My First Day of Training!

Well I woke up in the morning to the sound of all the Thai Fighters coming down the stairs to go running. So I slowly woke up still getting used to the time difference and went upstairs to the gym to stretch out. My body was a little slow, so I stretched out and then hit the bags for a little bit. Eventually the trainers came up stairs to start rolling the fighters handwraps, when they were done one of the smallest trainer here asked me if I was ready. I was as ready as I was going to be so I put my gloves on and got in the ring.

I did 4 rounds on the Thai Pads. Before I came to Thailand I was doing Thai Pad work 3 times a week and sparring twice a week. The only difference was I was doing 4 - 3 minute rounds with a 45 second rest period, here at Sitsongpeenong they do 4 minute rounds with a 30 second rest period and the pace is a lot faster then I was doing back home. But, I was able to maintain a high pace for the first 2.5 half rounds but that last round in a half made me dig down inside.

I felt kinda bad for the trainer I was working with because I have teens in my school that are bigger than him and he was taking my kicks and I was dropping some pretty heavy bombs on him. But he took the kicks and smiled, even though I saw the look of shock in his face. After that training session I went to go have breakfast because I was going to do a private lesson with Ajarn Monlit who is a legendary Muay Thai Trainer. He has trained many Muay Thai Champions like Jongsanan Fairtex, Bunkerd Fairtex and Yoknoi Fairtex and now he is training his next group of champions. So I was pretty psyched about doing this private lesson.

My morning private was rescheduled to the afternoon because the Gym Owner Tim and Ajarn Monlit had to go and do a press conference. When my private lesson rolled around at 2pm I was excited. Ajarn Monlit said because I am a teacher he wants to start with the basics and build from there so I can take it back to the USA to teach. So my training started with doing Jab, Crosses focusing on my stance, footwork and how my hands were positioned while in my guarding stance. Half way through the private my left shoulder was shot. I could barely hold it up, so Ajarn Monlit started pouring the COLDEST water on my shoulders and started to massage my shoulders so I could keep going. That cold water shocked my body but it reinvigorated me after each round and massaging my whole body between each round definitely helped.

By the time I had 15 minutes left to go in the private I was completely soaked from sweat and water, literally you could wring my Muay Thai shorts out and fill a cup of water. Those last 15 minutes seemed like an eternity because by that time, I had done literally hundreds of Jab, Crosses in the air and on the Focus Mitts. I think Ajarn Monlit could see I was spent so he took me over to the punching bag to do flying rounds knees and front kicks on the bag. I guess he thought since I was working a different group of muscles that it would help and it did! But since I was so wet it made it very hard to do front kicks on the punching bag, my feet kept slipping off and I was slipping on the floor too.

By the end of the private lesson he said my Jab, Crosses looked much better and that tomorrow we would work on kicks and knees. I am excited! It's amazing how many details a great teacher can correct by watching you train. I really do feel like my Jab, Crosses improved a lot because of that training session. I can't wait until tomorrow.