Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Depending on where you train, the floors of gyms can range anywhere from really nice mats everywhere to absolutely no mats anywhere. The canvas of the ring can tear up your feet due to the heat and humidity (you'll see trainers watering the ring for this reason), the concrete floors can give you some intense blisters, and sometimes the only way to not slip from your own dripping sweat is to have a strip of carpet pulled up near the bag... which also tears up your feet. For the first two years of training in Thailand I was always dealing with the bottoms of my feet getting blisters and then tearing open. Now I still get these slices occasionally, but it's more rare and it heals quickly. Solutions: 1) toughen up your feet before you get here; walk around barefoot and build callouses. We wear shoes ALL THE TIME in the west and our feet are sissies for it. 2) when you get these blisters, keep your feet clean and put Vaseline or coconut oil on them before you go to sleep at night (wear socks if you can handle the heat while you sleep) to keep the skin softer. Tough skin that's already torn will tear more. 3) use bandaids and tape to fabricate some kind of buffer 4) eventually you'll have some blisters bad enough you have to wear shoes in training and look like a total goober 5) as you're getting used to the floors of your gym you can use some kind of slipper in an on-again-off-again rotation to build up the tolerance of your feet. I used ballet slippers during my first year, which helped when I already had blisters but I was too embarrassed to wear frequently enough to avoid the blisters all together. These "half toe ankle yoga grip" socks are a better option than the ballet slippers and probably better than socks due to the grips on the bottoms. If those barefoot running shoes are still a thing you can try those as well. Different price tag.

Yolanda Schmidt wrote a nice piece on cutting weight that might offer some insight. ETA: she reveals nothing in this article about methods or advice or tips. Sorry. Leaving it here anyway but this is a pretty useless article.

This is all really good, guys! I'm learning a lot from reading these. TZ, can you keep us updated in a week or so? Also, good luck in the tournament, that's awesome!!

Ah! That's great to hear! Keep working on it though, as it's something that you can easily forget once you are feeling better. I've been writing down the things I'm working on in each session, 1) so I can remember and be mindful to do it in the session and 2) so that I can give myself credit for having attempted something even if the session feels like a wash. I got my ass kicked by my sparring partner the other day and felt like I was a mess but when I wrote down that I'd been working on spacing, I realized that I had indeed done that. So, it was part of the practice rather than just getting tagged all day by a 14 year old.

Yes, there's a monthly option. Maybe send them a message on their website to let them know you're looking and you can ask any questions there. When it gets a bit closer to when you're coming out shoot me a message as well and I'll do what I can to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible :)

This is an interesting question and it kind of stumped me for a bit becuase headkicks aren't common. The headkicks you do see are sometimes totally lame and "die" on the shoulder instead of carrying through. But when they wrap around the back of the head a bit it's lights out! Just now on TV there was a beautiful headkick KO. The blue corner was backing up and red corner was chasing. Blue took a step back and fired that same foot that had just stepped back straight up the line of red's shoulder and landed the foot right behind the ear. Red fell like a brick, just OUT. There wasn't a lot of turn or chambering or anything, just a straight whip up and the head bent over a bit to make room for the hip.

Hi! Royal Thai Residence is nice, it's off the main road so it's really quiet but it's close enough to everything that you won't be isolated. There's massage on site (I wish I had this at my building) and a small restaurant, so while food isn't included in the package it is easy enough to not have to go out when you're tired from training. There's a pool for swimming and lounging, a really nice area all around it to relax. All in all a really nice place. The package includes training 2x per day and there's an option for a motorbike rental. If you don't rent the bike the cost is less, but unless you're terrified of driving by yourself I recommend getting the motorbike included. It makes transport between the gym and the hotel easier and it also opens up all kinds of exploration possibilities. If you don't get the bike and choose to walk to the gym it's about 20 minutes, or you can take a motorbike taxi but the cost of that every day will add up. The gym in the package is my gym, Petchrungruang, and I love it there. It's not a gym for everyone but the women who have come and trained with me have absolutely loved it and if you can direct yourself through the sessions during the parts where you don't have immediate attention from a trainer it's a great place. I think it's a great deal.

Every gym I've ever been to has a daily or "drop-in" rate. Just ask when you get there. Sometimes you pay per session and sometimes you get the whole day for one price. When you train the regular session you'll get rounds on the pads with a trainer, which is 1-1. If you want a full hour private session it's going to be considerably more expensive (300-500 for standard, 1000- + for big names and expensive gyms). In Pattaya I recommend Sor. Klinmee Gym as a kind of in-between gym that is family style (lots of little kids and also bigger fighters) but also Western friendly. If you want something bigger and state-of-the-art, the brand new Venum gym is pretty cool. Huge space, really nice equipment, experienced trainers and some big-name fighters mixing in with beginners, intermediate and some fitness folks. Where you end up training in Pattaya will determine where you should stay. On the same street as Sor. Klinmee is fairly nice, standard rental with air-con. It's pretty far off the main highway so you'd need a motorbike taxi or to rent one to get to the main areas of Pattaya, but there are markets for food and convenience stores within walking distance. If you're at Venum or want to be closer to the rest of Pattaya the Royal Thai Residence is a mid-range rental with air-con, an outdoor pool, indoor gym, on-site massage. It's off the main road so it's nice and quiet but it's within walking distance to a few attractions and a short motorbike ride to the beach, night markets, Max Muay Thai Stadium, etc. If you choose a different gym you'll be able to find something near to anywhere you go. In Chiang Mai you can ask at whatever gym you go to where the best place to stay is. If you go to Hongthong it's about 18 minutes by motorbike to the main highway down to the Old City, if you're near to Lanna it's 10 minutes from the camp to the Old City, right next to the mountain. Tons of places to stay, nowhere in particular I recommend as I don't have a lot of experience in the hotels. I stayed in one apartment building the whole time and now when we go we stay at a place across from Lanna called Flora House. It's beautiful, nice rooms, quiet, but I hate the showers, haha. It's a bathtub with a shower head on a cord that doesn't get tall enough to stand like a regular shower and I hate sitting in a tub that isn't filled with water. But if that doesn't bother you, it's a pretty perfect place to stay.

The two gyms aren't too far apart from each other, maybe 25 minutes on a motorbike. I recommend you try a full day at each gym and decide from your own experience which one you like. Gyms aren't only about the trainers but also who is at the gym at the same time as you are, so your boxing and clinching experience will depend on that as well :)

Hi, it's 2 hours by car or bus, there are lots of shuttles from areas of BKK down to Pattaya. They can be pretty inexpensive (120 Baht) but you migh tnot have control over where they drop you off. Once you're in Pattaya though it's easy to grab a motorbike taxi and get anywhere you want to go. Pattaya is pretty small and everyone knows where Fairtex is. I just visited HongThong Gym in Chiang Mai today and can say I highly recommend it. Really great trainers; I worked with Joe, who is a former Lumpinee champion and speaks very good English, but is just a very keen teacher.

Thank you very much! Please feel free to post here more often on the different topics, we'd love for you to be part of the discussions.

Hey Keith, the only times I've seen the top of the foot be a factor (in a good way) in a KO is when a headkick wraps around the back of the head, behind the ear. That's a KO for sure. Other than that I can't think of a time when kicking with the top of the foot is a better idea than the shin, as the bones in the foot are pretty fragile.

a small note on Kem's gym, it's a fantastic gym as far as I can tell, but it may not be the best gym for solo female travelers. I've heard complaints from a few women who have had problems with aggressive flirtation/harassment from one particular trainer there, something that may not be easy to deal with or avoid.

I'm going to Kem's gym on Monday I think. I was really impressed with them when I visited to film with Yodwicha a month or so ago. It's strange but I have gotten several tall person gym clinch questions lately, it's the opposite of my small person needs. It is a very clinch heavy gym, and has some of the best clinch fighters in Thailand. But for those who are taller, Yodwicha is the reason to go. He is an incredible clinch fighter and is very tall for a Thai. Not only that, he is incredibly kind and a very good instructor. I'm small, but we filmed 30 minutes of clinch instruction with him, and he was able to communicate all the technique despite all the angles being wrong. This is very difficult to do, and only the best can do it. Dieselnoi was like this when I trained with him. You can see our size difference here: He isn't an instructor there, he's a top level fighter, but I'm sure he would help technically if you had any questions. From what I saw they clinched a lot, and the padwork was very good. I've also heard that they are a very pro-fight gym for the westerners there finding fights not only around the Khorat area, but also on MAX and other promotions. It's in the middle of mountains, incredibly beautiful. I'll be putting up footage for my supporters and also writing a blog post about the gym for everyone in the next weeks.

well, you just did :)

I'm intrigued by your marching teep. Are you marching in place or stepping forward, because when I picture this one runs out of space in front of the bag super fast. Is it "step step" like how you showed me when doing that drill of left, right, kick; right, left, kick on repeat? Like stepping your feet in place?

It's a good question. I shot a quick video on some of the things that I focus on in the teep. I'll put a blog post up soon, but for now here's the video: Let me know if you have any questions.

If you're fighting in Thailand there's not really an "amateur" scene outside of the IFMA's or schools fighting against each other with padding. Those are annual, but scheduled as big tournaments and not open to everybody or even frequent. If you feel like you want to have a kind of "wading in" period to your fights, just talk to your trainers about a 3 round fight or just not a big show. They'll know what's good for you as long as you communicate what you're comfortable with. That said, as long as you're matched appropriately with your opponent, the "status" or "caliber" of the fight card itself doesn't matter at all. You'll be fine :)

If you're not a fighter are you in a different group? Kate and Emma are both fighters so I'm just curious if their experience is similar to your friend's but if someone is not a fighter perhaps there is a separate training group in that case.

Lanna Muay Thai is at the foothills of the Doi Suthep mountain and has been an established landmark gym of Northern Muay Thai for over two decades. I was there for 2.5 years and still visit and fight out of that gym when in the area. I can't speak from experience on any other gym there as I've never trained at any of the others, but I know people who greatly enjoyed HongThong and Santai (which is 30 minutes away from the city in San Khampaeng). Food-wise I highly recommend eating Khao Soi, which is a signature Northern Curry dish with noodles. The best versions of it I've had are from Lemongrass restaurant down by the Kalare Night Bazaar and Cafe De'Nimman, which replaces the usual chicken option with a pork rib.

I'm in the same boat. The difficulty with Mental Training is that it's really hard to start, because it kind of feels like you don't know how to do the things that are suggested. Or you don't know how much goddamn work it's going to be and you just want something to make a difference. That was my issue when my brother would tell me to "visualize" and I couldn't even do that, making me feel worse because I was failing at that, too. There's no "quick fix," it's the same as if someone said they got tired in their fight and it caused them to lose and the answer you give them is, "do pushups." That doesn't help. So I was thinking this morning about what it was that really kick-started my mental training (which has definitely lapsed and that's why I'm in such a funk now; like someone who stopped running and then felt shit in the fight). I think the biggest thing, in my experience, is awareness. If you don't know what you're doing, you can't do anything about it. The way I taught myself to be more aware was a journal that I wrote in before training, midway through, and after. I'd write down how I was feeling and what I was thinking, so I could note patterns or see if what I was thinking affected the way I performed or how I felt afterward. What I learned is how negative I really was in my thoughts toward myself. Stuff I would never, ever think or say about anyone else. That was a wake-up call to me. Once I'd been writing for a while, I started trying to correct it (again, in writing) as I became aware of it. So the moment I caught the thought, I'd say, "okay, it's okay to think that but let it go," and say something that nullified that negative thought. I can't go around saying, "I'm awesome!" because I don't believe that or feel that or think that's helpful, but if I think, "I fucking suck today," I can internally add, "that's okay, I'm better on most days." So after using the journal to become more aware, so that I could catch what I was doing and be more conscious of patterns in how I'm thinking, feeling, performing and responding to everything, THEN I started doing more of the exercises recommended in the Mental Training resources I have. The one that I think is foundational is making a two-column page. On one side you make a heading for Best Performances and the other column is Worst Performances. Then under each you remember your fights or sparring or training or whatever and write down what you were thinking and feeling before and during each of those. In the "Best Performances" you very well might have, "I don't know what I was thinking, maybe nothing? Just flowing." That's good, that's real. But you'll notice in "Worst Performances" you'll have repeat offenders, like focusing too much on your opponent or thinking too much about past failures. Once you can identify those things, then you can work on them. If you don't become aware first, if you can't identify this stuff, you can't address it. So, that's my "step 1" advice. And I'm following it myself. I did all this in the morning after my run and before training this morning.

Hey, I was just there for two days so I've asked Radarjam to jump in and fill you in with more of the day-to-day experience and from someone who came to Thailand for the first time to attend the August camp. She'll jump on, hopefully. NakMuaybyNature is also there and seems very observant. The camp is huge and active, but not "bustling". It's pretty relaxed atmosphere and it's close enough for "day trips" to activities but far enough away that it feels secure and nice. The training is very structured and is very friendly to beginners, so I wouldn't worry at all about that end of it. They can accommodate all levels, it seems. There's really good food in the immediate vacinity, which honestly I don't think the current campers are even aware enough of to be grateful for, haha. Having inexpensive restaurants at a 2 minute walk from your room is a GODSEND when you're tired after training. I have to go shopping on my motorbike and cook... it's so exhausting. I can't speak to the kind of budget you'll need to plan for, either of the two members currently there will have the details on that, but I will warn you that a Canadian I met at the current camp had burned through his money faster than he'd anticipated because he frequented "the cafe" to eat, which is more expensive than the Thai food restaurants and stalls nearby. There is a huge difference in cost between standard Thai fare and more "western friendly" comfort foods. He kept using the word "clean" to describe why he went to the cafe, but I'm not sure what exactly he meant by that. Canteens and street food is indeed a bit oily but it's not dangerous - people have a fear of street food but in all my years here I've only had food poisoning once and it was from a restaurant, not a canteen or street food. Maybe he meant it like how weightlifters talk about "clean eating" in terms of more vegetables and less fat? I don't know. But be truthful with yourself about how committed you are to eating 60 Baht dishes versus the 150+ Baht dishes of more western-friendly restaurants.

Firstly, get back in the ring. Avoiding the pressure is not going to make it go away or relieve it, you have to face it. But it's all mental so you need to approach it that way. There are a few threads on here where we talk about training aggression and a lot of that applies to the nerves involved in freezing as well, which basically the short version of the advice is that you need to create an atmosphere in training that is akin to the pressure that you are feeling in the interclubs. It's really hard to simulate that pressure because gyms are generally pretty comfortable places, you know everyone, you work together all the time, you trust them, etc. So what you want to do is try to get the elements that aren't usually in training. At my gym we do "mock fights" where two kids are put in the ring to spar at pretty close to 100% power (take away power from knees, no elbows) and the rest of the gym plays the roles of a real fight as well: my coach is referee, some of the boys act as cornermen, and the rest of us are gamblers all shouting and making up the energy of a real audience. It's a way to acclimate the boys to the pressure and noise and distractions of a real fight, but still keeping a watchful eye so that it's a safe experience. See if you can get something like that going with your coach and teammates, to get used to the idea of an audience.

I wrote this post (with video) about training myself when the gym is empty. The drills are for training with no partner, so using a bag and shadow. Isolated Kicking Drills.

I'm super lazy about meal prep and am a terrible shopper - I'll come home from a trip to the store and realize I have nothing that isn't immediately for the dinner I'm about to make. BUT, if we have to travel I've figured out how to make a pretty big batch of fried rice and I can carry that in a tupperware to eat over the period of a day or two. I try to throw in lots of vegetables and the egg is good protein, I'll throw some raw cashews in just because I like the texture. The easiest dinner for us lately is a garden salad, which is about as lame as a restaurant's side-salad (just lettuce, tomato and cucumber) and occasionally we'll put some meat on it, like a grilled deal. It requires very little chopping and prep, so I'm usually quite happy with that 4-5 times per week. If I have to cut weight, which is a rare thing, I'll cut salt out of my diet for the last 3 days and then the difficulty becomes making everything from scratch. So, same salad but no dressing other than lemon juice and maybe some olive oil. No meat, just hard-boiled eggs on top for protein.