What if Money Was No Object: A Self Indulgent COVID-19 Blog

Hello there, this was originally going to be a newsletter about ways you can train on your own. However, I'll go ahead and throw in a little of my own "self-indulgent this sucks story." I guess I'll be another person filling up your Gmail inbox: What Would You Do If Money Was No Object? In 2013 I decided to take six months off from work to do nothing but train and fight in Thailand. I was 31, hit my current career goals, and figured now was the time to live the life that 15-year-old me wanted to. This trip started with raveling around Thailand for two months, trying different spots until I found the one I felt would be best for me. For me, this was Sitsongpeenong in the outskirts of Bangkok.

An artist rendering of all of us trying to stay positive around March 17th

What Would You Do If Money Was No Object?

In 2013 I decided to take six months off from work to do nothing but train and fight in Thailand. I was 31, hit my current career goals, and figured now was the time to live the life that 15-year-old me wanted to. This trip started with raveling around Thailand for two months, trying different spots until I found the one I felt would be best for me. For me, this was Sitsongpeenong in the outskirts of Bangkok. Traditionally in Muay Thai everyone does a long jog in the dark a.m. to kick off the training day. I remember one particular morning starting for the run and thinking to myself the usually hypothetical question, "if money was no object, what would you do?" I realized I had hit it. In Thailand I was fully immersed in the sport I loved since I was 14, training hard, surrounded by like-minded people, between workouts reading voraciously, going to fights and village markets, fun-filled communal meals in "the camp." Gyms are called camps in Thailand, in no small part because you eat, live, train in the same spot. Maybe if I were a millionaire, I'd have some extra fancy gear, but even then probably not. I'm not saying I wanted my life to be this forever or even for 5 years, but for this moment in time, "this was it."

Fast Forward

Leaving the situation I detailed above is also slightly melancholic because you ask yourself, sure things will be cool, and there will still be life's high points. But will I ever hit that "what if money was no object?" moment ever again? For most of 2013-2019 I was pretty content with the answer being "no," and consider myself to be a blessed to be the rare lucky person to attain that sort of consciousness congruency at least once. I felt that way until about mid 2019. The business is great, I feel younger at 38 than I did at 28. Right before all of this happened, I felt like I had created that ideal life again. Here's a secret, if I had all the money in the world, I would still train people, write programs, and make fitness content. All be it with Uber rides instead of ever getting on the F-train again, better videography, and possibly some custom steaks delivered to my door. I'm not special, nor are any of the hundreds of million of us. People have been having their ideal (and not so ideal) life disrupted by things out of their power since people have been people. I just wish if I had to deal with this, it would have happened when I was younger and didn't have my shit together anyway. I think there are two extremes to avoid in processing this disruption. The one extreme is the "why me, this is the worst thing ever to happen." And the other, "well, I didn't have my family murdered by Vikings, and my village burned down, so I shouldn't admit this sucks at all." There is probably a more happy medium.

So, Enough About Me

Many, if not most of take for granted how much walking in our commute adds a necessary dynamic stretch for our hips and lower back Here is a strategy you can try. Set an alarm for shortly after you wake up, mid-day, and the early afternoon when most of begin to reach for that second or third cup of coffee. For each of these alarms perform some workday resilience. Here is an example of one, knees-to-chest dynamic stretch:

Picking The Right Muay Thai Camp in Thailand

So you’ve saved up your money and vacation time and you’re ready to pull the trigger. If you are anything like myself and the generation of marital artist like me who grew up on Kickboxer you dreamed of training in Thailand. Well, you might not realize this but you’re not the only one. Foreigners, or farrang, training in Thailand is a huge business and you’ll be one of thousands. That’s not to say you shouldn’t, nor does it mean you won’t be on your own unique adventure, just don’t expect be going down a path that hasn’t been tread. Over the course of 5 trips spanning decade and totally over a year of time in The Kingdom I would like to give 3 tips for choosing your first Muay Thai gym to train at.

1. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF: What type of experience are you looking for? If you really want to be secluded and do nothing but train, great. Also, if you are working a stressful job in your home country and this is your only chance to get a vacation in, as well as train, that’s great too. If you want to have access to other activities like SCUBA, snorkeling, trekking, maybe pick a gym in one of the more frequented spots like Chiang Mai or Phuket. It’s ok, Van Damme will forgive you.

1. WHAT LEVEL ARE YOU AT: Another question where you will need to be honest with yourself. I’ve trained at gyms that were the perfect environment for foreigners coming who have already fought and are looking hone their skills and conditioning. The caveat with that is at times such gyms can be unprepared, or unwilling, to take the time to get you technically up to speed to where you’re getting the most out of your training. If you’re a beginner don’t necessarily look for a spot where the best fighters from the US & Europe go to prep, or a gym that boasts a roster of stadium champions, possibly seek out a “Mom & Pop” operation instead. A great example of that type of gym is Santai Muay Thai located in the outskirts of Chiang Mai. If you are already an experienced fighter it possibly doesn’t get better than Sitsongpeenong where I spent four months living.

1. Do your research, and look for the most current information you can find. Plenty of forums exists and there are several Muay Thai gym review sites on the internet. Just keep in mind these gyms often shut down or change owners with little to no notice. If you read an awesome review of a place that sounds like it’s perfectly tailored to your needs, be sure to check the date. The Muay Thai community at large is welcoming and ready to help. Personally I’m more than happy to message back anyone on Instagram or Facebook who shoots me a question.

1. Do you want to still cross-train? If you want to still keep up with your ground game or Western Style boxing there are options to do both and learn authentic Muay Thai. If you’re looking to particularly hone your stand up skills for MMA, you might be best served by one of the gyms that regularly sends fighters to promotions throughout Asia for MMA. A good location for the MMA focused trainees would be to get a hostel on the street of Chalong Phuket. You can take Traditional Muay Thai at Dragon Muay Thai, western Boxing & BJJ at Phuket Top Team, and then take MMA class at Tiger Muay thai all with in walking distance of each other.