Pilgrimage
"It is more than just a training camp; it’s a right of passage among foreign fighters that symbolizes that they have come of age in the Muay Thai world."
sityodtong camp, pattaya
I have been in Thailand for work this week and since I seem to have a little bit of time this morning, I thought I'd quickly put this post in before the colourful details of my great visit to Sityodtong in Pattaya escape me.
When I first knew that I would be coming to Thailand for work, I didn't think much of it. Not that I don't absolutely love Thailand to begin with - it's one of my favourite countries to visit - but it was just going to be another work trip to me. But when I realized I'd be coming to Pattaya - the true home of Sityodtong Muay Thai and Evolve - I got very excited indeed.
The Dragon is victorious
This is Mitch.
He is my FightShape instructor at Evolve and is a big reason that my back feels as normal as it does, despite its degeneration.
He is also nicknamed Mitch "The Dragon" Chilson and is a Martial Combat champion.
Tcourtesy of randee adele wee
I wasn't able to make it to the fight last night but I followed it on Ron's Twitter and Hubba & I cheered at the result.
Congratulations to MDC and to everyone at Evolve.
Here's a great Reuters article that describes the night well and makes me proud of being part of the Evolve family.
Enjoy!
Good Luck to The Dragon
Next Wednesday, our FightShape instructure - Mitch Chilson - will be fighting the fight of his life at Martial Combat @ Resorts World Sentosa.
I wish we could go but Hubba has got school and I'm also engaged with stuff before going off to Korea again.
But for those of you who can make it, keep an eye out for Mitch and please give him your support!
All the best, Mitch! Knock 'em dead! Go, EVOLVE!
Evolving…
This weekend, Hubba and I got promoted with a bunch of our classmates.
Courtesy of Tjin
Evolve has really changed the way I feel about working out. It's really changed the way my body feels about anything. This evening, I took my fixie out to the supermarket and riding uphill felt amazing. I felt like I was riding on flat ground. It didn't matter that I didn't have any gears - it totally took me by surprise.
Yet it feels like just yesterday I was struggling to simply sit up without my right foot going dead. I thought my biking days were over.... Now I can't wait to get Goat back on the trail...!!!
I'm really excited about Level 2. I wonder what new challenges and experiences this is going to bring. Of course it doesn't mean that we are in any way fighting machines but it just means that we're progressing.
We're evolving :)
Kungfu Panda
This is what happens when you buy your Muay Thai instructor new 'gloves' as a present from China....
Presenting.... Kru Nueng!
Photo by Lynn C.
Photo by Gary L.
LOL!!
Thanks to Gary & Lynn for taking the pictures for me :)
Stretching & Sciatica
Sciatica is really annoying because one of the effects it has on me is it makes me feel like I'm not in full control of my body.
It's a nerve irritation which has generally plagued my right leg, going down my lower back and wrapping round my thigh and going down the back of my calve and shin. In bad times when it was at its worse, I would have constant pins and needless which drove me round the bend, and dead leg syndrome when I sat down for too long.
It got on my nerves. Ha.
Ever since I started working on my core, I have felt less irritation in my sciatic nerves and I generally feel like my body is holding itself up. When I first started stretching before and after workouts, I would sometimes feel a sharp twinge in my right shin when I reached towards my right leg. I hated this feeling. Granted I knew I was inflexible but the twinge made me feel like someone took a needle and poked me really suddenly in my shin. Yearrgh.
But the more I stretch and the more I keep this up, the more I feel like I am improving. This week, I reached over to pull myself towards my right foot and guess what?
No twinge. Hurrah!!!!
I've kicked Sciatica in the ass. Big fat hairy woot! :)
Impossible Is Nothing
I am re-posting this very inspirational interview because that's just what it is .... Inspirational.
I read this interview in Men's Health a few months ago and was moved then, but I'm even more in awe now because Yoddecha is one of my teachers for the past couple of months.
I may not know him well but as far as I know, he is a sunny, happy chap with amazing skill and patience to teach. I look forward to his his and Nueng's classes every single day, and it has come to a point where I need to tell myself to take a break so my body can rest and get stronger.
Enjoy.
Men's Health Interview with Yoddecha Sityodtong
A diamond is only formed after a lump of coal is moulded by tremendous pressure for years. Such a parallel could also apply to the life of professional muay thai fighter and Evolve MMA instructor Yoddecha Sityodtong, who rose above terrible childhood adversity to make good for himself.
The 32-year-old Ladburi native was abandoned by his parents when he was just seven – they had fallen too deep into poverty to continue taking care of him, so they left him on a street corner during a family outing one day and simply disappeared.
Desperate and afraid, the young Yoddecha was forced to scratch out a living on the streets before a gang forced him into slavery. He endured four years of abuse before he was rescued by professional muay thai fighter Vichai Sityodtong (of Pattaya’s famous Sityodtong Gym) and brought to the academy to train.
Yoddecha was taken under the personal tutelage of Sityodtong Grandmaster Kru Yodtong. At 11, he trained hard and competed in his first professional fight that same year. Going from strength to strength, he won his first world championship at the tender age of 22. Today, Yoddecha boasts a fight record of 145-37 and has been featured on the History Channel’s Human Weapon documentary. Not bad for an impoverished street kid.
Here’s what he had to say.
No Pain, No Gain
Life is all about ups and downs , they say.
And as much of a cliche as it sounds, it's the downs that make you realize that there are ups. Yeah okay so is doesn't feel great when shit happens but if life didn't include some crap, how could you ever be a true connoisseur of life's joy?
Some of the most frustrating moments of the last few years has been very related to my physical well-being. It really isn't fun discovering that your 30-year-old body isn't like it used to be and that it takes a lot more time to recover from any sort of ailment. And well, it sure sucked to hear a health specialist use the words like "degeneration", "genetic", "not something that will go away" in the same sentence. The bills for all the health screenings and physiotherapy weren't fun to pay and I hated having to explain my condition to anyone for fear of coming off as the biggest whinger in history.
But if there's one thing I've learnt in the years gone by, it is that if you want something bad enough you need to go out of your way to make it happen. Sure it may not be a foolproof plan but you sure as hell have to try and more often than not, you do see results.
At the end of last year, I was told to stick to going for physiotherapy twice a week at least. Sarah, my physiotherapist, was a superstar but in truth, I just hated lying on a table and feeling like everything was out of my control. I knew if I wanted to get out of my rut, I needed to make it happen.
So when the time was right, I made a pact with Hubba to make a change.
Today, I really feel like a different person.
The aches and pains (if any) are all but muscular right now. My sleep patterns have come back to normal and my mental capacity at work is a lot higher. I work as hard as I can during my workouts and when I come home, I sleep like a baby. Hubba doesn't need to crack my back as often as he once did. I could probably go on and on but then I might start sounding like a broken record 'coz I think I've written this down once before.
I think the point I am trying to make is that if you want change, you need to think up a strategy and just try.
It can be a mental challenge or it can be a physical one but trying makes all the difference. Of course it is human for us to make excuses for ourselves (come on, we've all done it!) and to take the easy path - or as Gracie would call it the 'road of least resistance' - But there comes a point where the self-whip needs to come out.
No one can do this for you. But you.
So stop telling yourself "it's too far" or "it's too early" or whatever it is that's stopping you.
You can.
I think we all need that reminder sometimes.
I know I do :)
Home, Sweet Home
It's been awhile since I was just alone at home with nothing to do.
Usually I'd have chores to sort out or errands to run and these would keep me preoccupied. It's probably one of the reasons why I hardly blog nowadays - And what with the advent of Twitter, I spend all my online time on that and not anything else. I have definitely noticed my online habits change in the past few years. I wonder if it's because we're getting older and our priorities are shifting. Do kids tweet too? Or are they still on blogs and MySpace? Time. Gadgets. Online habits. These things intrigue me, they do. Monitor further, I shall.
So I told myself I'd make it to E this morning for back strengthening purposes but since M pretty much killed me during Fightshape yesterday, I am at home and resting. I ought to be cleaning the house but truth be told, I am in so much discomfort that all I can think about is how I'd kill to have a bathtub right now for a warm soak. The past few weeks of training have been really good for my general well-being. I feel like I can concentrate for longer periods of time and I have a lot more energy for a lot of things. My back feels like it is brand new again and pretty much doesn't give me any problems - It's like the slipped disc never happened (touch wood). I am a lot more stable when I walk and I just feel very mobile in general. And it's all thanks to exercise - Bed rest... Pffffffffbt.
And I love being home with my pups. Here are a couple of recent shots of them :)
Curious Rosco
Flopping Togetherness
Time spent with Mummy
Days Gone By
Wandering Eye
