Thai-Boxing

My experience training in Thai-Boxing in Thailand

Go Hard or Go Home

I could really do with some air-conditioning; the dozen of ceiling fans just don't suffice. Where's the closest draft point, QUICK, position yourself underneath it. You've got 1min recovery time before the whistle. Damn, the fan isn't doing the job! The hot, sticky air is just circulating around the gym, the humidity is preventing my sweat from keeping me cool, it's 35 degrees this afternoon and I am struggling to find oxygen. I look up and notice on one of the trainers' tops "Go Hard or Go Home", well, I'm definitely not going home, that's just under 6000 miles away...

 

Thailand first timer

It's my first time in Thailand; I'm visiting from London to soak up the culture with a special emphasis on the national pride, Muay Thai (aka Thai-Boxing).

The first thing I noticed was the absence of walls along the perimeter. Instead, there was a rainproof plastic cover that drapes down during late evenings/rainy weather, and can be rolled up during the day. The openness lends a sense of liberty, which is congruent with this art of expression.

The north of the gym has a large mirror, used for skipping and shadow boxing. The east side contains two well-sized boxing rings, where rehearsed students practise sparring under the supervision of an instructor. Along the south and west perimeters (which are the walk-in entrances) a row of different punch/kick bags are positioned, where students work their techniques. It's quiet; now, but that'll change in a few hours time, I'm excited to return.......

 

Preparation; Lets go shopping!

It's time to get geared up, lets go shopping! I wanted to gain as full an experience during my training here as possible, wearing the Thai gear would help me get into the right head-space.

Shorts - First on the list, Thai-Boxing shorts! Sizes? Would I be better off with something slightly smaller or slightly larger? The large here looks like a UK medium, I'll play it safe and go up, large it is. Style? Loose at the bottom to accommodate the high kicks, but not too baggy - done. Colour, hmm...The black and red caught my eye, I don't want to draw too much attention to myself as the newbie, the black puts the b in subtle, whilst the drop of red says there's fire here – check!

Hand wraps - There are 27 bones in each hand, combined they make almost one-fourth of all your bones in the body so getting this right is important. The material has to be breathable; cotton. Colour? Easy, black to go with the shorts. Finally and most importantly, the material had to be long enough to complete a thorough protection wrap.

Boxing Gloves – Having my own pair at home I didn't want to buy any, so I chose to borrow a communal pair from the gym. It's never a pleasant experience as they tend to be smelly from the years of sweat, but I put my mind in a different place and justified it by reassuring myself that a thorough post-exercise shower and hand-wash would solve the issue.

Groin/shin guard & gum shield – These are all important pieces of equipment, but I had planned on spending my time here working the pads & bags to refine my technique. Adjusting and upgrading ones movement so that it becomes second nature takes time and concentration. At this stage sparring would confuse things, it would place too much emphasis on speed, disturbing the development of form. Sometimes doing less is doing more, I was sure this was the smartest approach.

Pre-condition – This session was going to be tough and tiring, there was no doubt about that, so it was important that I had slept well the night before and I'd eaten sensibly leading up to the training. Having planned ahead, I made sure the previous night activities weren't exhausting and within theme. It started with a visit to the town centre to watch some ladies representing in Thai-Boxing.

We followed it up with some American pool and then a brief visit to a bar for a juice.  On the day, I ate brunch at Midday; steamed rice, mixed vegetables in oyster sauce and some tasty fish garnished in chilli and pepper.  I would usually snack again just before training, but the heat curbed my appetite.  I went into the session in good condition, with two 1-litre bottles of water in hand, lets do this!

The session – Mind over matter

Mopeds now surrounded the gym! As I approached on foot I heard voices in various languages: English; French; American; Italian; Danish; Australian, perhaps more...

The once spacious gym was now filled with around 20 students from around the world, who were to be led by the family of five Thai-Boxing instructors. As I removed my footwear and stepped onto the mats I felt that fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach, a combination of heat and butterflies, I was excited and slightly nervous.

One of the instructors came over and wrapped my hands. As I was about to inform him that I knew what I was doing, I noticed he employed a different method — interesting! He finished the first hand swiftly so I wasn't able to absorb the technique but I was ready for the second hand, eyes wide-open, and managed to understand the principles behind the approach- registered!

We lined up and followed the lead of one of the younger instructors; they ranked in age between 18-40, all with fighting experience. "Side-elbow, front-kick, upper-cut, lead round-kick, reverse elbow, knee, knee, knee," beautiful combinations, one after the other, directed and delivered with conviction, it was immediately apparent to me that I'd fallen in love!

After an explosive 10mins we worked the bags, three minutes of continuous movement, followed by 20 press-ups, 20 sit-ups and then a 1 min break, I completed 6 rounds of this. After round 6 one of the instructors came over, took me into the ring and drilled me on the pads for three rounds. The pad work was exhausting! There's an emphasis on power with every strike, that coupled with the heat and humidity was making me fade fast. I looked at the gym clock as I exited the ring, 6 o'clock, 30mins to go!

"Where's the air-conditioning?" I would pay 500 Baht (£10) for 10mins of precious air-conditioning! I dragged myself over to one of the ceiling fans, took my t-shirt off, drank water, poured some over my head and followed the rotation of the fan around in a circle like a deranged individual dancing to his own tune. By this point I really didn't care, I was so hot, I needed cool air and oxygen; instead I heard the piercing sound of the whistle.

After finishing a circuit of kicks, punches, knees, sit-ups and chin-ups I was dead. I looked around and noticed that 70% of the participants were as destroyed as I was. The other 30% had acclimatised to the weather and the intensity of the training, so although they were also tired they were in a decent state.

Final thoughts

I learnt a lot from my training experience here and as gruelling as the class was I enjoyed the personal challenge. After my introduction, I returned for another ten classes and arranged some Personal Training sessions with the instructors. Looking back I felt nurtured, the Muay Thai instructors sensed my enthusiasm, curiosity and character well and pushed me hard physically whilst maintaining the focus on technique-the balance I secretly craved!

I'd definitely revisit the Jun Muay Thai Camp again, it made me sharper mentally and physically, attributes that fade without due attention, hopefully by then they'll have some air-conditioning in place.