Round One

I haven’t been feeling well these past few days. It’s not the flu though I have symptoms of a dry throat and a slight migraine. Either way I’m not too impressed about it and I’m not 100% probably closer to 75%. I like to sweat out these kinds of ailments – always have always will, so I made my way out to Jitti’s Gym – off Ratchadaspek Station, two stops from MiniR hotel where I’m staying.

I got in at 9.30am to be greeted by Jitti himself. He welcomed me instantly as I’m sure he has with every other foreigner that passes through his door. He is fit and well built man probably around 45 years old. His English is excellent and he is softly spoken and radiates good energy. Once I told him where I was from he showed me photos of New Zealand fighters who have trained at his gym before. I told him I wanted to train for the next 5 days and he gave me a price of 2500 Baht ($100 SGD).

The sessions normally start at 7am-10am so I decided to get a light sweat on with some skipping and bag work. I had been itching for some form of exercise for days. It didn’t help that I got on the turps with the boys on Wednesday night while AF and Kirsty were in town and I had a major hangover for the entire Thursday. I’ve decided to abstain completely from alcohol for the next 2 months and in fact I may only limit myself to 1 drink per hour.

The gym is very small and combined with living facilities in a hostel concept – a Ground level Ring, 7 well worn heavy bags, Squatting toilet/showers and an open eating area where meals are provided. Jitti has two gyms – One in Kao San Road (9 years old) and this newer one in Ratchadaspek (5 years old).
The first thing I noticed was that there were no mirrors. Few padded areas and mainly smooth hard concrete floors to work off. It’s none too impressive given the other gyms I’ve seen. However, the essential key are the trainers, the programme and the environment. Based on my first day it’s been probably the best experience I’ve had at a Muay Thai boxing gym.

Jitti invited me into the ring to work through some basics – most importantly was the focus on the breathing and the loose body movements. Breathe in, blow out. I still stand and move like a robot. He whispered in his soft calming voice to throw magic punches and stalk my prey like a tiger ~ silently and viciously. He instructed me to loosen and sharpen up my punches until I was ready to strike with harder blows. I was told to centre my body and balance myself at all times.
My basic foundation is pretty good thankfully as he didn’t have to correct any of those techniques. Just the footwork and movement about the ring. Like Bruce Lee said “Be like water.”

 I did some light stretching with Jitti and he told me to save my energy for the second session at 3pm. I was eager to really get stuck in for the second session so I went back to grab lunch and take a nap back at the Mini. I felt great!

Round Two - Afternoon Session
3pm came around sooner than expected and I basically lay in bed for 2 hours.
I was the second person in the gym and I noticed a bigger lad with Tapout shorts skipping in the corner. I started my skipping as the gym slowly began to fill with “Foreigners” mainly Europeans/Caucasians and a Heavyweight Aucklander - Kiwis are everywhere! Interestingly enough I was probably one of the bigger guys in the gym – the trainers were shorter guys with a standard build and the Caucasians were mainly stick thin cardio machines with excellent technique and serious intention.

I got into a conversation with the first guy in the gym. Manchester –that’s where he’s from – a young lad he’s training to be an MMA fighter and has relatives from Malaysia – he’s half Asian/British. And he’s BIG 5’10, 80kgs cut.

I was invited into the ring with three other fighters, we stretched and then shadowed for close to 25 mins. Then began the padwork - I went three rounds with one of the trainers who was excitedly energetic and made me move a heck of a lot around the ring. He encouraged me a lot and I really appreciated that. We worked a lot of kicks and knees. Very few punches and elbows. Each round was close to 5-6mins. There was no bell or beeper. I was done after the second round. My head was burning up and I couldn’t even find my second wind. I was losing all form – although I tried to push through it. It was HOT. The tin roof doesn’t help, nor does having 6 guys in the ring sucking up your oxygen. I pushed on and tried some sparring with Manchester. I was too tired for that and he whooped me. It was a good lesson although I wouldn’t say he is that good. My kicks were way too fast for him. Plus I let him beat up on me to learn some new things.

I finished up with more shadow boxing, a warm down stretch, some weights and finally 100 knees and 20 kicks on either side. It’s great because the trainer’s workout with you on a very personal level so I do hope that continues. They were all aware it was my first day and I knew I had hit the wall. Being age 32 – logic and experience tells you to stop when the Brick Wall has fallen on you.

Once that was done I shot out of the gym to grab some sugar – Coke, Gatorade and a Cold Shower. I was still burning up and it was like I was in a heat storm. The environment definitely takes some getting used to and I figure I will adjust to that by tomorrow. It’s been 2.5 hours after a quick injection of fluids and a hot plate of Spaghetti Bolognese. I feel much better. The body feels good. The head cold is improving and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. OhWAY!