Where the Rubber meets the Road

It was a bit of overkill, having a moped for this week of training where everything I needed was on the one street.  Having a speedy transit from one place to the other and exploring back streets was still fun though.  Bike rides of less than 100 seconds weren't uncommon.  With a big emphasis this week on training and recovery, there wasn't much time for exploration.  Anyhow, chaotic adventure was next week's plan.

One day I did decide to ride up one of the main roads towards Phuket Town.  This was like launching a paper boat down a fast flowing river with unknown rapids upstream.  Traffic swarmed in different directions.  Three lanes were marked each way but the lines on the road apparently don't mean shit.  Merging was less about indication and right of way, instead following a "be like water" philosophy.  Demanded reverence came from trucks and other vehicles of heftier, roadkill-causing capacity.  Even the direction of travel seemed optional as several bikes chanced head-on collisions.  I'd only had a brief look at Google Maps beforehand, but that wasn't going to help.  The road signs were written in the Thai alphabet and obscured by complex nets of overhead power lines.

Back at training HQ, I tried a different type of yoga class by a lady named Ocean Bloom.  I figured it would be either really good or a bit too hippy.  It was really good.  Mental note to try a few more types of yoga back home. 

In the submission grappling class, I wrestled Stephan who I'd overheard was (Sweden's?) Heavyweight MMA champ.  He was all over me like a Rottweiler on a chew toy and I was glad there was no striking involved.  I kept escaping his submission attempts, only to be squashed in a new position as he setup the next finish.  Eventually he locked up a body triangle which uses the legs to control and squeeze the torso.  It's not usually a submission by itself, but with Dolph Lundgren strength he compressed my innards until I felt and heard multiple crunches like mangled cellophane.  This came from the nomadic section of my ribcage where I'd had previous relocations.  I tapped just to get him off me and assess the damage.  In something like an Arnie accent (although that could be my untrained ear) he said, "Your defence too good - I had to use my strength."

I sucked in a shallow breath to wheeze out a "Thanks".  I wasn't being sarcastic, I'll take that compliment.  There was one more wrestle to that class in which I did a Napoleon impression with a forearm protectively held across my body.  After that, there was one more sparring class I had been considering, but now decided to take a pass.

On my last training day, I began with a private lesson from James McSweeney.  Unlike the Muay Thai PT's, this was customised to my preferences and questions.  In his last fight, James had broken his hand, so he brought in another guy when my questions related to ground fighting technique.   Within seconds of meeting this person, I was being instructed on the finer points of grinding his head into the floor while setting up knees to the face.  Pleased to meet you.

Straight after that, I jogged to a nearby training area for the reason I'd timed this week of combat sports.  Eddie Bravo of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu had included Tiger on his worldwide seminar circuit.

I'd missed the opportunity back in Australia last year.  Eddie has a creative approach to No-Gi (ie. without a kimono/gi/uniform) Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, specifically in regards to its application to Mixed Martial Arts.  He questions the traditional grip-based approach and this has (disappointingly) drawn criticism from parts of the wider BJJ community.  The alternatives he offers are constructed with wicked logic and he encourages inventiveness. 

Part of the 10th Planet system is leveraged off having flexibility in the higher percentile.  Yoga's half lotus position (one foot folded up to the opposite hip) gives gateway access to the Rubber Guard.  The ability to do full lotus makes it dangerous.  Greater flexibility makes it deadly.

The Rubber Guard was the focus of this seminar.   This shuts down the striking ability of the opponent on top while still leaving one hand free to "take their phone out of their pocket and call their mom", or otherwise elbow strike while navigating to a range of submissions.  By naming a vaster degree of individual positions and the transitions between them, he has mapped out this part of the battlefield in fine detail.

During the seminar, he was animated in his explanations and inspired by the continuing rapid rate of evolution in both BJJ and MMA.  The 3 hours went quickly and was an excellent way to finish up this phase of my time in Thailand.

One more week in Thailand, and up to this point, no fixed plans or accommodation.  The feeling is a weird splice of complete freedom and indecision anxiety.

Melting Moments

It wasn't a psychiatric holding cell, but the walls and floor were completely padded in black dense foam.  Over the course of a packed, 90 minute MMA class, the humid room attempted to become a sauna.  Growing pools of sweat on the floor went from dangerous to ridiculous.  Sliding from one end of the room to the other would be possible, if only one could get the footing for a running start.

There were two types of MMA classes available at Tiger, both run by Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans.  The McSweeney class covered striking from a distance and in the clinch.  Judo throws were also added to the mix, followed by swift soccer kicks to the head.  Unlike the UFC, the rules of the local MMA promotion (One Fighting Championship), allowed these usually illegal strikes.

Roger Huerta's class was wrestling-based MMA.  Apart from competing in various organisations around the world, I just learned that Roger was in the Tekken movie (that may or may not be impressive news).

His class focussed on securing the takedown and grinding the will out of an opponent via position control and GNP (Ground N' Pound).  GNP is not a reference to buying coffee by weight.  It refers to controlling an opponent on the floor while hitting them repeatedly, often with the benefits of that thing Isaac Newton invented - gravity. 

My training partners varied for different classes.  There was Hilo from Japan, who shared the discipline of continuously drilling technique repetitions while others sat and rested in puddles of perspiration.  Karim was a stuntman from California, likely adding some realism to his fight scenes.

A partnered warmup for one class involved taking turns in throwing combinations.  For this, I teamed up with Boris from Russia.  I figured he'd be a strong wrestler, as Sambo is the national combat sport of grappling, with an emphasis on leg locks (No time to tighten my knee brace).  For some reason, he was the only person not encumbered by protective gloves for this drill.  Boris also had some surprisingly adept spinning head kicks in his game.  He either had great faith in my defence, or he was trying to decapitate me.  Each time, I'd return fire with something unorthodox until he finally cracked a smile after I'd snuck a clean heel kick into his liver.

The dynamics of respect varies.  The formula I prefer is - give respect to gain respect.  But sometimes in the combat sport world of the wolf pack, the rule is - prove your ability to maim and kill to earn respect.  Boris turned out to be a great training partner.

Immediately after most classes, I'd order a meal at the on-site outdoor restaurant.  Some people took this time to hold a garden hose over their head for a while to cool off.  It would be luck of the draw if I used this time to socialise (with sweat-sparkly, crossfit ladies perhaps).  Otherwise, I'd add a few pages of scrawled notes from the previous class.  This extended beyond the techniques taught, and included anything useful I'd noticed from anyone in the class.  It was a timely mining of hindsight for insight.  I never noticed anyone else taking notes, but... good.

Armed With More Than 8 Limbs

For decades, Thailand has been a training destination for the national sport of punches, kicks, knees and elbows.   More recently, world-class Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instruction has become available.  For the first week of this trip, I have open access to the many classes available at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA. 

I began with a private lesson in Muay Thai.  All of the Thai trainers at Tiger seemed to  be former champions of particular stadiums or parts of the country.  It's a brutal art of accelerated appendages aimed in the direction of damaging your opponent.  During my 1991 introduction, I remember being impressed by the tagline - "the art of eight limbs". 

Years passed before I began to see some shortcomings.  There are benefits to tradition, especially when passing on a skill-set to the masses across multiple generations.  But there are downsides too, as anything bounded by tradition secures its limitations.

My training here helped clarify the fundamentals I didn't agree with.  One private Muay Thai lesson began with around 40 minutes of padwork then chilled sparring.  I kept my game respectfully Thai-style.  As the pace increased and I realised there was no time clock on this long round, I started to dip into the bag of tricks.  Knowing "the proper way" to defend certain strikes, I'd just feint these then attack somewhere else.  No need for Kung Fu to use Sun Tzu.  It worked more consistently than expected.  This could either be a misrepresentation by my ego, or a weakness of my expectations. 

Muay Thai training applies a ton of pad and bag work to create cardio machines that can roundhouse kick in their sleep.  It is the charging up of a battery for bones of bludgeoning.  Instead of having an R&D branch, they instead stockpile standardised ammunition for a war of attrition.  This simplified approach isn't to be taken lightly.  To quote someone else's line, they're as tough as woodpecker lips.

Although I draw much from this combat sport, my preference is for a more innovative approach.  By definition, Mixed Martial Arts allows for this (with an instructor of a similar mindset).  The stand-up striking coach for MMA at Tiger very quickly addressed some of the points I'd been thinking about in his class.  James "Sledgehammer" McSweeney had a justifying resume.  He also asked questions while teaching, to allow mindful ownership of technique.

While Muay Thai boldly ticked the check-boxes for "What" and "How", it's the "When" and "Why" that allow better strategy to be employed.  Add takedowns and groundwork to the mix and the terrain significantly changes.  I'd heard it stated in a submission grappling context, but it applies here:

Lead your opponent down a narrowing selection of options until they are left with just two, and both lead to their demise.

Also, efficient strategies involve idleness, which I increasingly find appealing.

Eye of the Tiger Balm

I've heard it referred to as "fight street" (in tuff talk) - a stretch of road in Phuket lined with training camps for several combat sports as well as crossfit gyms, places to eat, thai massage and other establishments that support the theme. It draws an international selection of athletes, martial artists and the fitness focussed.



My time here was mostly spent at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA with my wooly pyjamas stored at the other end of the road. When in transit, I'd pass by cafe seating and stern looks from all over the world.

After a few classes where I'd proven myself hard to kill, the vibe seemed different with nods and waves from recognised training partners.

I later noted that the grim faces at meal times went with slowed movement when getting up from a chair, or a favoured leg to limp the steps. Battle hardened or war weary?

Frequency with intensity has its toll. I was late to get a handle on dehydration. Apart from first thing in the morning, I didn't have a piss to colour-check. By day's end, exhaustion wasn't looking for more problems to solve.

In hindsight, I can see a stupider contributing factor to my dehydration. I hadn't bought the bulk water conveniently available in the accommodation foyer because of a logo on the label. This was badly-timed consumer resistance. I already had my misgivings about bottled water in general, but now here was the brand stamp of Nestle - world hydration overlord.

I bought 6L of a different brand (likely a Nestle subsidiary), and set my resistance plans to the long game. Global water privatisation wasn't going to be solved with 60 baht.

The all-inclusive training package allowed a daily timetable of impact, crush, twist and stretch options. I wanted to at least try most things on the menu. These discomforts were the paid-in-advance currency of endurance, strength and skill. Super size me.

Even the yoga became a minefield of cramping body parts.

A few days in, I joined a morning fitness session. This was just a chance to see a beach on Phuket's southern coast. It was also the first photo for this trip.