Chiang Mai After my mind, body and soul sculpting in Phuket, it was time to meet up with Vince and Tam for a bit of a cultural injection. The meeting place was Bangkok airport. I had flown in from Phuket, and they had flown in from Hong Kong, both flights arriving at around the same time and we were all booked onto the same flight into Chiang Mai from Bangkok. After a quick meal in the airport we were flying north and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the cultural centre of northern Thailand, Chiang Mai. Vince had managed to find a fantastic little guest house to serve as our accommodation. Rachamankha Flora House is a beautiful little guest house located in the heart of the Chiang Mai old town. The stunning white building ... read more

The Intermediate Training Sessions Report Having managed to weather the storm of heavy cardio conditioning, pass the scrutiny of basic technique, and recover from the mainly self-inflicted injuries, all falling under the umbrella of “beginners training,” I had graduated to the intermediate class. Many of the faces I had seen before, and indeed learned from, when I had first joined the beginners’ class. They had served their time before me, (and usually with longer sentences than the two weeks I had taken...he says big-upping himself) and now with their superior experience in the intermediate class as well, served as a source of what I was to expect. The general gist when I asked these friends for a run-down comparing intermediate with beginners’ classes was that there was less cardio and more technique training in the intermediate ... read more

Phuket Vegetarian Festival On a prior scooter expedition, where I had been “exploring Phuket Town,” which could be roughly translated into “getting lost in Phuket Town,” I came across crowds all dressed in white milling about under banners that read “Phuket Vegetarian Festival.” Although there was initially a slight pang of excitement at my unwittingly landing up in the midst of a cultural event, I must admit that my only thoughts at the time were concerning the mediocrity of such a celebration. That’s not to say that I hold a grudge against those who were blessed with canines but choose not to use them, but the scale of the preparations seemed disproportionate to the number of Thai people I would expect to practise Vegetarianism. This mindset may be completely unfair, I realise, but being from a ... read more

Muay Thai Camp - Training Session 6 Report Sunday, 18 October, 21h55 Saturday afternoon training sessions are relatively tame compared to the rest of the week. That doesn’t mean that they’re comparable to sunning oneself on the beach, but certainly not as intense as the previous sessions. A chunk of the time was also spent learning one of the “Wai Khru” dance rituals that fighters perform as a sign of respect for the teachers, God / Buddha and man. Nonetheless, I finished the session feeling like I could have done more so I’m taking the point! Scores: Yoga - 2 ; Murray - 1 Muay Thai - 4 ; Murray - 2 Apparent injuries: Slight bruising below the knees. Slight strain of lower right oblique abdominal muscle. YES! Abs - they’re there! Bleeding knuckle count: 0 ... read more

Muay Thai Camp - Training Session 3 Report Tuesday, 13 October, 19h38 Today we ran. This is not something I enjoy doing or something I am good at, let alone something I have paid to do! “How far?” was the question. “To the airport and back.” was the answer. A joke. A good joke. “Really, how far?” was the protesting push. “Around six kilometres.” was the answer. Another joke? No - truth. “Meet in front.” was the instruction. A small group of guys congregated at the front of the training camp, running shoes on over our swollen feet, and waited for the main trainer to arrive donning his new Asics cross trainers. Thirty seconds later Dan (his name - note that from here on in) arrives on his scooter with a long, thin, flexible length of ... read more