Okay, first day of training on the books. Yessss it feels so good.

After too little sleep (went to bed late because I went with peeps to the night market, then in the morning I woke up at 4:30 AM because my Australian friend was frikking drunk and stumbled into my room to chat because I accidently left the door unlocked! There went my sleep. I “tried” to sleep but no sleep was happening. At 6 AM, I got out of bed happily (I’m a morning person!) and prepared for my first session of training at TIGER MUAY THAI, wooooo!!!! I wanted to hit up the gym to do some legs before Muay Thai because I haven’t touched a dumbbell or machine in over a week and am going through withdrawals, but my friend from the night market advised me that Muay Thai class had heavy leg involvement, so don’t do that. So instead of wrecking havoc on my legs, I opted to do some light warm up on the stationary bike at an easy resistance (the only cardio machine that Tiger has), so I did that, and then headed over to the beginner Muay Thai area, where I had placed myself.

We did some welcomed stretching and then some running around, then we reviewed all the moves like punches 1-6, kicks, knees, and elbows. Then we “sparred” which is what they called it but I don’t consider it sparring. We linked up with a partner and did a combination that they threw out, such as 1-2-duck-3-2-3. I did well in selecting a partner who was fairly good at “holding pads” (holding her gloves up) but still I would have liked someone even better, but I probably won’t get that until I go to the intermediate or advanced class. Then, we had 3 “stations”- the heavy bag, trainers, and “sparring” in the ring. We would do 3 rounds of one station, then 3 rounds of another, then 3 rounds of the last. I started on the heavy bag. Then I rotated to a trainer who held pads for me. My punches, knees, and elbows are fine. My kicks (esp. right kick) are not good because I have a problem with not “stepping out.” And the trainer kept on correcting my stance and where I held my hands up, because I have more of a boxing background than Muay Thai, so I adjust my stance and hands in more of a boxing manner, which the trainer was trying to break me of. After that, I went into the ring and it was cool there were 4 of us girls. We paired up and did slow punches with one another, and I focused on my defense. After that, we did like 200 walking “knees” then 300 sit ups and everyone else did 200 push ups but my elbow feels funky so I did more core exercises, then we did another 200 knees on the heavy bag followed by 100 front kicks on the bag then 200 elbows on the bag. Then we did more stretching.

I loved it! Yes, I have a lot to improve on. No, my kicks aren’t up to par, and no, my stance is not Muay Thai stance. Yes, I won the Sweatiest and Most Dripping-est award. But was it “hard?” Everyone was saying how killer it is. That’s why I was a little trepidacious. But I am hardcore, son. I eat this shit for breakfast, son! After I showered (with Super Body Care’s Walnut Scrub) and ate (chicken and vegetables; I had already drank BCAA’s and a protein shake while training over several hours), I went to get an hour long massage for 100 Baht. RIDICULOUS! (that’s like $3). Then I iced my elbow, relaxed, and then it was Round #2.

Boxing was up next. The teacher is something like a two time world champion and has had like 150 fights under his belt. I’m sure his credentials are much more impressive than that, but I think that’s what he told me- hard when I don’t speak Thai and he doesn’t speak much English. Anyway, this class was small with about 8 or so of us (compared to Muay Thai, which had, say, 40 people). There was one other girl, but she left early, citing she wanted to “take it easy.” Oh, how I envied her! Boxing kind of ended up killing me. The first drill was annoying, when he had a cord tied up and we had to duck under back and forth with combos I thought were ridiculous. I did not enjoy that part so much. But after that, it got better. I did 3 rounds with the teacher, which was fun, but I was so out of breath!!!! YIKES. Then, it was 3 rounds sparring with the boys. The last guy ended up hitting me in the head like a million times, and I kept on vowing to block that same darn punch but I don’t think I ever did. It didn’t hurt, it was just a wee bit frustrating. Then, it was 3 rounds on the heavy bag and I was pretty much beat. I was sweating BUCKETS and I mean BUCKETS!!! I absolutely SOAKED my towel and if you don’t want to be disgusted, then don’t read the next part. Literally, when I rung out the towel, it rung out as if it had just been drenched in a vat of water. And I was absolutely dripping with sweat, like droplets were falling off me like I swam in the pool with my clothes on. It was nasterz. The teacher was a champ and was so cute and kept on drying me down and treating me like his boxer The technique in the class wasn’t really hard, the challenging part was the cardio. WOO! I need to up my game, kids!!!

I changed my shirt and next up was Jiu Jitsu. I was the only gal. There were about 20 guys, about half in regular grappling attire and about half in gi’s. I love a man in uniform! We just warmed up and then the teacher went over a few techniques related to spider guard, which I had never heard of before. I did my best but I really think I need to start with basics, because I am still confused over basic submissions. Alas, I guess I was one of the only ones. So I practiced those spider guard techniques (though really don’t have context for them), and then it was on to rolling. I only rolled two out of 6 rounds, partly because I had already been working out for several hours straight- and probably the 6th or so hour of exercise for the day- but mostly because I was “over” not knowing what I’m doing. I can’t hang with the big boys if I don’t even know basic things. So, I will probably book some privates. Once I get my schedule figured out.

Tomorrow I am trying other classes, so then I will have taken all the classes I’m interested in, and can compare and mix together the ones I like, and get a schedule together.

A few things I want to note. Firstly, all classes include stretching before and after. I LOVE this! This is very important. Secondly, my elbow does not feel the greatest but it feels okay, and I am actively working to keep it there (or better, of course). Thirdly, I need to buy some big towels for my profuse sweat while training. And I need to buy more workout clothes, if you can believe it. With the humidity how it it, I soak through my clothes at record rates, so I need a constantly revolving assortment. Wednesday I plan to ride my motorbike into Phuket city to grab these items…And as a final note….This place is a paradise! For the active person, this is an awesome playground. It’s neat to always train outside, and there are options to train all the time, and training frequently is highly encouraged. This is for those of us who are BEAST MODE!! There are so many people here from all over the world who are staying here for months at a time…yes, because this place is pretty effing awesome. Okay, these are my sentiments after one day, and we’ll see how this persists over time, but for now I am happy!

Time to read my book and I hope tomorrow is more of the same, but different!

Lots of love,

~K

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