Another year another trip. I just finished dinner at a local Japanese Restaurant here in SFO. I checked in a few hours ago now I am just waiting to board my flight. I spent almost a year planning for this. A lot has happened and now I am just itching to get on that plane and head off.
A lot has happened since I flew out to the far east. My co-worker John was quick to remind me that I screwed up last year and I did not update my blog. Last year was a little different as I trained at a different gym and spent a good two weeks in a different part of Bangkok.
I did not enjoy my trip last year as I have in years past. 2010 was worse and last year I left Singapore with a lot more to be desired. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my stay at Kiatphontip Muay Thai and Evolve MMA in Singapore. However, I went into those trips in the worse shape of my life.
From 2007 to 2010 I trained MMA (cage fighting) religiously 4- 5 times a week. I spent days every week sparring hard and even thought about competing again. I haven't fought since I took 4th at a submission tournament back in 1998. But I spent those days training hard and took pride every time I went in for a check up.
However last year I was just in the worse shape of my life. Also, in the back of my mind I always knew that I could "just train in Thailand" to get back in shape. For my first 3 years I lost an average of about 25 lbs. in 3 weeks. Two 6 mile runs a day, two 3 hour training sessions, and constant sparring will do that to you. Add the clean diet of rice, chicken, and fish and your body becomes a metabolic machine.
But last year was different. I couldn't train as hard as I could. The gym was different and the routine was a little different as well. I couldn't run as much I wanted because I feared that by the time I came back the training session would be finished. In Thailand when you run you run. Minimum distance is 5 miles. After I did my pad rounds with my trainer I would be so exhausted to even commit to hitting the sandbag. I sparred with Mas from Holland and he just beat the living shit out of me for 3 rounds. After that happened I witness Mas getting his ass handed to him by a 15 year old Thai fighter. Seeing that did not do any wonders for my confidence.
After spending two weeks at Kiatphontip Muay Thai (kiatphontipgym.com) I flew to Singapore to train at the world renowned Evolve MMA Gym (evolve-mma.com). The facilities are 2nd to none, training was great, but it lacked the edgy intensity you get training in Thailand.
When I was Seoul waiting for my plane to get back to SFO I decided then and there that being so out of shape wasn't going to happen to me again. I enrolled in marathon training and I ran my first half marathon (13 miles) this past May. I signed up for sports conditioning at pureform perfomance fitness training (pureformpft.com) this past August. I lost 8 lbs. over the past two weeks.
So here I am at gate 96 in SFO waiting for my flight. Waiting to get back to Kaewsamrit and train with multiple world champion Anuwat Kaewsamrit.
Waiting to train at Fairtex which is highly regarded as the most finest kickboxing training facility in the world. And waiting to just let go and forget about everything else and just be selfish for myself the next few weeks.
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