walked onto a few punches later and ducked right into a left hook so I felt that justice was mostly done.
I'm still a farily shit boxer but I used some situational awareness to my advantage and kept the late afternoon sun behind me to blind my opponent while sticking my jab out.  Worked quite well and kept my chin down, guard up and dived into the pocket when I could.
We all went down to Det's wife's food stall for dinner tonight.  Det works there after he's finished training us - massive work ethic or what?  Had a beautiful chicken green curry, Thai omelette and iced chai for 60 baht (just over a pound).  You really can't beat that, can you?  Looking forward to training tomorrow and Wednesday, not long left to go!!
Playing the conga drums

The key to a good night...


Farhad and Jackie also having a good time

Friday, 2 July 2010

FUCK FUCK FUCK

Damnation!
I finally manned up and went back to training today.  Sadly, it had been raining and the peripheries of the gym were wet.  During the warmup, I slipped on one of the strips of gaffa tape holding the carpet in place and skinned my knee (which had just finished healing and today was going to be the first time in about 3 weeks where I could throw right knees).  So, after a quick break to stem the bloodflow and attempt to dress it, I cracked on and got back into the stretching and warmup.
Glad that I missed most of the warmup to be honest, as I had to do 10 whole rounds on the bags before I got to go on the pads.
The ring was slick with sweat and after one round with X, we decided to take it down to the floor.  So, down on the carpet, with both ankles heavily bound up, I was able to throw my right kick for the first time since the accident.  Sadly, its shit compared to my left now as my hips don't seem to work in that way.  Bugger.  I was hoping that all that time working my weak side would rub off on my right...sadly not.  Still, being able to use everything except my left kick and right knee felt good.
After the padwork and the bag beasting was done with, I did some underhook pummelling with Jake, the fighter who got cut up in Bangla Stadium.  I showed him a few things and it was nice to do something grappling-esque for a little while again.  I then got jumped by X, still wearing his shin guards, who started play-kicking me - I played along, checked them and then clinched and grabbed the body lock.  I attempted to take the back, X countered with the schoolboy headlock.  I escaped, took the back and gently put him down on the carpet - X tapped out from the seatbelt grip.  All good fun!
On the upside, my bespoke suits and shirts are finally ready after 3 fittings and I have just picked them up - very suave, if I do say so myself!
And by the way, Jake and Michael's fights from last Saturday are up on Youtube - you can see them on the Sinbi website, here: WATCH FIGHTS!
Jake definitely would have won his fight if the doctor hadn't stopped it - his opponent was gassing hard and not doing much in the latter stages.