Two Weeks Out
I thought I would write up a post on how my training is going since I am fighting in exactly 2 weeks Monday 18th May at Thae Pae stadium in Chiang Mai. This is my second full week training, the first week I trained four days. It’s going very well and my conditioning is improving very quickly. I have been very careful to make sure I don’t try and kill myself every day at every session and it is paying off. Of course I have my hard days, last week in one session I ran 5 kms and did 5 sprints up the temple stairs (there are about 400 steps), jumped rode for 15-20 minutes, did 400 squats, 250 push ups, 50 pull ups, 400 ab exercises. hard pad rounds, with sets of 30 kicks along with the regular shadow boxing. But then I made sure to spend the next day and half doing light jogging, a little jump rope and working on technique. I plan on having more of those kind of physically demanding days this week up until Wednesday of next week and than focus more on technical aspects with a lot of light sparring, I am thinking of maybe adding one hard session Friday morning, but I’ll read up on it to see what people say.
My mind is being challenged more than my body though. I spar about 4-5 times a week with my trainer Ae and although we are going 50 percent he does not make it easy on me and the ratio of strikes cleanly landing is about 9-1. But IT IS improving, especially with the kicks. When we first started I would land only a few punches, the second week I started landing a few leg kicks and today, the first day or the third week I actually landed a couple of body kicks that did not result in my being clinched with or tossed.
Ae (pronounced like the letter A) is the reason I am at True-Bee, as much as I love Pai and as much as I love the other trainers and the family atmosphere of the gym and its students at the end of the day I am in Thailand to become a better fighter. If Ae wasn’t here, I would have still rated True-Bee gym at the top but I cannot say 100% that I would decide to make this my home base for all my training in Thailand. He’s never been reluctant to help me with anything or take my input as to changes in how I should train and what I should work on. He comes at you hard during the pad work to keep your hands up and sometimes he is throwing more strikes at YOU than you are at him. He’s willing to spar with you regularly and will strike a perfect balance at giving you a really hard time but also giving you opportunities to try out the specific techniques you have been focusing on lately. On top of all this he is a really good guy. I have never met a trainer I didn’t like but he definitely has more of what the Thai’s call “jai–dee” or a good heart.
In other gym news, True Bee was recently featured in the Thai Boxing Magazine Muay Siam. However, it is written in Thai so I can’t tell you what it says but I am sure it is positive. Bee didn’t even know it came out until he had boxing friends from all over Thailand giving him phone calls and congratulating him.
I have gotten very used to living in the gym now. The kids love having me here. It must be quite a novelty having a foreigner living with you. These kids see foreigners every day, but they come train and then leave and the far majority of them cannot speak any Thai.
So right now I am here with one of my trainers. Wild guy named Saen, he’s showing me one of his videos of when he fought in China at Art of War 7.
Hi there….just wanted to say I’ve been following your blog with anticipation ever since your arrival at True Bee. Your adventures and insightful musings are a great first hand look at the Muay Thai culture from a “farangs” perspective. I’ve been training Muay Thai in NYC for almost 2 years now and am planning on training at a Thai gym this November. I have no interest in the city-life and thought True Bee would be good remote gym with “genuine” trainers. Hard training with otherwise, slow, sloooow days in the small quaint town of Pai. Aside from Muay Thai the idea of a “retreat-like” vacation is a bonus.
In any case, I’m very glad I stumbled onto your blog…and wish you the very best in your training and your aspirations to spread MMA in the Middle East.
I think your entries will asnwer a lot of questions I have of True Bee, but I hope you won’t mind if I pose some specific questions in the near future.
AC