The shout-out

Eight guys are walking in a circle through the room – everyone is shaking out his arms and legs, stretching the neck or rotating the upper body to relieve the muscle tension. You can hear dozens of drops of sweat hitting the mats with a silent "Tuk", wiped off from sweaty, gleaming foreheads or dropping down from soaking wet rashguards. Velcro’s of gloves are torn open, tape is ripped off from ankles and cups are thrown off the mat.

For one and a half hours we drilled and sweat together, pushed and punched each other, explained and learned techniques, choked the necks and overstretched the joints of our training partners. Now the fun is over.

The end of a training session is always the same – it is like a ritual. After a few minutes of cooling down and taking off your gear, Dylan´s voice fills the room: "Okay guys! Bring it IIIIN!"

He stands in the middle of the room and we join him – all of us standing in a small circle. The coach starts to speak: "Great job today guys! It´s awesome to see how you find the perfect intensity. Pushing each other to the limit, beating the shit out of each other but no one gets hurt. That´s great! There are big fights coming up. These are the last weeks of preparation!"

He stretches out his hand to the middle of the circle and everyone follows, building a tower of hands in the center of a net of arms. "Team Quest on three!" Dylan shouts, "One, two, three..." - The tower and the net disappears as all hands are pushed down at once and a shout-out from eight voices thunders through out the room – "TEAM QUEST!".

All the energy spent on the mats in the session is concentrated in this one shout-out. Everyone puts as much energy as possible into this shout to make it a demonstration of power. Shouting together the name of the gym is a way to say thanks to the coach for the good instructions, to thank your teammates for the great work together and to show everyone that this bunch of guys loves what they do.

hanging around on the mats and having a chat after training

It really supports the team spirit and makes me begin to get excited for the next session. Often the shout-out is followed by applause, shaking each other’s hands or simply by telling your team mates that you will not let them catch this submission so easy the next time.

When I step into the ring, I may be alone and may be the only one who can beat the other guy. Nonetheless, I am nothing without a great team behind me.

Fighting is no sport for a lone wolf.

MMA is a team sport.

To be on a budget - Part I

I decided to start a series called "Being on a budget" in which I shall share my experiences about travelling to Thailand and living in Chiang Mai on a budget. If you are thinking about doing a trip similar to mine, the number one question you would like to hear an answer for is: How much money do I need?

Even if you just want to do a four week trip I will try to give you some useful tips.
So let me introduce this upcoming series to you in this post:

About me and my way to finance this

When I decided to go abroad to concentrate on training for one year I was in my last year of school. I did not have enough time to work on the side because I was spending all my free time already for training six times a week. So instead I had to use the time originally set aside to prepare for the final exams for work. So I started to work full-time in an amusement park, selling slush-ice, right on the first day I did not have to attend classes anymore. Not the most exciting job, especially because it was March and still around five degrees in the late morning. The weather did nothing to motivate the people to buy the freezing cold, extremely sweet, chemical product (I will never eat this again).

After one month I quit this job to work in a storage building, which can be described as a gigantic refrigerator, of a big supermarket chain. There, I packed pallets at two degrees what was not more fun but definitely more exciting and better paid (but also much more exhausting). All in all I worked for five months and saved enough money for the year.

What will my tips be like?

I try to save as much money as possible, living a quite economical life here and writing down how much I spent over the day every night. That makes it easy to calculate how much money I will have left over to afford extra trips, like doing a one-week journey to Laos.

So for my daily expenses, I think it would be hard to spend less than I do now. Unless you live in a tent or skip all fun activities, like going out sometimes and having an awesome sushi all-you-can-eat for 300 Baht (10$ / 7€) instead of a simple (but still awesome) meal at a small restaurant on the street for 40 Baht (1,30$ / 1€).

Furthermore be aware that Chiang Mai, or rather the north, is one of the cheapest parts of Thailand. Living here is much cheaper than in Bangkok. The Islands in the south are even more expensive than the capital.

For fighters only?

Definitely not. I will try to give all the information necessary to do a training trip to Chiang Mai but most of my suggestions will be useful for any kind of traveler. Whether you want to train for a week and then move on to another destination or just jump in for one single session at Team Quest to experience the national sport of Thailand – my tips will hopefully help you as well.

I would be glad to welcome you back on my blog at the next post,

Felix

Being tough?

I put on the belly shield – it is an extra pad made to catch middlekicks and other attacks to the body in training. We are just three fighters this morning because Emilis has to do a visa run and Tim is still injured from his fight at Pattaya Cage Wars. So present today are just Josh "The Wolfman" Smith from New Zealand, Glenn Sparv from Finland and I; all left to focus on the thousands of details of body punches with Dylan at our side.

How can I put as much weight as possible into a liver hook without losing balance? How to step right? And how far to step out of your opponents line?

All these questions were answered in today´s boxing portion of the MMA morning class – now we are completing one of the last drills. When Dylan explains it, I realize that I have chosen a passive role when I put on the belly shield. I will be the dummy and will just determine the distance while Josh and Glenn will punch hard to the body. Four minutes each and then it will be my turn.

I know that these guys can punch really hard, so I make sure to contract my abdominals at the right moment and breathe out sharp at the same time. The easier way would be to turn your body so the punches do not hit with its full power. However, you actually have to lean into every punch. If you do not do this you endanger your training partner´s fist. Knuckles or the wrist get injured faster than most people think they would.

Glenn´s punches are damn hard and especially when he aims for the liver I am thankful that I have this belly shield. Even through it I feel the pressure on the sensitive organ. Towards the end, the hits get more painful. He is not punching harder than at the start of his turn, but it seems as if the effect of every single attack adds to a stronger pain. The Finnish fighter hits a left straight, I contract my abdominals and his right-hook hits my body at the perfect moment, when the muscles relax again. With clenched teeth I try to ignore the literally, breath-taking pain in my belly.

It is Josh´s turn. I have to stretch and a few deep breaths and try to relax. Immediately, the Wolfman starts with long, fast combinations – what does not mean that these are less powerful. Three straights in a row hit the belly-shield just a few centimeters under my solarplexus. His punches are a heavy barrage and with every hit the constant hurting of my stomach becomes worse. After two minutes, even the punches to the side of the body produce an extending pain from the solarplexus to the rest of the body. It feels as if he is hitting the solarplexus every single time.

"Just 30 seconds! Go on!" Dylan shouts. I do not only feel sick but also feel as if an invisible power continues to pull my abdominal wall inside-out. Grimacing in pain, I pray that the time pass faster.

"TIIIIIMEEEE!" I am relieved.

Glenn grabs the belly-shield and I try to pay back – but only after a few hooks I am out of breath. I lean into the punches to create more power... but there is no power. "Are you okay?" he asks me with a worried frown – "Yeah, yeah. I´m okay!" I reply while taking a step back. I take a breath and focus on the pad again. Straight, Hook, Hook: A flickering and flaring in front of my eyes and I am drained.

"Are you sure that you are ok? You are as white as a sheet."

"Damn it! I´m getting dizzy!"

"Lie down! And put your legs up!" Dylan orders me. The training is over.

After a couple of minutes I feel better again.

Today, I learned something important: A key element to success is to remain tough. Why? Because, you have to withstand pain and exhaustion in order to get out of your comfort zone and demonstrate progress in training. When you push your limits physically, and, as a consequence, push your limits mentally, you succeed.

But sometimes... Being tough does not cut it. Sometimes, being tough mentally does not work since one is not tough enough, physically.

So what is the lesson learned from today’s training session?

Well… avoid heavy body shots.

Can I feel any better?

(This post is from the week after my first fight 09.10.13)

Jin´s blue Ford Cortina L, build in 1977, rumbles over the rugged road and we are heading for an old concrete bridge with many fixed holes and cracks over a small river. The left front wheel of the Old-timer sinks into a pothole and I look with questioning eyes at my Thai-teacher. "Don´t worry!" she answers while we are getting closer and closer to this old bridge. "Everything on this earth will be gone one day!" - "Everyone who loves Old-timers would suffer a nervous breakdown if he could see what you are doing!" I reply a bit scared. But she does not listen to me: "If you think too much of everything, you cannot enjoy your life!"
She is right... somehow. But I still do feel sorry for the car.

Originally Jin invited me to accompany her to her favorite coffee shop. It is a bit outside the city in the middle of the jungle. You only need ten minutes with the car from my flat to be in the silent wild: Chiang Mai is surrounded by dozens of mountains covered with a shining, tropical green of millions of trees. First you are on the highway with hundreds of other cars, then you just take the right junction and suddenly you find yourself on a small street with many bends. To the right and to the left of the street are steep slopes and lianas hang down from huge trees.

But it seems as if Jin´s jungle coffee-shop is not an inside tip anymore: There is no idyllic silence more but a new build parking lot with maybe 40 cars in it, not one free table anymore and a big sign says "Wi-Fi available" so you do not miss the chance to tell Facebook where you are and what you are doing.

Looking for silence and a bit of isolation from the big city, we follow a small, wooden, inconspicuous signpost saying "Waterfall Café" on it. "In the past you did not even get a signal for your mobile phone there" Jin tells me a bit melancholy.

A few minutes later we are about to cross the old concrete bridge.

The condition of the street is no reason for Jin to drive slower until we find what we were looking for (not without producing disturbing sounds when stones scratch the bottom of the oldtimer). A cute, wooden house stands in the middle of a big glade in the jungle and the site is surrounded by a stream. Many creative designed chairs, tables and loungers invite you to stay and relax here. No noises from the street are heard here; we can only hear the splashing of the stream, the songs of the birds and insects of the forest and the roaring of the waterfall in the distance. An Idyll!

Basically we just wanted to have an ice-coffee (or two) and lean back a few minutes but we ended up lying on a bamboo mat with our feet in the cool stream, enjoying chocolate cake and discussing German and Thai cultural differences.

I already started to train on Tuesday after I fought on Sunday – it is Saturday now and I do not only feel that I deserve this time out but it feels even more intense: a welcome change from the arduous training at Team Quest.

After hanging out for a few hours, we lose our way on the way back home. Instead of getting annoyed we see it as a chance to enjoy the beautiful landscape of northern Thailand even more. We stop and just stand there and take pleasure in the awesome view on the hills and the rice fields in the sun of the evening. 

"Can I feel any better?" I ask myself while leaning against the Ford and thinking about the fight, the training and all the other great things I have not written about in my blog...

"No. I don´t think so!".

Knowledge is not everything

I am lying on my bed, leaned against the wall with my legs extended. On top of my left ankle I placed a big plastic bag filled with ice cubes. The whole entire room is filled with the sweet and acrid smell of tiger balm. Gleen Sparv, a Team Quest member and fighter from Finland, brought me my lunch today, because unfortunately I am not able to get it by myself. If you could take a closer look you would realize that I cannot go anywhere today.

Two days earlier: It is Monday afternoon when I arrive at the gym for the grappling class I am already excited for. The evening before, Glenn had his first Muay Thai fight after he fought the prior weekend at Pattaya Cage Wars and won the Welterweight title. He was successful in his Muay Thai fight but this is no reason for him to lean back. Instead he is training and is the first guy I see: He greets me and goes on preparing for the class.

I am just about to take off my bag and greet all the grapplers already sitting and lying on the mats and talking about the UFC, the ADCC and about everything and anything when I hear someone shout my name. When I turn around I see Kru Nee walking towards me: "You fight on Wednesday! Loikroh Stadium!" Original my next Muay Thai fight was scheduled for the 23^rd, but facing the opportunity to fight in the beginning of November at the Pattaya Cage Wars, I did not want to risk an injury before such an important fight. So together with MMA Coach Dylan Fussel, I decided to ask for an earlier fight: Now it´s scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

Because of Nee’s order "Stop training!" I have to step back from the grappling class with a heavy heart today. Instead Lumphini veteran Adrien teaches me a wai kru – the traditional dance opening every Muay Thai fight (I do not want to repeat the .... let´s call it "little faux pas" I did last time).

Wednesday night I am sitting on a small plastic chair in the ring corner and Kru Nut pours cold water over my neck. It is the break before the 5^th and final round. While my hurting shinbones and legs get a massage, I am coached from four sides. Since the first round I know the game plan of my opponent and my corner is imprinting it into my head during every break: He waits until I go forward, then walks back to kick fast and hard to get out of my line immediately.

my first wai kru ever

My corner suggested different tactics and I tried to execute them but until now he was superior. I did hit him well a few times but all the rounds are definitely scored for him. "Only punches!" Ping shouts from the left. "You have to knock him out to win!" Ian explains from the right and with a "Don´t wait! Go forward!" Nut sends me back into battle.

My opponent and I hug each other grinning before we start the final three minutes. I try to cut off his way and rush forward aggressively – but his skills in estimating distance and his speed are superior. When I hit him I come after him with wild hooks, hoping to finish him but he escapes again and again. While clinching, my nose gets hit and I spread blood generously on his and my upper body – he grins at me and I answer with shrugging shoulders.

He is only walking backwards while still dominating me. Clinching, more straight punches or longer combinations – nothing helps. I clearly lose this fight by points but it was a great fight. Five straight rounds gave me the chance to get a lot of experience and it was the first time for me that the game plan of my opponent was obvious and yet I was still unable to stop him.

I have been lying on the bed for the whole entire day now. Already in round one I kicked his elbow with my foot which is now tinted with a huge brown-blue heamtoma.
But I am confident to be able to walk again soon and start preparing for my (hopefully) upcoming MMA fight.

Felix – already able to limp around instead of just lying on the bed

The taste of water

Just a few more drills before we start to grapple with each other to end the class with an exhausting 30 minutes roll. The drill allows only 30-second-breaks between the five-minute-rounds while switching partners after every of them.

During the short break before the final part of the training starts, when you are supposed to put your mouthpiece in, I use the chance to get my water bottle again. It is almost empty before I even open it – maybe the water simply disappeared or evaporated magically inside the bottle. But I definitely do not feel like I drank it. The small sip I am able to take is like a mere drop in the ocean.

We start to roll and whatever kind of hold we try, our fingers keep slipping from the dripping wet arms of our training partners. One of the guys is in my guard when he stands up and tries to put pressure on my shoulders – if I would not wear a rashguard, he could just push me across the slippery mats. He places his forearm on my throat and I have to shake him off his balance to get my neck free. From doing this, my throat is even drier and I want water.

Despite my parching thirst I do well in this class and catch a few submissions (of course not without getting submitted too). "Maybe it works in the same way as spurs for horses", I think while dying of thirst while pulling a rear naked choke tight.

After six rounds of intense rolls I am exhausted. "Thanks for the training guys!" Dylan shouts and starting to clap his hands and everybody does the same. Finally it is time for what I have waited for so long today: Drinking as much water as I want to. The mere thought of it makes me feel refreshed already.

When I put the bottle to my lips I gulp down the ice-cold water in one swallow and refill it immediately. After drinking the first half liter in just a few seconds, to satisfy the strongest need for water, I start to really enjoy the second bottle. When you hang out on your couch watching movies or sitting in front of your laptop for hours you get bored by water. It tastes insipid. It is tasteless. You want to have sugary drinks or coffee or a beer. Water seems to be anything other than a delight.

After having easily lost 1 1/2 liters of water during the hard class at Team Quest Thailand today, water is the best drink ever.

It fills my mouth and runs down my throat, it does not only bring a pleasant cool to the mouth and body but it tastes sweet. There is neither a salty taste nor this boring taste of "nothing". The taste buds are satisfied to its fullest and any other drink, like coke or lemonade, would be too sweet now. Somehow I feel like my body is more sensitive after a hard workout (Do you share this experience? I am interested to hear your opinion on that in the comments!)

I spend 15 minutes just sitting next to the water dispenser and drinking a total of two liters before I get up and go having a shower. An ice cold one. The harder the class was the more likely I am to have a cold shower. After technique sessions my body usually does not have that need to be cooled down – but today it must. And I feel great after this internal- and external cool down.

Basically I feel great all the time since I am here.

Did I already recommend doing such a Thailand trip? It is simply awesome. If you are not convinced yet: Go into your kitchen, grab some water and listen to your body. Does it tell you that you are having the greatest drink ever? No?

Now you have a reason to come here!

The desire for water

It is hot in Thailand. It may not be the hottest season but if you are from Germany, Thailand is definitely a hot place for you. Already after the warm-up my sweaty rashguard sticks to my body and I have to wipe drips of sweat from my eyes. While my experience back home was that your thurst during the class depends on how much water you drank before training during the day; this does not go in Thailand.

I know about the drastic effect of water shortage on your physical performance, so I have always payed attention to drinking enough and pay even more attention to it since I am here. But still after five weeks it feels like a fight I cannot win.

I stand up from the guard of Glenn and we clap hands. Sweat runs down my forearms, my legs and my forehead. Every inch of my body, not covered by clothes, is not covered with hundreds of beads of sweat. It is just half-way through the training and the mats already look like someone emptied two big buckets of water on them. If someone wears a cotton t-shirt instead of synthetic sports clothes it not only changed its colour for two shades darker but it may become at least one size bigger – and maybe two sizes longer. Hanging stretched and shapeless on the body of its owner.

"Grab some water guys! And then we´ll do another drill for passing the guard." Dylan tells us while grabbing one of these small glass bottles filled with an yellow, isotonic sports drink, he always has in his bag. We talked about this drink: for him these are his special drinks what for me is ice coffee since I am here. I did not drink a lot of coffee before I came here. But basically I am powerless against the superiority of restaurants and stands selling ice coffee for a 15 to 30 Baht. There are seven different places only on my street – one right in front of my door. Really, they force you to get addicted here. But this is another story.

When I go and get my bottle of water to quench my thirst and have the first sip my body craves for more – I just raised the bottle to my lips and it is already half-empty. My body absorbs the water like a sponge. We are just training for 45 minutes now and I could already drink two litres.
This is one of the feelings I hate! You drink half a liter and the satisfaction lasts for maybe a minute. Just after two repetitions of the next drill later you start to be thirsty again. Your throat becomes dry and you feel like you already lost more sweat than water you drank just seconds ago.

With the bottle in my hand I hear a voice inside my head: "Simply do it! Drink more! You are thirsty – it will feel good!". I have another small sip and close the bottle - unsatisfied. Never will I make this mistake again. Never drink too much when in the mid of a hard workout. And I am – Dylan can be a drill seargant (he just lacks the shouting at you and calling you names. Maybe drill seargant is the wrong word. Polite slave-driver fits better.)

Have you ever done that mistake? Did you ever have to go all-out with your belly filled with a litre of water? This feeling as if waves hit your abdominal wall? This feeling as if the water inside of you is getting more and more and starting to overfill you? This feeling as if all the food you ate in the last two days swims on the top of this dangerous lake inside of you and finding its way up your throat?

With a heavy heart I throw the bottle on my backpack and get back on the mat. To continue the workout. 45 minutes more. But I am thirsty...

...to be continued

A small fish or a shark?

My back is pressed against the mats that cover the wall while I try to lean into my sparring partner; but he puts a lot of pressure onto me. His shoulder is right on my solar plexus and he reaches for my left leg. I push his head down, try to keep my feet close to the wall and try to get rid of him. Suddenly he changes the direction of his pressure and I lose my balance – he drops down, catches both of my legs and I feel my feet leaving the ground. "Tssss!" - we both breathe out, when we hit the ground together, him on top and me trying to scramble into a better position. "Damn it! Why are my feet so big?" I think while trying to pass by his legs to get into the full-guard. He holds tight. "Maybe I can fake this... and then breaking his balance... what about the way to his back?" - but my plans get busted by a punch smacking into my face. I nearly forgot that we are doing MMA.

Josh postures up and I have to defend myself against a hail of punches. Again I try to scramble away – big mistake! Quick he gets his knee up, places it on my breast and puts his weight on it. I groan, want to push it away, but "the Wolfman", that is his fight name, controls me easily with his bodyweight and good balance. If there is a position you do not want to be in, it is the "knee-on-stomach". It is worse than being mounted when your opponent can keep his balance, because he can draw back his fists extremely far and put all his weight in his punches. I cannot get away, keep up my guard high and hope not getting caught with anything. Two hooks landing on my right ear are enough motivation to try to escape. I push up my hips, he stumbles, stops punching for a second or two and then I scramble. "Uuuum!" escapes my lips when he finds his balance again and mashes me to the ground again. Through the small slit between my forearms which protect my face, I see his right fist rising higher, ready to land square on my nose and, if this would be a real fight cause serious damage – "TIIIIMEEEE!" Dylan´s shout relieves me.

Josh gets up, smiles at me and we clap hands "Thanks man!" Nothing can make me stand up in the next minutes. We concentrated on takedowns today and did many drills. One drill was that our partner had to slap your knee and you went for the double-leg-takedown as fast as possible. Then it was his turn. We did this forever. That does not only make your legs and your lower back burn like hell, but it engraves the movement in your memory.

We did a lot of similar exercises like taking your opponent down while he is turned with his back to the cage. After three rounds of MMA sparring, I am done. My legs feel like I walked up steps for two weeks.

It is good to get your ass kicked sometimes. I love it – It makes sure that I do not become to confident and do not forget that I am just a small fish in a large pond.
But also small fishes can dream to become a shark one day ;)

This video was taken in a sparring session with big gloves a few weeks ago. It is not from the session I described, but if you want to check out MMA Sparring at Team Quest Chiang Mai:

Fight!

It is already dark when I leave the massage place and step on the dusty street. I check the time: Two hours until it is time to step into the ring. The last few days I have spent doing other things than concentrating on the sport: Reading about Thai culture, buying a book of the classic Thai legend called Ramakian, written by the King Rama 1^st and, last but not least, just relaxing and hanging out. Now I feel really relaxed. The massage helped to maintain this feeling.

When I am back in my flat, I turn on the laptop and play the 1 1/2 hour "Best of Ramon Dekkers" video – Ramon Dekkers is a legend of the sport of Thai-boxing – and start to pack my bag: Tape, wraps, Vaseline and Thai-oil. Do I have everything? Ramon Dekkers devastating hooks knock an opponent out. Shorts, cup, water, mouthguard and ankleguards. Dekkers gets close to his opponent with brutal middle kicks and ends it with knees and fast uppercuts.

I throw a towel and fresh clothes into my bag and realize a slight prickling in my knees and fingertips – I close my eyes and grin: There it is. Getting nervous. The body has switched o fight mode.

Kru Nee and Josh are sitting on a table outside and playing cards (to be honest: Basically Nee is destroying Josh) – we wanted to leave gym 15 minutes ago, but the Thai does not seem to be in a hurry: "90% you fight last fight. Maybe second to last." I accept that with a shrug for this is the Thai way of life: Sabai, sabai. If there is one attitude that will not help you in Thailand it is being hectic.

Approximately 20 minutes after the announced beginning of the fight night, we arrive at Loikroh Boxing Stadium. Already there are many spectators; but only because you wrote 9 o´clock on the flyers, does not mean you have to start at 9 p.m. At least not in Thailand. We meet up with more Team Quest guys, a few friends from the language school have come to watch me too. Unfortunately Kru Nee was not right when he said that I would fight late: I am number three on the card so I get taped in a hurry.

I am lying on a thin bamboo matt on the concrete ground of the stadium with a towel on my face. Nee and Piak massage my body with Thai-oil.The stadium is filled with the sound of the classic Muay Thai music mixed with the electro music from the bars surrounding the ring. My trainers talk hectically in Thai and gamblers shout loud at each other. I hear laughing bar girls and kicks hitting shinbones in the ring.

Kru Nee commands me to stand up. The MMA coach starts to put vaseline on my face while Piak massages my arms. My hands are wrapped and the knuckles are protected with a thick structure of tape. Every inch of my body burns slightly from the Thai-oil. In one of the bars a football match is being broadcasted and I watch it absent-mindedly. Everything around me seems to be so far away. They announce the third fight and the team helps me to put on the gloves. I do not feel hurried – I am excited.

Suddenly I feel my legs climbing over the ropes of the ring and I step to the middle and bow to all four sides to the applauding crowd. Somewhere someone yells "Where are you from?" I cannot stop smiling. What I am doing is great and it is fun; I feel comfortable. This is why I do this beautiful sport. My Thai opponent grins back at me, we bow to each other. While he is dancing the Wai Kru, the traditional dance every Muay Thai fight starts with, I walk along the ropes and bow in every corner. The referee calls us to the middle: Ready? Fight!

We start the fight calmly and exchange a few kicks. Sometimes he hits me; then I do. With a tight guard I avoid getting hurt by a spinning elbow and counter with some straight punches, he backs down and I nearly hit him. He does not want to box with me and attacks with many high kicks. They only hit my guard, but I cannot get out of their way, so they still give me a good shake. My answer is to hit him with middle-kicks but I can only hit his forearms. Once I am able to break his balance, he hits the ground, we grin at each other: We are having fun. And it is an even fight.

The bell rings for the break. Nee is giving a massage to my legs and Dylan coaches me: "Keep your hands up!" - He gives me something to drink – "You see, he does not like your punches. I want to see more boxing!" Again the bell rings. He puts my mouthguard between my teeth "Have fun, man!"

The second round is faster than the first one and I hit him more often with some punches. He gets me in the clinch a few times, but neither he nor I am able to land significant strikes and the referee separates us. I start to put more pressure on him by punching combinations and can land two uppercuts in a row right on his nose.

A few kicks from him hit my arms and shinbones. I step forward and he stands with his back to the corner. I counter with a hook-uppercut combination and land it right on his jar – suddenly he falls down, the referee steps between us while his trainers jump into the ring. I turn around to my corner with questioning eyes – is it over?

The referee raises my hand "K.O.!"

A bit confused, I climb out of the ring and express my thanks to the people and the team. Did I really hit him hard enough or did he not want to fight anymore? I had dominated him so maybe he had underestimated me before the fight.

I go out for dinner with my friends. However, I am constantly thinking abot the end of the fight. Did I really knock him out? Or not and he just quit? Finally I come to the conclusion: It does not really matter if it was a knockout or a withdrawal: This time I was the better fighter. I am content with my performance. My left shinbone can tell you that he fought back hard.

I got more experience and I am not hurt badly. And last but not least: I had a lot of fun and will fight again soon.

Can I want more?

Please notice that I wrote this post depending on my subjective perception and what teammates told me. What I wrote is what I experienced, not the way it may have been like observed from a neutral point of view. After the fight I couldn´t even remember how it ended. If you have experience in full-contact fighting then you know how different your perception inside the ring can be.

Many thanks to Paul Thompson Fight Photography for the pictures (like him on facebook!)

The kicks, the punches and a butterfly

The air of the early morning is quite fresh for Thai standards, the sky is slightly cloudy and just a few, hot sun rays are visible on the horizon. We duck from the left to the right side of the rope hung up over the mats, shifting our weight while getting out of the way of punches thrown by an imaginary opponent and counter with easy combinations.

It is my penultimate training session before I step into the ring on Sunday. Yesterday evening we drove to Loikroh Stadium together to support the youngest fighter of the team, Piak, in his 33^rd fight. When I arrived with Josh, Joel and his girlfriend we met half a dozen of other guys from Team Quest Chiang Mai. Of course, neither the fighter nor the Thai-trainers are already there. Why should they hurry? Piak would only fight as second on the card, so sabai, sabai.

The boxing class goes on: We concentrate on combinations. With two fast jabs we get closer to our opponent, duck under his counter and counter-strike with a hard uppercut-hook combination. Careless of the smashing sound of boxing gloves hitting their target, loud exhaled air and spraying sweat, a dark-blue butterfly floats through the ring. It lands on the corners of the ring or stops for a few seconds and observes the scene from the top of the water dispenser. Then it disappears and comes back after a few minutes to continue its morning trip.

It is confusing when you try hard to concentrate on the correct movement how to step out of the line of your opponent, then go forward and put all your power in a potential knockout-uppercut when such a delicate being crosses your field of view, acting like nothing happens around it. It seems as if nature wants to ask me with a cheeky smile on its face: "What the heck are you doing, dude?"

A few minutes before the first fight is about to start, Piak and the Muay Thai trainers appear at the stadium whilst calmly enjoying some fruit shakes. While they tape the hands the first fight starts and ends really quickly with a Knockout. Then, finally, they start to hurry up. Four pair of hands take care of Piak at the same time, massaging him with warming Thai-oil, tie the cup and cover his face with Vaseline to protect him from getting cut. There is no time for a warm-up.

We are lying in the ring, doing sit-ups together while punching into the open hands of our partner when we reach the highest point of the movement. The coach leans against the red corner and tells us how happy we should be with our situation: "You have to do the sit-ups in the hardest way! If we do it the hard way, we will finish earlier. If you quit, we have to do this the whole day. " No one counts how many we did already because there is a time limit. But only one man knows when this ends and this man is standing very relaxed in the corner. It starts to get harder and harder, the abdominals begin to burn and unconsciously we start to do the movement in an easier way. "Hey! I don´t want to see your shoulders touch the ground! Keep them up high! Or does anyone want to admit to being a wimp?" Even if you considered admitting to being a wimp for a second you realize it was a rhetorical question.

The bell rings and Piak and his opponent start to fight. They start very relaxed and calm, sizing each other up and doing a few careful low-kicks. Right after 20 or 30 seconds they start get more intense: Hard knees while they are clinching, really hard middle-kicks. It seems to be a very even match-up.

"Okay! 30 seconds left! I want to see effort!” The butterfly disappears; probably he was bored from the tedious grind, lasting for several minutes now.

Maybe one minute already passed, when the Team Quest fighter starts to become more and more the dominating fighter. His opponent struggles to find an appropriate way to counter the brute force of Piak´s knees and elbows. Piak attacks his head with a straight-right and he pulls up his fists. Piak uses this immediately and hits his opponent with a perfect body-shot to his liver. He collapses right away. The referee checks him as the coaches jump into the ring. Piak wins by K.O. in the very first round.

I breathe out in relief for the session has come to an end. While I am stretching every single muscle of my body, I see the butterfly again. The sun is high in the sky now - exhausted I lie down in a truck´s wheel. I enjoy the sun-bath for more than half an hour: through my closed eye lids I see nothing else than a warm and bright orange light while a pleasant wind cools my dripping wet body. I relax after the workout and listen to the concert of hundreds of birds in the trees nearby.

I grin quietly to myself: Maybe my fight on Sunday will be as successful as Piak´s yesterday.

Unfortunately I was not able to take a picture of the butterfly described in the story, but I think the photo is still good.

Are you ready, fighter?

#7: 22/09/13

 

"IIIIIIIIIIIITS TIIIIIMEEEEE!" shouts Bruce Buffer, the Octagon announcer of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to a crowd of nearly 20,000 people in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. A small group of MMA enthusiasts can also hear it on a sunny Sunday morning in the Irish pub of Chiang Mai. Nearly the whole competition crew of the local Team Quest gym came here to watch this event live. Alexander Gustafsson will fight for the title and if he wins, he will bring one of the popular belts of the world´s biggest MMA promotion to Europe (at last).

Sunday is not only the day off but it is cheat-day for the athletes who have to make weight for any upcoming fights. Today they are allowed to eat the unhealthy, high-calorie culinary foods of our civilization. And they do. While having bacon and eggs, fish and chips and jelly toast we watch the explosive fights.

While downing my fresh orange juice with contentment I think about the last days. A hard week of training lies behind us; for me it was the first week in which I trained twice a day. Every morning begins with a specific workout for the Mixed Martial Arts: Two days boxing, two days ground and pound (punching on the ground) and 2 days sparring. In the afternoon, it is alternating between Grappling and Muay Thai. I am surprised how fast my body adapted to the new circumstances - only on Thursday, after a brutal 1 1/2 hour takedown session on the evening before, I do not feel fit anymore and my muscles start to ache. As feared, the sprints are a regular part of the Muay Thai classes and alternate with strength exercises.

"Damn! This is tight!" sounds Joe Rogans prominent voice from the speakers "And heee puts him asleeep!". A fighter of the Heavyweight division fails to tap out early enough as he is in a submission and gets choked out; the referee steps in and ends the fight. Subsequently the room, decorated with old, Irish rugby jerseys, is filled with applause and acknowledging shouts.

“It was worth it to invest 50 cents for the freshly baked bread,” I think with a grin on my face and take another big bite from it. Everything works out effortlessly for me at the moment: Most of the sessions there are not more than ten participants and I fit into the group perfectly – my skill level is exactly where I want it to be: which is somewhere in the middle. While the Pros beat me up easily, there are a handful of fighters on my level. I can have great rolls on the ground and stand-up matches with them. Furthermore, less experienced grapplers and Thaiboxers offer the opportunity to try new set-ups and techniques. They, in return, profit from the fact that everyone can correct their technique.

Following Forrest Griffin´s advice as written in his book "Got fight?": "You want to be somewhere in the middle!"

Eddie Wineland underestimates the spinning back-kick of his opponent and gets caught right on his temple. "IIIIITS AAALL OVEEERRR!" shouts Rogan, as if out of his mind, when Wineland hits the ground unconscious. "OOOOOH" and "Oh damn it!" shout the guys in the pub while the tables wobble.

When you are a fighter, it is an exhilarating feeling when you are able to impress the people. I will get my chance to do this again next Sunday, the 29^th of September with a Muay Thai fight at Loikroh Stadium. I am already excited that I will take on this challenge again, especially because Thailand is the home country of this wunderful sport.

The main event is thrilling, everyone in the room watches with excitement, legs shake nervously and glasses are held tighter than usual. Will Gustafsson be able to create a sensation and take the belt from Jon Jones? Or will the champion defend it once again? Every landed shot is celebrated frenetically, analysed and discussed. You can hear things like "His defense is astonishing!", "This guy is an animal!" or "Come on Gustafsson! I believe in you!".

In my head the mirror neurons send chemical messengers through my body and my hands get sweaty. I am already thinking about the next morning: Monday. The training starts again and with it come the last days of preparation for my upcoming fight, the first one in Thailand. I am in good shape and after 20 days in Thailand I start to feel this hunger again...

A day off

#6: 13/09/15
I open my eyes and stretch my entire body, the legs ache a bit but feel great, when I relieve the tension. Yawning I look at the display of my smartphone: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. It is the day off from training at Team Quest Chiang Mai. The sky is overcast, the temperature is pleasant and a light breeze blows from the open balcony door. Before standing up I think about if there is anything I should worry about. Maybe I have to do something? After a short while I decide that there is absolutely nothing and start the day.

While having a shower I consider where to have my breakfast and much more important: What to have for breakfast? First I could grab an Ice Coffee right in front of my flat and have a slow walk down the street. Behind the bend many options are offered: Deep-fried chickenbreasts, -feet, and wings or pork patties and smoked fish are sold on both sides of the street. Maybe something like this as an appetizer?

Right next to the chicken stand there is a small eating house well known for a wide range of different, delicious soups. But I am not in the mood for soup today. A few meters up the street the whole variety of the Thai cuisine is offered: I could have anything from Pad Thai to fried sea food, rice with pork in onion sauce or noodles with some fresh vegetables fried in a wok. And in addition, an ice-cold dragon fruit shake?

But my culinary start into the day has to wait for the rainy season turns my plans upside down. So I use the time to sew a strap of my backpack. Since I know I have been productive this morning, I go outside and my choice of food is sweet-spicy noodles with crispy duck. I have not even finished them, when there another idea comes to my mind, to make my ideal Sunday complete. My aching trapezius muscle discovered something: The Thai massage place on the other side of the street.

Again I come to the conclusion that it is simply awesome to live in a real Thai-quarter, not in the tourist center as done last year. It is easier to get in touch with the Thai people, have nice chats, everything is cheaper and somehow “more” Thai – and like the massage – also a lot better sometimes.

At the massage while I am lost in thoughts, I listen to relaxed music and the voice of the birds. My muscles, sore from the hard week of training, get warmed up with ethereal oils and then massaged thoroughly. My joints get cracked, stretched and circled. The muscle ache goes away and a feeling of deep relaxation comes over my body.

Before leaving I drink an awesome spice tea and have a nice conversation with the owner – I promise to come back soon.

My efforts to speak at least a bit Thai are greatly appreciated and nearly everyone tries to enlarge my vocabulary. With some Dragon-fruit chips and dried, sweetened bananas I walk back home – not without buying some stir-fried chicken and an ice coffee. I am already excited for the coming week when I start to train twice a day.

Here are some impressions from the quarter I live in. Among others you see some of the food stands I described and the view from my balcony during the shower of rain this morning.