first team workout

First official team meeting and workout was last night. Kind of a basic, relaxed workout just to give everyone an idea of what things are going to be like without really killing us.

So once I arrived I settled the finances ($350 for 2 years worth of training and an equipment package). Then I went and got myself weighed and found out I'm up to 157lbs, which hopefully means I've added lean muscle and not fat. Ideally I'd like to walk around at 165 and then cut to 155 for competitions (155 is a common weight class).

After a brief individual warm-up and stretch we got to some basic group drills and did a short 45-minute workout, followed by a few minutes of grappling with the trainers. I got a chance to talk to a few of my teammates and trainers found out they had already heard about me a bit; Anthony had spoken about me a few times, and I think my profile caught their eye (since it lists a fair bit of Muay Thai experience, compared to most of the people having little or no prior experience). Everyone I met seemed pretty chill. No giant egomaniacs. Anthony seems to have kept his word that he didn't want to fill the team with meatheads.

After the short workout, we were handed our tshirts and officially welcomed to the team, then we went over the team rules (all common sense stuff), and then they handed out our gear. Since I already have most of my own gear I only got headgear and I asked Anthony to order a pair of longsleeve rashguards for me. After that it was all over. I hung out for a few minutes to chat with a couple of the trainers, but then realizing it was nearly 11p and I had a half-hour drive ahead of me, I headed home.

I'm definitely looking forward to this new opportunity. I think this team has a lot to offer me and I look forward to improving all areas of my martial arts training.

trying out

So a couple weeks ago while I was surfing the web I came across an ad saying "MMA Training: 2 years for $350". It piqued my curiosity so I followed the link and learned about the program. It's legit. The head instructor is an established Sambo expert and MMA guy. I checked out a couple of his videos on youtube and he is not the kind of MMA guy that gives MMA a bad rap. So I emailed him and got a reply inviting me to a tryout. I went to the tryout, which was all just some conditioning drills, a bit of padwork, and a brief instructional on the Kimura and supine armbar to see how quickly we pick up grappling. I got a good feeling about it all. The guys were nice and not egotistical (it wasn't like walking into The Ultimate Fighter house thank god). The head instructor is a humble guy and an expert at his craft.

A couple days later I get an email telling me I've made the team! I'm pretty excited about it. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to train with a group of people that are there to help each other out, and aren't all out for themselves. The last time I trained with a group of MMA guys it was at the University and there was no sense of camraderie or team or cooperation. Everyone was out for themselves.

One of the biggest problems with most martial arts schools in America is that everyone is a free agent. No one is there trying to help each other. Everyone is in it for themselves. This is entirely different from the traditional training in Thailand where you are part of a team, a family. The fact that a lot of the established and high-caliber MMA groups in the States operates in a similar fashion is a good thing. It's the smaller MMA schools (the ones that are "Karate and MMA" or "TaeKwonDo and MMA" etc) do not operate this way is unfortunate. Those are the ones that create the mercenaries.

Well I hope I'm on the right track here. I'm looking forward to learning a lot of new techniques and honing the ones I already have. The first Team meeting is 12 May and the first team training is probably 17 May. So I'll only be able to get a handful of workouts in before I leave for Thailand.

This summer I plan to visit a few different gyms for the first time: Kaewsamrit, Sasiprapa, Ton's Gym, and maybe Sor Ploenchit. I'll stop by MTI to say hi and then I'll be training at Fairtex Pattaya for at least a month. I wonder if I'll have the funds to stay for 2 months.

forever

He's asleep forever now.

Thank you. I love you always.

last days

Not long from now, it's going to be time to say good-bye to my best friend, my constant companion, my son, my brother, my hero, my boss. He's been with me for nearly 17 years. More than half my life.

Along the way, he's always been with me. He's seen me go through some of my worst periods of depression, and some of my happiest moments. He has always loved to sit on my lap, sleep next to me, play fight with me. Maybe he looks at me and wonders why I don't have a fur coat like his and why I stand on 2 feet instead of 4.

Tears flow constantly now. I thought I was prepared for this. I've always known this day would come. He's watched me grow into who I am now. I hope he's proud of me. When we first met, I was very different from who I am now. For example, back then I was just starting to embrace Buddhism. It's largely thanks to Buddhism that I've developed into the person I am today. Buddhism has taught me the impermanence of all things. Everything that has a birth day will also have a last day. That is simply the nature of all things. The way of life.

Like I said, I've always known this day would come. And because of that, I've never taken for granted any day we've had together. Knowing that these days wouldn't last forever has taught me to value each day as a gift and a miracle.

Thank you for the best 16+ years of my life. Without ever uttering a single word, you've given me so much. I hope that I've earned the love and happiness you've given to me. I love you always.

motivate

Motivation comes in different forms. Some people need to be calm, centered, relaxed. They can't train with a cluttered mind. All thoughts of the outside world have to fade away so that they can focus only on their training.

Some people need to get really angry, really worked up about something in order to get a good workout; like they need to get their frustrations out on something. All the aggravation they've saved up must find a release valve.

Some people need to look at themselves in disgust; they're unhappy with their current condition and will do whatever it takes to improve.

Some people need to feel inspired in order to train properly. They need to be able to see what they're training towards in order to push themeselves to a higher level.

For some, it's a combination of the above. My combination is that I tend to need to be inspired, I look at myself and am unhappy with my current condition (no matter how much I improve, it's never good enough), and I just tend not to think too much about the outside world. I don't need to feel angry or at peace or whatever. I just know where I want to be, and know that I'm not there yet. For the most part, that's motivation enough to keep driving me forward.

Sometimes I need some types of motivation more than others. Usually if I'm in a rut, the best way to get me out is via inspiration. Being inspired gets me to push the hardest, generally speaking.

Once in a while, I need other forms of motivation. Competition is a good motivator; if you know you're gonna fight, you better be training your ass off. That kind of motivation is what drives a Muay Thai fighter and not the average martial artist. The average martial artist trains for the potential street encounter, so the don't train as hard as they could. It might happen; it might not. The average Muay Thai fighter knows he's gonna be fighting, so he better be well-prepared for it.

I don't have any fights lined up any time soon, but I need to train that way anyway. I gotta push myself harder and harder.

Fairtex

I was very anxious about the training. It's something I had been looking forward to for a number of years. When I got into the gym, the anticipation was driving me nuts. I kept asking Clara over and over "so what do we do? When do we go up? Will they definitely get us? What if they skip us?" She answered all of my questions patiently, even after they twelfth time.

The procedure basically goes like this: get there and do your own warmups (whatever it may be) until a trainer or Ted comes to get you. You then get five 4-minute rounds of padwork with a trainer. The fifth round is Western Boxing on the small focus mitts.

Day 1, AM session: My trainer was named Lek. He gave me a good workout, although his combos weren't quite as elaborate as I would have liked. I guess that's a result of my subpar padwork. Clara's trainer was Khom, who also happens to be Nareupol's trainer. We started at the same time so neither of us got to see the other's workout, but we chatted between rounds. After we got down from the ring, Kru Khom came back to us and worked on some kicks and some clinching.

Day 1, PM session, Clara arranged for me to train with Yak, Yodsaenklai's trainer. As is Yak's style, he had to assess me before actually giving me a session. We spent 3 rounds talking (about history, technique, ring smarts, etc), 2 rounds training, and another few minutes chatting before Yod hit the ring. After my time was up, Clara and I worked out on the bags a little. After Yod finished, Yak came over to us. He gave me a quick tutorial on the teep, and 2 minutes later, my teep had improved 200%. We ended up talking some more and then he showed some clinching techniques like throws from position 1 (using your leg on the outside), elbows to the thighs, elbow to chest & chin. Half an hour later, we were done. Couldn't believe he stayed an extra 30 minutes to train us privately and chit chat. Clara couldn't understand him, but she said she could just feel his passion for Muay Thai.

Day 2 AM session, Clara was grabbed by a trainer whose name we didn't get. He was a bit older and didn't challenge Clara at all. She basically slept-walked through the pads. He was quite lazy. He probably grabbed her thinking she was a weak, unskilled girl and not the experienced Muay Thai practitioner that she is. I was lucky enough to be accepted by Yak and he happily gave me a rigourous pad workout. The way he runs the pads had me completely gassed by the end of the fourth round. He doesn't allow you to catch your breath for more than half a second. After the first round, he had me going for an additional 45 seconds through the break. After the second round was probably an additional 15-20 seconds. Yak is an incredibly good trainer (obviously). He corrects you quickly and briefly on the fly, and I was able to follow his instructions and make the adjustments as we went, without stopping to rest or think. After this class, Yak also came by to chat with us and give us more tips. Clara said that he seems to have taken a liking to me, and I'm honoured by that. I'd love to be able to train with him for several months.

Day 2, PM session, Kru Yak was booked solid with his regulars, so he told me to train with one of his former students, Chet. Clara was almost pulled over by the lazy guy again, and was not happy about that. So I went over to Kru Khom and asked him if he could train Clara. I think he was pleased that he was being requested, and he happily agreed. He might have even told Nareupol to take a backseat for a while hahaha. Clara and Khom had a good rapport on the pads. Clara was able to understand how he runs the pads, so she got a good workout with him. Chet started going a little too easy on me, but soon began to up the pace a bit. Taking a cue from Yak, he kept the number of techniques to a minimum to make sure I was tight on the moves I was doing. I got a good workout with Chet. Clara took some videos for me, but was quickly distracted when Yod hopped into the ring with Yak. I can't say I blame her. So I was in the ring adjacent to Yod and Yak. And you could literally feel the impact of his kicks through the air. After his ring time was up, he went to the bags. I teased Clara and suggested she hold the bag for Yod while he kicked. Later, Yod went to one of the bags that's around a pillar/column. As he kicked, I saw the column move. It's absolutely frightening how hard that man kicks. We chatted with Yak very briefly this time as we were both drained. And I was very much looking forward to our date that night, so maybe I was a bit distracted after the pads.

choices

I generally believe that the Universe is perfect in its own way. I mean this spiritually, not scientifically. I'm not here to talk about astrophysics. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe we don't understand why they happen, and maybe sometimes we're not supposed to.

But sometimes the Universe throws an obvious curveball at you for a specific reason. Does that make any sense? I'm talking about one of those things where you just kind of look at the sky and say "Wow... this is something special, but how do I handle it?"

The situation can be good, bad, or maybe a little bit of both. But that situation has a vast impact on you no matter what. You're meant to learn a lesson, but that lesson may not be apparent. Yes, I know I'm being vague. Deal with it.

As you may have already guessed, I've got one of those right now. This is something that's impacting my life in a big way, and I need to figure out the puzzle of what lesson am I supposed to learn here?

Ultimately it's up to me what I get out of this. So I need to get the most out of it that I can and I need to make sure it leaves a positive, lasting impact on my life. Every day is a journey to make myself a better person. Sometimes the Universe offers a chance to make a leap; I think this is one of those moments, so I hope I'm doing the right things.