Archive for December 30th, 2009
Back to reality
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…
Farewell Kiatphontip
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!
This picture deserved its own post!
Samssamut comes back to the gym after the weigh in for his raja fight, smiling with a IV drip in his arm
Final night in Bangkok
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.
