For the first time during my five months traveling I would go back to a country I had already visited. Although I was sad to leave Laos and all the adventures it provided I was very much ready to welcome Thailand back into my life.
But why was I so eager to leave when I was having such a great time riding my motorbike around Laos? The answer quickly hit me. I was getting lazy. Although Laos allowed for some amazing escapades, most of them involved sitting on my behind while squeezing my motorbike's throttle. Hence, my impulse decision to cross the border into Phuket, Thailand to train Muay Thai boxing couldn't have been a better one.
I met an array of great people, learned plenty about myself, and on more than one occasion was humbled by a particular training partner. As I stepped onto the mat for my first Muay Thai training session at 8am (after jumping out of bed at 6am with excitement) I was undoubtedly nervous.
For those of you who know the feeling, it was like walking into a new hostel in a new city for the first time. When you walk into a hostel, tired and hungry with your backpack strapped on and see people relaxed, talking and laughing near the front desk, the first thought that goes through your head is "everyone here knows each other." But in reality they all just met and, in a matter of minutes, you'll be chatting it up with them too! That all-too familiar feeling snuck up on me that morning but instead of people talking about where in the city they were going to sight-see that afternoon they were discussing their knee and elbow thrusts. I quickly got over the awkwardness of being the new kid in school and began to focus on training.
It was hot, humid, and the training was TOUGH! After two and a half hours of kicks, knees, elbows, push-ups, sit-ups, running, and sparing I was absolutely drained.
The five minute walk to my bungalow from the gym seemed like an eternity but I did it...with a smile on my face the whole way. After being sore for two days I began doing double Muay Thai training sessions on the third day, finally getting over the exhaustion hump.
I could now do other things like yoga before the morning class and cross fit before the afternoon class.
If I wanted to take a break from Muay Thai I would do a beach boot camp, lift weights, or try any of the other classes Tiger Muay Thai offered. I was in heaven!
My initial plan was to only train for one week but after realizing how much I liked (and missed) training this way I decided to stay another week.
I'm glad I did because at the start of the second week I got bumped to the next Muay Thai level where I'd do more challenging workouts and, the one thing I was most excited about, having longer sparing sessions with stronger partners. My wish came true right away as we were paired up in sparing groups of six. Two people, three minute rounds, switching partners twice for a total of three rounds. Sparing was never done at 100% intensity but there were times where our adrenaline got the best of us.
For some reason I always ended up in the same group with, undoubtedly, one of the best boxers in class. Her name was Julia. A super cool German girl with a wicked set of punches. She had a few pro fights, was obviously very skilled and was there with her husband (a Brazilian jiu jitsu stud) polishing her skills. Her and I always seemed to gain the attention of the trainers and each time we sparred I could hear their "ooohs and aaahs" as we exchanged blows. I never had more fun sparring with anyone and whenever the bell rang ending the round I sighed wishing for more time.
Julia would have outright won every round if we had been keeping score but getting hit and, equally, sneaking in some solid punches is an exhilarating feeling. As my days of training went on I began to feel more comfortable sparring and noticed much improvement in my technique compared to the first day I arrived.
My days consisted of training, eating, resting, training, eating, and then resting again.
It's quite an obsession and I began to think about professional fighters who do this for a living. There are plenty here and talking to some of them was a real eye-opener into what it's like to be a pro fighter.
There are a lot of stereotypes about fighters (and athletes for that matter) which I have always defended but after attempting to train like one for just a small fraction of time I can confidently say many people are drastically incorrect in their judgement.
The sacrifices, mental stamina, and discipline of these men and women are much greater than what many of us with 'normal jobs' are faced with regularly. Now that I've practiced Muay Thai in Thailand and checked another item off my bucket list I'm really looking forward to seeing some Thai islands.
Hopefully I can keep up the momentum I've had with training and eating right. I guess when you have all the time in the world on a perfect beach a few push ups won't kill anyone huh?
That is if one of the biggest parties in the world doesn't get in the way. Coincidentally I'll be just in time for a full moon on the island of Ko Phangan...
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