Monday 7 September 2015

An Average Day at Sitjaopho Muay Thai Gym

6am- the alarm clock on my phone goes off. I hit snooze and plant my face in my pillow, already wishing I'd been able to get to sleep earlier the night before

6.05am- the damn alarm goes off again. I wonder why the hell I'm doing this, and run through a list of exuses as to why I should skip training and just stay in bed

One of the many pleasant views during the run

6.07am- I remind myself that this is why I flew halfway across the world. I didn't come to Thailand to sleep in. I came to train hard and become a better muay thai fighter. With a groan I push myself out of bed. I make a quick cup of instant coffee to banish the grogginess, gathering my things together for training- gloves, hand wraps, shorts, ankle supports, Thai oil, a big bottle of water

6.25am- I step out of my room to see who else is up to run. Taking comfort in the fact they all look as tired as I feel, we trudge out of the gym. The sun has just risen, the air is clean and fresh. Hopefully those arsehole soi dogs (semi-wild street dogs) aren't out on the dirt path. Most of the dogs around here (and there's a lot) just watch you go by, but these ones get pretty testy, growling and baring teeth if you come close. If they are out, we run up the other way following the road. If not, it's down the dirt track, away from traffic and past fields of pineapples. Morning run is usually around 5km

7.00am- we arrive back at the gym. I grab my things from my room, swig an electrolyte drink, and walk out to the gym. Morning training starts. The morning session is usually more sabai sabai (relaxed):


⦁    5 minutes jumping rope
⦁    wrap hands and stretch
⦁    10 minutes shadow boxing
⦁    Technique drills such as walking blocks, bag drills and finally 100 knees on the bag
⦁    More technique work and conditioning on the pads, sometimes followed by light sparring
⦁    150 situps, 100 press ups, 4 or 5 sets of chin ups
⦁    Stretch off, shower, then breakfast (I usually make my own breakfast of porridge with honey, followed by eggs)

9.00am - 1.00pm- free time to do any chores such as laundry, buying food from Tesco or 7/11, or just relaxing, or one a week a nice Thai massage

1.00pm- 3.00pm- nap time. Much needed if you are training 2x a day, 6 days a week

3.00pm- wake up, have a coffee and an apple. Gather my things for training

4.00pm- out running again, this time shorter run of around 3km due to the afternoon heat

4.20pm- arrive back at the gym. Swig another electrolyte drink. Afternoon training, the more intense session, begins:
The ring- where the magic happens

⦁    10 minutes jumping rope
⦁    wrap hands and stretch
⦁    10 minutes shadow boxing
⦁    Technique drills such as walking blocks, bag drills and finally 150 knees on the bag
⦁    Pad work and bag work, 5x3 minute rounds
⦁    Some days sparring and then clinching (standing grappling with knees and throws), other days straight to clinching. Usually a minimum of 40 minutes clinching every afternoon. Clinching can be brutal, especially with the Thai trainers, who have been doing it from a young age and are immensely strong and skilled. There is a young fighter here, Jai-Phet, who is only 15 years old but big for his age and strong as an ox. You can expect to hit the deck several times, and afterwards your arms and neck feel like lead. It also tends to get very noisy, with shouts of "oooeeii!" acompanying every knee, and with every kick in sparring too. Sparring is light and technical, and a whole lot of fun  (usually)
⦁    150 situps, 100 press ups, 4 or 5 sets of chin ups
⦁    Stretch off, shower, then dinner (some lovely Thai food cooked by Phet-Tho's girlfied, Takky)

This is an average day of training, some days things with change slightly such as extra pad work in the morning, or replacing a normal jog with hill sprints (killer!), but this is the basic setup.

7pm-10pm- some nights a few of us will go into town to the night market, or to a local bar to play pool, other nights we'll just chill in our rooms
Old-school weighing scales


10.30pm- crawl into bed. For whatever reason, some nights I struggle to sleep and, despite feeling exhausted when I go to bed, I lay there wide awake until 12 or even 1am. That sucks, especially when my alarm goes off once again at 6am, and another day begins just like the last one.

Living the dream- training muay thai in paradise, surrounded by great people, eating great food and enjoying great weather (mostly, it is low season!). As much as waking up at 6am to face a gruelling 5-6 hours of training over the course of the day, there's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be!


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