So I' m on Koh Samui which is an Island off the main coast of Thailand. I have never seen the ocean up close so swimming in the ocean here has been a big deal to me...didn't realise salt water was so....SALTY. Anyway, I am training at the Lamai Muay Thai camp here which is actually the exact same camp My friend trained at for 6 months and had 6 professional fights out of. The head trainer is this crazy German guy, he's very intense and freaky but the training is pretty hard. The rest of the trainers are all Thai guys. The main difference between this place and the Fairtex camp is that at the Fairtex camp you train side by side with professional fighters and you have your own personal trainers. Here it's kind of like the training I do in Canada in that you partner up with people just interested in learning Muay Thai and they can be well below your own skill level. The intensity is still pretty good though. An example of a session would be warming up on the heavy bag followed by a 20 minute light sparring round followed by a drill of pushups, squats and shadowboxing, non stop with no breaks. After that it might be a 20 minute leg sparring round and then a 20 minute stand up grappling and kneeing round and the a 20 minute boxing round. No breaks in those 20 minute rounds but between rounds you can grab some water. They train at 7 AM to 9 AM and then 5 PM to 7 PM but the gym is open all day with a weight room and you can go in and do whatever you want at any time. I like to go and rest after the first session, go back early afternoon to do weights and abs and then go back and do the early evening session. It's pretty nice because you can rest on the beach or swim in the Ocean during your off time.

I'll let you all know if anything exciting happens here, otherwise I'll post again when I get to a new camp and let you know what it's like. So far Fairtex (which is more expensive) is far better than Lamai. For those interested you pay about $20 American a day at Fairtex for all the training, lodging and 2 really good meals each day. In Lamai you pay about $8 American a day for 2 sessions and access to the gym all day but you have to find your own food and lodging.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

Good luck on your training bro. One day i will do what you are doing.

Getting this "local color" is great!

Now that I've trained here all week I have to change my opinion that Lamai Muay Thai is not as good as Fairtex. Let's just say they are different. I am learning a ton, fast here in Lamai. I might not be getting personal attention from ex pro fighters all the time but the partner training they do here is very intense. I go home every night covered in bruises. I learn alot when I'm getting hurt and these guys are doing a good share of hurting. If you are good enough he throws you in with the advanced group and he encourages heavy hitting. Did I mention the German trainer was crazy? Because he is definately cracked. I can't quote anything of what he says as it involves alot of profanity but the jist of it is we are a bunch of wussies and we kick like girls...which is funny because the girls at the camp (one is the world amateur champion) can kick my butt. I've never seen girls as impressive as these in any martial art. They are seriously tough, if I'm not hitting them hard enough he jumps in, pushes me to the side and starts kicking them all over the place. This place is nuts but it's alot of fun training this hard...just wish I wasn't limping every day from all the new bruises and injuries.

My defense has gotten so much better just for fear of getting killed. FUN!

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

Damien,

I ENVY YOU!!!!!