Fairtex

On Monday morning I woke up at 7:30 AM to begin the last leg of my training trip. I was pretty excited, Fairtex is the finest training facility in all of Asia. I was housed in a hotel suite complete with breakfast and dinner. Training started at 8 am so I was in a little rush to make it.

When I was finally ready, I walked past the in house restaurant, past the pool, and into the gym ready to get going. Training here is a little different atmosphere wise than training at Kaewsamrit. I saw Chai, the very first Muay Thai coach I ever had in Thailand. I've been to Fairtex every year for the past 4 years and every year it's still the same. The familiar faces all recognize me and it always feels good to be noticed.

While everybody else was having the trainers wrap their hands, I wrapped my own hands to the amazement of everybody else. Prior to last year I developed my own method to wrapping hands which saves time.

I then asked Chai if he could work with me and he obliged. Training at Kaewsamrit had you doing 5 minute rounds, at Fairtex the rounds were 4 minutes in duration. My pad work with Chai was awesome. When Chai saw that I was prepared he upped the pace and then some. Typically if you're new to kickboxing/thai boxing the trainer just has you throwing combos at the pads. However, Chai was throwing punches and kicks at me, so I had to work on my defense. I could block almost all of the punches and most of the leg kicks, however I had a f**cking time trying to check the body kicks. Chai was not throwing them at 100% but they still hurt. After 4 rounds of mayhem we then went to boxing techniques with my hands. This round was a lot better as I was just throwing punches. Towards the end of the round my trainer upped the pace and I banged my chest with my right hand signaling that I was ready. I have Kaewsamrit, Master Cheng, Ong, Ta, and Mao for my improved level of stamina. I finished my rounds without needing a sip of water.

It was then time for me to hit the bag. With Fairtex being such a prestine facility the bags were almost new and totally clean. I was able to bang the bag for 5 rounds before calling it a session. I then went into the locker room, took a shower, and headed out for breakfast.

Breakfast is provided at the in house restaurant. It is buffet style but you can have an omelette cooked for you which I did. I then had cereal and a couple of Thai dishes to finish up. I was then able to return to my suite to rest easy. I slept like a baby for 4 hours before it was time for the afternoon session.

The afternoon session went a lot like the first only this time my trainer realized that I was already in shape. The pad work is almost like a fight as my trainer keeps countering my strikes right after I throw them. The one thing he keeps getting me on is when I throw my left round kick to the body. I throw it right at the pad but then my trainer counters with a left leg round kick to my liver. I can't seem to counter or defend fast enough. However, because of the advanced training I received at Kaewsamrit I tend to be in a zone just so totally focused on getting the job done.

After hitting the pads it was time to hit the bag. There is a row of bags that you cannot find at Kaewsamrit but you can at Fairtex. The bag is almost from the floor to the ceiling and it is called a banana bag. With this bag you can throwing pretty everything at it and that is what I did doing my best Mike Tyson impression by throwing massive crosses and hooks. After my 5 rounds of bag work I then asked Chai if we can work on the clinch. Chai obliged and soon we were the object of everyone's attention. After about 10 minutes of clinch work a few other people were asking the Thai's if they could work it also and the trainers obliged. After a few rounds in the clinch I called it a day and had dinner.

After dinner I did all the customary things such as e-mail, internet, etc. I was able to sleep peacefully and look forward to another day of training.