Friday, December 4, 2009
Time Dwindling...
So my time here is quickly coming to an end. Its come much, much quicker than I thought it would. I'm not ready to weigh in on my semester here just yet because I still have another week left but once I am at the airport in Bangkok I will. I have to stay the night there for the 3rd time so I will have nothing better to do. The only thing I can say right now is that I apologize for not updating this thing nearly as often as I should have. In my defense I was in a foreign country, busy experiencing new things. I will come back with a lifetimes worth of stories to tell so don't worry. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well and I will see you all soon.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Russia Part 2
Here are a few things I learned during my week in Russia that I want to pass along to you. The food is absolutely terrible. Without a doubt, the worst food I have ever had. It is unbelievably salty and just all around horrible. Eastern Russia is not a foreigner friendly place. Not that I ever recommend going to Russia but if you do, go to the Western part because Eastern Russia is all Russian. They are not very nice people either. Most importantly though, never fight a Russian in Russia.
The rules of the fight were explained to us as this: they were modified MMA rules that allowed 30 seconds on the ground to work before it was stood back up. Also, no elbows were allowed and no kicks of any sort to a grounded opponent. Those were the rules we were told coming into the night. Right before the fights we were told of a new rule that had just been added. There is no doubt in my mind that this new rule was thrown in because the Russian coaches and officials were in the room during our training session, which I was very suspicious of and I knew nothing good would come of it. The new rule allowed for knees to the head of a grounded opponent. This is something that I have never trained for. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want those allowed in all organizations but as of right now they aren’t allowed so I don’t train them. After our training session, however, they were thrown in. My guess is because they saw that all of our wrestling revolved around shooting in for the legs to take guys down rather than the upper body takedowns that Russians tend to utilize. Anyways, that new rule is thrown in; whatever, no big deal. My fight finally comes up and I go out there and dominate my opponent through the whole first round. I didn’t realize it until I reviewed the tape later that night but I was screwed out of a victory in the first round. So the fight goes to the 2nd round and I am dead tired. A combination of being sick the previous week and not being able to train at all and not realizing how tiring it was to take someone down only to have them let up by the ref a few seconds later only to have to take them down again. As the 2nd round starts we start throwing hands again and I really have no more energy to take him down so I kept falling back trying to draw him into my guard. He kept following me down but he would push me out under the ropes requiring a restart. This happened about 3 times. Then all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, the ref brings us together and raises the other guy’s hand. I, or anyone else for that matter, have any idea why exactly he won. It was never explained to us.
After reviewing the tape, we quickly realized that 30 seconds on the ground didn’t necessarily mean 30 seconds on the ground. At one point, I took him down and he went for an armbar which I escaped and he transitioned into a kneebar which I escaped. That ended up with him in mount raining punches down on me. The ref didn’t stand us back up until I had gotten him out of mount. That was around 40-45 seconds on the ground according to the tape that I have of it. A little later in the round I slipped and he followed me down and fell straight into a triangle choke. I synched it up as tight as it would possibly go and I could see the end of the fight. He was still throwing some weak punches but his face was turning red. It was literally seconds away from being over. The ref also realized this and stood us up. This stand up was a full 10 seconds before the stand up was supposed to happen. I can’t tell you how furious that made me to see that on tape. I wasn’t too mad immediately after the fight, I was more confused than anything, but after watching the tape and really seeing all the shenanigans that went on and seeing that I was robbed of a victory I couldn’t help but to be very upset.
There was a lot of questionable officiating that went on that night but I guess that was to be expected. The event itself was very good though, I’m not going to lie. It was a nice big venue and everything was set up very nicely. It was a nice ring and they had pyrotechnics set up along the walk out ramp. The crowd was huge and there were photographers and TV cameras everywhere. It just sucks that that is how it had to end. It sucks that it couldn’t be fair fights all the way around so we could truly see who the better team was.
Fighters there are treated like celebrities though. Especially us since we were all foreigners. We were mugged for autographs and pictures. I was recognized everywhere I went because of the interviews and press conference I had done. I’m going to be honest though, I didn’t like all the attention. I don’t fight for the fame, I fight to fight. I don’t really want to be in the spotlight but I suppose that if this is really my career I should probably get used to it because it comes with the territory.
Russia really is a miserable country though. It was, hands down, the most miserable week of my life. I didn’t eat anything besides yogurt and fruit. That was eat the entire week, yogurt and fruit. People there are just generally not very friendly. I don’t know what it is. It might be that their country is so shitty and they are upset that they have no way out. I can’t say for sure. I can say though, that those people were miserable. The only really cool thing about the place that we went to, Khabarovsk is that across the Amur River we could see China. That was pretty cool. Other than that, nothing was good. Especially the hotel. We were put up on the 5th floor, the top floor, of the hotel and it had no elevator. Every single night there was techno music blaring on our floor until ridiculous hours in the morning. It also didn’t help that the Russian Mafia hookers had rooms all over the floor and they also added to the noise every night.
That is basically my experience in Russia. Sorry for such a negative post but I really can’t find much of anything to say good about the place. If anyone has any questions let me know. Be on the lookout for my next post which will catch you up on what I have been doing in Thailand all this time. I hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to you all later.
The rules of the fight were explained to us as this: they were modified MMA rules that allowed 30 seconds on the ground to work before it was stood back up. Also, no elbows were allowed and no kicks of any sort to a grounded opponent. Those were the rules we were told coming into the night. Right before the fights we were told of a new rule that had just been added. There is no doubt in my mind that this new rule was thrown in because the Russian coaches and officials were in the room during our training session, which I was very suspicious of and I knew nothing good would come of it. The new rule allowed for knees to the head of a grounded opponent. This is something that I have never trained for. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want those allowed in all organizations but as of right now they aren’t allowed so I don’t train them. After our training session, however, they were thrown in. My guess is because they saw that all of our wrestling revolved around shooting in for the legs to take guys down rather than the upper body takedowns that Russians tend to utilize. Anyways, that new rule is thrown in; whatever, no big deal. My fight finally comes up and I go out there and dominate my opponent through the whole first round. I didn’t realize it until I reviewed the tape later that night but I was screwed out of a victory in the first round. So the fight goes to the 2nd round and I am dead tired. A combination of being sick the previous week and not being able to train at all and not realizing how tiring it was to take someone down only to have them let up by the ref a few seconds later only to have to take them down again. As the 2nd round starts we start throwing hands again and I really have no more energy to take him down so I kept falling back trying to draw him into my guard. He kept following me down but he would push me out under the ropes requiring a restart. This happened about 3 times. Then all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, the ref brings us together and raises the other guy’s hand. I, or anyone else for that matter, have any idea why exactly he won. It was never explained to us.
After reviewing the tape, we quickly realized that 30 seconds on the ground didn’t necessarily mean 30 seconds on the ground. At one point, I took him down and he went for an armbar which I escaped and he transitioned into a kneebar which I escaped. That ended up with him in mount raining punches down on me. The ref didn’t stand us back up until I had gotten him out of mount. That was around 40-45 seconds on the ground according to the tape that I have of it. A little later in the round I slipped and he followed me down and fell straight into a triangle choke. I synched it up as tight as it would possibly go and I could see the end of the fight. He was still throwing some weak punches but his face was turning red. It was literally seconds away from being over. The ref also realized this and stood us up. This stand up was a full 10 seconds before the stand up was supposed to happen. I can’t tell you how furious that made me to see that on tape. I wasn’t too mad immediately after the fight, I was more confused than anything, but after watching the tape and really seeing all the shenanigans that went on and seeing that I was robbed of a victory I couldn’t help but to be very upset.
There was a lot of questionable officiating that went on that night but I guess that was to be expected. The event itself was very good though, I’m not going to lie. It was a nice big venue and everything was set up very nicely. It was a nice ring and they had pyrotechnics set up along the walk out ramp. The crowd was huge and there were photographers and TV cameras everywhere. It just sucks that that is how it had to end. It sucks that it couldn’t be fair fights all the way around so we could truly see who the better team was.
Fighters there are treated like celebrities though. Especially us since we were all foreigners. We were mugged for autographs and pictures. I was recognized everywhere I went because of the interviews and press conference I had done. I’m going to be honest though, I didn’t like all the attention. I don’t fight for the fame, I fight to fight. I don’t really want to be in the spotlight but I suppose that if this is really my career I should probably get used to it because it comes with the territory.
Russia really is a miserable country though. It was, hands down, the most miserable week of my life. I didn’t eat anything besides yogurt and fruit. That was eat the entire week, yogurt and fruit. People there are just generally not very friendly. I don’t know what it is. It might be that their country is so shitty and they are upset that they have no way out. I can’t say for sure. I can say though, that those people were miserable. The only really cool thing about the place that we went to, Khabarovsk is that across the Amur River we could see China. That was pretty cool. Other than that, nothing was good. Especially the hotel. We were put up on the 5th floor, the top floor, of the hotel and it had no elevator. Every single night there was techno music blaring on our floor until ridiculous hours in the morning. It also didn’t help that the Russian Mafia hookers had rooms all over the floor and they also added to the noise every night.
That is basically my experience in Russia. Sorry for such a negative post but I really can’t find much of anything to say good about the place. If anyone has any questions let me know. Be on the lookout for my next post which will catch you up on what I have been doing in Thailand all this time. I hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to you all later.
Russia Part 1
Note: This was written last weekend, while I was in Russia but did not have access to the internet so this is not going on right now. It is already over and I will either update this entry with results or create an entirely new entry.
So I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Russia with absolutely nothing to do besides finally update this blog so here we go. I’ll start out with what I have done in Russia so far and then I will make another entry detailing what I have been doing in Thailand all this time since my last full update.
So I left for Bangkok Tuesday night at around 5:30 and arrived there at about 6:30 and waited around to meet the rest of my team (the rest of the fighters that were fighting in the same event as me; we are all representing Bangkok Fight Club). We all met up at around 9:00 and went through security and all of that stuff that goes along with flying on a plan. Our flight for Seoul, South Korea left at around 11:00. It was about a 5 hour flight and we waited around the airport in Seoul for about 3 hours. I have to say, Seoul’s airport is very nice. It is very clean, there is free wifi, and there are even designated places to go and sleep if you choose to do so. The other airports should take note. Anyways, after our layover there we then boarded our flight for Khabarovsk, Russia at about 10:30 A.M. The flight from Seoul to Khabarovsk was about a 3 hour flight. Upon arriving at the airport we were told that before we could get off the plane every single person had to get their temperature checked by a quarantine officer. The weirdest part was that they took everyone’s temperature rectally using the same thermometer for everyone. It took forever. That isn’t exactly true. They had this crazy thermometer that she just pointed at our forehead and it gave her our temperature instantly. After that little ordeal we then went through customs and gathered our belongings where we were met by a bunch of Russian media. There were photographers and a news crew there to get shots of us. Another fighter from Australia named Ross and I also got interviewed by the news crew, through a translator of course.
That is another thing I forgot to mention. While we are all representing the same team, all of us are from different parts of the world. Here are the countries represented by our 9 person team: United States, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Slovakia, and France. Quite a collection of countries if you ask me.
Anyways, so far a lot of the week has just been waiting around. The only thing we have really done besides go and train a couple of times is we took a short tour of a couple of the main areas of the city. Along the city there is this massive river called the Amore River and on the other side you can see China. It is pretty crazy.
Earlier today after the training session, which was mainly compromised of everyone making sure they were down to weight for the weigh in which was earlier this afternoon, I was waiting around for everyone else in the lobby of this gym. We were told that at 12:30 we would leave and go to another place for the weigh in and the press conference. Well, while I was waiting there a group of Russians working there came up and got me and told me it was time for the press conference. Daniel, the Spanish fighter, and I were the only 2 of us there. Everyone else was off doing something else. What this press conference consisted of is a ridiculous amount of Russia news cameras and reporters asking Daniel, the governor of Khabarovsk, Don “The Dragon” Wilson (apparently he used to be a badass kickboxer and has been in a bunch of movies. I’ve never heard of the guy personally but I can tell you this, he loves to talk about how great he is), and I questions. I really didn’t like it to be honest. I’m not there to be in the spotlight, I’m there to fight but I suppose as I move up the ranks as a fighter, that type of stuff also comes with the territory. After that was over we then met of with the rest of the team and went to the weigh in for the weigh in and a bunch more pictures.
We fight tomorrow night at 6:00 P.M. I believe. It should be a pretty good time. The event has 9 fights and I am fighting 8th. Lucky me. More waiting around I suppose. After the fights I know there is some huge after party where I am told there will be a bunch of Russian hookers. I think I’m going to pass on the after party since I have a beautiful girl named Rebecca waiting for me back in Chiang Mai plus any of you who know me, know that drinking really isn’t my thing. As for the rest of the trip besides the fight, we will be leaving here on Monday. I’ve heard that we will be going with the Russian military or something like that and shooting some crazy guns. That should be a good time before. I have never actually shot a gun before. Yes, I am from Iowa. I’d also like to add that Russian food is absolutely terrible. There is an absurd amount of salt on all of the food. It makes it uneatable to me. It is, hands down, the worst food I’ve ever had. Also, Russia is just a miserable place to be. Everyone here seems like they hate their life and there is this never ending gloom that appears to be hanging over the country. If you have never been here as I’m sure most of you haven’t, you’re not missing out on much. If you’re thinking, “Oh, I think I’ll go on vacation in Russia,” just don’t do it. You’ll be pissed about it. I would much rather be in Thailand any day. Anyways, that is enough ranting for right now. I hope everything is going well for everyone else and be on the look out for my next entry soon.
So I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Russia with absolutely nothing to do besides finally update this blog so here we go. I’ll start out with what I have done in Russia so far and then I will make another entry detailing what I have been doing in Thailand all this time since my last full update.
So I left for Bangkok Tuesday night at around 5:30 and arrived there at about 6:30 and waited around to meet the rest of my team (the rest of the fighters that were fighting in the same event as me; we are all representing Bangkok Fight Club). We all met up at around 9:00 and went through security and all of that stuff that goes along with flying on a plan. Our flight for Seoul, South Korea left at around 11:00. It was about a 5 hour flight and we waited around the airport in Seoul for about 3 hours. I have to say, Seoul’s airport is very nice. It is very clean, there is free wifi, and there are even designated places to go and sleep if you choose to do so. The other airports should take note. Anyways, after our layover there we then boarded our flight for Khabarovsk, Russia at about 10:30 A.M. The flight from Seoul to Khabarovsk was about a 3 hour flight. Upon arriving at the airport we were told that before we could get off the plane every single person had to get their temperature checked by a quarantine officer. The weirdest part was that they took everyone’s temperature rectally using the same thermometer for everyone. It took forever. That isn’t exactly true. They had this crazy thermometer that she just pointed at our forehead and it gave her our temperature instantly. After that little ordeal we then went through customs and gathered our belongings where we were met by a bunch of Russian media. There were photographers and a news crew there to get shots of us. Another fighter from Australia named Ross and I also got interviewed by the news crew, through a translator of course.
That is another thing I forgot to mention. While we are all representing the same team, all of us are from different parts of the world. Here are the countries represented by our 9 person team: United States, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Slovakia, and France. Quite a collection of countries if you ask me.
Anyways, so far a lot of the week has just been waiting around. The only thing we have really done besides go and train a couple of times is we took a short tour of a couple of the main areas of the city. Along the city there is this massive river called the Amore River and on the other side you can see China. It is pretty crazy.
Earlier today after the training session, which was mainly compromised of everyone making sure they were down to weight for the weigh in which was earlier this afternoon, I was waiting around for everyone else in the lobby of this gym. We were told that at 12:30 we would leave and go to another place for the weigh in and the press conference. Well, while I was waiting there a group of Russians working there came up and got me and told me it was time for the press conference. Daniel, the Spanish fighter, and I were the only 2 of us there. Everyone else was off doing something else. What this press conference consisted of is a ridiculous amount of Russia news cameras and reporters asking Daniel, the governor of Khabarovsk, Don “The Dragon” Wilson (apparently he used to be a badass kickboxer and has been in a bunch of movies. I’ve never heard of the guy personally but I can tell you this, he loves to talk about how great he is), and I questions. I really didn’t like it to be honest. I’m not there to be in the spotlight, I’m there to fight but I suppose as I move up the ranks as a fighter, that type of stuff also comes with the territory. After that was over we then met of with the rest of the team and went to the weigh in for the weigh in and a bunch more pictures.
We fight tomorrow night at 6:00 P.M. I believe. It should be a pretty good time. The event has 9 fights and I am fighting 8th. Lucky me. More waiting around I suppose. After the fights I know there is some huge after party where I am told there will be a bunch of Russian hookers. I think I’m going to pass on the after party since I have a beautiful girl named Rebecca waiting for me back in Chiang Mai plus any of you who know me, know that drinking really isn’t my thing. As for the rest of the trip besides the fight, we will be leaving here on Monday. I’ve heard that we will be going with the Russian military or something like that and shooting some crazy guns. That should be a good time before. I have never actually shot a gun before. Yes, I am from Iowa. I’d also like to add that Russian food is absolutely terrible. There is an absurd amount of salt on all of the food. It makes it uneatable to me. It is, hands down, the worst food I’ve ever had. Also, Russia is just a miserable place to be. Everyone here seems like they hate their life and there is this never ending gloom that appears to be hanging over the country. If you have never been here as I’m sure most of you haven’t, you’re not missing out on much. If you’re thinking, “Oh, I think I’ll go on vacation in Russia,” just don’t do it. You’ll be pissed about it. I would much rather be in Thailand any day. Anyways, that is enough ranting for right now. I hope everything is going well for everyone else and be on the look out for my next entry soon.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Update
I would like to apologize for taking so long in between posts to have any sort of an update. As some of you may know, I have gotten an invite to fight on Team Thailand as we take on Team Russia in Khabarovsk, Russia on November 3rd. The fight is televised nationally in Russia as well as around 8000 people at the event so I have been working extra hard. That coupled with the school work (we just had mid-terms) has made it difficult for me to type a new post. I have so much to type, it is just a matter of finding the time to type it.
Anyways, tomorrow morning I am off to Bangkok for 10 days to train at Keatkhamtorn Gym since it is our fall break and I want to be able to explore Thailand a little more. Like I said, just bear with me, I have an update coming I just need to find some time to sit down and type.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Anyways, tomorrow morning I am off to Bangkok for 10 days to train at Keatkhamtorn Gym since it is our fall break and I want to be able to explore Thailand a little more. Like I said, just bear with me, I have an update coming I just need to find some time to sit down and type.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
This is Long Overdue
Hey everyone, sorry for such a long delay between posts. Like I said in my last post, things have really picked up for me and I haven't had a lot of free time. I have been doing a lot of cool things though.
A lot of what I have been doing is training muay Thai. I am very happy with the gym that I am at. The guys at Lanna Muay Thai (known as Kiat Busaba Muay Thai here) have been busting my ass. Over the past week I have graduated from the strictly farang (Western foreigner) ring, to the ring that the fighters get to train in. Let me tell you, it is significantly tougher. In the beginners ring I would do 5 rounds of 5 minutes with no problem but after the switch to the big boy ring, my first day they only had me do 3 rounds of 5 minutes and I was dead. I have been doing that same protocol for all week until today when they bumped me up to 4 rounds. Jesus I was tired. Not only did they bump me up to 4 rounds today, but also for the day's warm up it was the mountain run. The mountain run was quite an experience. The group got in Andy's truck (the owner) and he drove us out to the park where the path up the mountain is located and told us to go. Run up the mountain for 20 minutes. Get as far as you can and the person that is the furthest up the mountain turns around after 20 minutes and comes back down and the group follows them as they come back down. I was the second furthest today which I was pretty happy about because it was my first time. The road up this mountain had absolutely no break in it. It was just a straight incline. A ridiculous incline on top of that.
In other muay Thai news, the past 2 weeks I have gone to Gawilla Boxing Stadium and watched the muay Thai fights there. They are a lot of fun to go see. Last night I sat with the other members of my gym over on the Thai side and it was a lot more fun. The Thais were going crazy because they were all betting money on every fight. The betting culture is absolutely huge here. Anyways, we had one member of our gym fighting last night and he fought awesomely. He fought a Thai fighter and it was their 3rd time meeting each other. Heading into that fight they were 1-1. The 1st round came and the Thai fighter completely outclassed him and beat him up pretty bad. Same in the 2nd round. After the 2nd round he came back to the corner and he had a massive mouse over left eye. I've never had one before but I have to imagine that it didn't feel too good this morning. He finally got something going in the 3rd round as he started landing elbows in the clinch and then in the 4th round he finally knocked him out. He landed a flush knee right to his stomach and sent him to the canvas and the Thai fighter couldn't answer the 10 count. It was a really good win and I was really impressed with the heart that he showed. Reminded me a bit of myself to be honest. The guy who will take a beating and keep coming all day. Seeing this fights the past 2 weeks has prompted me to do something that I told myself I wouldn't do when I decided to come here to train muay Thai and that is fight. Watching these fights has given me the itch to fight and I think it will be fun to do something completely out of my element since I am more of a ground fighter. I am planning my fight for November so I will be sure to keep you all updated on my progress as I train for the fight.
Another big story in my life is the tattoo that I had done on Tuesday night. I got a tattoo tapped in with bamboo, the traditional way. The tattoo is pretty good sized and it is on my left side. I believe the measurements are something like 30 cm wide by 21 cm tall. It is amazing how good it looks, especially considering it was all tapped in. The artist suggested that I break it up into 2 different sessions, 1 for the outline and another for shading, but I told him I would be able to finish it in one. The ribs are a sensitive area so I knew it would hurt but I also knew I could take it. He had my appointment estimated at 4 hours so it was a pretty good chunk of time that I would be sitting there getting stabbed repeatedly. The first 3 hours of the session were a walk in the park. The only real difference between the bamboo and modern tattooing is that the bamboo is much slower. You can feel each strike of the bamboo. It really wasn't too bad though. After 3 hours he told me he was going to take a smoke break. We came back a few minutes later to resume and from then on my cake walk was over. Hour 4 started to hurt a bit. Nothing too bad but I could definitely feel it significantly more than before but hour 5...oh man hour 5 was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was absolutely excruciating. Also, as you can tell from what I just wrote, it went over an hour over his estimated time. I'm not complaining because he did an amazing job but wow it hurt bad. I pushed through it though. He said that most people would not be able to handle that all in one session. I am very very happy with the finished product though. I will upload pictures of it soon. The tattoo is supposed to give me protection in battle. It is an amazing design and a perfect fit for me since "protection in battle" is exactly what I need for my job.
Outside of those things I have been busy with school. They keep us in the classroom way too long here. That is my only real complaint so far. Each class is a minimum of 1 1/2 hours. I understand that we are here through an academic program but I don't think that they realize that people don't study abroad for the academics. If I weren't such a bastard of a student I would probably be a hermit right now because there are huge readings every night and a paper due every week but in typical Jake fashion I have yet to do a reading and I reserve the paper writing for Sunday nights. The last one was even finished Monday morning, a few hours before it was due.
That is all I really have for now. Sorry for the long post. I'll try not to go so long in between posts. I hope everyone is doing well.
Sawwaddee
A lot of what I have been doing is training muay Thai. I am very happy with the gym that I am at. The guys at Lanna Muay Thai (known as Kiat Busaba Muay Thai here) have been busting my ass. Over the past week I have graduated from the strictly farang (Western foreigner) ring, to the ring that the fighters get to train in. Let me tell you, it is significantly tougher. In the beginners ring I would do 5 rounds of 5 minutes with no problem but after the switch to the big boy ring, my first day they only had me do 3 rounds of 5 minutes and I was dead. I have been doing that same protocol for all week until today when they bumped me up to 4 rounds. Jesus I was tired. Not only did they bump me up to 4 rounds today, but also for the day's warm up it was the mountain run. The mountain run was quite an experience. The group got in Andy's truck (the owner) and he drove us out to the park where the path up the mountain is located and told us to go. Run up the mountain for 20 minutes. Get as far as you can and the person that is the furthest up the mountain turns around after 20 minutes and comes back down and the group follows them as they come back down. I was the second furthest today which I was pretty happy about because it was my first time. The road up this mountain had absolutely no break in it. It was just a straight incline. A ridiculous incline on top of that.
In other muay Thai news, the past 2 weeks I have gone to Gawilla Boxing Stadium and watched the muay Thai fights there. They are a lot of fun to go see. Last night I sat with the other members of my gym over on the Thai side and it was a lot more fun. The Thais were going crazy because they were all betting money on every fight. The betting culture is absolutely huge here. Anyways, we had one member of our gym fighting last night and he fought awesomely. He fought a Thai fighter and it was their 3rd time meeting each other. Heading into that fight they were 1-1. The 1st round came and the Thai fighter completely outclassed him and beat him up pretty bad. Same in the 2nd round. After the 2nd round he came back to the corner and he had a massive mouse over left eye. I've never had one before but I have to imagine that it didn't feel too good this morning. He finally got something going in the 3rd round as he started landing elbows in the clinch and then in the 4th round he finally knocked him out. He landed a flush knee right to his stomach and sent him to the canvas and the Thai fighter couldn't answer the 10 count. It was a really good win and I was really impressed with the heart that he showed. Reminded me a bit of myself to be honest. The guy who will take a beating and keep coming all day. Seeing this fights the past 2 weeks has prompted me to do something that I told myself I wouldn't do when I decided to come here to train muay Thai and that is fight. Watching these fights has given me the itch to fight and I think it will be fun to do something completely out of my element since I am more of a ground fighter. I am planning my fight for November so I will be sure to keep you all updated on my progress as I train for the fight.
Another big story in my life is the tattoo that I had done on Tuesday night. I got a tattoo tapped in with bamboo, the traditional way. The tattoo is pretty good sized and it is on my left side. I believe the measurements are something like 30 cm wide by 21 cm tall. It is amazing how good it looks, especially considering it was all tapped in. The artist suggested that I break it up into 2 different sessions, 1 for the outline and another for shading, but I told him I would be able to finish it in one. The ribs are a sensitive area so I knew it would hurt but I also knew I could take it. He had my appointment estimated at 4 hours so it was a pretty good chunk of time that I would be sitting there getting stabbed repeatedly. The first 3 hours of the session were a walk in the park. The only real difference between the bamboo and modern tattooing is that the bamboo is much slower. You can feel each strike of the bamboo. It really wasn't too bad though. After 3 hours he told me he was going to take a smoke break. We came back a few minutes later to resume and from then on my cake walk was over. Hour 4 started to hurt a bit. Nothing too bad but I could definitely feel it significantly more than before but hour 5...oh man hour 5 was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was absolutely excruciating. Also, as you can tell from what I just wrote, it went over an hour over his estimated time. I'm not complaining because he did an amazing job but wow it hurt bad. I pushed through it though. He said that most people would not be able to handle that all in one session. I am very very happy with the finished product though. I will upload pictures of it soon. The tattoo is supposed to give me protection in battle. It is an amazing design and a perfect fit for me since "protection in battle" is exactly what I need for my job.
Outside of those things I have been busy with school. They keep us in the classroom way too long here. That is my only real complaint so far. Each class is a minimum of 1 1/2 hours. I understand that we are here through an academic program but I don't think that they realize that people don't study abroad for the academics. If I weren't such a bastard of a student I would probably be a hermit right now because there are huge readings every night and a paper due every week but in typical Jake fashion I have yet to do a reading and I reserve the paper writing for Sunday nights. The last one was even finished Monday morning, a few hours before it was due.
That is all I really have for now. Sorry for the long post. I'll try not to go so long in between posts. I hope everyone is doing well.
Sawwaddee
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this blog. Its just that as the days go by, I am getting increasingly busier. There is always so much stuff to do here that its hard to find time to sit down and write. I will update this very soon though. Hope you're all doing well. Sawwadee.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
New Pictures
Hey everyone, just thought I'd let you know that they're new pictures up from the village stay. There are pictures from the village, a waterfall we went to, several different Wats, and some miscellaneous pictures from a little trip we took around the district.
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