Getting back into training after 2 weeks + Getting a China Visa in Chiang Mai

So yesterday was my first full Muay Thai class since my fight two weeks ago.  Even though I had planned to get straight back to training and even take another fight straight away, my body and mind were depleted and it literally took 14 days to recover and replenish.  Even Mirkko and Piers who had relatively short fights with no injuries ended up taking a week just to recover from the mental stress of it all.  But since my ankle was swollen to the size of a tennis ball and my shins felt like they had taken a beating with a wooden baseball bat, I avoided running and kicking until now.

But I didn't want to sit on my ass and not work out, so I went to the gym every other day and did a crossfit type circuit workout.  Usually I'd start by jumping rope, careful to put most of my weight on my uninjured foot, followed by bear crawls and other animal drills which are an awesome body weight workout both for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training but also just general strength.




After that I would do pull ups or chin ups, usually three sets of ten or less.  The biggest problem with the gym at KC Muay Thai is the only pull up bar is 8ft high (2.5meters) so you have to stand on a tire and jump up to it.  That combined with the bar being extremely thick, makes it hard to do pull ups as you're always trying to use strength to keep your grip, and you're afraid of falling and twisting your ankle on the way down. After the pullups, I'd do a burpee pyramid, which is when you start with 10 full burpees including a pushup, shadowbox while resting, do 9, shadow box, 8,and repeat until you're done.

After burpees I'd either do two handed kettle bell swings, giant tire flips, or a shoulder workout with weights.  It sounds like a pretty tough workout, and it is, but nothing prepares you for an actual muay thai class besides doing muay thai.

So yesterday, after not running for almost 3 weeks I struggled to finish the lap around the block which before my fight I had been doing with ease.  It didn't help that it was fiercely hot and sunny yesterday, but I could tell that my running cardio had been zapped.  After a warm up of 200 knees on the bag and shadowboxing we went straight into four rounds of boxing sparring.  It did fine in sparring but as soon as we got into four rounds of padwork, I realized how much cardio I've lost.  My kicks were slow and my legs felt heavy, and I just didn't have the confidence and power I had before.  A lot of trainers talk about building up their fighter's confidence before a fight, and now I absolutely know what they mean.  It's always a good idea to go into a fight with 100% confidence that you're going to win, but win or lose, you become very humble as soon as the fight is over.  That's why even the cockiest fighters show respect and humility after a fight.  Especially as a beginner, I realized very quickly what my strengths and weaknesses are and everything that I need to continue to improve upon.

 I was originally going to take another if fight next week, on February 16th but as luck would have it, I'll actually be going to Shanghai to spend Chinese News Years and won't be back until afterwards.  But it'll be a good thing as I need a few more weeks to get back into fight shape again anyway.  I'm continuing to lose weight and hopefully by the end of this fight camp I'll walk around at closer to 93kg (205lbs) which is my immediate goal so I can eventually fight at 85kg.


How to get a China Visa in Chiang Mai:

Go to the Chinese Consulate here in Chiang Mai at the south side of the moat (outside the city) opposite Saen Prung Gate which is on Thipanet Road.


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It's a big building surrounded by cream colored walls and is to the left of the Kawasaki Motorcycle dealership, Bike Cafe and the trophy shop.

Show up between 9am-9:30am if you can and bring along a printed copy of your plane ticket (to and return) and a printed copy of your hotel reservations, the address and phone number.  If you are staying with a friend you have to get a letter from your friend inviting you to China, their address, and a copy of their passport.  It's kind of a strict pain in the ass but I didn't expect anything less.  You also need a passport photo, and if you can bring a photocopy of your passport as well.  For Americans the price is 5,760 baht ($192US) for the same day rush visa, and about 1,000 baht cheaper if you want to wait 5 business days.  They won't give you a multiple entry visa, but you can get a double entry for the same price as a single.  You can get the form and fill it out there.  I went yesterday and today and there was never more than a 10 minute wait in line.

After dropping it all off, you come back at 3pm the same day.  You must buy your plane ticket and book your hotel before getting a China Visa.  If you just need a random hotel reservation, use hostelbookers.com to reserve a random hostel somewhere and forfeit the 10% deposit if you don't' end up using it. It'll only cost you around $10US.

Warm Regards,

Johnny@ MyFightCamp.com
www.facebook.com/myfightcamp