Post #130 - February 18, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai, Thai Massages
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 1947B/$65

This morning we slept in until around 11am. We immediately went for breakfast at the corner restaurant we have come to love. We talked mostly about being nervous for our "first day back" at Muay Thai. Patty felt like because we were doing a full week, it was going to be more pressure on us to perform better. I didn't feel nervous, except that I had a feeling today was going to be a worse day than Saturday, since this is the way I usually am. I find that whenever I'm learning something new, my first session is great and then my second session is terrible, and then by my third session I'm improving and getting things right again.

After breakfast we went back to the guesthouse to blog and surf the internet. There was really not a lot we could do before the class. Plus, we felt like we had to relax and save all our energy for the class!

The truck arrived at around 3pm and we were sad when we noticed that Gabby and Martin were not there. We had just seen them yesterday at the market and they had said they would probably see us. Anyway, we enjoyed the ride to Muay Thai by ourselves. The ride takes about 15 minutes and although it's kind of bumpy, it’s a nice way to get mentally prepared for the class.

When we arrived, Landon greeted us with big hugs and suggested we go out for dinner that night. We had no idea how they would feel about us extending our stay, so it was really comforting that at least Landon was happy to see us. We saw Lewis as well who called Patty a bad person as she walked by, although we had no idea what he was referring to. Later that day, we learned why he said this, which I'll get to in a minute. Oddly, John was also sitting watching the session at the back of the room. This time he was completely sober and most definitely what our friend Sil would refer to as a gentleman and a scholar. It was a hilarious contrast from Saturday night. We teased him a bit and he laughed and took it well.

We started the session jumping rope for about 5 minutes next to Alan, who Patty finds intimidating, but mostly just ridiculously good-looking. Awesome... We stretched a bit and then got our hands wrapped for the first time. We felt like pros!

Patty had a good day. She worked with a trainer named Long for a bit in front of the mirror. Patty and I both worked on technique by watching ourselves in the mirror, which they call shadow boxing. As usual when learning complex moves, we would fix one thing and then something else would go wrong, even though it was going right before. Muay Thai is very detail oriented, but you also have to relax when doing it. It’s quite challenging, but this is also part of the fun of it.

The coaches are awesome. They have fun and tease, but also provide constructive criticism. They get excited when they see something done right, which of course feels fantastic.

After the shadow boxing, Patty went to work on the punching bag, which she felt was totally foreign to her, while I went in the ring and worked with Samart, who is so far the toughest coach to work with in the sense that he pushes for perfection harder than anyone else. He is a stickler for technique. This is great, but also intimidating. Nobody criticizes technique the way he does. I was not pleased with how my session with Samart went. I think after our great session on Saturday, he was actually disappointed with me. I don't know whether it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but like I said, I sort of expected to perform worse today. Still, it was hard to take the look of disappointment in Samart's eyes!

While I was in the ring, Lewis was working on the bag next to Patty. She asked what his name was again and he asked for hers. Apparently he thought her name was Sarah. Anyway, he went on to ask Patty what she remembered from Saturday and then he reminded her of when she told his crush that he liked her. She then remembered this, and recalled her efforts to get the two together. Her intentions of course were good, but she thinks Lewis was less than pleased with the openness of the whole situation. Patty apologized and he just kept laughing and telling her it was okay and that it made his night interesting. Lewis is a 21 year-old English guy that is over 6 feet tall and loves to fight, but is a really sweet, jolly guy. Apparently he fights on Thursday. We’ll have to go and cheer him on.

After Patty's conversation with Lewis it was her turn to go into the ring. She did some work with Samart who tore her technique to shreds, but in a was good way. They then had Patty spar with the only other girl at the gym. She was terrified. Apparently, Long looked at Patty and told her he thought she would win. Patty laughed and told him he probably said that to the other girl, too.  She didn't think he understood her though.

Patty and her opponent just danced around for a bit, neither of them knowing what to do or when to give the first punch or kick. She thought it must have looked pretty silly because they gave each other a couple jabs and Patty mostly blocked for the first 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I was doing my own thing on the bag so I didn't really get to witness any of this first hand.

One of the trainers noticed the lack of structure to the drill and our inexperience so he actually gave Patty and her opponent some patterns to follow. At first they took turns blocking each others kicks. Patty ended up surprising her with a good left kick and the trainers got excited about it, but apparently the other girl was less than impressed. Patty apologized and the other girl took it well. It was pretty amicable the whole time. They kept laughing and apologizing to each other whenever they hit each other too hard. Patty had a good time.

Patty and the girl (we don’t remember her name) got some water and then went onto round 2. They just did a couple more combinations and then it was time to go. Patty went to stretch with the girl and her two guy friends. Patty learned the girl was from Thailand and just enjoyed the exercise, but wasn't looking to actually compete in the ring.

Patty then joined Landon, John, and I at the table for a chat. We also met one of the gym owner’s dogs. He is one of the cutest Chihuahuas ever. He was so excited to see us and play. He was brown with green eyes. A really beautiful dog.

Landon didn't mention dinner again, and I think we were both too exhausted anyway, so we left it at that. So we said our goodbyes and hopped into the truck for our ride home. We are definitely noticing our feet are getting blistered. I have a feeling mine are going to get pretty bad by the end of the week!

When we got back to our hotel, we went to the nearby 7-11 to buy gatorade and water to replenish the 10 litres of water we each probably lost. We also bought some kebabs from a street vendor, which were delicious as always.

After we showered, we ate dinner at our hotel and then went straight to a Thai massage parlour recommended by Hugo, the young French man that is part-owner of the hotel. It took us about 10 minutes to walk there, but it was worth it. I was stretched in some crazy ways, but it mostly felt good. Patty really enjoyed it, as well.

When we got back to our hotel we were both exhausted. Muay Thai is going to kill us this week. We did a little blogging and then went to bed. Sleep is going to be very important this week!