Everyone has a plan in life, until they get punched in the face…

On my return to Australia, its time for a fresh start. I gave up so much to go to Thailand. Being a fighter is all about the sacrafices we make. It’s about giving up your weeknights, your weekends. It’s about constantly challenging yourself, and bettering yourself not only as a fighter but as a person. One of the best analogies I read about fighting is that when you are fighting, the volume on everything else in your life gets turned down. So true.

I’m writing this on the plane as we speak. Just thought I’d mention that one of the things I’ll miss most about Thailand are the dirt cheap meals. Jetstar wants to charge me $15 AUD for a meal, that’s over 4oo Baht for a shitty airplane meal. Gone are the days of 30 Baht meals L.

As for plans to return to Thailand? Definitely. Now that the novelty of being back home has worn off, its almost as if my perception of reality has changed. It almost feels as if being back home is a dream, and that Thailand was reality. Strange…

And so my 3 month adventure in Thailand has finally come to an end. I decided to cut my stay short by about a week so that I could spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends. A lot has happened over the past 3 months and I thought it’d be best if I came home early. It will be nice to spend time with family and friends over the holiday period. I’m going to miss out on the Kiatphontip Christmas party (I hear it will be a night of abba and old thai classics on the karaoke) and spending new years in Bangkok (which I had always wanted to do).

My time at Kiatphontip has been truly memorable. I came to Thailand in search of the Muay Thai holy grail that so many farang come to seek, only to discover I still had so far to go. Along the way I met some great characters, made some lifelong friends, and found a new family. The people at Kiatphontip are what make it great. The owners Rob and Tah, the trainers, and the kids. It’s a very family orientated environment, in which they put in a huge effort to make you feel apart of. I will miss getting taught technique from 13 year olds, I will miss sitting in the kitchen late at night making jokes at Eeedums expense, I will miss Tah’s home cooked thai meals, and most of all I will miss the carefree lifestyle.

One regret I have is not having had more fights. After watching Brown and Krek fight at the MBK show last night, it got me fired up. Even though it was a small scale shopping centre type promotion it would have been good to have at least one more bash. No matter, I return home with my S1 Champion Rising Star title belt!

What better way to top off my stay in Thailand, than go watch some lads at the gym fight at the MBK show in Bangkok. MBK is one of the biggest shopping centres in Thailand, boasting 8 levels of retail heaven. We had 2 guys from the gym fight at MBK that night and Samsamut fighting a tough fight at Rajadarm afterwards. The MBK show is an outdoor event that runs every week, catering more for the westerners. Both our guys won their fights with early stoppages. Both lads put on a great show, and demonstrated superior technique and skill over their opponents.

Samsamut, (the 21 year old top dog at the gym, and former raja champion) lost his fight via elbow KO in the 3rd. Earlier in the day he came back from the weigh in with a IV drip attached to him. I had heard of this practice before but it was the first time I’d ever seen anyone do that. I had heard that he had cut about 4 kgs. The photo above doesn’t do his size much justice as he is HUGE for a 61kg fighter.

I’ve been training purely Muay Thai for the past few months and have been missing grappling quite a bit. I looked up a few grappling gyms and stumbled across a few in Bangkok. One of them was Bangkok Bjj (http://bkkbjj.com/). Its located on Sukhumvit, Soi 1 just behind Bumrungrad Hospital and streetside to the Golden Palace Hotel. You can’t see the actual gym from the street, because you need to walk into behind the hotel. The gym itself is a tidy little setup with all the comforts like clean mats, kick bags, cardio equipment, kettlebells and other goodies.

I thought Id jump into the striking class to see what its all about. The striking class was actually called Crazy Monkey Defence class. Here a basic rundown from the website:

“CM is a unique approach to boxing principles meant to be incorporated in Mixed Martial Arts and Self-Defense. It was developed by South African martial arts coach Rodney King (not the same and no relation to Rodney King), and is taught worldwide by members of the Performance Coaching World Alliance (PCWA) . Similar in many ways to a classic boxing “high guard,” it is often first taught as a defense but can and has been used offensively by professional MMA fighters successfully.”

The class was small with about 3 other people but included some interesting concepts for MMA striking. A much tighter guard, and alot of blocking with the elbow rather than parrying strikes.

I stuck around for the No Gi grappling class which had a few more people attend. We ran through a nice choke from scarf hold position and then got stuck into some sparring. Damn I miss grappling! haha It was good to have a bit of a roll and I’m glad to say I don’t feel like my technique has suffered much after not grappling for so long.

The drop in rate per class was 400baht. The gym itself is super clean and nicely laid out. Big enough to have a few pairs rolling at the same time. The instructor himself is Prof Adam Sahir Kayoom, a Bjj blackbelt. Most of the students for foreigners and thais who had travelled abroad to study or live. It seems that BJJ in thailand is either for foreigners or the wealthier thais. Classes are run on everyday expect for Sunday, both Gi and No Gi. I think ill stick to No Gi! Not keen on wearing my gi in the thai heat. Hopefully Ill make it back down next week and post up some happy snaps!

This weekend has been a 5 day long celebration for the Kings Birthday. Its one of the biggest few days in the Thai calender with huge celebrations all across the country. Fireworks, lights, food, parades and people! What more could you ask for? This weekend is also a big weekend for the fight calender. Nearly all the kids from the gym fought on various days throughout the weekend. Below is footage of a young lad who goes by the name Rambo. You’ll see from his aggressive style why he has been nicknamed Rambo.

And so it begins all again, after about a week off I had my first session back at the gym, and I felt damn good. I think the week off training did my body and mind a world of good. Niggling injuries seemed to heal and my body felt refreshed and strong. I think one of the most important things when traveling abroad is to get adequate rest and recovery time. We are thrusting our bodies in a different environment, with climates and diets we are not used to and it will take time to adjust. Too many times have I seen gung ho farang (westerners) who burn themselves out in the first week of training simply cause they thought they could jump right into it. Best piece of advice I was given, and will continue to give to others is to take it easy at the start.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Lao Tzu

2 of the guys at the gym knew that I was having a miserable few days so they decided to organise a wee gym party for my bday to cheer me up. Pizza, chicken wings, and ice cream cake! Ohhhh yeah, thanks to team Sweden and Kiatphontip family for putting a smile on my face on my special day. No… I’m not going to mention how old I turned.