Andrew Villalobos“Nuhm. Sohm. Sahm. See. Haa. Ho. Ket. Baahd. Cow. Sip. Chinge” Qiyew would begin again with every warm up stretch quickly moving through the numbers and stretching routine as he has done since he was a child. I spent two weeks learning muay thai at the Shalam Phueak gym located on the island of Koh Lanta in southern Thailand. The gym sits down in a jungle-like environment with some swamp lands and a seemingly stagnant river running directly behind it. It’s an open outdoor area with a corrugated steel roof and concrete pad covered in workout mats. The view behind the row of punching bags is of lush green tropical plants like coconut and papaya trees and mountains in the distance where you can still find caves filled with hundreds of thousands of bats.
It was probably the coolest gym I’d ever worked out in and on several occasions when I was dead tired, completely drenched in sweat and barely able to lift my arms I would look around at my surroundings and get energized. The desire to be fully present and experience every moment of the activity was far stronger than my fatigue and allowed me to squeeze every last drop of energy from this gradually aging body.
Thai boxing is a culture and tradition deeply embedded into the Thai people. They are among the friendliest people I’ve ever met and even though it’s rather brutal they maintain a sense of care for their opponent that I don’t believe I’ve seen in other combat sports. I enjoyed the pre-fight rituals that the fighters would perform and the music during the rounds was wild and intense with only the sound of drums and some kind of wind instrument. (Click here for a link to the music) They would wear traditional head gear before the fight and visit each corner of the arena touching their foreheads to the ring. The fights were exciting and vicious but calculated and I was excited for my two weeks to learn a bit and experience this aspect of their culture.
We’d usually start with a warm up, running in circles and doing various movements to get the blood flowing. High knees, strait leg swings, bear crawls etc. Then Qiyew would run us through some stretches before we got our first water break. We’d then wrap our wrists, which was a ritual in its own right and prepare for boxing. We’d start with shadow boxing, focusing on technique and focused rapid movement between relaxed almost melodic ones. The initial stance is legs about shoulder width apart, the leg opposite your dominant arm would be slightly forward, hands raised in front of you with an open palm rather than a fist and then you rock rather than bounce a little up and down, a little side to side. It’s a very relaxed stance, even when striking quickly the trainers would stress being relaxed rather than tense.
I learned to block with shins and forearms while keeping my eyes on my opponent. When defending you can either block, deflect or step away and learning to read body language is an essential aspect of good defense. Admittedly I was terrible at defending, I’ve never had any combat training but my saving grace was not being afraid to take a hit while I was learning. It was exciting to learn something new and foreign and my sports background has given me a great appreciation for technique and form. Lucky for me a major aspect of muay thai is kicking and that’s something I’m no stranger to. Playing football (soccer for my american friends) for pretty much my whole life meant I could strike with my legs in various ways but rather than hitting a ball I’d be hitting the training pads. The head trainer, Art, didn’t believe I’d never had any training because I could kick so well but I knew he was being extra kind, when it came to everything else I had lightyears to go.
During the next stage of training we’d put on gloves and run through 4 or 5 rounds of striking. The trainers would have pads on their hands and often their legs as well and would talk us through different combinations of strikes. Outside of sparring this was my favorite part. Not just because it was hard work and mentally engaging but I loved the sounds they would make after each impact. It’s part of the culture to express yourself verbally as you strike and each of them had a slightly different style. They would hold the pads, announce a combination in broken english and then verbally expressed either their excitement or disappointment for the quality of your strike. I can’t possibly type these sounds but if you’ve ever seen a Bruce Lee movie you can probably get a sense of what this was all about! “Jab, jab, elbow, spin elbow, kick, knee, block!” I’d often not block fast enough and get kicked in the ribs, a great way to speed up the learning process.
At the end of training we would spar, either with another member or with the trainers and this was where the real learning was done. Art, Qiyew and Sook all had fun kicking my ass and I enjoyed it as well. It was fun to engage in a fight (with pads, and friendly, sort of) and learn to move, block and strike back. I got punched in the face and gut and even got kicked in the nuts while sparring with another member from the Netherlands! Good times.
Spending every day with them for two weeks we developed a comradery that was an unexpected bonus. It didn’t feel like I was just another paying customer, they treated me with care and concern that I was learning and went the extra mile running me through stretches mid work-out or arm and shoulder massages as was customary at muay thai fights. The training was always intense and though the classes were only supposed to be an hour and a half we often would go for two hours or more. The temperature was usually around 80 degrees with humidity around 90% so by the end of training I’d be completely drenched. I actually weighed myself before and after training one day and had lost 2 kilos in water weight! On my fifth day training we went for over two hours and I tore the skin off my right toe which wasn’t great. I spent the next week utilizing my medical kit and keeping the toe wrapped up so I could keep training, I think the guys appreciated that and were even more willing to do some extra work with me.
I found it interesting to experience the muay thai training environment and witness the lifestyles of these trainers. Many of them have fought since childhood to make ends-meat and so it’s not just a sport but a legitimate livelihood. There is a lot of pride in this culture, respect for tradition and desire to train hard. They all lived at this particular gym so not only was it their workplace but it was also their home. After workouts I would see the guys checking on their fishing lines and occasionally smoking weed grown on the property from bamboo pipes. We were fascinated with one man’s story who has become the kind of gym ambassador. His name was Kiti and he was 53 years old though he looked to be in his early 70’s.
He had taught himself fairly good english and was the first one to welcome us to the gym. Even though he wasn’t supposed to, since Sophie was in the upstairs gym working out and the rest of us were outside training muay thai, he would pull Sophie aside and show her how to punch or defend herself. It was clear that muay thai had been the center of his life and he still had a great desire to teach and share his knowledge. Kiti started fighting at 8 years old for prize money. He lived at a large gym in Bangkok and fought to feed himself and provide some income for his family. He became such a good fighter that he believed his bones were unbreakable and he won fight after fight. Eventually he got to the point where he could no longer fight because no one was willing to face him. Struggling to make a living he moved to another city and adopted a different fighting name in order to continue to make a living. He now lives and works at the Shalam Phueak gym and I think he enjoys interacting with people from all over the world and sharing his knowledge of muay thai.
