Upping the tempo

My plan on coming here was to train only once a day for the first week or so as I acclimatized. That didn't last long. After morning training yesterday I decided to just chill for the day, but after a couple hours just reading and watching tv, I decided to hit the afternoon session too. Well, I don't think I was ready for that! After the usual warm up I did 8 rounds of sparring, with the trainers insisting that we continue through the breaks on every other round. After about 3 rounds I felt utterly fucked, and I hadn't even hit a bag or pad yet! It also seems that some people have differing ideas of what 'light' sparring entails...
After sparring I spent a couple rounds sat down trying to recover, before I was called into the ring for some padwork. I think the trainer must have noticed my tiredness, as he had me do 4 short rounds that were focused on technique rather than intensity. I managed to get through these ok, then hit the bag for a few rounds, but by this point I was utterly spent. During the cool down and stretching I was silently begging them to hurry up as all I wanted to do was get under a cold shower and pass out!
After monging out for a while I went out for some food, settling on a small place nearby called King Kong Burger, which I have eaten at a few times now. Although I am certainly loving the cheap and tasty Thai food, my belly was crying out for something fatty so a burger and chips was the order of the day- I reckon i earnt that burger!!
I have also decided to stay at Sinbi for the duration of my time here- I think I will gain more by staying and forging good relationships with the trainers rather than starting over again at another gym in a week or two. I still want to try out a couple of the other gyms I have been looking at, and may just do a few private sessions with them when I fancy a bit of a change up. I will be looking at doing some Muay Boran- the ancient battlefield techniques that was the predecessor to Muay Thai- at Yudtajak gym
Today I did a private session with Tun- I picked him as he had come to me on my first day and started teaching me stuff, and he seems a really nice guy. We focused on padwork this time, and he taught me a few little tricks including an nice little move to use against punchers that is simple, effective and low risk. You just need the timing to get it right, so will have to keep working on that. Between rounds he was massaging my arms and back and stretching my hamstrings over his shoulder- I've seen corner men do this at fights and now I see why, it really helps.
My room mate, Cameron from NZ, hired a scooter today so we went for a razz down to Nai Harn beach where he showed me how to body surf- good fun and some of the waves that come in there are beast!!
Tomorrow night is the Sinbi Fight Night- a big event they only do a few times a year, with students and trainers from the gym facing off against other gyms in he area. The fights are actually in the gym here which is convenient, and I'm buzzing that the timing has come in great for me to see the event. Should be awesome.
My shins are feeling a little banged up so I think tomorrow I will do training without kicks, then its time for some fun- fights and maybe  few beers!!