Wrapping up training at Chorenrit, time for Haad Rin

Today I finished my last session at Chorenrit Muay Thai.  It's perfect timing since I've been getting more tired day by day and need a break.  I think I also need to eat more when I train so I get more energy.  Overall it was a pretty good place to train because they taught you as an individual at your level and focused on what you needed to improve on.  I started off with really crappy technique and ended up refined very well.  I definitely have more to work on and more to learn, but it's a start.  Right now I'm going to rest, regain my energy, enjoy the Full Moon Party, then jump right back in when I head to Phuket.

Tonight is my last night in Thongsala, I did enjoy some things, but it was quite boring.  I don't think it's what I really wanted out of a muay thai vacation, but not all was lost as I gained valuable technique and learned what I really wanted out of a muay thai camp: good training and training partners to hang out with after class. Plus I hear there is a 4D theater in Patong I would like to check out.  You live and you learn.  My next accommodation is a hostel so I definitely should be meeting more people who want to have fun together.

Tito, Rob, me, and Mot Dang

Never Settle

3 more days.

Then I leave this boring place and head to Haad Rin for the Full Moon Party.  You know you are bored when you are listening to Gregorian, a band formed by singers pretending to be monks singing in 7 scale tone.

My boat trip to the Ang Thong Island was cancelled today due to bad weather so I'm here in my room writing my blog.

Training

So far I've been doing small group sessions with Rob and Mot Dang.  The drills we do everyday seem to vary, based on what we need to work on.  They are very technical and correct our forms.  The environment is kinda relaxed so I don't have to worry about passing out from exhaustion.  Sparring so far is pretty light, I still have the same problems, but I'm slowly working on them.  I would definitely say that I'm improving loads.  I think with a smaller group and a more private session, you definitely get much better training.  But if I were to do it again, I would pick the other camp with more people.  Now that my technique is much better, I think I can thrive in a more populated camp.  So far we have one very experienced guy from Montreal, and another from Switzerland who is obviously here for a vacation.  People come and go.

I definitely recommend starting your Muay Thai Journey in Thailand at a Tourist oriented camp to make sure your technique is good.  Being around people that are in the same state as you are is important too.  I'd say Thai oriented camps are for the more experienced in technique and physical condition.  Plus you gotta know some Thai too.

Finding a massage place

In Bangkok, massage places were plentiful in Khaosan Road.  With the amount of competition, you definitely had to be good at massages.  Unfortunately in Thongsala, the selection isn't so great.  The only way to find a good one is to try out a bunch of places.  After a few duds, I've finally found a good one that can prep me for muay thai.

Due to the hilly nature of the island, it's hard to drive far outside the city.  As a result, you can only do things around here or take a taxi or boat around the island.

New Hotel

Last Monday I moved into my new accomodation, Lime N' Soda.  It's a small low priced resort with people around my age.  Right now it's very dead and off the main road.  It has a nice bar, pool, and lounge area.  Not too many people here, even this past Half Moon party.  So far it's been filled with sausages and kinda boring.  My last hotel was actually much better since the room was nicer, but this one is more bigger and has potential for a nice social environment, but the mood isn't so great.  Everyone is self isolated doing their own thing.  Good thing I'm relocating for the full moon party.  I will be at a popular hostel so the environment for meeting people will be much better.  Hostels host events to meet each other and it's easy to talk to people especially if they live in the same quarters.

Food

The food at the hotel is ok, but I think it's much better outside.  I don't recommend getting any of the bbq food on the weekends as the meat isn't high quality.  Santorini unfortunately has closed for the season, which leaves me to the Mason Arms mainly and wherever I wander.  I always bring my kindle to get some good reading time in.

My reservations are confirmed for Sinbi Muay Thai, and it looks like it will be a blast.  Heard there was heavy rain in Phuket, hopefully it clears up by the time I get there.  Not much to update at this time, my muay thai is a slow process, but I'm getting better.

The First Week Ends

Training

In my first week at Chorenrit, I've been training once a day.  I'm trying to acclimatize to the weather and get my body use to the movements before doing 2 a day.  I think I should be ready next week.  So far I'm the only person who shows up to the gym every day, with 1 random tourist coming by to check out the gym.  Dunno if they are going to come back though.  Even though the training is good, the gym looks like a run down traditional thai gym which could turn people off, especially if they decide to check out the other gyms.  Right now I'm trying to perfect my roundhouse kick and learn new moves, like the roundhouse front kick combo.

So far I've planned my next two months of training out, with training until the Full Moon Party, then going to Sinbi Muay Thai in Phuket and training for another month.  Afterwards I plan to travel around, starting with Chiang Mai.

Food

Thongsala has quite a few food options, and I'm still in the process of trying out many different places.  The cheapest place to get food hands down is the Street Market by the 7-11 in town.  Food ranges from 10-50 baht.  But of course, fried cheap food isn't exactly the healthiest way to maintain a training diet.  This has led me elsewhere.

Khunpen: Restaurant owned by thai people, but serve thai and western food for good prices.  Decent food for decent prices, restaurant is ok.

Mason's Arms: A nice British looking venue just right outside the main city.  Serves authentic delicious British food.  Price on the high end 200-300 baht.

Bangers and mash, yes it's not thai but sometimes you need comfort food.

Santorini: Restaurant run by a former executive chef, whose name is, "Chef God".  Don't laugh, his food lives up to his name!  Gourmet food for around 200-600 baht, it's worth every penny, forget going out to eat an expensive meal at home.

I pretty much rotate my restaurants so I don't get bored of my food.

Day trip around the island

After being bored of driving around the island, I decided to take a tour on my day off, Sunday.  I chose to do a tour going around the island.  We took a ride in a pickup truck to Chalok Lum and took a longtailed boat to go snorkeling.  There were plenty of fish in the waters so it was a nice experience.  Unfortunately I don't have my underwater camera with me.  One woman was wearing a thong which was very nice.  Next we stopped by Bottle Beach and relaxed for 45 minutes.  The beach is really nice and scenic.  Our guide Bao tried to teach me how to spin the fireballs on ropes, but I had no luck.  On the boat ride back, everyone got sprayed with water.  If you ride a boat, expect to get wet.

Next we had a nice buffet lunch.  We had rice, curry, crocodile tail with vegetables, noodles, and fruits.  Afterwards we got to ride the elephants.  They were pretty small, but amusing to watch.  I got my own elephant.  She was old and slow:P  They basically took us around the area through various terrain.  It wasn't too bad, I wouldn't mind riding one again.

Since the waterfall was dry this time of the year, we went to the Wat Pho temple to get a good view.  Afterwards we went kayaking to a small island across from Thongsala.  There was a nice small lagoon to cool off in.  That was pretty much my Sunday.

Next up: More training and my new accomodation.

The Quest Begins in Koh Phangan

After a 10 hour bus/ferry ride from Bangkok via Lomprayah, I arrived in Koh Phangan, Thailand famous for it's full moon party which attracts a crowd of young revelers who want to party hard.  Upon arriving, it was really sunny with the humidity nibbling at you.  I walked all the way to my hotel and checked in.  The room was really nice, but small.  Afterwards, I put on my suncreen and mosquito repellant and walked around Thongsala.  It was hot and sunny, and remembering just only a few days ago, I was working in the hot sun and felt like dying.  There were shops everywhere with bad unkempt sidewalks.  Walking around was tough.  You could see people on mopeds passing by every second.  Bus Taxi's would also pass by and honk at you if you need a ride.  I had to no idea where I was going so I kept walking, just trying to see the sights.  There wasn't really anything of interest so I headed to my first place, Chorenrit Muay Thai the next day.

Chorenrit

The gym was run by Rob and his thai girlfriend.  The head trainer who was the only one there was Mot Dang, a 5' 3" thai man one year younger than me.  It was a rusty gym with a dirty ring and carpet on concrete.  Definitely not upscale and had the real gritty Thai look.  I was the only student.  The session started off with some skipping.  After that we stretched.  Then was shadow boxing.  Mot Dang watched me throw some punches then stopped me and started me from scratch.  First he corrected my stance.  My back foot was supposed to be standing on the ball.  When it came to throwing punches, I needed to rotate my fist and turn my hips.  After that he worked on my roundhouse, knees, and elbows.  My entire striking techniques were reshaped in a day.  Afterwords I hit pads and worked on the heavy bag.  The bag was hard.  I had to avoid going 100%.  After bag work was stretching and sit ups.  The session ended for the day.  I definitely had a good workout.

Afterwards I talked to Rob and he said it was low season so there wasn't much going on in Koh Phangan.  He also said if I wanted accomodation, I should head to Lime and Soda since they had a nice backpacker crowd there.  Flash Forward 4 days: Rob was right, there was a young crowd and lots of hot girls.  Plus a beach too.  Back to the present, I'm staying at The One Boutique Hotel and while it's nice and new, there isn't really anyone here.  There is a Pharmacy and Tesco Lotus (Big Supermarket Chain) nearby so no shortage of supplies.  There also is a big night market where food is grilled and sold on the streets every night.  It's pretty crazy.  I had some meat on sticks and fruit shakes.  Nice place to go if you need a cheap quick meal.

Chinnarch

The next day I checked out Chinnarch.  They had a lot of other foreigners there and the equipment looked much newer and nicer.  Chin (owner) had recently come back from Spain and was hanging a Spanish flag with lots of signatures on it.  There was about 10 people for the 1st session.  Quite a few hot girls.  The session started off with skipping, then stretching, then shadow boxing.  They worked on my kick and had me practice my kicking angle until I got it right.  Next was pad work/heavy bag.  Everyone had 3 rounds.  After everyone had their rounds we did some drills.  I think it was Clinching.  Then after that we stretched again and the session was over.  There was free cold water and a shower if you really needed to rinse off.  The vibe there was nice and friendly and there were a lot of Thai trainers and fighters.  Everyone seemed to be staying around the area and had mopeds.  I made the mistake of doing 2 sessions in one day.  The next day I paid for it greatly as I felt like death.  I ended up having to get a massage afterwards and the day after to get my body back to training.  Massages are very cheap in Thailand, about 250 baht (About $9).  You can abuse it as much as you like haha.  In the US it's about $60 an hour.  Big Difference.  Then again there are tons of people who know how to massage.

Getting sick of walking everywhere, I decided to face my fears of getting a moped.  I rented one from my hotel for 150 baht a day.  The day before I practiced on the dirt lot by the hotel.  I felt I was ready.  I started it and drove slowly, hanging to the side of the road to let the more experienced motorists by.  I knew how to increase the speed and brake so all I had to do was practice.  As I kept driving, my confidence kept going up and up.  I then filled up some gas took my new set of wheels for a spin in the hills of Haad Yao.

Haad Yao

Haad Yao was a more rural path less traveled area.  Here I could practice driving without constantly watching for passing motorists.  This was my training ground to get to journeyman motorbike riding.  What I didn't know was that the area was very hilly.  I knew how to use my brakes so going over the first hills weren't a problem.  When I felt I got a hang of it, I let go of the gas and let myself roll down the hill at full force, steering the motorbike.  It was quite a rush.  Going uphill I had to crank the gas.  Pretty simple.  As I got a feel for it, it was like I had become one with the vehicle.  Don't get me wrong, I still have a long way to go, but it was a good start.  Crossing intersections and getting onto busy roads can get dicey as you have to measure the pace of the incoming traffic.

Which camp?

As of now I've decided to pick Chorenrit as my camp.  Even though it's deserted, I feel that I'm getting much needed technical training and learning moves I have never done before.  I will be staying at a resort with other people come Monday so I'm not worried about being deprived of social interactions.

And so my Muay Thai Quest begins...