Muay Thai Lifestyle in Thailand

What's up guys, these past few months I've been going to Team Quest Chiang Mai off and on for both Muay Thai and their MMA program.  But mainly I've been eating Paleo and doing CrossFit to keep in shape.  My fitness goal is to be lean enough to have a six pack by the summer of 2014.  With Muay Thai it seems like I would lose a ton of weight, get injured, get back into it, have a fight, rest for two weeks, and start it all over again.

Now that I don't have any fights lined up and I'm just working out to work out, it's been much more consistent and easier as well.  But sometimes I miss the Muay Thai lifestyle.

Muay Thai session at Team Quest, Chiang Mai

Eat, Sleep, Train, Repeat:

For months at a time my routine was living at the gym, training first thing in the morning, eating to recover and laying around resting until the afternoon session.  The two a days were brutal, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Armed with a hard drive full of The Ultimate Fighter episodes, it would rev me up just enough to get through the week.

Food wise, it was always a struggle to get in enough calories and protein.  Luckily there are tons of all you can eat buffets in Thailand, often for less than $5.  My favorites are the AYCE Thai BBQs that are usually 139 baht ($4.63US) 

What are you guys looking forward to most when you come to Thailand?  And for those who have already done a Muay Thai camp, what do you miss now that you're home?

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Packing for Thailand - 2013

I just arrived back in Thailand the other night and made a little video with what I packed.  I plan on training a bit of Muay Thai and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu during this 6 month trip, but also wanted to pack light enough to be able to travel down to the islands to scuba dive and to other parts of SE Asia such as Cambodia.  So this year's packing contents area bit different from previous year's videos

Check out the video below:



Packing List:

Clothes including dry-wick t-shirts, a few pairs of shorts, one pair or long pants, and a hat.

Shoes including one pair of flip flops, Luna running sandals, Vibram 5-Fingers, and a pair of New Balance Minimus tennis shoes.

Supplements including 5lb ON Whey Protein, Creatine, ZMA, Caffeine, Bulletproof MCT Oil, Fish Oil and Vitamin C.

Gear including one set of 12oz bag/pad gloves, hand wraps, custom mouth guard, muay thai shorts, and no-gi grappling shorts and shirt.

Electronics including Macbook Air, iPhone, Kindle, and Chargers.

Sending out some emails by my hotel pool in Chiang Mai

Check out the video above for the full Sha-Bang.  Anything I missed?  Leave a comment below.

Johnny FD
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The Songkran Zombies have started to invade - Water Fights, CrossFit, Camera Repair and Zombies.

I didn't want to leave the house today, I was perfectly content watching Django Unchained from the safety of my room.  But then I received a call.  I had dropped my beloved Canon S95 camera the other day, thinking it was completely ruined.  By dropped, I actually mean, I tripped and fell while walking and taking a photo and landed with all of my weight on the extended lens of my camera.  To my delight Denchai, the camera repair shop here in Chiang Mai was able to preform a miracle and asked me to come pick it up.

I knew that this weekend, starting tomorrow was the start of Songkran...Thai New Years.  But I didn't realize that some of the madness was already starting.

Riding my motorbike into town to pick up the camera, I saw that some people were already starting to become infected. On the side of the road people had water guns and buckets of water, wetting people as they walked by.  Luckily, I was on my scooter and was able to dodge most of the madness.

I knew that for the next 4-6 days most businesses would be closed and even to go and get food would become an adventure.  I booked a hostel in the center of town hoping that I will meet a good team of reinforcements and be able to ward off attackers by having the biggest water guns possible.  It's funny that some people travel across the world to come to this epic event, while others who have lived in Chiang Mai for a few years or more, actually take this time to leave the country before the madness begins.

I for one am going to embrace it, eat, sleep and live with my water pistol next to me at all times and party like it's the third New Years party I've been to so far in 2013...which it actually is.

Weaving through traffic, in between cars and sometimes making illegal turns, I made it back to my apartment relatively dry with my fixed camera in tact.  They only charged me 950 baht ($32US) to repair my camera, which I thought was a steal.  I was ready to pay up to $200US to fix it, as buying a new one would be double that, and wouldn't be easy to find here.  On my way back I also picked up a bag of mixed salad for 23 baht (77cents) and a grilled chicken leg for 30 baht ($1US).

Tomorrow it official begins.  Part of me is a big nervous for the madness that is coming up, but at the same time i'm excited.  I had an excellent week working out at the new CrossFit Chiang Mai gym and made some personal bests.  This morning I managed to bench press 100kg (222lbs) five times.  People have always asked me how much I bench, but honestly, before today I never really did.  Sure I'd do it at the gym sometimes, but never with proper form, scaling or even a good spotter.  Today we started with just the bar and slowly added 5kg while doing 5 reps each until I got to my body weight.

I even randomly won a gift certificate to Three Little Pigs, a soul food restaurant by doing a portion of the CrossFit Games.  I didn't even realize there was a raffle but I was more than happy to eat up the giant Po-Boy sandwhich and side order of Hushpuppies that I couldn't even finish.


CrossFit Update:

My favorite thing about CrossFit and CrossFit Chiang Mai in specific so far is the sense of community that comes along with it.  I'm also having some of the best workouts of my life.  We did a box jump and sprint WOD (workout of the day) on Wednesday and it may have been the toughest workout of my life.  My legs are still sore and completely dead from it.  Plus it was fun seeing how high I could actually jump.  My entire life I've never had to jump more than 12" (30cm) but by following their training, that same day I was able to jump up to 32" (81cm) which was incredible for me.

Afterwards we partnered up and did 50m sprints, walking back and repeating for a crazy total of twelve times.  My slowest time was 8.9 seconds and my best was 7.6 second which I was pretty happy with.  But most of all I was happy that I was able to hit 7.8 seconds for more than half of my runs, keeping the pace.  I've always known sprints are good for me, and sometimes do them on my own.  But honestly, if there isn't a person keeping time, a partner to pace myself against, a set 50m track and the motivation of other people doing it with me, I'll never push myself to 100%.  That is one of the big reasons why I think that CrossFit works so well.  It's that sense of community and motivation, and always having someone to workout with.  Always having a trainer to make sure you are doing the right form and technique, and always someone to push you. Happy Songkran and Thai New Years everyone.

Warm Regards,

Johnny

Thai Numbers: How to Count to 999 in Thai

I originally had this as a part of the book in 12 Weeks in Thailand but I realized everyone was skipping that chapter as it isn't something you really need to know or care to learn until you've been in Thailand for a few months.

I still think it's extremely important, especially if you're not living in Phuket or a touristy area and you'll end up getting better deals and not getting ripped off if you know how to say "Tao rai?" which means how much does this cost.  If you ask Tao rai in Thai, naturally expect them to answer in Thai as well, hence the importance of learning the number system.


Counting to 999 in Thai: And up to 5,000

First learn how to count from 1-10, forget zero as I've never had to use it. But “No have” is quite useful and is “Mai Me.”

1 – Neung
2 – Song
3 – Sam
4 – Si
5- Ha
6 – Hok
7 – Chet
8 – Paet
9 – Kao
10 – Sip

If you ever learned the numbers in Cantonese, Chinese you'll notice it sounds almost identical, most likely because southern china is the original home of the first Tai Thais in history.

The easiest way to learn how to count in Thai is to only concentrate on 1-10 for now, and use it everyday when you are counting situps, pushups, or whatever you are doing. Count out loud for maximum learning effect. If you do it everyday for 7 days, I guarantee that it'll become embedded in your brain.

For how to say 11-999 in Thai skip this part for now and come back in a week or two when you memorized the first part. The nice thing about Thai numbers is instead of having special words for eleven, twelve, thirteen and so on most of it you just say “Ten, Two” for twelve The only exceptions are any number that ends in one, such as eleven, twenty one, thirty one, 41, 51, etc.

11 – Sip Et
12 – Sip Song
13 – Sip Sam
14 – Sip Si
15 – Sip Ha
16 – Sip Hok
17 – Sip Chet
18 – Sip Paet
19 – Sip Kao

The only one you really need to memorize is 11, as it is a new word, “Sip Et.” After that, you just say, “10, 2” or “10, 3” making it really easy. The same rule applies in counting in Chinese.

20 – Yi Sip
21 – Yi Sip Et
22 – Yi Sip Song
23 – Yi Sip Sam
24 – Yi Sip Si
25 – Yi Sip Ha
26 – Yi Sip Hok
27 – Yi Sip Chet
28 – Yi Sip Paet
29 – Yi Sip Kao

Twenty is a new word as well, and is “Yi Sip.” Twenty one, would be “Yi Sip Et,” as it follows the rule we learned before that anything ending in 1 uses “Et.” The reason why the rules are like that is because it sounds funny if you try to say “Neung” all the time. 11 can't be “Sip Neung” as it sounds ridiculous, so instead, they invented, “Sip Et” which is a lot easier to say. For the twenties, if you said, “Song Sip Song” for twenty two, people would understand you but they'll promptly correct you as it's wrong and for whatever reason it's “Yi Sip Song”'

Good news is that's really it for rules, it's actually an easier counting system to learn than English and you just need a few weeks to ingrain it in your head.

30 – Sam Sip
31 – Sam Sip Et
32 – Sam Sip Song
33 – Sam Sip Sam
34 – Sam Sip Si
35 – Sam Sip Ha
36 – Sam Sip Hok
37 – Sam Sip Chet
38 – Sam Sip Paet
39 – Sam Sip Kao

40 – Si Sip
41 -Si Sip Et
42 – Si Sip Song
43 – Si Sip Sam
44 – Si Sip Si
45 – Si Sip Ha
46 – Si Sip Hok
47 – Si Sip Chet
48 – Si Sip Paet
49 – Si Sip Kao

50 – Ha Sip
51 – Ha Sip Et
52 – Ha Sip Song
and so on.

Just remember 1-21 and everything else is really easy and just takes a second to think about it and a bit of practice. When your trainer makes you do 200 knees and 300 front kicks after class, use that time to count out loud in Thai and learn it, as it'll be helpful in the long run.

One hundred is “Neung Roi” and two hundred is “Song Roi.” I never learned 1,000 as there's usually nothing you need to buy that's over a few hundred baht, aside from gym fees which they'll speak English and renting a room monthly which either they'll speak English or if they don't, you really should bring along a Thai translator, such as someone from the gym, along with you anyways as there will be a lot of random things they'll need to tell you such as electricity is billed separately, how long you plan on staying for, and so on.

100 – Neung Roi
101 – Neung Roi Et
102 – Neung Roi Song
200 – Song Roi
201 Song Roi Et
202 – Song Roi Song
300 – Sam Roi
301 – Sam Roi Et
302 – Sam Roi Song
400 – Si Roy
401 – Si Roi Et
402 – Si Roi Song
500 – Ha Roi
501 – Ha Roi Et
600 – Hok Roi
601 – Hok Roi Et
700 – Chet Roi
701 – Chet Roi Et
800 – Paet Roi
900 – Kao Roi

That should be everything you really need to get you by in Thailand, and it's been fine for me for the past couple of trips. The only reason why I'm learning a bit more Thai now is because I'm living in Chiang Mai and English isn't as widely spoken here as it is on the islands. Here's some bonus numbers that you won't use very often but it's easy to learn as it follows the same rules.


1,000 – Neung Phan
1,001 – Neung Phan Et
1,002 – Neung Phan Song
2,000 – Song Phan
2,001 – Song Phan Et
2,002 – Song Phan Song
3,000 – Sam Phan
4,000 – Si Phan
5,000 – Ha Phan

Hope you got it, feel free to check back once in a while to refresh your skills.  It took me a few months to really get it, but now that I do, everything is cheaper, buying stuff is a lot easier and I don't feel as much of a retard anymore.

Warm Regards,

Johnny
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The White Temple and Black House in Chiang Rai - Heaven and Hell

One of the most beautiful and must go places while you're in Chiang Mai is actually a few hours away. However, it's a perfect stop over for when you have to leave the country on a border run.  Instead of sitting on a mini-bus for 10 hours in one go, you can break it up over two days by spending the night and doing some sight seeing in Chiang Rai which is along the way.  The White Temple is most popular and famous because it looks stunning in photos, however, don't miss the Black House as in person it is even more amazing.

The story of the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) is that the artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat started in 1996 and it won't be complete for another 60-90 years.  A student of the the White Temple's artist broke off and decided to create his own masterpiece.  The Black House is known as the artist Thawan Duchanee's house.

How to get to the Black House and White Temple:

Personally, I combined the trip with my border run to extend my visa.  I went to the bus terminal in Chiang Mai and took a ultra comfortable big bus through Green Bus to Chiang Rai.  From the bus terminal I walked to the main strip where all the westerners stay and got a random guest house.  There weren't many other tourists around.  

I rented a motorbike for the day for around 250 baht and drove to the White Temple which was about 25 minutes away.  I asked random people for directions but over shot it as there are no signs on the other side of the road, only on the side where the actual temple is.  On that same road and on the same side, if you drive up another 25 minutes towards the airport, you'll find the Black House.  There are small signs saying "Artist Thawan Duchanee's House" next left which you can follow but might still have to ask around as it's not easy to find.

Either way, make it a point to go there.  I've seen hundreds of temples in my life and can go without ever seeing one again, but these two were a must see in my book.  

Warm Regards,

Johnny

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Burning Season in Chiang Mai - Smog, Smoke, Training in February, March and April

It's the middle of the "burning season" in Chiang Mai and I'm currently training for my next Muay Thai fight.  It's been hard to run as the smoke pollution fills your lungs making it hard to breathe.  It's also a lot hotter than it would be usually since the smoke traps the heat.

The problem is two-fold, first, during the months of February, March and April, farms will burn their crops.  But the big problem that can be easy fixed is enforcing smog pollution control coming out of tuk-tuks and songthaew taxi trucks.

Personally I boycott all Tuk-Tuks (the 3 wheeled taxi's) in Thailand as most of the driver's are rude, try to rip you off, and more than half of them are terrible for the environment as they produce tons of smoke from their exhausts.  The taxi-trucks called Songthaews (pictured above in red) are much better as they usually charge a flat, fair fee, 20 baht (67cents) within the city and 40 baht to go slightly outside old Chiang Mai.  Unfortunately I've recently seen a lot of Songthaew's with smoke coming out of their exhausts as well.

Technically it's already illegal in Thailand for cars and trucks to have "excessive black smoke" coming from their exhausts but no one ever enforces it.  I wish they would.

As far as training Muay Thai in the months of February  March and April in Chiang Mai.  I would recommend you do it somewhere else or not come during these months.  I stayed through it, hoping it wouldn't be too bad, but if I could do it again, I would have avoided the north, and maybe even Thailand as a whole during these months. 

The smog isn't as bad as it gets in Beijing, China, but it's a lot worse than it is in Los Angeles on a bad day.  Most of the time it just feels hot, muggy and stuffy.  Your breaths are short as it's hard to get a full lung of oxygen and running becomes both difficult and dangerous to your health.  The only saving grace is that when it rains, it temporary stops the burning and the fires clearing up the air.  Normally I can see the moutain Doi Suthep from my doorstep quite cleary, but during burning season,  the entire mountain disappears into gray smoke.  

  

When not to come to Chiang Mai:

Do not come to Chiang Mai between the dates of February 10th - April 10th.  In December and January Chiang Mai is awesome.  The air is great, it's high season and tons of tourists come to spend Christmas and New Years and it doesn't get too hot during the day.  In fact, it gets quite cold at night, cold enough to wear a light jacket.  

Starting April 13th-16th Chiang Mai is AMAZING, it is the start of Songkran which is a nationwide water gun fight.  It is far better in Chiang Mai than it is anywhere else in the country, so make it a point to be in Chiang Mai during those dates.  However, all of March avoid Chiang Mai at all costs.  Either stay at home and don't come to Thailand during that month, or if you must, go down to the south, to Koh Tao, Phuket or one of the other islands.  

Training Muay Thai during Burning Season:

Classes are still going on, and honestly, it's not bad enough to stop training.  You might not even realize that it is that bad.  But if you've been here since November as I have and remember how crisp and clean the air is usually, then you know how dramatic the difference is.  So the short answer is, yes you can still come to Chiang Mai to train Muay Thai during the months of February, March and April.  All the gyms are still open and there are still people here.  You can still fight and life goes on as normal.  However, it'll be extra muggy and hot, the air won't be very clean and you may have trouble running outdoors.  Personally, if I could have avoided being here these months, I would have.  If you insist on coming to Chiang Mai during burning season, it might be a good idea to stay at a gym further away from the old city as the majority of the car pollution gathers there.  Santai maybe a good choice as it is 40 minutes outside the city.  The new Tiger Muay Thai Chiang Mai is also 40 minutes outside the city, however it is in Mae Rim Valley where a lot of the field burning takes place.

Solutions:

You can email the Tourist Authority of Thailand, Pollution Control Department, Thailand Government and whoever else may have a say in the matter voicing your thoughts about how the burning season and more immediately important the car smog and pollution is bad for tourism.  

Warm Regards and good luck training where ever you may end up,

Johnny

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Back in Thailand again and happy as a clam.

Five random reasons why I'm happy to be back in Thailand.

1. Easy, short lines through immigration and customs without headache.

2. My motorbike which I left 10 days ago was still in the parking lot, no one messed with it or my helmet, and parking was free!

3. On the way back to my apartment I stopped by he side of the road to have a meal, amazing Thai food for only 35 baht ($1.17US)

4. Fuck the cold!  It was between 0 and 3 degrees Celsius in China and it's 29C (84F) here in Chiang Mai.  

5. I already feel healthier being back. Cleaner air, warm weather, fresh fruits and vegetables, and exercise.  

If I were in any other country, I would have spent an hour going through customs and immigration, been met with the freezing cold. My helmet stolen and paid $10 a day minimum for parking. There would have been nothing open at midnight to eat besides fast food and Denny's chain restaurants.

I went to China for work.  Spent eight nights in a luxury hotel room, eating at fancy restaurants and drinking champagne at top end bars. But honestly, I'm much happier back in my simple 4,000 baht ($133US) a month apartment, eating $2 Thai food and chilling out in shorts and flip flops in Thailand.

Each bottle signifies one month of Muay Thai classes

This bottle of Champagne is a year's rent in Thailand

Don't get me wrong, it as fun, but completely unnecessary and quite frankly, a fucking waste of money.  If I was ever as rich as the guys that took me out, I'd rather give my friends all a plane ticket to Thailand instead of wasting $1,000US on bottle service in a nightclub.  By the way, don't ever use cheaptickets.com - I booked my flight through them and they totally screwed me over.  

It's funny the things we learn to appreciate when we're in Thailand and everything is simple, life is slow and things are cheap.  While people I know in China, the U.S. and London are all striving to make as much money as possible, they're also spending on things that don't truly make them happy.  Going out every weekend and getting drunk is a pastime, which literally means, pass time, sometime you do simply to pass the time.  Imagine if they saved up their money, and blew it all traveling and living the good life on the cheap instead.  They would be happier, healthier, all while pursuing their dreams of being a fighter, scuba diver, or world traveler.  I sincerely hope that what ever you do, you're doing because you love it.

Warm Regards,

Johnny @ My Fight Camp

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Muay Thai in Thailand - The good and the bad

I often meet people who have done Muay Thai or some form of Kickboxing back home for a few months before coming out to Thailand to train.  Their response is usually something like, "Wow it's totally different out here, I can't believe how much more intense it is."

Muay Thai/Kickboxing in America, Canada, England, Australia, and other Western Countries vs. Muay Thai Training in Thailand differ mainly because of culture, liability and language barriers.  

If you arrive as a complete beginner in Thailand, expect to jump right into class the first day punching, kicking, and even sparring.  In as little as 30-60 days if you are doing well and your school needs more people to fight, expect your trainer to ask you if you want to compete.  

As a beginner in Western countries, you will often not spar for a few months, and you will not be asked or allowed to fight for real for years.  You might not even get to kick pads for a while.  However, what you'll get back home that you won't get in Thailand is someone that'll explain to you in English what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Thai trainers just start having you kick and correct you along the way, often it takes months before you realize what they actually want you to do.  There are pros and cons of this obviously.  In some countries people talk and explain way too much and end up spending half the class bullshitting.  In Thailand, maybe because the trainers usually don't speak much English, you just do it.  It gets frustrating once in a while but if I had to choose, I'd do it the Thai way and just jump into it.  

Tiger Muay Thai has four classes:  Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced, and Fighter's Class.

The beginners class is mostly cardio.  Some people love it, others hate it.  I think it's important to have a good cardio base in the beginning and since the beginners class is always the largest with up to 30+ students sometimes it's the only way they can do it.

The intermediate class becomes much more real muay thai and they teach you the foundations and basics well.  However, it seems like the class is exactly the same every week and never changes, you'll get tired of clinching five times a week.

The advanced class is excellent, the trainers push you extremely hard but focus a lot on technique.  The classes are smaller, especially in the mornings and the trainers seem to care a bit more.  

The fighter's class is more of a place for sponsored TMT figther's who are staying for more than 1 year to do their own training.  

At Phuket Top Team everyone is mixed into one class because of the small amount of students:

Since there are almost always less than ten students per class, it wouldn't make sense to have separate classes, and it works out fine.  The standard class is jumping rope to warm up followed by a group stretch then half of the students go into the ring to do three rounds of padwork while the other half (usually the beginners/less experienced) do three rounds on the bags while the trainers pull some aside to give tips to.  Then you switch.  

After Padwork and Heavy Bags you either have boxing sparring, muay thai sparring, clinching, or technique.  At the end of each class you have mandatory exercises which can include kneeing the bag, front kicks on the bag, pushups and situps.  

Most Muay Thai gyms I've trained at around Thailand have followed a similar schedule and it seems to work well.  The class at TMT is 2 and a half hours long while the one at PTT is 1 and a half hours long.  I have no idea where that extra hours goes as it feels like I get a simular workout in both classes.  Personally my favorite part of muay thai class and the main reason why I need a trainer is for the three rounds of padwork and the sparring, everything else I could do on my own time.  Personally I prefer the shorter hour and a half class, especially if you are training twice a day.  But I'm sure there are pros and cons of each and to each their own..

Both Tiger Muay Thai and Phuket Top Team have great Muay Thai programs and trainers.  I had decent training at Lanta Muay Thai in Koh Lanta, and very basic training at Island Muay Thai in Koh Tao.  I'll keep you guys updated whenever I try out a new gym, there are a few more that I have heard good things about that I've been wanting to try, such as Sitmonchai near Bangkok and the gyms in Chiang Mai. 

Warm Regards and Good Training,

My Fight Camp