Today was one of those days where I spent a good deal of time in front of the mirror asking myself why I am here. I LOVE Muay Thai, but I hurt EVERYWHERE times a million. After the evening class today, I spent a half an hour underneath a blanket shivering in 90-degree heat. I found the proverbial wall, and went a little over it.
After morning class, I crashed and burned for four hours. I haven’t slept that hard in years, and I just laid down for a minute…next thing I know it’s four hours later.
Were it not for the exhaustion, it was actually a REALLY good day in training. Tuesdays and Thursdays are clinching sparring, and the tools I picked up in Bangkok gave me a HUGE advantage. Nobody even gave me a challenge today, except for LeeLee, the Samoan guy that I train with. He is a big strong kid, but I still was able to get and hold position on him for nearly the entire round.
There is a large group (20 or so) Persians from Australia that came in today. They all had really pretty Muay Thai when they were on pads, and I expected them to be strong in sparring. They didn’t have a lot of clinching experience, which became rather obvious, rather quickly. I went with the one that was all muscled out, but had a rather easy time with him. He was a really nice kid...just didn’t have a clue what he was doing on clinch. His trainer, was a funny guy…He said OWAY, at least 50 times during our round together. He said it EVERY TIME he threw anything. The problem was, he was throwing knees when I had position, and he was completely off balance. I didn’t dump him, although I let him know that I could have several times. (I just think dumping people is a dick move in sparring…if he were getting real physical, I would have, but otherwise…what’s the point?)
The other guy of note, was the RUSSIAN guy who wanted to ‘spar for the flag’ yesterday, now challenged me to clinching sparring for the flag. He even set up his Go-Pro in expectation of filming a highlight reel. I made sure he didn’t have a single Highlight on that tape. He is a very muscular guy that thought we would out-muscle me. He didn’t. I had my way with him the entire round. NO HIGHLIGHT FOR YOU!
***True confessions…He I DID dump him several times…lol
I got paired with a Chinese kid during drilling that lacked the basic fundamentals of clinching. He was completely lost, and I spent most of my time coaching him. I don’t know why they don’t vet these guys a little bit before letting them come into the advanced class. I can clearly see that the beginner and intermediate classes are jammed to the gills…this group brings a TON of people. The only problem, is these guys are getting hurt in large numbers. I don’t know why they keep coming back, if they bring half their squad back home on stretchers.
I met a super cool dude yesterday. His name is John. He is originally from DC, by way of Portland. He has been out here about 7 years, and is opening a huge Plaza on Soi Taeid Sort of like a strip mall, that has a center concourse, with shops all around the outside. Hahn is moving her restaurant there, so Hahn took he and I to her favorite Buddhist Temple, which is situated way up in the mountains. It is absolutely beautiful. We brought rice and other food to offer the monks, in exchange for them giving us a blessing. Afterward, we went and ate some seafood, and I had my first actual conversation with an English speaking individual since I have been here. John also owns a bar and an ice cream stand on the Soi. I totally respect his entrepreneurial ways. He has done really well for himself, and I enjoyed our time together. He will be opening a hotel soon, and said he has a niche that will guarantee his success, that nobody else is doing…he wouldn’t spill the beans on what it is…I don’t blame him. But from what I have seen, I’m sure it will be a smashing success.
Just writing this BLOG has been therapeutic. I don’t really mind if nobody reads it…it helps me get through the pain. I feel better now, and look forward to training again tomorrow.
The Author, Mike Stidham, owns and operates the Ultimate Combat Training Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. UCTC offers classes in Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, as well as a wide range of Fitness classes to Men, Women, Children, groups, and private lessons.
