Thailand Memories

Padwork at Tiger Muay Thai in January 2010 with Kru Moo Nakorn. Definitely my favourite Thai coach out of everyone there.

If I remember correctly it was after a few rounds on the bag hence why I look a little gassed. It gets better at about 1.30… jeez, watching it again makes me feel tired!

Mr. Phaitoon Phongjeen aka Moo is 31-years-old and one the respected members of the Tiger Muay thai training team. Moo is known for his hard tempered disposition and being hard on his students. He loves his national Sport and take teaching it seriously as many former guests know after training with him.

From the Nakorn Sri Thammarat Province of Thailand, Moo is a 5 X Muay Thai Champion at stadiums from Bangkok to Hat Yai. With nearly 300 fights under his belt winning 70% of them, MOO comes from a family of Muay thai fighters with brothers owning Lumpinee and Rajadamnoen titles as well, and his father a former Champion.

Moo comes from a the teachings of Ajarn Pratun Rattanphan, a Master Muay Thai instuctor of multiple Thai champions. Moo, when not training is a family man enjoys southern Thai food and music.

0-1-1 in Thailand

So after what people told me was a ‘great fight’ and that I was ‘winning the fight all the way’, the bout was stopped midway through the 3rd and final round.

Scott dropped me with a hard right body kick which made me take a knee and get up on the 6 count but the referee called it off. A few people afterwards approached me and told me the fight shouldnt have been stopped as I got up and wanted to carry on but after giving it a couple of hours – my ribs are well and truly done. Im restricted in my movement side to side and Im struggling to tense my core. I’ve taken 2 strong Ibuprofen along with alternative heat/ice and I still feel like I want to vomit.

I’ve watched the video back and it looked like a good fight but you are your worst critic, more work could have been done on my behalf and I should have listened to my corner. Taking Ray Elbe’s advice, I scored 2 big knees during the fight and should have continued to throw them but didnt. I should have circled away from his right leg but didnt. I should have been more aggressive but wasnt and I should have fired the right hand when he dropped his guard but it didnt happen.

My warm up was fine if not a little longer than expected. Thai people always have a different concept of time and I fought 20 minutes later than I was advised but no harm done. It’s all experience and Paule Marchant from Peacock Gym in London did a great job in helping me warm up pad wise and Des was great in carting me around afterwards looking for pain relief!

All in all, a good night, a lesson learned and I take a loss in Thailand.

T Minus 120 minutes

As I lie down in my oversized bed, the buzz in my stomach and the increased heart rate stops me from getting any sort of last minute rest before I step in. Since 10am the buzz hasnt disappeared, it merely gets stronger and stronger and I know I should be embracing it rather than fighting it off, it’s not the first time I’ve had it and I guarantee it wont be the last.

Every scenario, gameplan and technique runs through my head but I shrug it off – I know nothing about this guy and vice versa. He’s a couple of kilos heavier and his hands look decent when I saw him on the bag but anyone can hit a bag. I look like Roy Jones on a bag but the reality is different. “It’s not about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can GET hit and keep going” and I’ve been hit hard plenty of times. I train and spar with some of the best people in the UK, I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses better than anybody else. No stranger can beat me at what I’m good at.

Negative thoughts flow through my head, I have no team mates here. I have friends I’ve made along the way but nobody who really knows me. My brother isn’t here to offer me any last minute advice, Karl isn’t here to shout A class instructions, Garvey isn’t here to put my mind at ease, Anna isn;t here to make me laugh and Inman isn’t here to remind me without speaking that I can hang with people. “Winning is good, losing is bad”. I ran through a trial warm up last night at 7.30pm which is around the time I’ll be throwing down… it took me 20 minutes or so to peak. Static to Dynamics, showdowboxing, loose padwork and more static to dynamics.

No new techniques here, I have the tools… I just need to use them like I normally do.

As I wait for 7pm to approach so I can drink my coffee and get some fast acting carbs I think: Fundamentals. A straight line beats a curve every time without fail. No peacock. Chin down, hands up. Jab at distance and hook in range. Uppercut when he ducks his head down. Parry the jab and come over the top. Give him something to think about. Never let him settle. Accelerate.

Saturday 19th December 2009

Me working Fred's corner

Saturday 19th December had me cornering 2 fights at BBQ Beatdown, an unofficial ‘Smoker Fight’ event held every month at Tiger Muay Thai. With UFC names such as Roger Huerta, Chad Reiner and Dave Menne making appearances to referee and judge, the camp was almost full with people from the camp.

Skipping through the Thai fights, Brian Hyslop from Dinky Ninjas Fight Team, Glasgow was up against my neighbour and friend Frederik Jostelius. Both guys have fight experience with Fred having more so and a title holder back in Sweden.

Luke showing Brian some support!

DNFT and SBG have a good working relationship back at home and Ididnt want Brian going in there surrounded by people but feeling alone with no coaching so offered to help him out. Cornering Brian, I was a little flustered to say the least as I knew very little about both fighters except Fred was a talented wrestler and Brian, coming from DNFT and training with Paul McVeigh, had good hands and BJJ.

Me and Brian

The second fight was Fred Harrington and South African, George. With this fight, I knew Fred had better stand up striking and having fought Amateur rules at home in excess of 10 fights, he wouldn’t be bad on the ground. I knew george wouldn’t want any of the stand up so told Fred to keep it standing. Throw shots from inside clinch and to hit on the break… NOT to let it go to he ground. If somebody WANTS to take you down, chances are, they’re gonna be quite good.

Afterwards was unexpected. A trip to Patong which led us to Suzy Wong’s, an infamous strip bar where they handed you foam bats to spank the girls with. Hold on, not spank… HIT. Spanking would imply some sort of holding back. There was no holding back. The funniest thing about the whole thing was when we left and we were sat in another bar wondering why we left, so we went back. Such a great night, especially when witnessing one of the other customers go down on one of the girls… why would you go down on a woman in public? Not even that, why would you go down on a hooker?

Headcount before Patong

Christian, Brian and Me in Patong

Sawasdee Khrap

It’s hot, it’s humid and the training is hard… trying to keep your fluids up as well as keeping your hands up, shoulders relaxed and punches sharp proves quite difficult in the heat.

I’ve now been here a week or so and have met a few interesting people… as well as the obnoxious egotistical nobs who think a number of MMA wins gives them the right to bully and choose his gang… but you learn to ignore them, keep your head as well as your chin down and battle through the numerous rounds of thai pads and bag work.

So far, I’ve spent more time in my air conditioned room than explore but I’m slowly and surely coming out of my shell and meeting fellow fighters, especially in the last couple of days where a day at the local zoo always makes you smile… even when sat through the monkey show…

Training is almost the same as being back at home but more relaxed and longer. Once you get used to the heat and pace, you feel like you’re not cramming 6 hundred techniques in an hour… the trainers take their time with you, correct every single thing there is to correct to generate more power and more speed. Your foot could be slightly out when throwing a kick, they’ll move it to where it should be and then suddenly the boom of the Thai pad as you throw your hips into the kick like they ask you to sounds more and more attractive.

You start with 30 mins skipping or tyre bounce to warm up followed by up to 30 mins worth of running and stretching. You then wrap your hands and move to a bag or an instructor for 6 rounds of pad/bag work. You take a water break between each round after 10 push ups, unwrap your hands after pad/bag work and go into the technique part of the session where knees/elbows/blocking will take up around 30 mins. Then onto the sit ups, 200 sit ups followed by 50-100 push ups and maybe, just maybe, you’ll do 100-200 push kicks/knees/kicks just to sap that little bit out of you. Then more stretching, finish, grab a protein shake, shower then head off down to Momma’s to have a giggle and something to eat.