In my last post I finished by describing the torturously long journey from Bangkok to Koh Phangan. I arrived on Sunday so no training that day (not that I was in any state for it). I introduced myself to a few people who were hanging around there, some of them staying at the gym like me and others in the area. Everyone seemed very friendly and welcoming. As I didn't have a scooter sorted yet I went for a quick walk to get some food (settling on a burger- as much as I enjoy Thai food at that point I wanted something Western) and a couple of beers, before heading to the 7/11 to stock up on water.
As I returned I bumped into Simon, one of the co-owners of the gym from England. He was very welcoming too, and it's great to have a fellow Englishman on hand to help with any issues. He also said he would sort me out a second hand bike I could use, much better than going to one of the rental shops which often require you to hand over your passport and are notorious for scamming tourists. I was a bit nervous about riding a scooter as I'd never ridden one before, but it's the only way to get around (walking more than 5-10 minutes in this heat is just out of the question) without blowing money on taxis. It also lets you just explore the island, and as it is a relatively quiet place the traffic isn't ridiculous (though it may well be around the Full Moon Party).
Monday morning I had my first taste of training at Diamond. There wasn't many people there training but there are plenty of trainers, meaning you get plenty of attention and the trainers seem to genuinely care about teaching you. They also joke around a lot, creating a friendly, positive vibe in the place. The training follows the standard format for gyms in Thailand- 15 minutes of skipping, followed by stretching, shadow boxing, pad work, bag work and sparring or clinching. Even though it was relatively cool for Thailand, I was sweating buckets within minutes!
After training, comes the food. Chicken, spicy egg, and of course, lots of rice. Very tasty and it's really handy to be able to eat straight after training without needing to go anywhere.
Still without a bike, I spent most of the rest of the day relaxing in my hammock, reading and watching films on my laptop, and sleeping. Not wanting to push things too hard straight away, I decided to skip the afternoon session and just do a few weights. For a small gym there is a pretty well kitted-out weights area, with kettlebells, barbells, dumbells (most of them home-made out of plastic bottles cut in half and filled with concrete), a bench station, chin-up bars, Olympic-style rings, and a few other bits and pieces.
The head trainer (Mon) introduced himself to me (he wasn't at the morning session). He is actually one of the reasons I chose Diamond, I've heard some great things about him and after watching him hold pads for some of the other guys I could tell I made a good choice.
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Tuesday I once again hit the morning session, and my hopes were answered when Mon called me straight into the ring for pad work. He then proceeded to completely shred apart my punching technique, giving me lots of stuff to work on just to improve my straight punches. It is quite humbling to have someone break down your technique like that and could be demoralising to some, but it's the reason I came to Thailand in the first place. I can just hit pads and get a good workout at home, I'm here to fine-tune my technique and style even if that means breaking it all down and building things up from the start.
I'm also very happy that I have been able to spar with a few of the trainers- they are so quick and have a counter for everything, it's hard work but it is the best way to learn.
I've also been hooked up with a scooter, which Simon gave me a quick lesson on and then showed me a couple of nearby places, such as the local Tesco Lotus. After a bit of a shaky start, I quickly got the hang of it and feel ok driving around. Obviously I'm gonna be uber careful, I was driving around about 10 mph getting overtaken all the time, but I'd rather get to my destination in one piece even if it means getting there slower.
Afternoon training came around and I decided to jump in to the 2x a day, starting off with some boxing sparring with one of the trainers which was great fun. After that a great pad work session and lots of bag work. They usually finish the sessions with group sit-ups, but due to an old rugby injury I can't really do sit-ups. When I mentioned this to one of the trainers, he immediately brought me over to Mon (head trainer) who had me lie down in the ring next to ropes. He proceeded to massage my back and legs by walking on them, which was painful at times but absolutely made my back feel a lot looser afterwards. I think I will treat myself to a full Thai massage at the weekend too, they are the best way to get rid of the aches and pains of training.
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