Month: March 2011

After getting in touch with the softer side of things for a couple weeks at the Shivagakomarpaj Thai Massage School in Chiang Mai, I decided it was time to go back and beat people up again. Tiger Muay Thai was more than happy to have me back.

This time, instead of straight fight training, I decided to mix it up, start doing some more weights and taking part in their Crossfit/Bodyfit challenges; like Beach Day.

Beach Day is a 2 hour montage of pain sprinkled with humiliation.

First off, we load a van up with a bunch of these tires attached to ropes.

Then we drive to this picturesque beachside cliff.

Then we all lose our minds.

We begin the exercises by doing backwards pushups up 5 flights of steps; 2 larger and three smaller. We do this 4 times. We sweat a lot.

Sometimes we take breaks.

It kinda looks like this…

Afterward, we form up in groups of 3. We take turns running up and down the 2 larger sets of stairs carrying one of these lovely tires overheard, and doing 10 squats at the top and bottom of the flight of stairs, handing it off to a partner each time we come up or down. After one has done 10 squats at top and bottom, then drop to 9 squats, top and bottom, then 8, and so on until you reach 0.

Then tourists decide they want to act the part…

Then we sweat some more.

So, that was a pretty good warm-up for the real monster exercise of the day… The Hill.

The Hill doesn’t look like much at first glance. It’s about 200 meters downhill to a 90 degree bend in the road where it goes out of sight. We are supposed to split up into teams of 3, grab a tire and run up and down the hill twice performing hundreds of various exercises at the bottom, midway, and top.

What you don’t realize the first time, is that the 200 meters of the road is just the beginning. The road is roughly 1 kilometer each way. Thankfully, traffic is light and usually just the occasional scooter, so if you do fall down from exhaustion, you probably won’t be killed by oncoming vehicles.

This is where most of the “first-timers” walk away. From the stairs to the top of the hill, somehow half of the people disappeared. That left myself and Joe as a 2 man team to drag the accursed tire rather than 3.

I wish I could say I was more of a help than a hindrance, but Joe took the tire almost 90% of the way. He was a powerhouse.

Finally, after buckets of sweat and a handful of “I Quit” moments, we dragged our tire and tired bodies to the top of the mountain. We would have celebrated if we had any energy left. As it was, we just lay there for a while, baking like roadkill in the sun.

After everyone could walk again, we made it to a little beachside bar and got a round of fresh coconuts to rehydrate and laugh about how crazy we all were for doing this willingly.

Tiger is one of those places in life where you can work as hard or as little as you like. The half asses sort of sift to the bottom of the pile, and the people who really go for it form a fantastic friendship through the blood, sweat, and tears of it all. I’d like to say this will be an annual vacation for me, but I’ve no idea what’s in store for me after this trip. I do know this; I will be back again. This was just too much fun.

Wrap-Up:

Tiger Muay Thai and MMA

http://www.tigermuaythai.com/

tmtphuket@gmail.com

TMT Office:+66 (0)76 367 071

TMT Office (alt. nr):+66 (0)76 367 072

Night Office:+66 (0)86 596 9090

Bookings:+66 (0)80 519 8234

BlackBerry Messenger:310208FD

Stories of Chiang Mai were some of the first things I ever heard about Thailand. I knew the city existed before I knew anything about it.

Anyone can get along here just fine. Like most of Thailand, Chiang Mai is set up to allow tourists the ability to do anything their little heart desires with the greatest of ease. There are, however, some very special things that happen her.

Chiang Mai is renowned for classes. There are a number of universities and specialty schools here that teach everything from the remedial to the spiritual. Unfortunately, they are not all in the same place.

Chiang Mai is something of a rectangle. There is a wall ( or sorts) surrounding the inner city with 4 gates. These gates provide easy navigation points for directing taxi and tuktuk drivers.

One of the most important things to know about getting around this town is the red and yellow trucks. The red trucks will drive around and take anyone to anywhere for 20 baht, or about 65 cents. The yellow trucks drive along relatively fixed routes through the city and will take passengers for 10 baht. Flag them like a taxi, state your destination to the driver who will then accept you or not. Do not ask how much it costs, because the driver will then seize the opportunity to make some extra money off of you; just jump in. When you arrive at your destination, pay the man the correct amount and go on your merry way.

If the driver asks for a different amount, simply correct him before getting in or find another truck. they come along often enough.

Chiang Mai is home to the largest amount of proper motorcycles I have seen since I was at the MotoGP race in Brno last year.

Chiang Mai is very geared towards the tourist. You can rent bikes, motorbikes, ride elephants, play with tigers, or attend classes in almost anything you can imagine. My primary reason for being here was learning Thai Massage, but I managed to squeeze in some cooking classes too. The cooking classes in Chiang Mai are a fraction of the cost of the classes in Phuket, fyi.

One thing I missed out on that I hope someone will do and inform me of how cool it was, is the Jungle Survival Cooking Course! You can schedule it with the booking agent at +66-53-208-661, but in order for the class to run, they need a few people interested in it, or you have to pay for 2 spots. When I checked the class was 1200 baht; less than $40 a person.

There are plenty of great places to eat in town; Fat China Man’s BBQ, Jerusalem Falafel, Starbucks… take your pick. Odds are, if you wander into any restaurant in town, you will get a great meal at a decent price. Fair warning, the owner of Jerusalem Falafel is never in a good mood, but the food is definitely worth it!

Breakfast…

Don’t plan on being an early riser to catch the proverbial worm. Nothing seems to open here until after 8 a.m. Not even the coffee shops. The Starbucks in town doesn’t open until 10 a.m.

If you are looking for a unique treat, head to the Chiang Mai Gate (south gate) market and find the sticky rice vendors. They cook sticky rice inside bamboo tubes that you can peel like a banana!

While in Chiang Mai I attended an insect riddled classical music performance, I saw tiny motorcycles, met all kinds of wild people, and generally enjoyed myself. That does not mean that Chiang Mai is a particularly enjoyable town.

Chiang Mai is something of a funnel, designed over time, to draw as much money from tourists into the local economy. This is not necessarily bad, it’s just what happens when enough tourists come to a town with money. It’s a great place to enjoy a couple of days off, book a tour somewhere, or learn some new skills, but if you are going to be based here, try to get out of the city as much as possible to really enjoy the area.

Hopefully, this short guide will give you a few things to do and see and make your life a little easier while you are in town. Cheers!

Wrap-Up:

Chiang Mai is great… for tours and classes.

There is a ton of good food here. Look around.

Red trucks are the best way to get around town. Yellow Trucks are a little more difficult to work with, but are half the price.

There are so many tour agencies here that any question you have about almost anything can be answered in a very short time just by asking around.

Protip: I am told that The Tiger Experience is awful; don’t waste your money by helping those people profit off their poor treatment of the animals.

Old Medicine Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand. That’s my new address.

I’m tired. I’ve been crawling around on the floor a lot lately. I enrolled in a massage school in Chiang Mai Thailand to absorb a couple weeks worth of training in the healing arts before I go back to getting bashed in the face at Tiger Muay Thai.

It’s been interesting.

Thai massage is something of a mix of wrestling, yoga, and chiropractics. Add in some basic chakra points and energy lines and you have the lovely art that I have been practicing lately.

I am thrilled to be in Chiang Mai. This is one of the first places I ever knew existed in Thailand. Koh Samui and Chiang Mai were the two places I was told I had to visit in Thailand. I haven’t made it to Koh Samui, yet.

The Old Medicine Hospital houses the Shivagakomarpaj Thai Massage School. I still don’t know how to accurately pronounce that.

The establishment itself is great. They have a fanatical security guard on duty all night, good wifi coverage, and plenty of instructors. Some of which are retired ladyboys… like I said: Interesting.

The part about this place that grabs your attention is that lodging is included in the 6000 baht a week price, and there is a discount for booking ahead. The lodging is extremely basic, but not bad. There is also a great penthouse at the top of the building that you can rent for 380 baht a night, about $12, which is well worth the money.

The crew here have been astounding. People from all over the world (the only Americans all seem to be from the Bay) and everyone is so easy to be around 12 hours a day.

The day starts about 8 am with a call to prayer, some chanting and singing around an ornately decorated statue. Fresh flowers, food, water, and (what looks like) alcohol are placed out for the spirits every morning.

We then head to the classroom (no cameras allowed) and watch the instructor bend, twist, and grope one of her coworkers for a couple hours. Afterward, we get a couple hours to practice and are released for lunch. After lunch the afternoon session is similar and the classrooms close down around 6 p.m.

Everyone grabs some dinner and then finds areas to practice the new moves into the night.

Some nights are different: Linda throws a dinner party at her tiny apartment, Cameron performs for a new bar on opening night.

My instructor, Fai, is always smiling. Even when she is telling me I am doing it wrong; which is pretty often.

At the end of each week, there is a 2-part exam on the material learned that week; both hands on and written.

At the end of the second, third, or fourth (etc) week, when people are graduating, they hold a special ceremony where your spirit is bonded to your body with a white string; something like the Sou Khuan in Laos. They put a dob of paint on your forehead and offer a prayer over you, but I don’t know what all that was all about. Good fun, though.

I passed my exams; flying colors and all that. But I need to keep practicing. If I am going to be in your neighborhood, beware; I will need practice dummies!

Wrap-Up:

Shivagakomarpaj Thai Massage School.
Phone  : 66 53 275085
Fax : 66 53 201663
E-mail : info@thaimassageschool.ac.th
Office hours are 9.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. Monday thru Sunday
Office address: 238/1 Wuolai Road (Across Old Medicine Culture Center)
Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand.
Website: www.thaimassageschool.ac.th