MMC MMA

Thailand's 10-count

2008-08-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had my fight, if you can call it that. Unfortunately for me, it was more of a beating. I was beat, in both the sense that I lost the match and that I was battered up and bruised by the 'same-same' Mohamed, who turned out to be more than anyone bargained for. The gentleman that I traded blows with was, by many estimates, 4-6 inches taller than me and at least 10 kilos heavier. The promoter informed me of his 1 month of muay thai experience in Thailand; this was no lie. Nonetheless, neglected to inform me of his years of muay thai training outside of Thailand and according to Tiger Muay Thai owned Will, he looked like he had much boxing experience on top of his muay thai.

I arrived at the stadium late with a lot of anxiety and was greeted by a team of trainers from Tiger, ready to prep me for the fight as soon as the first few fights had finished. I was too nervous to even watch, so I bumped my iPod and tried to channel my Chi, or whatever it is those heroic Asian fighters do in the movies. Once it was time, the trainers dressed me in the Tiger trunks, massaged, cracked, and vasaline/hot oiled my entire body, head-to-toe. We looked around for quite a while for the elusive Mohamed, hailing from France, but could only find a large middle-eastern giant who clearly was fighting in the heavier 180 lbs fight of the night. It turns out, however, that his scales must have been tipped in his favor and he was fighting me at 165lbs. To be honest, they had understated my weight and was closer to 170, but Mohamed was most likely nearer to 190 or 200.

We had discussed turning down the fight in the event that he turned out to be much larger/more experienced, as the match-ups are sometimes quite underhanded in Thailand. Nonetheless, I came to Thailand for a solitary experience, above all others, and that was to fight; I wasn't about to turn down a fight, and especially not to a Frenchman. I fought; I took on a challenge; I did my best under the circumstances; I wasn't successful. I put up a good fight, having an even first round, while we felt each other out and delivered some choice shots to his legs and body. However, despite a good first-round effort, the second wasn't so forgiving and after landing a thundering right, he pummeled me into a stupor. I had several knock-downs, even receiving a 10-count from the referee after the 3rd, but insisted on continuing the fight. I was, however, out on my feet and ended up doubling over and then having the ref call the fight.

Regardless, the trainers have had me hold my head high and have told me that the fight was 'impossible' and 'unwinnable'. I'm taking a bit of solace in the fact that 'Magical' Ray Elbe, the MMA instructor from our school, is set to face the very same fighter who defeated me next week. Good luck to Ray and I hope he kicks some ass. The fact that a vet of more than 30 MMA fights and such an experienced and skilled fighter should be pitted against the fighter I fought is a testament to the mismatch that I experience.

No Regrets. Only one more day to go in Phuket... [more photos and the fight video to come!]

Fight or flight

2008-08-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

When originally planning my trip out here, the foray into the fight world of Thailand, I had two options: a short or a long trip. I ended up choosing the latter and coincidentally, today, the 18th would have the been my departure date for the first trip. It appears that everything works out in the end, that is if I come out on top as I, and the trainers, have so cleverly planned.

Tonight around midnight (depending on the tempo of the fights, ie: if people get they're blocks knocked off quickly) I'll be stepping into the ring with an unknown. His name is Mohamed, he is French, and according to the promoter, he is "same-same all, very fat like me." With that blow to the self-confidence, the trainers breathed a sigh of relief as a first fight for a Farang, or foreigner, is often quite sloppy and they believe I can benefit by fighting one. The other option would be to fight a Thai with 50+ fights and a respectable training background, something of which I have very little.

I'm excited for this thing; today I'm more confident and less nervous than any day previous and I feel that win or lose, stepping into the ring to fight Muay Thai in its motherland is a victory in itself and will be a great experience. I don't plan on making this my last fight, no matter the outcome, and want to make my trainers proud. So I'll just take it slow, let the man throw his fervent punches as all Farang do, wait for his gas tank to expire, and let my training kick in (no pun intended).

Sawatdee

Faux Pas and South paws

2008-08-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

So it's finally confirmed; I have a fight on August 18th. Kroo Phet, the mastermind behind the matchups had me assume my most fearsome fighting stance for the poster snapshot -- yes there will be a poster plastered across the Island of Phuket with my ugly mug on it -- that probably was less intimidating than I would have hoped. After see-sawing back and forth as to whether I was going to fight and giving them the ultimatum of a fight or leaving to join my friend Boone at his very own gym, Bor Phetpintusopon, in Bangkok, they finally caved.

In most fighting sports, weight is key in determining matchups. This is obvious; how could you match up a little man with a big guy and expect a fair fight. Muay Thai is similar, but as speed and technique are so crucial to success, it's basically eyeballed. Apparently even though I am 78 kilos, I 'look' 73, which is what I'm going to be fighting at. Go figure.

Last weekend I went to Phi Phi island, the backdrop of the movie 'The Beach' with everyone's favourite actor Leo DiCaprio. I had promised to go on the trip prior to finding out my fight date was less than 10 days away long ago, so I had to follow through and was met with a fantastic time. Everyone is a foreigner, which is a welcomed change from every next girl coming up and accosting you in Patong and being either a) a hooker or b) a transvestite. Not that I don't love the attention, it merely gets a little old. Phi Phi is well known for its parties, a great feature of which is the Raggae bar situated in the middle of the small island. This bar sports a full sized Muay Thai boxing ring which holds pro fights on a nightly basis and between each match is a so-called 'volunteer' match between two drunken fools willing to duke it out (also known as 'Drongos' according to my jovial friend Clint from New Zealand).

Probably the best example of 'if you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough' was witness by a packed bar and myself in the corner of the ring on Saturday night. An overzealous guest who will remain anonymous had been chomping at the bit, and about 20 Xanex and Valium, to fight anyone willing to take on his skill. He unfortunately only has been at camp for 3 weeks, most of which has been spent in Patong beach with working women or passed out from a night on the town. He proceeded to take on a Russian giant with 6 years of boxing experience who was not only over 60 lbs heavier than him with barely an ounce of muscle, but was literally twitching freakishly as he challenge my foolish friend. Needless to say, he got the tar beat out of him in less than 30 seconds and I should hope to post the video ASAP!

Finally to end the post, I've been hitting the gym hard this week in preparation for the fight. The trainers have quite a bit of confidence and a lot of the other guests believe that I'm underestimating my skill. When I was told the match would be cancelled briefly, I was almost excited, but was then again overjoyed when it was reconfirmed. I'm in Thailand, learning the national sport in less than 2 months and I'm stepping into a ring to have a professional fight against a career athlete. It's nearly as silly as my aforementioned collegue, but I think I'm a little less dumb and a tad more tough, so we will see very soon.

PS: I nearly got deported today for making fun of this strange looking actress in a movie trailer... she turned out to be the queen's daughter and today happened to be the queen's birthday. Do not speak ill of the Thai royal family when in Thailand (Tip #253 on how not to get shanked in Thailand).

Get your grind on

2008-08-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

How to Drive like a Thai (a step-by-step method):

1. At no times should you or your passenger wear a helmet
2. Blinkers are to be used only when not turning, keeping them on for show
3. The shoulder is to be used as a lane
4. The speed limit is observed only as a suggestion
5. When riding alone, you must exceed the speed limit by 30 km minimum
6. When not riding alone, you must have, at minimum, 3 passengers on 1 scooter and exceed the speed limit by 30km
7. Red lights are meaningless
8. It is permissible to drive at full speed, opposite to the flow of traffic if in the shoulder
9. Children as young as 4 can drive, so long as they do not wear a helmet
10. Side-view mirrors serve only as aids in make-up application

Driving here is nutty, but I love it. Here I am, a falang (or foreigner) without any form of license, never having driven before in my life, making 30 minute commutes to the beach on the freeway, without a care in the world. There is no danger of being stopped at any time by the police, so long as you wear a helmet; cops only look for white people without helmets so they can slap them with a fine a pocket a couple bucks (literally). Having no license, if I were to be stopped, I'd simply fork over my McGill university ID as no police officer speaks english and could just as easily mistake the thing for the genuine article.

Driving around is one of the few things you do to keep your mind off training in the little free time one has in between sessions. It's like as soon as you've finished one session the count-down timer begins for the next. Around 3:00 pm you're getting ready to get ready for training and before every single session you think, "maybe I should take this one off;" however no matter how many times this thought has occured and followed through, going to training, it still occurs every single day.

It's really coming to a severe grind here; training has lost any semblence of novelty that it may have once had and I can't seem to recall how I ever decided to make my trip 10 days longer, rather than opting to have a little more time at home, relaxing. I'm doing my best to not adopt the 'woe-is-me' attitude, as I still am in Thailand and this is a vacation, for what it's worth. This weekend I'll do some of the first actual vacationing I've done since I've gotten here, heading to the famous Phi Phi Island (of the movie 'The Beach'). They have a massive bar with 2 muay thai rings that takes on volunteer fights. I think I might just step in the ring and record some video, spice up this blog a little.

The Gear

2008-08-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Training days are getting to be harder and harder as the trip progresses. 6 weeks in, I'm starting to feel the brunt of the overtraining; the fact that even I am hard pressed to go to the gym is a little disturbing. Nonetheless, I believe a lot of this would have been avoided if I had the foresight to have brought my supplements along with me to Thailand rather than attempt to purchase them here.

Everything in Thailand is cheap and many of the guests here are of a similar mindset to mine; if you're going to try it or buy it, do it in Thailand. When people ask how expensive a certain activity is, say my bungee jump, I just say "less". Everything is cheaper than it is 'back home' as we fondly refer to everywhere that isn't here. Last night I went to a very nice restaurant and purchased a large thin crust pizza for about $4.50; last week I went to Journey to the Center of the Earth with my least favorite person in the universe, Brandan Fraser, only because it was hot outside and $3 for luxury reclining seats and air conditioning is too good to pass up (not a horrible movie in the end and only slightly scientifically inacurate, ha).

Back to the supplements; with the cost of living so low in Thailand, so is the average wage. People live here in pretty scant conditions just to get by; the workers commute into building sites in the morning, packed 30 deep into a truck's flat bed and live in shantis alongside the job site most of the time. That being said, those things that aren't domestically produced are obscenely expensive. While most things are 2 or 3 times cheaper here, supplements and 3 or 4 times more expensive, which is a dilemma for the athletes here. Thus many turn to 'the gear', as the Aussie's affectionately refer to it, or steroids. Everyone at camp has some horror story about the stuff, but still I can imagine how many people have dabbled or are currently dabbling in the juice. You need not worry about me; after an entire science degree and too many pharm classes, I will never, ever touch the stuff for fear of all of my organs simultaneously failing.

Still, training is hard going and I think there I can almost see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. One more week then I'm off to Phi Phi Island for a few days of tropical relaxation before I come back for my last 2 weeks of training. I still can't be sure whether or not I'll fight as now it's not so much a question of my ability, but rather the availability of opponents. So I'll put that to the back of my mind and train today, sans roids.

PS: This is me against Mr. Thailand competitor Peter, AKA the Thai hulk. I had him, but he's a big fat cheater.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=62530920175

holidaze

2008-07-28T19:59:00.001-07:00

It's been just over a month here in Thailand and my trip is winding down. With 3 weeks or so left in Asia, I've started to do a little reflection on the trip as a whole and discussed my observations with fellow guests and travelers. People tell me they're constantly jealous of me and my trip and how nice and relaxing it must be, but I should do my best to refute this notion; the trip is not easy, nor is it in any way relaxing. On the contrary, this is the hardest I've worked in my entire life. University was a cake walk and even though I've only been blessed with very brief forays into the working world, this takes that cake as well.

There are many people here from construction and labor backgrounds, working well over 50 hours per week at home who are envious of their old works habits when compared to the amount of time and effort that goes into the training and conditioning we are experiencing on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret my decision for a second, nor do I not appreciate this opportunity, but I should be clear in saying that being on a tropical, exotic vacation destination makes this trip only that much harder for the hot weather and humidity. 90% of the time I'm stressing my body beyond its breaking point while holding out for that 10% when I can go to dinner, watch TV, or maybe even bungee jump.

I dread waking up, putting on my shorts, heading off to training, hitting the bag, sparring, timing my meals, my 10km runs, and just about everything else about training. People ask me, "are you having fun?" and I have learned to just say yes, because I don't want to sound ungrateful; I am in Thailand. Nonetheless, training is not fun, but staywouldn't trade it for anything and have gotten so much out of my stay thus far. To that end, I have progressed enough to humor the notion of a fight before I leave. Next Monday I'm going to have an intense session with head trainer Nazee at which point he'll let me know if I'll be ready to fight in 3 weeks. I believe he'll say yes as my personal trainer has the utmost confidence, so fingers crossed here! If he says no, I won't be discouraged; I've trained for just over a month of Muay Thai and it's an art that takes years. He is only saving me from an ass kicking.

Fast and Furious

2008-07-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Again, no pictures, I'll spare the excuses.

One month and a week in, training and life in Thailand is peachy keen. Recently I grew a pair and rented myself a bike. This despite not having a license or ever having driven before in my life. Much like jumping into the ring, it's scary at first, but you get used to it very quickly or at least much get used to it. I'm happy to say after navigating home from a night out in Phuket town with another guest hitching a ride home to camp, I am very confident in my moped driving chops thus far.

My private sessions with Chocolate and twice daily muay thai sessions have started to pay off and am very quickly seeing the improvement in my striking. Sparring is starting to come easier and I'm getting a lot less degrading Thai thrown my way, reflecting what I assume to be proportionately fewer screw-ups. Chocolate insists on me fighting and says that if I were to lose he would quit his job as a trainer; I'm glad for his vote of confidence and considering he made this point so clear despite his incredibly broken English hammered to point home. So I'll be training, running, and doing my best to get ready for a fight I may, or may not, have.

Finally, for comic relief, I though I would share how precarious flirting with the opposite sex is here. It's such a foreign concept to me and every other westerner, but in going into a conversation with any woman, you legitimately have no clue whether or not she is even a she. Tonight panning across the bar, you could spot half of the lady-boys but many of them are extremely convincing in their trade. Having started their 'transition' early in life, they are passable as women to say the least. With that said, I'll keep my flirtatious self clear away from the 'women' and rather focus on the task at hand: Training.

Au Chocolat

2008-07-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well I did promise shorter entries, a promise which I intend to keep; pictures, however, will have to wait as my camera is dead until I can find a power converter, so for now, ladies and gentlemen, it's imagination time.

My training has recently got a kick in the ass and my secret has become clear, Chocolate. No that was not a grammatical mistake, the C is capitalized because my training has been inspired by my new private Muay Thai trainer, going by the nick-name Chocolate. I know some of you may find this funny, thinking that from the beginning of the trip I'd fall for a Thai lady boy and that this particular character might have fit the role, but don't be fooled by his unintimidating moniker. This man has had 200+ fights in his life and is kicking the crap out of me to learn me some Muay Thai.

Moreover, I had a little bit of a health scare recently, finding a scratch that turned into, what I believed to be, an infection. I drove to the hospital (Yes, drove. I'm actually driving... everywhere actually) and was warmly welcomed by a friendly Thai girl who took down my info, commented on how often Muay Thai fighters visited the fine facilities of Phuket International Hospital, and referred me over to the doctor. The whole trip, which included referring me to an ENT by accident due to miscommunication (my friend was there for a broken nose, turned out to be mighty serious) and checkup with prescription took 1 hour and cost just under $20, ha!

The hospital is immaculate and I recommend hurting yourself in Thailand any time. The hospitality is great.

Gymnauseum

2008-07-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a month and life is good in Thailand. On the 30th day I had to make a run for the border, hopping on a bus for 5 hours, a boat for 1, crossing into Myanmar all for the sake of a measly stamp; oh well, such is life. I've also gotten some great feedback about this blog. I assume none of you are still reading, as pointed out by my ever intelligent older brother, the blog is too long and I apologize. Starting next post I'll have 1) shorter 2) more frequent and 3) more picture-filled posts. I've never been a photo guy, but just as I discussed my blog with another guest a moment ago, he told me I would regret not capturing the memories.

Myanmar was a great trip and really got me motivated to train. The trip home afforded me an opportunity to discuss fighting and life in Thailand with an unsuspecting Swedish man who turned out to be fighting and living in Phuket full-time for the past 7 years. For him, 15 km running and 6 hours of training has been par for the course every day for years. He told me to relax and enjoy my time and not get caught up in the moment; rather, he suggested, take it easy and enjoy the experience, taking home a lot of good training and memories (could not agree more).

On Saturday the camp hosted its full-moon day, featuring beach training at sun rise and a bbq with 'smoker' fights in the evening. Training on the beach was magnificent and I do wish I had pictures, though I will rip them off the camp website very soon. Running in the sand as the sun started to rise was picturesque and cooling off in the waves was a welcomed change of pace. Hours later at the bbq, with bellies stuffed with Thai cuisine and, for some (not me), the unlimited beer, we watched a few MMA and Muay Thai fights. The action was great and a Canadian guy from Toronto ended up taking home the win; nonetheless I'll be waiting until I get home to have my first fight, when I'm more prepared.

Almost 8:00am, time to go jump rope for 30 minutes. Adios.

Rain rain go away

2008-07-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

I made a little remark about the weather a couple of days ago, complaining about how hot and dry the Thai winter has been and maybe a nice downpour would be nice to cool down the camp for training; well when it rains, it pours. 2 days and 48 solid hours of rain later, I'm officially sick of the weather and finally know why the call it the rainy season.

It's been a while since my last post, but don't take that as me not having any mind-blowingly exciting experiences in Thailand; it is quite the opposite. Since my last post I've witnessed the seedy underbelly of Patong beach, experienced a legitimate Muay Thai match, and experience all that first class movie theatres in Thailand have to offer.

Last Saturday we all decided to cut a little loose and head off to the (in)famous Patong Beach for a night on the town. After having finished training and started drinking with the relatively palatable Chang beer at dinner, we hopped into two pimped out mini-buses and motored off to Patong. I had been told before that the place was something that could only be understood by seeing it for myself and I couldn't agree more. As soon as you walk down the main drag you are assaulted by impoverished folk trying to peddle off their Thai schwag and entice tourists to come watch their various go-go-dancing and sex shows. Being my mother's son, I of course refused both and did my best to weave through the droves of lady boys and bar girls.

Once in the bar, you're accosted by every girl in sight. As you all know I'm a strikingly handsome guy, but the number of girls latching onto me seemed to be a little higher than usual. You walk between tables and honestly 4 girls will grab your arm, hug your waist, touch your face, etc. It's really uncomfortable because some of the girls in this certain bar are 'actual' Thai girls and others are 'bar girls'. You never know whether someone is interested in you or your wallet and usually its the latter. Going to the bathroom was also a trip; you bust through the line up of girls like you're playing red rover and then stand at the urinal only to be grabbed, this time, by a guy. The guy gets you into a full nelson and shakes you about (while in mid-stream) and cracks your back like a celery stick. Not that it was entirely unpleasant, because it wasn't, but it was a little awkward to have someone unannounced latch onto you and perform a chiropractic readjustment. After 'partying' until 5 am we all headed home, a few of the guys with what we think were girls, and did our best to keep our dignities in check.

Next on the menu were the fights last night. Again, the usual mini bus trucked us off to Patong, this time to the more respectable part, and we headed into the, let's just say, humble stadium. We were up on the side of the arena with our $30 tickets, but for $9 more, we could sit in sofas close enough to smell the linament and blood. The night started off with two 7-year-olds going at it. They were tough as nails; the fight ended with a head kick knocking out the smaller of the two. When I was seven I was collecting pogs. The next was a pair of 9 year olds. One was extremely tubby and reminded me of a young Matt Charleton. Naturally I called him Matt and cheered him on, but the bean-pole-esque young Thai taunted and baited the kid until he ended up putting out his lights in the 3rd.

The main reason we showed was to see two of our trainers fight, Ngoo and Aor. Ngoo is a 22 year old fighter who took the traditional strategy of doing jack in the first 2 rounds of the fight. Nobody really understands the scoring system, but basically the jist of the strategy is to be boring for the 1st 2 rounds and explode in the last 3. In typical fashion Ngoo stuck it to the cocky Thai and won on points. Aor, a top-ranked boxer and Muay Thai fighter, took the less traditional route of winning the fight with his hands. Apparently Thais believe that your fists are the weakest tools in your fighting arsenal, so kicks are par for the course. Aor took the man off guard and worked his knuckle game until putting him to sleep in the 3rd. Quite an impressive match and if he understood a word of English I would have congratulated him.

Finally I was the first of everyone I know to see Batman yesterday when taking the time difference into account. The movie was amazing and the atmosphere possibly rivaled the quality of the movie itself. We opted against the $3 standard tickets because the show times conflicted with training and decided to stick with the $15 VIP First class theatre instead. Once you select your assigned seats you get to enjoy the perks of the lounge; cocktail food, unlimited drinks, snacks, and popcorn. We made sure to maximize our time eating the little sandwiches and got into the theatre to find only about 30 seats in the entire place. Each was a lay-z-boy which fully reclined into a bed. They were even so kind as to include a very comfortable blanked for when you're sprawled out and hopefully still conscious while enjoying the movie. During the show, ushers periodically refreshed our drinks and popcorn which led me to fill up my bladder like a damn fool. So even as amazing as the movie was, not bursting on the brand new upholstery was at the forefront of my mind. I give it 10 head kicks out of 10 and think that Heath Ledger deserves best supporting actor. Coming soon, Matt's Hardcore Movie Blog.

Ta ta for now, doing nothing all day until training is calling, and it's going to take me all day to finish.

That Sweaty Kid

2008-07-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

After an epiphany had during the rest between morning and afternoon MMA training, I've decided to dedicate my time here in Thailand entirely to Muay Thai for the duration of my trip. Honestly, having come to Thailand, why practice anything other than the national sport where I have access to some of the top fighters/trainers in the country and world. This is saying nothing to knock the training I've had with Ray Elbe, who is a master of jiu jitsu and MMA, but I feel that MMA training can be had back home, but the muay thai kickboxing will never compare.

The training is vastly different; you're starting every session with 30 minutes solid of skipping rope, then shadow boxing, stretching, pad work, sparring, and a grueling ab workout that keels everyone over. The weather is clearly hot as hell and with the hard cardio, I've been struggling to quench my thirst as my pores drain out liters of water over the 3 hours. In the last two days I've had 18 liters of water, I kid you not, yet still don't need to go pee. I've gained the reputation of being that sweaty kid in class, leaving a massive puddle beneath me even after only a brief stretch.

The trainers here are fantastic though; they bust your chops constantly and are righting my poor technique aquired trying (and apparently failing) to teach myself boxing solo. My stand-up game is actually starting to exist and I really am enjoying throwing my hands and legs. Muay thai is all about the 8 point strikes - 2 hands, elbows, legs, knees. So you exhaust yourself using your entire body as a weapon. I'm happy to say after 2 days they've moved me up to the intermediate level where I'll see more sparring, which I really enjoy; a punch to the nose never hurt anyone! My goal is to see a couple lessons in the advanced ring before I leave, which is reserved for those few training for a fight and is home to some hardcore badasses.

I'm also in training for one of my next challenges, which I'll be taking on tomorrow. I'll be taking on the task of bringing home the Phuket Eating Competition 2008 title back to Canada. I've been training hard, eating enough to feed an army on a constant basis and think that I might have a chance. Once you've seen the small stature of the Thai folk, you might consider me a contender, though they can really tuck in and eat a fair bit. I hope you're all cheering me on, I'll do my best!

To all of my so-called "friends" drop me a damn line while I'm here; it's always nice to hear news from back home and I will be home eventually and might just have to use my Muay Thai on your faces otherwise.

Rata tat tat

2008-07-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

So I just made it home after a speedy trip through Phuket town in search of the Golden Needle, the destination for the few and proud who train here at Tiger and are looking to get some ink. Alas, I am not ballsy enough to commit to a tattoo (you're welcome Mom), but my friend John was looking to get himself some of the permanent art before his leaves Thailand, which may in fact be quite soon as he has been given a job offer as a tradesman in Iraq. Speaking of which, I should mention that a lot of the folks here are involved in some way with the military. Thus far, I've met 4 or 5 guests who are just coming from or going back to Iraq while training Muay Thai. Much like you all think I'm crazy for making this my vacation prior to school, they have been the butt of jokes after leaving one swelteringly hot venue and back-breaking training for another.

Yesterday I made the first conscious effort to relax while I've been here, opting to skip on training while my trainer Ray was making his visa run to Burma for the day. I decided to go for a nice jog along the local streets; easier said than done. There are a lot of honks and beeps directed my way as I'm sure running at high noon in tropical Phuket is a humorous sight to many. Nonetheless after drenching my shirt in sweat after a brisk stretch and actually finishing a run, we made our way to the white sandy beach of Nai Har (no clue how to spell it).

I've been trying to ask everyone where the best destination is for a relaxing time at the beach and it's essentially useless as the names of the beaches are impossible to recall let alone pronounce phonetically to a taxi driver. Yet, by some stroke of luck, we made our way out, the 4 of us, between training sessions and got a hefty dose of UV rays. After that I opted out of the famous Thai massage and watched all of the movies I could handle on our very nicely loaded cable bundle. The massages cost just shy of $10 for 2 hours and is literally back-breaking, but I'm told it complements training well and may just get roped into one some day soon.

We finished up the day of zen with a trip to Central Fair and SFX Cinemas where we hit the food court for indian food, of all things, and watched Hancock for 100 baht, or 3 dollars. Our assigned seating fully reclined and the theater was amazing and it made the 3 minute standing salute to the King of Thailand nearly bearable.

On a very ironic and AWESOME note, this sunday at the same food court there is a regional eating competition that I plan on entering. So I come to Thailand to get fit and trim and end up gorging myself on delicious local cuisine for money. Sounds about the opposite of cage fighting, but I think I have a chance! Wish me luck!

Settling in

2008-07-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

The climate here can leave you pretty drain at times; both literally, because you're constantly pouring sweat, and figuratively, because the crazy humidity just saps your energy. Nonetheless, once you get used to the whole idea of drinking a gallon jug of water every day, downing electrolyte replacement salts like candy, and taking sweat stains as a given, you tend to forget the heat.

Well, that is when you have the luxury of AC, which I was denied all day yesterday because the entire municipality had power cut for construction and I found myself sweating bullets and looking to get the hell out of Chalong; I hopped into a taxi with some friends to the bulk food store/mall about 15 minutes away. Our taxi driver, Kwan, is a familar face around camp, catering to we observant few who refuse to rent a motor cycle in light of the danger of driving on Thai streets. Since I've been here, there have been at least 4 accidents within the camp alone and they aren't exactly instilling confidence in the safety of driving in Phuket.

Luckily for us, Kwan is a fan of the air conditioning and spares no expense blasting it then quickly whisking us away to the mall, which I might add is also air conditioned and just outside of the power outages. Last time we went I decided to break diet and was peer pressured into McDonalds, an international staple for us silly North Americans; however, the fast food joints here are remarkably different. Not only is the price half of what we pay back home, mirroring the lower cost of living across the board, but they are nutty about chicken wings. Just like in China and Japan, every restaurant sports their own take on fried chicken and they do it pretty damn well if you ask me; KFC was our destination this time and I ordered what looked like an interesting choice, eventually buying myself a chicken burger with, get this, broccoli on it. I can't say I agree with opting out on the lettuce for another green veg, but they definitely don't see eye-to-eye with us here in Thailand when it comes to cuisine.

Life is slow and enjoyable here though (at least once you get the AC blasting). Thus far I've spent 99% of my time either training, eating, or aimlessly surfing through 50 TV channels, about 8 of which, I've discovered are English. There is a pleasant abundance of rugby here on TV as, for some odd reason, we receive a hell of a lot of Australian and South African TV feeds and I'm pleased to report that I almost understand Cricket and Aussie rules football.

Today is going to be a slow-paced day as it is saturday and a week of hard training has left us all bruised and battered. Hopefully after a nice open mat session we'll all head off to one of the 100 unpronounceable beaches and sun for the afternoon.

Finally, I'm pleased to say that I met the new fitness and strength coach here at camp, Peter, or the Thai Hulk. He and I hit it off very quickly and he was not hard to track down as he does live up to his name (even wearing a green shirt to top it all off). After rapping with him for a while and getting in a work out, it turns out that not only do I have the same routine as the Mr. Thai competitor and professional body builder, but do actually lift the same amount of weight across the board.

Well that's enough ego inflation for the day. To anyone actually reading this, Thailand has an over abundance of little trinkets and cool souvenirs, so let me know if you want me to grab you some stuff from here. No Brendan, as much as I would want to, I think bringing you back a lady boy would lead to a lot of unpleasant red tape!

(Kater sucks!)

First Blood!

2008-07-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

I've watched countless MMA fights and am what some may consider a fanatic, so when a little blood is spilled I'm the first to yell 'keep fighting!'. Nonetheless, when I was confronted with the same situation, I was a little surprised that there was no pause in the action -- "A little blood never hurt anybody" announced the head trainer, Ray. It was a pretty rude awakening and a well overdue blow to the ego to get that blow to the face and scramble my brains a little bit.

Having trained in Montreal and shadow-boxed until the cows came home, I had yet to have any actual fight experience; as such, a small MMA sparring 'drill' was a bit of a change of pace for me. The Irish fighter with many times the experience of myself decided to keep it standing and I was nobody to argue after getting popped in the nose and a little shell-shocked. In retrospect, maybe using my wrestling would have been well-advised, but at the time, the thought was a distant second to, what the hell is all that pouring out of my nose!? He also did a very nice job of working the kicks on my 'heavy' front leg, leaving it black and blue for the next day.

With all that behind me, I started training again the next day, in regular fashion, surprisingly unscathed for the morning session. In the afternoon, I decided to try the muay thai class for the first time, rather than my usual MMA session and found myself surrounded in a gallon of sweat - having drank the equivalent and not having to go to the bathroom is usually a sign of a rough workout!

I'm slowly getting into the rhythm, but it's really too hard-going to be enjoyable at this point. I'm going to need a little longer to get my own pace set and let my body get used to the beating. Hopefully all of this humiliation will toughen me up a little bit - it would be nice to see something in return!

A belated Happy Canada Day to everyone back home - mine was spent rolling around with sweaty, shirtless men -- so it sounds pretty similar to most of yours. Let just hope you all partied enough for me as well. Take care and drop me a line; south east Asia can get a little lonely.

Achey Tummy

2008-06-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

So as for eventful stories here in Thailand, I've come up empty-handed this weekend. I've been pent up in my quaint villa surfing African movie channels and catchup up on my new releases as opposed to training and adventuring due to my recently acquired stomach bug. Nonetheless, I still plan on working through the discomfort and am about to embark on a run through the temples and forests here with the trainers at 7:30 before morning training.

George Carlin would be advised to remain resting in peace as if he were to drift by Phuket, he may in fact, for the first time, see a man shitting while running at full speed.

The food, the people, the atmosphere is great here; aside from the occasional wiff of fermenting garbage from open trash cans (bad idea) along the roads, this place is very pleasantly aromatic and calming. Most of the sounds you'll hear are from the various fauna, all of which are extremely exotic and foreign to me, yet, unsurprisingly, mundane to the locals. For two or three days I kept running off to the door several times during the day after hearing someone belting off four quick knocks on my window or door; however, after some stealthy detective work, I think it was a croak of a lizard of some sort -- cheeky bastard.

This week, I hope, will kick off my real start of training with running, sparring, and getting the tar beat out of me several times a day in order to get myself physically prepared to have the opportunity to have even more shit beaten out of me in a ring. Let's hope this stomach bug doesn't persist, or that may actually come true, literally.

A little unexpected down time

2008-06-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you all have memorized my rigorous schedule by now, you're probably wondering why in the world I'm typing out this post and not being entirely too tough on the mats. Unfortunately, my loyal readers, I've fallen victim to my first bout of sickness here in Phuket and, to be honest, it couldn't have come at a better time. The training is just about as rough as I could have imagined and without my trusty supplements here to supercharge my body, I'm bruised and battered, to say the least.

The training facilities here are incredibly scenic; the backdrop of the rubber forest is harshly juxtaposed with the blaring AC/DC and disgustingly sweaty men, and a few incredibly tough girls, rolling around very ambiguously. My lush digs are located across the road in front of the gym and after adjusting myself to looking right, as opposed to left, when crossing the road, I report that I have yet to fall victim to the infamous traffic accidents that you here entirely too often about. I'm still steering clear of the mopeds for the moment; I'd sooner hoof it than put my driving skills to the test, even though I doubt you'd find a better Sega Rally driver around.

At all hours, you can hear the slap of shins to thai pads and the encouraging, and sometimes discouraging, words of the trainers; unlike back home, when training Muay Thai (kickboxing) you are matched up 1:1 with a trainer who peppers you with commands that are often indescribable. I jabbed when I was expected to cross and ended up landing myself ass backwards on the floor, sent there justifiably by my 140 lbs trainer, who just so happened to be a infinite-time thai champion and someone with whom not to fuck.

The food is also delectable, though as aforementioned, I can't seem to get enough of it; you're burning more calories than an ox and sweating out 2L of water a session, so satiating oneself is difficult at times. Just now, I'm going to head off to the Tiger grill and have the lady cook me up some Phad Thai before heading to some conspicuous road-side stand to refill my dual 6L bottles of water. One is strongly advised against drinking tap water and I am smart enough, thank you McGill, to heed the warning of the locals.

I've got some nice war-scars at the moment, but feel that postponing uploading them until I get a tasty shiner. As for my schedule, I'm going to start hitting the computer at 6:00am or so, before yoga, the 7-10km run, and morning training. Catch me in the late evening, if you feel so inclined to chat with Matt "Spaghetti Arms" Charleton and catch up on the times.

Sawatdee

Haven't died yet, go me!

2008-06-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

It's just past 8am here and I'm geared up to go for my MMA class starting soon, but I figured an update would be in order as I'm sure many of you had good money on the fact that I wouldn't still be alive this far into the trip, let alone have the faculties to type out a blog post -- in your face. As I said, training is going well and the place is incredible. I got here on what I believed to be Saturday geared to go for the open mat practice, only to find out a lot yet another day in transit. 40+ hours from door-to-door, not exactly what I call pleasant travels.

On the advisory of my friends, who I believed judging with my best interests in mind (yeah right), I went out for one last night of revelry to celebrate what has been a girthy 3-year stretch in Montreal; to all of you, thank you and I'll hope to see you again soon. They say hindsight is 20/20 and looking back the rockstar/colt 45 tag-team combo was a poor choice; moreover, a word to the wise, once you lose track of pints ordered at a bar, it's a sure benchmark of an impending hangover. After closing the bar down, following one too many live songs and our poorly feigned sing-alongs, I headed home and killed time until I was off in a cab at 5am - to the couche tard. Aparently, despite the legality of the tender, $100 bills are no more useful than monopoly money to pay a cabbie and luckily for Mr. Moneybags Charleton, they managed to break it.

Blah blah blah, Toronto, Beijing, Bangkok, Phuket. They set me up in a little bangalow on the border of the rubber tree forest, which was very cool, in appearance and atmosphere, but definitely not temperature. Another strange coincidence was the fact that my neighbour happened to be from Sidney, BC, a 20 minute drive from my home in Victoria. However, despite the 'quaintness' of the bungalow, having been awakened to ants crawling in my face and mouth and about a 1000 of their buddies (I wish I was kidding you) on the ground and in my bed, I decided to spring the extra cash (sorry Pops) and get a luxury bungalow next-door. It was really that or nothing as the camp is busy, but now I'm clearly not roughing it, with a poolside villa it's hard to complain; damn that daily maid service sure is annoying!

There are more nifty details that I would love to share, but I injured my hip a little yesterday and after a little tiger-balming and stretching I'll need to jog it off before I go to whoop some ass at Jiu jitsu. I should add that all of the guys I'm training with are great and I hope to get in as much training as possible; yesterday I did 3 sessions and I think I can certainly keep that up, if not more.

Wish me luck and hopefully this convinces you skeptics that I'm actually alive and kicking (pun intended). Take care and I'll see you sooner than you'd like.

Last day in Canada

2008-06-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, bright and early (though the sun will likely not have yet risen) I'll be off to Trudeau Intl. to fly off to Thailand to kick off my 9-week trip and foray into MMA. In order to get the best deal possible I've had to settle with over a dozen hours of layovers and stops in Hong Kong and Toronto, but who can complain, I'm getting the hell out of dodge! Last minute packing and goodbyes are in order for today -- I may just go out all night and head right to the airport as suggested by entirely too many friends; looking out for my best interests are we?

My flight arrives in Bangkok at 9pm, most likely too late to grab the late flight to Phuket, so I'll crash wherever possible and head out on the first plane out of there. Very excited to join the Tiger Muay Thai team and for those of you who haven't read previous posts, that's where I'll be training for 9 weeks in preparation for my fight(s). I want to thank everyone for helping me get everything together and I promise to update this blog as much as humanly possible, with as many photos as I can muster - I'd add some now, but the sight of my ugly mug sans a scenic Thai backdrop is hardly bearable.

In parting I'll leave you with a taste of the sport that I'll be immersed in for the next 2 months, enjoy.

(PS: My favourite KO of the year would definitely be Tim Boetsch -- he flips David Heath like a rag doll!)

A sneak peak...

2008-06-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well my LSAT is tomorrow afternoon, so that means up until then I'll be doing anything but studying -- all that last minute stress is always counter-productive; that being said, after encouraging reviews of my last posts, I thought I'd throw up some new content featuring 2 quick submissions courtesy of TMT MMA trainer Ray Elbe. Enjoy and check out these his submission chops; ladies and gents, this is some good MMA BJJ and I can't wait to take some of it in.

#1: Ray Elbe vs. "The Pounding Puerto Rican" Robert Maldonado (who was cornered by the legend and hall-of-famer Don Frye!)

#2: Ray Elbe vs. Mike Ptak (Former Mr. Arizona) - A true strength vs. skill battle ... Gee I wonder which wins out...

Thailand Bound

2008-06-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls (maybe getting a little head of myself, I wouldn't be surprised if I were the sole reader of my blog), the time has finally come for Thailand. I've been aching for months to get my trip set in stone and after much research, time, and, unfortunately, money, I've got my flight booked and Tiger Muay Thai in beautiful Phuket, Thailand awaits!

TravelCuts, a student travel service was instrumental in booking my trip, giving me a hefty discount and arranging all of the necessities for the trip. 5 vaccinations and many phonecalls later, I have my flight booked from Montreal on this Friday, the 20th of June to Bangkok. Word to the wise: a flight from anywhere to Phuket usually is significantly more expensive than 2 separate tickets to Bangkok and then to the island. I'll be employing this frugal tactic, flying into BKK on the late-night flight and crashing wherever I can until the ticket counter opens at 7:00am. Tiger Muay Thai has arranged a cab to pick me off at the airport and swiftly deliver me to my home for the next 2 months, none other than the luxurious Budget Bungalows of the TMT compound! Your eyes are not fooled, it does say cable and maid service. Now I was doing my best to rough it, but 12,000 baht per month is still only $400CDN and I figured training twice a day would make comfortable digs a necessity.

Will at TMT has been very helpful, providing all of the information necessary in planning my stay. The camp offers several training facilities (see tour video and website below), a dining area, and living quarters, of which I am taking full advantage. Together with the Bungalow, a food card for the TIGER GRILL, a motorcycle (say a prayer for me), unlimited training, and a 10-private-lesson card, the grand total rounds out to $1000CDN/month. That may seem steep, but to put that into perspective, my rent, all things considered, is $700/month, with training over $150, and food tipping the scales considerably. Will has told me that a Thai meal runs about 60-100 Baht, which rounds out to less than $3, music to my insatiable appetite.

For the next 2 months I will be training under the tutelage of "Magical" Ray Elbe, an accomplished MMA fighter, sporting an impressive 22-11 MMA record. His camp has played host to many established MMA fighters and of late has been the training location for Mike 'Quick' Swick prior to his UFC 85 victory of Marcus Davis (what a fight). Ray has guaranteed a fight for me within the 9 weeks that I am a guest at the camp. This time will build upon my rudimentary knowledge of all things MMA and will beat me into shape; I'm no glutton for pain, but I do intend to make the most of this foray into MMA and all things Thai.

Monday-Friday, the day begins bright and early with a yoga session starting at 7:00am sharp; if so inclined, guests can join the fighters on a 3-7km jog in and around the hills of Phuket after 1/2 hour (might be a fine way to get to know the area); shortly thereafter, training begins. TMT offers twice-a-day muay thai and MMA sessions, so it is up to the guests discretion which to choose. Within each type of class, several classes are held based on skill, fitness, and experience. The TMT staff has told me that Ray Elbe will be the one planning my training routine and I intend to implicitly follow his instructions); he is, after all, the man with the MMA plan. After warm-up, drilling, conditioning, and techniques for 2-3 hours, it's time to relax until the whole operation is repeated in the afternoon beginnning at 4:00pm.

Between sessions, the facility offers a wide array of fitness equipment and fully stocked weight lifting facility (kettlebells!). Recently, the 'Thai Hulk' a well-known body builder has joined the ranks of TMT and I intend to take on one of his intense training regimes. Moreover, with a wealth of knowledge at the camp, having over 30 trainers, some being well decorated muay thai and MMA champs, the camp offers affordable private sessions. I have arranged a 10-session pass which works out to less than $10 per 1.5 hour private session; to put that into perspective, the equivalent in Canada would come at no less than $50, with some fighters charging several hundred dollars for a single 1-on-1 lesson. Nonetheless, each standard group lesson provides enough trainers so the 1:1 ratio is maintained at all times. This is a big change from my days at GAMMA in Montreal where Fabio Holanda would have classes of 20+ to himself (though I will miss training along side George St-Pierre and David 'The Crow' L'oiseau).

With that said, I'll leave you with the video tour of the TMT facility, guided by none other than Ray Elbe. I hope to update you with more information about the trip and the camp itself as my trip approaches/progresses. Hopefully I'll have enough time to post on here, but between zipping through traffic on my new thai motorcycle and flexing with the thai hulk, I may not!

Take the Facility Tour

Making moves

2008-06-04T08:09:00.001-07:00

After a hectic last week, including my university convocation (BSc at age 20, little premature wouldn't you say?) and news of my acceptance to UBC business school, I have gotten back on track with training. My Mom's visit had some perks, other than her company, of course, including a brand new set of extra douchey spandex workout gear. As much as I am opposed to people working out in beaters and tank tops, I have to admit, for MMA training, there is nothing like Nike Dryfit and other brands of rash guards for mobility and functionality; that being said, I'll keep my muscle shirt under my T-shirt when I work out, I don't want to be a hypocrite and a douche bag in one fell swoop.

I'm gradually approaching my weight target, hitting 175 while still staying in shape. I can't stress enough how much effort MMA athletes put into cutting down to weight classes. I'm experiencing a very slackened version first hand and I have the utmost respect for these athletes. For a fighter in peak physical condition to cut 15 pounds to enter a new weight class is unbelievable; for me it might be a case of trimming down my doughiness, but these guys have no body fat and still manage to look athletic and no emaciated. 10 more pounds will be tough for me to cut, but I only hope that countless hours on the god-forsaken treadmill will pay off.

As I mentioned above, my acceptance to UBC came last week and with it was the contingent agreement that my parents would help me make my way to Thailand to train upon enrollment. UBC was kind enough to offer a $10,000 grant due to my citizenship and undergraduate degree, which only made my parents following through that much easier.

So, for now, I'll be doing more and more snooping around the web for tickets and supplies for the trip, of which I have a list that is 50 items and several hundred dollars long in the most conservative estimate. Tiger Muay Thai, in Phuket, has given me a lot of exciting news that I hope to share once things are set in stone in the coming weeks and all I can say is that if things go according to plan I can hope to have 1 or even 2 fights in thailand and an unbelievable experience in MMA.

Big girls do K.O.

2008-05-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

To top off my first day of blogging, I'll drop in a video of one of my favourite fighters, Gina Carano. Not only does this girl seriously kick ass, but she is incredibly skilled, charismatic, and easy on the eyes. Pound-for-pound these women fighters can go toe-to-toe with any guy, take it from me.

Let's get it started...

2008-05-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Time for the inaugural blog post. Those of you who know me know that I am self-proclaimed internet addict, yet I have never ventured into the blogosphere. Thus in order to see what all the hype is about and chronicle my adventures in the world of MMA and beyond, I have decided to create my own personal blog and join the ranks of other like-minded bloggers.

For me, my passion is mixed martial arts, otherwise more commonly, and incorrectly, known as 'UFC' -- UFC is a league, not a sport; that's like calling hockey 'NHL'. For over a year I have been training in Montreal with GAMMA, better known as one of the training places of the one and only George St-Pierre (AKA: GSP, AKA: The current UFC World Welterweight Champion). Under the esteemed Fabio Holanda I've gotten some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu chops and have dabbled in muay thai; nonetheless, my passion is in MMA and since graduating from McGill last month came early after only 3 years of study, I have found an opening to begin more intensive training, looking forward to a fight in the future.

I have always had an avid interest in athletics, playing rugby in highschool and maintaining a strict regimen in university, in spite of occasional binge drinking - we've all been there. MMA training gave me a constructive outlet for my need to train and last summer I was involved in training 3 times daily, improve my Jiu Jitsu by leaps and bounds. However, as all things do, this inevitably ended with a dislocated elbow by the hand of an overzealous, and douchebaggy, MMA fighter who snapped it during a normal training exercise.

Since then, I have cut back on MMA training and focussed on my fitness, with recent forays into intense cardio, with 10km daily running on the menu. In light on the intense competition involved at any weight class, my only way to be a viable fighter would be to cut a large amount of weight and maintain a trim physique. Graduating from highschool I was a 200 lbs rugby player and this year teetered around a relatively lean 190. With running, strict dieting, and exercise I plan on making the cut down to 165 lbs in order to be able to fight in the 155lbs lightweight division. For those of you who don't know and do care, most fighters walk around 10, 15, 20 lbs heavier than their fighting weight and merely 'cut' water weight prior to weigh-ins in order to be as heavy and strong as possible for their weight; every pound counts!

So to conclude this lengthy post, I'll say that my plan in the near future is to venture to exotic Phuket, Thailand and join the grueling MMA training at Tiger Muay Thai (http://www.tigermuaythai.com/). 2 Months of training subsequent to finishing exams in Montreal will be the kick-start I need. Moreover, they are adamant about offering opportunities to fight for those who are willing, ie: me.

From here on in, the jist of the blog will be my experiences, goals, and hardships that I encounter in my MMA training -- which hopefully will be received at some interest for those of you who are fans of the sport. My idea is to offer insight into the kind the MMA community, the fighters, the kind people, and the exciting events. Stay tuned, from here on in it will be dense, packed with photos, and exciting, to say the least.