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...
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...
Very awesome, bro. Keep these blogs coming!
ReplyDelete