yesterday i hit the afternoon session at sinbi. the session started with skipping followed by laps of the gym and finally group stretching. honestly, i was pouring sweat just after this warm up. shadow boxing followed- within moments a trainer had come to me and started t o make adjustments, mainly to my stance. after 2 rounds of shadow people moved to bag and pad work. as this was my first session I- along with 3 other new people including 2 total beginners- went over basic techniques with one of the trainers, who changed the way i throw a hook. 2 rounds of bag work and 4 rounds on the pads followed- the pad work stuck to the very basics but i suffered due to the humidity. after that i was kinda left to it, so after taking a bit of time to recover my energy i went to practice leg kicks on the long bag. the session ended soon after, and I quickly showered and changed before heading out in search of food. i ate at a small cafe- a delicious green curry with rice. afterwards i decided to go for a wander, but was soon enticed into a massage. before you all make the obvious jokes, no, there was no happy ending ha! though as i left a Swedish guy first of all told me I could have her for the night for 1,000 baht (about 20 quid), then tried to tell me where i could buy some weed- this is Thailand- everything is for sale for the right price!
the massage was amazing, and afterwards i felt looser and more relaxed than i have in a long time- the perfect remedy to the stress if recent weeks!
today i hit the morning session. the same warm up, then i was told to jump in one of the gyms 2 rings for pad work. my first impression was that the canvas on the ring was ridiculously slippery, and it hadn't even been sweat on yet! i finished 5 rounds of padwork, expanding on techniques more than the previous day. one thing i noticed compared to at home- when these guys throw kicks at you to block, it is a hell of a lot harder to see it coming, they don't give anything away! i struggled through 5 more rounds on the bag, starting to feel the heat, but that was a holiday compared to what came next- 1 minute intervals of continuous punches or kicks on the bag, interspersed with squats and push ups, then a drill where you clinched with a partner and threw alternating knees for a couple rounds. finally, we worked a technique where your partner goes for a skip knee and you push them back off balance so you can counter. a very simple yet effective technique, but one that will require good timing and an ability to read your opponent to use in a fight
after training, it was time to hit he beach! I asked Gob, the Thai lady working in the office, directions to the nearest beach and she offered to drive me there which was a nice touch. Nai Harn beach is just a couple miles from the gym and it is incredible! wary of burning my pasty white ass, I spent just a couple hours there including another massage- those things are addictive! getting a massage from the experts with the sun shining around you and the sound of the sea in your ears is the way to go
as tempted as i was to jump straight into training 2x a day, i knew that wasn't a good idea and i was already feeling tired, so instead i had an early tea- a chicken salad at the Kombat Kafe- it is so easy to eat healthily here! on a less healthy note, I also found some Thai donuts in tesco. if you know me you will probably be aware that donuts are my achilles heel, but i think I have earned these ones!
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