Last Post on Thai Camp!

Last 2days were a blur, I kept thinking about that Duncan Donuts commercial where the guy is working so hard to make the donuts he is basically on autopilot – “Its time to make the Donuts kept running through my brain!” Getting 5 hours of sleep started to take a toll on Zach, every break you could find him sleeping wherever he could lay down. On one occasion he feel asleep where one of the stations was and slept right thru the sounding of the bell. He didn’t wake up until everyone started training.

By the last day you could see a drastic improvement in Zach and Karl form. Karl said “Those 4 days was a whole year of Thai Boxing training!” It is true that if you ever wanted to accelerate any thing you do, train it for 4 days 14 hours a day and I am positive you will be better at it :)

For me the camp was the same as it has been every year prior awesome! I got to train, workout, learn some cool new techniques and hang out with friends and mentors. Every year it gets harder for me to make it. I hate leaving my life and putting everything on hold for a week but I am always glad after I do it. I know that Zach and Karl have their own views on what happened the past week so you will have to ask them. If I had to guess I bet they are filling their 2009 calendars – July 29- August 1 Thai Camp with Master Mike!

Never enough time!

Almost every year I have been to camp the weather is always hot, so there was no reason to think this one would be different. I was wrong, it was about 54 degrees when we showed up at 630am. The morning started off with a 3 mile run followed by some shadow boxing and more technique training. We were given time to eat breakfast followed by a 130 minute downtime. The downtime is the time you can relax and take a nap, it is also a great time to catch up with what is going on in the Martial Arts community. Most of the participants are either fighters, instructors or school owners.

The next session started at 930 and ended up lasting until 230. During that time the stations were set up with the full instructors teaching. Since their was an explosion of MMA fighters, Master Chai asked me to teach a takedown from the clinch and show a basic arm bar. I am still amazed at all the camp members who had never done the armbar I showed before. Some of the Thai Boxers were veterans of many camps. Not sure if everyone was happy about the station I was teaching at because they had to train in the dirt and grass.

The other 5 stations were the same as the day before 1. Heavy bag 2. Shadow Boxing 3. Thai Pads 4. Timing Sparring 5. Clinch The difference is the students got to spend at least 30 minutes at each station learning all the techniques and tricks that the full instructors had accumulated through years of training. Some of the top Thai Boxing in the TBA had showed up this year so the stations had a lot of wisdom. Zac and Karl was still trying to figure out who was who and during the break would let me know which instructors impressed them the most.

The lunch was more authentic Thai food that always had you going back for seconds. I have been to many Thai restaurants but it seems like I can never find one that serves food that tastes as good. It could be because the chef is flown is Thai and has been a chef for years or it may be because you are starving from training so much. Karl and Zach always went up for 2nds and couldn’t wait till the next meal. After lunch we had another couple of hours of downtime.

Evening started off slow with more boxing with Leonard Trigg. The combinations from the day before were reviewed and more combinations and footwork was added. Listening to Leonard Trigg opens your eyes to how much of a science boxing is. There are a lot of people that claim they teach boxing but this showed what a high level boxing coach really is .

After that more rounds at the stations, these rounds were like the first day 3more hours of stations, followed by more calisthenics. By the time dinner rolled around it was 8 pm. Eating took another hour and a half. The morning session was so cold we decided to go get some gear at this store called Fred Myers. The east coast does not have these mega stores but they contain everything from groceries to car parts. By the time we got our gear and got back to the hotel it was after 12 am . As I was setting the alarm for 5am I thought to myself how much fun this experience must be for Zach and Karl but I think it sucks!

Sorry a Day Late

There are moments in your life that you will always remember like it was yesterday. Like the first time you rode a bike, or the first time you got into a fight, or even the first time you were kissed. The First day of Torture Camp is always a day you remember clearly. It is usually one of the hardest days because you are trying to figure out what is what and where you fit in. There are always new faces and students that are trying to prove something. These are the students you want to try to avoid, the Camp is all about pacing yourself and staying healthy.

The 1st day was a little anti climatic for the new recruits because I woke up with pink eye and had to go to the Hospital. It was probably a good thing because Karl’s plane was late and we didn’t get in till 2am. When I woke up and realized that all that itching and Visine did not help I told the recruits we would not be making the morning session so go back to sleep. I would rather have them fresh the rest of the week than training for 14 hours a day and worrying about sleep.

The Hospital was a pretty cool place, the staff was really friendly and helpful. They had all kinds of questions when they found out I was not from their town. One of the questions was why I was in their town ( Longview ,WA) I told them is was their for a Thai Boxing camp. One of the Nurses said “ Oh yeah my daughter does that stuff!” I was really surprised and intrigued so I asked “Where does she train and how long has she been doing it?” She looked at me like I was dumb and said” She trains at her house and I am not sure how long she has been doing it, she got the tapes a few years ago. I am not sure how much she does it anymore but she used to talk about it all the time! Is the Black Guy from the T.V. going to be here? ” I finally figured out that she was talking about Tae Bo. I started to tell her it was not the same thing I did but then I realized it would be a losing battle so I stopped.

We ended up getting out to camp in time for the afternoon session which started with –
A 2 hour boxing session with Leonard Trigg. Followed up by 3 hours of Thai Pads, Shadow Boxing, Timing Sparing, Clinch work with Greg Nelson and Heavy Bag rounds. The groups are always split up in two with the fighters in one and everyone else in the other. Master Chai makes it harder for the fighter group so after the 5 hour workout the fighters had to do more rounds with the man in the middle. This is a clinch drill where there are 4 guys with 1 in the middle every time the whistle blows the next guy jumps on the guy in the middle. This last for 3 minutes then the next guy goes in. The drill was followed by some calestnics , all this lasted for another hour. So the afternoon training session was about 6 hour long.

On the way home all I kept hearing was how awesome this experience is. The trees, the instructors, the food, the drills… We ended up getting back by 1130 pm and ended up in bed by 1230 with a 5 am wake up call. Stay tuned for tomorrows report.

On the way to Torture camp

Didn't make it to bed till 12am and got back up at 130am. Had to get to the Airport by 5 so I decided to go early since all the construction on 70 has made it a nightmare to get through. I am heading out to Oregon for my once a year trek to Thai Camp or as I will call it torture camp:) I am not required to go but feel obligated because of all the things that Master Chai has done for me, it is a small price to pay, so I will subject myself to 5 days of torture. Misery loves company , I am bringing professional MMA fighter Zach Davis and Fitness First Manager Karl Noyes who is also a Green belt in PDS.
Tomorrow will be the first day of training so I will give you updates on what their thoughts are of the camp But I want to leave with a few questions about flying-

1. Why does the plane always seem to hit turbulence when you are using the bathroom?

2. When the fasten the seat belt light comes on why are the stewardess allowed to walk around?

3. When you want to lean your chair back, should you turn around and ask the person behind you? If not should you go slow or lean back fast?

4. If someone is too big too fit in their chair and their body starts touching yours, does that bother you?

5. Have you ever accidentally left your phone on?

6. Have you ever wanted to see if the life preserver under your chair will actually blow up by pulling the cord?