Battle Scars

 Some sayings are timeless and worth more than their weight in gold. No Pain, No Gain. My fists are bruised rather nicely and I do take pride in my Battle scars. The last time I trained this hard was at Scorpion Gym where I punched my knuckle painfully "BIG" and sore - it's still abnormally large but this is a great physical advantage as it brings my knuckle closer to the gloves and will inflict more damage when it connects on my opponent.
My shins and legs are the tools that took a battering this time around. The entire length of my shins on both my legs are purple and looking much like rawhide. Im looking forward to toughening them up and stepping up my workouts. Up until now I've pretty much neglected weight training and focused purely on technique and conditioning. Im a month out and I figure its time to work those bicep curls and pump some cold hard iron.

My time in Bangkok went by very slowly. The life of a fighter is tough. Both mentally and physically. On the third and fourth day i felt like a balloon full of concrete. Heavy, slow and ready to pop at any moment. It only took a days rest to repair my body. Touching down in Singapore this afternoon I already miss the cracking sound of hitting the pads. I did very little work on the Bags. Jitti's Gym works almost exclusively with the trainers pads and sparring. I will take this Saturday evening off to rest and enjoy my creature comforts and then jump into training tomorrow morning with the Badgemeister.

I feel the things ive improved are my kicks, movement, conditioning and stance. The Trainers worked alot of counters so I will continue to work those on my own. I am also going to suggest to my local Trainers to help me with my program - extend the pad work. have increased sparring sessions and work on other specific reactionary counters. 

I dont feel as if Ive lost any weight - in fact i ate quite heartily during my training.I purposely kept it high in carbohydrates to give me enough energy in the day to last the longer rounds. One thing i do regret was not bringing any Protein or Muscle recovery powder with me. My muscles would have thanked me for the extra protein.

As I was telling the Badge after lunch this afternoon - i feel like Ive graduated to the next level in World of Warcraft. Gained enough experience points to level up. My body feels tougher than ever just when i thought it was already tough. The human body is indeed amazing. Im really looking forward to pushing my limits mentally and obviously physically. The aesthetic reward is a highly satisfying part of training in Muay Thai.

I left the MINI R Hotel early this Saturday morning, eager to get back home to Singapore. I was a little disappointed to miss the first round of my Touch season but I hear the club performed well, overall. In fact I tried to change my flight to the Friday night - mental note - Jetstar requires a minimum of 24 hours to change flight times. Anyway, after a week of gliding in and out of the Hotel lobby and intentionally keeping my greetings to the reception girls short - I told one of the girls I was checking out this morning - returning back to Singapore. She was so disappointed to hear that I was leaving - she scuttled out from behind the desk and gave me a big warm hug. I told her I'd be returning in June - Still, she wasnt satisfied that it was so far away. she had already saved my email she told me as she walked me out to the Taxi and wished me well. I thanked her for ... umm doing her job - "Thanks for everything!" I exclaimed.
Next time i return - you better give me a room with a view and a cheaper rate - I really dont like living in a concrete coffin.

Im nearing the end of a book called A Fighter's Heart by Sam Sheridan and his Journey through the world of fighting. It's very much a diarised perspective of a Fight groupie so Im really not impressed. It has some interesting excerpts but doesnt give any real insight to what its like to fight and train with these Warriors. Anyway, one thing i did pick up from the book was that it takes alot of repetition to perfect a straight or 1-2 combination. Im looking at loading up my right hand. Feet first - because the hands always follow the feet.
Conditioning and straights with a good high kick and knee should see me through my first test. The rest of the arsenal will be brought along slowly and I will improvise.

I went to watch the fights at Lumpini Stadium during my last night in Bangkok - at 2000 Baht for VIP Ringside seats its a tad high for Thailand. Prices for curious foreigners. Im not going to talk about the annoying couples who kept moving in and out of their seats interrupting my view - perhaps they have kidney problems. Well Ive been mentally constructing my fight strategy, training my instincts to perform a certain action based on a certain move. I plan to keep it simple yet at the same time - I am really going to let my hands go. I dont always blow my own horn , but I can do that here because this is my BLOG and these are my thoughts.
I cant see anyone fitter at me right now. Ive already raced in a 50km adventure race coming in the top 10 easily. I train 6 times a week and I just spent 5 days training in Thailand which is worth a Month of training anywhere else. I'm certainly not in Peak condition - that was 10 years ago, that time has long gone. My brother put our fitness in perspective the other day when we were commenting about how fast and fit guys are in their early 20's. "We are doing pretty well in our 30's. We are like Egg." : D I think Im in denial. I am not an Egg!