Life in a real Muay Thai training camp in Rayong Thailand
UPDATE FROM MIK’S DIARY December 21st 2015
“7 Muay Thai Gym is placed in a very quiet area, in Rayong province, 10 km from Ban Phe, close to the beach. If in chaotic Bangkok or Phuket speaking English is quite common, in a rural area like where I’m staying it’s not so easy communicate if you don’t speak a little bit of thai language. Far from massive tourism, people here around don’t feel the need to learn foreigners languages. One more obstacle, of course, but even one more stimulus to learn another new thing, living on the skin a genuine Thailand, where old traditions are still widespread, not buried under the cement of the big cities.
Practicing Muay Thai, I’ve realized that teachers, even if they know a few english words about the training, prefer use thai words. I consider rather appropriate, and respectful too, approaching this solemn discipline with a little linguistic preparation. Why something so typical in thai culture has to lose identity in the communication process?So here below you can find a little “Muay Thai vocabulary” which will help you to understand your kru when he ask you to throw a sok!
Fight = Chok
Elbow = Sok
Knee = Khaow
Straight knee attack = Kao Dtrong
Jumping knee = Kao Loy
Front kick = Theep
Side kick = Theep Kang
Jump kick = Kao Loy
Fist= Mad
Teacher = Kru
Master teacher = Ajarn
Boxer = Nak Muay
Getting curious? Have a look HERE at some more info on Muay Thai
And don’t forget to greet, when you arrive and when you leave the gym, saying “sa wa dee krap/ka” (krap if you are male, ka if you are female), and to thank your teacher with “kop khun krap/ka“!
Mik
7 Muay Thai Camp
UPDATE FROM MIK’s DIARY December 16th 2015
So are a few weeks enough to get used life in a Muay Thai camp? Not at all! Just somethings have become easier. A training session is not exactly ‘relaxing’: more than 2 hours of intensive exercising, a program that include exercises on bags and with teachers, and sparring with other boxers. Here in the 7 Muay Thai there are two classes a day….but for me one is enough! With a little bit of determination, even a beginner like me can finish somehow a session! Anyway it’s hard facing these difficulties and to make progress on technical skills, always comparing oneself to other boxers. For example, since I arrived here I’ve been trying to kick in the correct way but the teacher, in a English/Thai mix, is still explaining to me how I cannot do it better. I find also very hard blocking kicks with my knees: instinct makes me cover my sides with elbows, just like in classic boxing. Teacher keep shaking his head, and smiling…
Muay Thai is so hard, or it’s just me? Maybe it would be better for me if I could simply enjoy fishing and sun on one of these beautiful beaches?
“Pain you don’t feel during training, will be pain you feel in the ring”, I heard. This little motto, which trainers use to tell theirs boxers to push them during the training. This has to be considered even by a beginner who starts practicing Muay Thai and is facing his first difficulties…
Mik
Hi everybody, December 8th 2015
My name is Michele, although here in Thailand people call me just Mik.
I am passionate about sports but until recently I just practiced a little bit of western boxing. I love travelling and rock music.
I’m writing here because I want to open my personal diary. My aim is to let you taste the adventure I am (and will be)facing over the coming months. After spending the past two years stuck in an office in front of a pc and a phone, I took an enormous life changing decision: I left my career ambitions and a sure salary and I bought a ticket for Asia. My new plan was to begin a deep experience within a very different culture and to discover, from point zero, a fantastic art: Muay Thai.
Now I’m attending a gym (7 Muay Thai, Rayong) which receives champions from all around the world and thai teachers with 200,300 pro fights. My hope is to share my thoughts and experiences with you all as I progress through this journey; for you all to see, read and even feel how a beginner like me will spend his time in a real Muay Thai camp.
I aim to tell you what means for a total beginner living in a camp with real nak muay (Thai boxers), what I experience during my days, about the difficulties I meet in my new challenge, about the people with whom I share my moments and, why not, about this beautiful sub-tropical country in general.
For sure we have some interesting and challenging times ahead. Are you ready to dive with me into this exotic sea?
Chok dee!!
Mik
Looking for Mulberry White Tea? Follow link to online shop or hit the Buy It Now button below