The time approaches

In something over nine hours, from the time of writing, I will be standing in a ring ready to begin a full rules muay thai bout. Shins will clash, knees will grind into ribs and punches and elbows will be thrown with abandon. There may be blood, possibly even a knockout. But after it all, no matter the result, I will have taken another step forward on this incredible, life changing, challenging, inspiring, difficult journey through the beautiful art of muay thai.


But first, let's rewind a week or so. Training for this fight has been great. The standard of training here at Diamond has truly lived up to expectations. The trainers will push you to work hard (especially if you are fighting) but are also always smiling and joking around, and there's a great family feel to the gym. Training with Mon in particular has been a real experience for me. He has been encouraging me to open up when hitting the pads, taking my conscious mind out of the way and just letting things flow. My body knows the techniques, having done them countless times now, so there's no need to overthink it. As he often says, "it is how you feel, don't think too much, just feel and do." I've been doing the freestyle pad work with him almost every session, which has lead to some quick improvements.

One of the things Mon has most improved for me is my hands. He was picking out all the little tells and flaws that were making my punches telegraphed and less powerful than they could be. He is extremely technical and an absolute perfectionist, and will think nothing of having even the most experienced fighter spend an entire round (or more) practicing the same basic technique over and over until they get it right. For me, it has been a bit of a challenge undoing some of the bad habits I've ingrained without even knowing, but under Mon's watchful eye I've been improving a lot. One of the most satisfying moments in training came a few days ago. I was working punch combinations on the uppercut station, unaware that Mon was stood behind me watching. After several minutes he tapped me on the shoulder, gave me a 'thumbs up' and said, simply, "yes, good!" I'd cracked it.

Training twice a day, six days a week in a sport as intense as muay thai takes a toll on the body. Niggling little injuries are common, from bruises and sore muscles to cut up feet and knuckles from hitting the pads and bags over and over. In such a warm, humid environment, any open wound can easily get infected and requires much more attention than it would back home. One morning, I woke up to find a shallow cut on my knee, that I hadn't even realised was there, had become infected. My first action for the day was squeezing yellow pus out of my knee before smearing it with antiseptic cream and heading out for more of the same.

On Friday morning I got a bit more serious of an injury, pulling something in my neck during clinching. By Friday night I couldn't turn my neck to the left at all, which was worrying with my fight fast approaching. Mon got on the phone and organised a massage for me for the next afternoon, at a place that specialises in "healing" massage, as opposed to the more toned down ones sold mainly to tourists. The lady who did my massage told me most of their clients were Thai people and boxers, and I can see why. It was an hour of pure agony, and she said she wasn't going too hard as she knew I was fighting soon! She told me my back was very tense (not surprising at all due to the old rugby injury in my lower back that never fully healed), and said after my fight I should come back for a proper 2 hour full body massage. That's gonna hurt, but it will probably do my back the world of good. She fixed my neck up very nicely, there is now no pain or stiffness there at all. Not bad considering 24 hours beforehand I couldn't even turn to my side!

The days before a fight are always strange. With the fight booked for Tuesday, Monday would be a rest day but the gym is closed on Sundays. So myself, Jason and Sami (who are both fighting on the same show) decided to get together to do a light final session on the bags.

Perhaps the best thing about fighting here, as opposed to back in the UK, is the lack of weigh-ins. At home, you have to be at a certain weight the day before the fight, usually a weight so low as to be unsustainable for any decent length of time. This means that the days before the weigh-in involve eating very little and gradually restricting water intake. The morning of the weigh-in usually involves hitting the sauna, already on an empty stomach, to lose the last bit of weight in water. Here, I don't have to worry about that. So Monday was spent eating and relaxing, with a quick visit to Lime&Soda, a nearby resort that has a pool you can use for free, and which offers a stunning view out on to the ocean.

Later on, a few of us headed out to Jungle Gym for a muay thai show they were putting on. Jom, one of the trainers who came with us, warned us it was a show aimed at tourists who had never seen muay thai before, so I went in unsure what to expect. The first fight was between 12/13 year-olds, and the ring announcer spent the entire fight explaining to the crowd what was going on. Yep, this was absolutely a tourist thing. After two fights, the announcer asked for any volunteers in the crowd who wanted a go at a quick boxing match with head gear. A pair of girls and two pairs of guys gave it a go, much to the amusement of the crowd. After that, he asked for more volunteers to play a popular Thai game in which everyone has a balloon tied to their feet and attempts to pop everyone else's balloon whilst keeping their own intact, with the last one standing winning free beer. An impressive fire spinning show followed, in which a young lad spun fire sticks whilst balancing on a steel rope across the ring. Impressive stuff. Two more fights followed, and that was that. With the clock already past midnight, and my mind on the fight the next night, it was time for bed.