A Novel Path – Tales of an Adventure Goddess

2007-01-27 16:00:00

Wanting more out of my vacation than the typical stop-and-go views of tourist trap destinations from the plush seat of a bus, I decided to go for it; “it” being an athletic indulgence of sorts into the world of Muay Thai kickboxing. The odds I’d leave a muscularly-chiseled boxing champion were slim to none, seeing as that the word “I” and “martial arts” have never been seen together in a sentence, but it would be an experience where I could live in Thailand for a month, combining workouts with weekend touring. Maybe I could even pick up a little Thai since my extensive vocabulary included phrases like ‘sawatdee ka’ (hello) and ‘kahp kuhn ka’ (thank you) from my previous week-long trip to Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Since I was working with zero recommendations, I googled ‘muay thai gyms’ in Thailand and was overwhelmed with several places to choose from in both Chiang Mai and Phuket. Since I had already been to the north, I decided to narrow the search down to gyms in the Phuket area. The gym which popped up most frequently in searches was Tiger Muay Thai (TMT) in Chalong, Phuket. The website showed considerable interest in attracting tourists as there was extensive information about the program, accommodations, and other services, supplemented with a barrage of photographs. After brief emails with the owner, Will McNamara, I decided that I would participate in a six week program at the gym.

Upon arrival in suburban Chalong after a grueling train/bus combination which took all night and the better part of the day, I was exhausted, sweaty from the oppressive humidity this California girl is not used to, and yet I was asked to pay for my entire trip immediately up front and in cash – two months of training and off-site accommodation within walking distance. While I might be slightly short of brain and wit, I hadn’t even received a tour of the facilities, just a small bottle of water and an invoice. I flat-out refused to pay for more than one month, based primarily on how many times I was able to visit the ATM beforehand, but there was the distinct possibility that I could downright dislike kickboxing altogether.

After failing to locate the kickboxing gear shop in Bangkok, I allowed myself to be gouged for one set of hand wraps and a pair of shorts. The taxi driver showed me to my apartment for the month, which was located a bit further than I had anticipated, but still within walking distance to the gym, filled with a small fridge, double bed, healthy-sized bathroom, wash room, studio sofa, and small front porch. Based on the costs of living in Los Angeles, I was patting myself on the back for such a great find – a furnished apartment for a month that cost less than $500!

At practice, the next morning, the other gym residents shattered my budget-conscious dreams of grandeur by telling me I’d be just as had as they all had been after arriving. The bungalows next to the gym and the one I was staying in off the main road were charged out at almost double what the actual cost was; the hefty commission was happily picked up by the gym on the accommodations and every other service provided through the gym. Some residents were lucky enough to buy a week and then find a cheaper place in town; others like me were trapped, as the reason the gym requires cash is not to avoid the % penalty from credit card companies, but so that they can get away with an overly strict ‘no refund’ policy. So if you’ve collapsed from heat exhaustion after the first day of training, or you crash a motorbike and are hospital-bound, eliminating the chance of training altogether, don’t expect a lot of sympathy or a refund.

A serious drawback to relying on one website to tell you everything honestly, a rookie move I admit, is that the gym’s location was not within walking distance to anything except a barely sustainable quickie-mart and a few local food stalls. After running the costs of a trip in the taxi twice a day for meals and more so for excursions elsewhere on the island, my trip budget was bursting at the seams, far from the ‘budget’ title. I researched alternatives, skipped the rental agency at the gym which overcharged at least 1,000 Thai baht, and rented a motorbike from Mike’s Bikes off the main road in town. Granted learning to ride a motorbike in the world’s most dangerous location (referring to the number of bloody accidents involving motorbikes) is another story altogether, it served me well, letting me explore all of Phuket, its beaches and eateries.

Slightly jaded by the accommodations rip-off and the inadequate description of the gym’s location, I decided to keep an entirely open mind and pour any aggression into my training. After the first few workouts, I thought I was really getting the hang of things, learning a few of the basics in walking, punching, and kicking. An adequate cardio training program would have been much appreciated, considering most of us were not star athletes; after a couple hours of intense training combined with the heat and humidity, we would drop to the floor in exhaustion. Three weeks into the program of two classes a day six days a week, I had alternated every few sessions with a different trainer who had different ideas about form and different habits. No two trainers were alike, which is not entirely faulty but when you are teaching technique, the trainers should all be on the same page (and the right one).

All of a sudden, TMT decided to restructure its program and divided its residents into beginning, intermediate, and advanced groups. Of course, seeing as that I started a novice, I expected that was the category which I would be assigned. I was correct; however, the rest of the group I had begun my training with and whom I thought I was on par with competency-wise, were assigned to the intermediate ring. My first session following reassignment placed me in a group with five men on their first day of training; none of which came remotely close to knowing proper form of a side kick. While suppressing laughter (since I probably looked much like them when I began), I spent fifteen minutes waiting for my turn to kick a bag I had been working at for hours on end independently before the reorg. That same week the gym was over capacity and there weren’t enough trainers or bags to keep everyone in motion.

To add further fuel to the fire of disappointment, my technique was suddenly under scrutiny. I had arrived with a clean slate and developed various habits from all the trainers, which in the end, clouded my understanding of proper kickboxing form. It became clear that my last week would be better spent elsewhere. In retrospect, I wished I had paid up front for only my first week of training at TMT, but I doubt as an amateur I would have realized that the training as well as the business practices were suspect.

I spent the remainder of my stay in Phuket at a competitive gym to TMT, changing accommodations as well. My goal was to leave the program after a month of tough training with the basic kickboxing skills and the confidence to practice in a public setting. Fortunately my second choice gave me just that, a thorough lesson of the mechanics behind each punch and each kick, trying to help me correct a month’s worth of bad habits which is an incredibly frustrating position for a newbie to be in. Sadly a week can’t correct an entire month of training, but I felt that I had come away with a greater understanding of kickboxing mechanics and the reassuring sense that the emphasis was more on me, less on capitalism.