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theprodigy
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« on: July 04, 2008, 01:26:49 AM » |
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Training in Thailand
Many people have asked me what it was like to be in Thailand, and now that I’m back from Brazil I’m getting the same questions so I decided I would make it a post.
Thailand
The first time I went to Thailand was in may 2006. May is the beginning of the rainy season and during this season in Thailand the temperature gets past 90 degrees and the humidity levels can get up to 85%. I was there for a maymester study abroad in criminal justice studying with Dr. Sutham Cherparakobkit a former Bangkok police officer turned professor. Through him I was able to stay at the biggest university in Thailand, Chulalongkorn. The university opportunities however didn’t match with any of the other opportunities he had to offer. Since Thailand only has one police force and one police academy he had gone to school with almost every police chief in the country. But more so he was very good friends with the manager of Lumpini Boxing Stadium. Located on Rama IV road in the center of Bangkok Lumpini is a boxing stadium run by the Royal Thai Army. It is a run down sports arena no nicer than an American high school basketball gym, without air conditioning, but it is the most infamous and legendary Muay Thai arena in the world.
Sitting front row at lumpini with my free ticket (about 800 Baht, or 20 dollars, half a months average salary in Thailand) with a large crowd, no air conditioning and dripping wet in my own sweat. I watched two young Thais beat the crap out of each other as if they wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. I knew I had to return to the country.
A year later I decided to return, and to the same university I worked out an agreement to do a directed study on Thai cultural law. I ended up writing a paper about it I will publish fairly soon but am hesitant about doing so because it could be outlawed in Thailand.
Muay Thai in Thailand:
All gyms in Thailand are different, but something I realized is that when it comes to putting out fighters they all follow a fairly similar schedule. The thing I was most surprised about is the simplicity of what they did, which by the way I loved. They wake up early, either for discipline or because as soon as the sun comes out is too freaking hot to sleep. In the morning the fighters run, usually 4-6 Kilometers (about 2.5-4 miles). They then eat a small breakfast and start to hit the pads. They do anything from repeated kicks to the Thai pads combination punching, and lots of bob and weave drills. After this they move to sparring, usually more rounds than in an actual fight, with fresh opponents every other round. After this they hit the heavy bags, then more sparring, then lunch. After lunch a Thai massage (200 baht, or 10 dollars…got one of these everyday) and a nap (surprising almost all gyms do the nap thing). After the nap they go back to training, the evening is usually more intense but a lot of the same stuff: running, pads, sparring, bag, sparring.
The Clinch
One major difference I realized about Muay Thai as trained in the motherland is the significance of the clinch. Most schools I noticed worked the clinch as if it was the primary area of study. This was very shocking to me as most schools in the U.S. mostly do the kickboxing portion of the art and concentrate very little on the clinch. Although logically it makes sense to work the clinch more because these guys take elbows and knees like theirs no tomorrow. Drills they work for the clinch include pummeling, in the ring but also on hills, in the dirt, and in the river.
If you have any questions feel free to ask, I’m sure I’ve left some info out. Also, I will try to do one of these about Brazil soon as well.
-Ian
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