Spider Mike's Muay Thai Training

Exclusive interview with Grand Master Toddy

2011-09-20T01:46:00.002+07:00

Video Blog of my Lao visa run - Day 2

2011-09-07T11:20:00.000+07:00

This is Part 1 of 2 of my Lao visa run.

Video Blog of my Lao visa run - Travelling and Day 1

2011-09-05T11:48:00.001+07:00

This is Part 1 of 2 of my Lao visa run.

My visa run to Vientiane, Lao

2011-08-31T15:23:00.001+07:00

At the bottom of the page I will put the prices of everything.

I stay at Ultra Fight Gym in Bearing soi 22, Sukhumvit 107.

I left at 5pm

My journey started with a motorcycle trip from the gym to BTS Bearing.

I took the BTS to Asok as I had to get some photo's done and get copies of my Passport, I could have either got on the BTS to Mochit or took the MRT to Chatuchak park, I decided to take the MRT because it was slightly cheaper and quicker.

Once at Chatuchak MRT station I left and followed the signs towards chatuchak park, once outside I walked up to a motorcycle taxi and asked to go to Mochit bus station. He said 50 Baht which was also on a sign a couple of meters away.

We arrived at the bus station, first thing I did was say to someone, Nongkhai, they said 3rd floor, this is to buy your ticket for the bus. So this is the first thing you do so you secure your seat, once at the top, you will see a lot of booths with different Thai writing on them, go up to one of the people waiting in front of the booths and say Nongkhai, they will point you where to go, or they will wave you to follow them.

Once at the booth you say where your going, they will give you options of time, pick a good time for you and buy the ticket. The ticket person will highlight a number, this number is the terminal you will leave from. Once you have bought your ticket you will see signs to your left, follow these signs, they will take you to the bus terminal. In the bus station there are 3 7eleven's, so you can get supplies before your journey, and also just before you walk down towards the terminals there is a food court if your hungry.

While you are waiting for the time of your bus there is seating, so you don't have to stand and if you want some snacks there is a snack stall just in front of the chairs.

Next go to your terminal number and show your ticket to some people there, they will guide you to your bus and a lady on the bus will guide you to your seat. I was lucky as were most of the other passengers as the bus was nearly empty, so it was 2 seats per person, this is great for anyone travelling long distance because you can sleep more easily as you can lye over the 2 seats. My bus left about 8:30pm and arrived in Nongkhai about 6:30am in the morning. The bus was good because it gave 1 meal token, water and crisps, with the ticket only being 450 Baht, really can't complain. The journey took 10 hours, most of which I slept through because I made sure I was tired the day before.

So we arrived in Nongkhai bus station at 6:30am, the bus station is about 3-4km from the boarder and you have 3 options, you can walk, take a motorbike taxi or a tuk tuk. The Tuk tuk drivers will try and charge you high prices, but you should be able to get them down to about 60-80 Baht, and if there is 2 of you, you can split the cost. A motorbike taxi will be about 50 Baht.

Instead of taking either, I first went to a restaurant beside the bus station and had some breakfast, the food here was Thai food. I had chicken with garlic and rice (Gai Tawt Gratium).

After this I decided to walk to the boarder, I thought it was only 2km, so no problem for me, but after walking 2km, I realised it was further than I thought.
The long walk ended after 50 minutes a great stroll in the morning but not when you need the toilet!!! When I finally got to immigration I was passed desperate, I followed the signs for the toilet, it was 5 Baht but I didn't care, I needed this ASAP. To my relief it was a western toilet too, I was over the moon!!!!

After doing my toilet business I went to the immigration, only a small line of 5 people because it was about 7am and the big crowds had already left. The immigration officer stamped my passport, now I was in no mans land, not in Thailand, not in Lao.

I went straight to the ticket counter to buy a bus ticket to the Lao boarder because it would have been quite a trek there. The bus was full but 1 seat left, so I sat down and enjoyed the ride, it took about 5 mins to get from the Thai boarder to the Lao boarder.

At the Lao boarder I had $40 dollars which I had changed the day before because it worked out better than paying in Baht, I only needed $35 for my Lao visa because it was after overtime hours and didn't cost me the extra $1. I bought my Lao visa and a guy came over to me asking if I wanted to go to Vientiane for 300 Baht, at first I refused, but then I thought, hell with it, I am tired and just want to get to my hotel. I received my visa back, paid the 10 Baht for the friendship bridge and followed the guy to his taxi.

Once at the consulate I sat down with some guys outside the consulate, stupid mistake, they charged me 10 Baht for 1 copy of 1 of my pages of my passport, I should have seen through this and gone straight into the consulate and did this all myself. We live and learn! So inside the consulate walls I went and gave my forms, copies of my passport, Photo's and paperwork for my ED visa to one counter, went inside and gave my 2000 Baht to the other counter. I went outside and back to the original taxi driver. He took me to Vientiane and I found my own hotel.

I had been to Vientiane 3 times before and had stayed in various places. The one hotel I remember was M.O.I.C. This was the closest to where the taxi driver had dropped me off. I went in, paid for my one night and went to my room. I was going to shower but had no soap, so went downstairs, bought some soap and thought I needed to book my ticket home, so I went on the search for the company which I used before, but I think they went out of business or moved because I couldn't find them, so I walked along the main street and found a few tourist agencies offering to take me all the way from Vientiane to Bangkok. The one I picked was only 600 Baht.

I was hungry so I went in search of some grub, all along the main street there are many restaurants, I found a place which had a burger and chips for about 100 Baht so I took this, I was on holiday so thought I deserve this as I won't be eating another burger for a long time.

I have a thing where I always get a tattoo of a country in the country by a person of that nationality, so this meant I had to get a Lao flag, in Lao by a Lao person. Some people call me crazy but hey for me this is pretty cool! So I got the tattoo, so over priced, the guy started off quoting me 300'000 Kip (269 Kip = 1 Baht), I was like you joking, he seemed pretty serious, I said 100'000 Baht, he laughed and saying things about ink expensive, blah blah blah, but he went down to 200'000 Kip, I was like hell no, I said to the Tuk tuk driver, lets go, so he dropped to 150'000 Kip, I was like 130'000 Kip and you have a deal, still a bit expensive for what I got though. The tattoo came out good and is the brightest tattoo at the moment on my short line of flags.

After the tattoo, went back to Vientiane, I planned to see a few good places while I was here so I went to the tourist information centre. The people in there were very helpful, they told me some great places to go to, how to go there and how much it would all cost. Also the Internet there is free :D, I took full advantage of this!

I set off to the bus station as I needed to catch the number 14 bus as this was the bus to the Buddha Park, I had seen this place in my friends photo's and it looked cool so I wanted to see this place too. I walked to the bus station because it was less 1km away and I wasn't paying overpriced tuk tuk drivers again!
The journey by bus there took about 45 mins, first we went into the boarder of Lao and went off again to the Buddha park. The road after the boarder was fun to be on, it was full of potholes and the bus was bouncing all the way. Whilst on the bus I met another foreigner, Tom. He's really cool and it was a bonus I met him and made friends because we could take pictures for each other.

When arrived at Buddha park we purchased our tickets and photo ticket so we could take pictures.
As soon as I stepped into the park, I would call it more of a garden, I was taken back at how cool and beautiful this place was, I had seen it in pictures, but damn it was even better in real!
Myself and Tom went inside the big pumpkin shaped building, inside it had 3 levels with carvings of people and item representing 3 places, basement = death, ground = on earth, 1st floor = heaven. From the top it you can see all of the Buddha park. It's pretty amazing!! We walked round all of the park taking different pictures of all the Buddha statues.

Top of this was damn high

Inside the Pumpkin

The random guy!

Pumpkin shaped building

Sleeping Buddha

Steep steps to the top!

Tom the guy I met on the bus (photo buddy)

After we headed back off to Vientiane by bus, again it was a rocky road back.

Found this on the door of my bathroom

Once in Vientiane Me and Tom agreed to meet up later in the day to have dinner with him and his friends and go out for a drink. I went back to my hotel, showered. and chilled in my room for a while, watched some TV and then at 7:30pm left and went to the meeting place.

There I met shakira, Nick and Tom and we walked down the main road until we found an outside restaurant. It had a big menu, we had quite a few different things, shared them together. For what we had and the place it was in, it wasn't bad, 200'000 Kip split between 4 of us, so 50'000 Kip each.

Nick, Tom, Shakira, me

Tom looking for his bar

We left there and Tom wanted to find a bar which Tom claimed he knew and had been to before, we were walking around for about an hour, asking many different people, we had a map and in the end we couldn't find it. Nick left us to go home. We went to a bar at 10:30pm, 30 minutes before closing and drank some beer Lao, myself 1 and Tom 2 and Shakira had a can of coke. After this beer we all went our separate ways and went back to our hotels.

Having a drink

Famous Beer Lao

The next day I checked out of my hotel and bought a bicycle as this is the cheapest option, 10'000 Kip for a days rental, better than 26'000 Kip for 1 ride in a tuk tuk. I went to many places and saved myself a lot of cash. After renting the Bicycle I went towards the consulate, but before I went there I went to Victory Monument, this is a big arch you will pass every time you travel to Vientiane. I ate breakfast here, it was really cheap too compared to all the other food, only 5000 Kip. When you reach the top of Victory Monument it has really good views, however the inside has been spoilt with so many tourist stalls, the area could have been used to better use, such as another small museum.

Tacky tourist stalls

5000 Kip Noodles

I then travelled onto the consulate to collect my passport and NON-ED visa, I was nervous going up because I thought they wouldn't have given it to me, but once I saw it in my passport I was over the moon.

I got back on my bicycle and the next destination was the golden temple aka That Lung, I cycled there and it was about 1-2km from the consulate. When I arrived I was impressed, it was really cool. I was expecting this place to be really cool, but I went inside and it had a few old artifacts on the inside but apart from that it was nothing more.

So I got back on my bicycle and went of to Wat Sisaket, the same thing here I was expecting something cool, but it was a temple and just had the same Buddha's all around the inner walls of the temple. The last Temple I visited was Hopprakaeo. I thought this was the best of the 3, inside the temple it had a small museum, which I spent quite a while looking at. And I found out this was the original place of the emerald Buddha which now in Wat Prakaeo in Bangkok.

writing about the emerald Buddha

Scrolls kept at Wat Sisaket

Hopprakaeo

Hop Prakaeo

1 of the many Buddha inside Wat Sisaket

After all of this I was so hungry I could have eaten a chicken so that's what I did I went to Mc Cockney. This place looked like a cheap version of KFC, but thought I would try it and it wasn't bad, the food was good, service good too.

Now it was time to go home, so I went back to the tourist agency and waited for the bus to come and pick me up. When the vehicle arrived, which was a big size tuk tuk, I was thinking, ok no problem. The journey to the boarder took about 30-60 minutes, can't remember, but what I can was being choked to death by fumes, for some reason the fumes from the exhaust were coming into the cabin all the people were sitting it, I would have rather sat on the top than breath in all the pollution.

Deadly fume van!

We finally got to the boarder and relief came over me, I hopped out and got as far away from that death machine as I could. I was expecting everything to be paid for me till I arrived back in Bangkok, but no after I stamped out of Lao I came to the friendship bridge which I had to pay 40 Baht/9000 Kip for, this was unexpected and some people who were travelling with us had to borrow money from their friends to cover the cost.

We then were guided to a coach. It was long wait, we waited beside the bus for 1 hour. The bus started up and I then thought great we are leaving, the bus drove to the boarder gate and stopped and switched off the engine, I was like WTF, I sat on the bus hoping it was short, after 15 minutes I got off the bus and asked the driver what was going on, he said we were waiting for some more tourists, this was stupid. After 1 hour of waiting in the heat the other bus with the other tourists came. Everybody got on the bus, it started up and we all went to the Thai boarder, after filling in the arrival card I stamped into Thailand, quite happy everything with my visa had gone smoothly.

BEWARE!!!!

We were taken to a restaurant and given simple egg fried rice, this was a big bowl, so was enough for 2 helpings for everyone, about 30 people on this trip.

After finishing my food I got back on the bus. I was quite tired from all my travelling in Vientiane so after about 30 minutes I fell asleep, I woke up at about 5am, not sure why, but at this time we were about 30 minutes from Mo chit, I stayed awake till we got to the destination, we didn't stop in Mo chit bus station because the driver was scared of getting fined for having Lao number plates, kind of agree with him, the corrupt police would have lapped this up and give him a nice fine!

Thai Police

As soon as we got off the bus there was 2 taxi drivers waiting to pounce, the guy was saying it would only cost 60 Baht to the BTS mo chit, so I said we go there with no meter on and I pay you 60 Baht, he said no, so I walked away, he was telling me in Thai the motorcycles will be same price, so I just went to them.

I took the BTS all the way back to Bearing BTS and took a motorcycle taxi back to the gym. I arrived at the gym at about 7am. I wasn't really tired, but took the day off training.

So here is a quick list of how much things will cost.

1 Baht = 269 Kip

Motorcycle ride from the gym to BTS Bearing = 15 Baht
BTS Bearing to BTS Asok = 25 Baht
8 passport photo = 120 baht
6 copies of passport = 12 Baht
MRT Sukhumvit to MRT Chatuchak Park = 33 Baht
Motorcycle taxi to Mo Chit bus station = 50 Baht
Bus ticket from Bangkok to Nongkhai = 450 Baht
MRT sukhumvit - chatuchak = 33 Baht
Boarder bus = 20 Baht
Friendship bridge = 10 Baht
Taxi to embassy + Vientiane = 300 Baht
Education visa = 2000 Baht
Hotel = 400 Baht
Ticket from Vientiane to Bankok = 600 baht
Tuk tuk to tatoo + back = 70'000 Kip
Tattoo = 130'000 Kip
Lunch = 34'000 Kip
Bus to Buddha park = 6'000 Kip
Buddha park entry + photo fee = 8'000 Kip
Bus to Vientiane = 6'000 Kip
Soap = 3;000 Kip
SD card = 450 Baht
Dinner = 50'000 Kip
Beer = 13'000 Kip
Milk = 3'000 Kip
Bike hire = 10'000 Kip
Arch entry = 5'000 Kip
Food = 5'000 Kip
Coco drink = 10'000 Kip
Entry gold temple = 5'000 Kip
Entry to Wat Sisaket = 5'000 Kip
Entry to Hopprakaeo = 5'000 Kip
Water = 3'000 Kip
Friendship boarder = 9'000 Kip
Motorcycle taxi from Mochit Bus station to Mo chit BTS = 60 Baht
BTS Mo chit to BTS Bearing = 40 Baht
Motorcycle taxi from Bearing BTS to the gym = 15 Baht

Why is Phuket Top Team appealing for MMA

2011-08-25T09:24:00.000+07:00

I am writing this as an outsiders view on what I have seen and heard.

I have seen the rise of Phuket Top Team steadily over the course of this year. The owner Boyd has used the right strategy and thinking when he started his gym and has kept it there. The best one I have seen is no egos only dedication. This is a good quote and thinking because then you can have anyone come into the gym and become part of the team. I have seen a lot of gyms where there are 2-3 sections, if you are not in with the top people and bow down to their ego, they won't teach you much.

1) Location
The location of Phuket Top Team aka PTT is perfect not only for the business side to keep a steady income but also for keeping the mind relaxed more than most places. Phuket is an island with many beaches within reach of anywhere. If you feel stressed out one day you can go to the beach and go relax instead of train. Most of Phuket is not built up and has a relaxing feel most places you go. Phuket is low on pollution due to it is not built up. Cities like Bangkok and Chang Mai, pollution can be bad at times. When you go for the jog you are breathing fresh air to the smog and pollution.
Phuket is full of Tourist and the all the gyms in Phuket have a healthy supply of tourist customers, people who come to the island, want to maybe train and holiday or people who want to train one day, so that is one of the base incomes for any gym in Phuket. Some people don't like Phuket due to it having a lot of bars and karoke, well the bottom line is, if you stay at the gym, don't go to those places, your trip and training will just be training! For the fighters, Phuket has a more relaxed feel, sometimes when your in the city you have to travel a couple of Kilometers to find a park or somewhere away from the busyness of Bangkok, in Phuket you walk outside and it just has that paradise feel.

2) Facility
The Muay Thai area is like any other training facility in Thailand, has the ring and bags. The biggest appeal and highest selling point of PTT is the MMA/BJJ rolling area which is inside and air-conditioned. I have trained at 13 coins, and the worst part of training BJJ or MMA is you sweat a lot quicker than you do training Muay Thai, so having something where you can train for longer and don't have to worry about getting a rash or anything associated with the tropical weather.

3) Accommodation
There are 2 types of accommodation at the gym, 1 is the room with air-con, TV, DVD, mini fridge, bed, and clothes line - if your not on a budget or you like a bit more comfort this is great, you don't have to worry about too much either with this. The other type is the Budget Bamboo hut, this is a Bamboo hut with a bed, mosquito net, I have slept in something similar to this before, and believe it or not, these are cooler than a house, think it's how the bamboo reflects the heat.

4) Internet and Marketing
On par with the MMA/BJJ area is the work that has been put into the website, facebook, photo's and videos.
Nowadays Internet is really king when it comes to marketing, nearly everyone I know uses the internet, yes, including my grandparents, so this is a killer tool to use. I first found out about PTT through my friend Will Chope who I met through Facebook and now we are good friends. He told me about his friend Boyd was opening a Gym in Phuket, so I started to look at PTT on Facebook.
Facebook is the most powerful advertising method on the internet because if you like to say it or not, you go on Facebook at least once a day and check what is going on. So with PTT Facebook page being regularly updated with news of fights, photo's video's and special people coming this really does help, it keeps people interested, because once people start following you, if you don't put something new up, they soon start to become board and look for something new.

5) Fighters Gym
Any person who is a fighter sees this as their main appeal. PTT ideology at the start was to be a fighters gym is starting to get a reputation as a gym for serious fighters which is hard to come by when surrounded by tourists. It started off by attracting some smaller name fighters which I believe will become big one day if they keep the hard work and the trainers work to high standards with them. Now PTT is attracting bigger named fighters like Vaughn Lee. Vaughn has just signed a contract with the UFC for 4 fights, I used to train with this guy back in England 4-5 years ago, and back then, his ground game was crazy, he was like a butterfly on the ground and quick in stand up too!! They also have Roger Huerta teaching at the gym in normal classes, Roger is a UFC veteran. Rob Hill who fights on Legend FC in Hong Kong. Just these names here are a few of the bigger names who train there

6) Trainers
I can't say much about the trainers due to I have never trained with them and would be wrong for me to talk about this section in too much detail. What I can say is they have a good mix for the MMA training. They have Rafael Lopez who is a BJJ brown belt, which takes years to achieve, he is Brazlian, so comes from the motherland of BJJ and from my friend Will who trains there says he is really good as a teacher and rolling. The other good mix is for the standing wrestling and take downs is the Sambo guy silviu Vulc from Russia, again this guy has vast knowledge on Sambo and is from the Motherland of Sambo. He is also an Olympic Boxing coach and is teaching Boxing, so hand skills will improve there.
The last part is the main stand-up of MMA, Muay Thai. This is taught by a team of Thai trainers who are former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadium champions, who have 1000's of fights between them and have different styles, so you can pick and choose what you want to fit into your style.

7) Media
PTT made a smart move by hiring Michael Galvin. Michael is a professional Photographer, and has his own review site.
The Photo's taken have been done Professionally, and made to look appealing to everyone that comes to the gym. The videos that have been done are great, showing little tastes of what you will receive, for example the Sambo technique's Silvui, basic Muay Thai Techniques.

Check out the website at
http://wwwphukettopteam.com/

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/MMATrainingCampPhuket

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhuketTopTeam

Legal Reasons

2011-08-18T21:05:00.000+07:00

You might have seen my recent blog on the Tuff Girls Auditions, well all information, video's had to be removed due to the company threatening legal action if I didn't. If any of you read my blog I didn't stat any of the results, just opinions on the different fighters as for me I didn't want to spoil any of the action for the fans of this series.

To the producers of fight girls - I have some positive words for the owners of fight girls, but I think maybe they could take legal action on this also so I shall not be giving it out.

Welcome to the world of TV and copyrights ;)

1 Week at Master Toddy's Gym

2011-08-08T23:54:00.004+07:00

So I have now been at Master Toddy's Gym for one week, I did one previously for the first day, but I am kind of excited and need to get this off my chest, so I am updating you after only one week.

For the past week Master Toddy has been doing an audition for Tuff Girl show, so he has spent a lot of his time with them, but when he had time he spent with all the regular people training.

Day 1 - I had my first session and it was great, Master Toddy spent a lot of time with me in the morning and showed me a way to punch harder, this was on the pads, I kept making slight mistakes and he would change this and improve, I was very happy because I hadn't had technique correction in 6 weeks. I then went onto the bag and he helped again every so often, showing me and then going to help someone else, he was showing me a funny way of punching which was very strange but I went with the flow as I knew this was leading up to something later on (the punch wasn't twisting the wrist so much, similar to the toy game where the red man and blue man are boxing each other.) The other reason why I went with it was because he said he wanted to work with me and start me from scratch, so i am trusting him on this and going with everything he tells me, even if it looks and sounds crazy. :D
The afternoon session wasn't so good, just didn't feel much attention at all, Master Toddy was busy with his Tuff girl's program he was making and concentrating on this, so it was down to the other trainers, on this occasion I wasn't happy with instruction, just felt like they were going through the motions with me on pad, and no instruction on the bag, and thought this is going to be another 13 coins all over again. However, when it came to clinching, I worked with Nung and he showed me some neat tricks in the clinch. After training I spoke with Ajarn Sing that I wanted to work on blocks the next day.

Day 2 - The next morning my foot was hurting so I gave it a miss, well I am even lying to you, haha, nah I was feeling lazy so gave it a miss
In the afternoon session it was totally different, yeh I got a hard session, but in round 3 I was starting to tire, so the trainer slowed it down and worked on technique for round 3 and 4. After pads went onto the bag and Master Toddy was freed up a little and noticed something about my punch and told me I had to come back quicker. Next I worked on some clinching technique with Nung and sparring techniques with Bow. I then did knees and kicks on the bag. This day I was more please with everything as I felt the trainers actually cared about my improvement. I had renewed hope that this month wasn't going to be a waste of time or money.

Day 3 - Ok so this morning I trained in the morning, did my run on my own, I prefer to run on my own, I feel that every Thai person I run with runs slower than my grandma can walk, I ran about 4km starting to build the distance. This morning, I worked more on punches, defense and attack after the kick (kick and move off and punch), this is stuff I was enjoying, this is more light because it is morning. On the Bag Master Toddy worked on elbows, he had me, Bow and ouwan to learn how to elbow, he showed us the correct method and practice it on each other slowly, this move was a lot more effective then the current elbow I was throwing, I was previously hitting with more of my forearm, now he was getting me to hit with the tip of my elbow. Then he sent us back to the bags to work on it, after a while he came over to me and corrected my technique, every day it seemed to be the same, not a one time show of first day show you something and leave you to it, he would come back again and again and again if he saw something wrong or wanted to add something on. After bag work we did sparring under Master Toddy's and the other trainers eyes, We were told to fake a kick and throw a punch or fake a punch and throw a kick, first few times, this didn't seem to work, but after a while, once I got into the flow some were getting through.

Day 4 - So last day of the week, because Monday I was moving and came too late.
I woke up at 6am and ran with Jade and Bow, Bow was really funny in the run, because we would ask him several times when we got half way, do you want to keep running on or head back, and he was like, run on, then ask again, no run back, could make his mind up, haha. funny kid, in the end we kept running on and went through all the back alleys until we got back to the gym, with out those guys I would have got lost, lol.
When we got back to the gym, we warmed up and got into the session, I didn't learn anything new this morning, but Master Toddy went to one my trainer and told him to work on elbows and punches with me, and that's all we did. This helped me with improving my technique, I worked exactly the same on the bag, Master Toddy coming over several times to help me with technique.

In the afternoon worked a normal session with kicks and punches, knees and elbows, but the trainer focuses a lot more on the punches and elbows. Seems like here they want me to get the technique good before moving on, just what I need. In the clinching I clinched with a big guy, he was a little smaller than me but was a fat lad so had a a lot of weight, he was hard to clinch with, also I was a little worried about my ankle, so didn't want to trip him just in case.

Over view
Of the 4 days I trained so far I was happy, the trainers here seems to care about you improving and getting better and always have Master Toddy watching like a hawk for something, lol. I like the fact that the trainers will help you and also Master Toddy will come over and can see things the trainer can't sometimes.

In the week I have been here i have learnt

How to punch faster and with more power.
Elbowing people and being able to cut them.
More tripping technique and control in the clinch.
Better technique in sparring.

This was all helped by the trainers and people in the gym.

From my week so far this is definitely a place to go if you want to improve you technique and become a better fighter.

Check out the gym at
http://www.mastertoddy.com/

Bow Nung watering the canvas

He is so funny, only 15 and doesn't (funniest thing I have seen)

have a clue what is going on.

TUFF GIRL PRODUCTION

PICS OF THE GYM

Bags (long bag, smily face bag for working on punch placement, tear drop bag and medium thai bag)

All of the bags have body's on them so you can imagine he is your opponent.

Wall punching so you can punch full power, and practice all your punches.

Cooking area

Where all the equipment is kept.

ACTION SHOTS

Bow doing some chin-ups Master Toddy + Ajarn Sing watching over on the bags

Trainer teaching correct knee technique

Alex punching and getting ready for his fight.

Bow kicking the bag Bow working the pads

Nung and Alex clinching, girls sparring More sparring

Master Toddy keeping a careful eye on things

Sit ups

First Morning at Master Toddy's Gym

2011-08-03T14:14:00.001+07:00

Well I have just started training at Master Toddy's Gym, Sukhumvit soi 107.

Very clean, 8 bags, 1 ring, 4 boxing wall pads.

So this will be a first impression review of the gym, I will do a full review after 1 month.

So woke up in the morning for 6:30am and waited down stairs for everyone to run so I could find the route, one lad came down but when I asked 'are you running' he said 'no my leg hurts', So I think he must have fought recently. So I went off and did my run, think I did 4km this morning, just had 1 week off, so getting back into it slowly.

Got back in, more people were there now, we skipped together for about 10-15 mins, wrapped our hands and then did shadow boxing. The one thing that surprised me, is after 20 seconds of shadow boxing Master Toddy stopped me and told me not to look at their chest, look at their eyes. So I did this and about a minute later one of the trainers stopped me, and changed how I held my guard, I was like damn, I love this. I expected this to be the only technique I got this morning, but no more to come.

After shadow boxing I did pads, Master Toddy was walking round the ring, myself and another Thai on the pads, he then told me i was leaning to much into the punch and said I was easy to hit, also go down at the last second on the punch so creates more power, a bunch of other things, I could be here all day. There was alot, but was made very simple to follow.

After the pad rounds I went on the bag, I was expecting to be left alone, but no again Master Toddy came over and work on my punches more.

After the bag work, went onto clinching, I clinched for a while with the bigger guy about 70kg, 22 years old. And was good to clinch with, he kept putting me on the floor, btu I asked him for a technique and he showed me, and then we carried on, I changed over and work with a lad about 40kg, was good to work with the smaller lad because I could easily practice the technique I learn't before I went back with the bigger guy.

Then I did all my exercises, sit ups, pull ups, weights, neck lifts and called it a day because only my first day back.

But from first impression, I really felt like the trainers care and want to help you. More will come in 1 month.

My Experience of 13 coins gym

2011-07-30T22:49:00.000+07:00

I have been at 13 coins for 1 month, I was there for the MMA program. The MMA has only been running 1 month, but it is good, I learn't so much in a short period of time, My friend Will who is experienced in 5 MMA fights says the MMA program is good here, it improved him alot, another guy with 10 fights has come down and he also really enjoyed the MMA program. The MMA program has a lot of BJJ, before they didn't have conditioning, but now they are just bringing it in, step by step.
I am leaving 13 coins for reasons I will explain below, but I will be going to the MMA program here 2 mornings a week to keep up my skills and learn new ones as I see this is the best MMA place in Bangkok.
Also, I had only learn't for 3 weeks and in my China fight I Won 2nd round by rear Naked Choke. The fight is below and I used a technique which we practiced.

OK, now for the Thai Boxing.
At the start I felt I was learning as Sorn was just working on my kick and punches, which I appreciated, but this seemed to be the only thing he was good at, or he just wouldn't show anything more.
Pat another instructor would try and tire you out and go onto the next guy, when I watched him with the Thai fighters, he worked totally different, this just really made me angry, I know I am not Thai, but come on I am paying.
The 3rd trainer Mr. Long seems not all there but seems to be the only trainer who cares about the people learning at the gym, as a pad holder, good for basics. as a trainer, he helps and has some good tricks, better as a trainer than a pad holder.

So yeh, after the slump 13 coins had a few month back, it just doesn't seem to get back out of that, what they need is to bring in a few more fighters, 50-70kg, and some trainers who care and they will be on their way to getting there, but for me not the gym for me for muay thai, I will keep coming for the MMA and if things improve I will come back.

If you are a beginner, it is a good gym to start, but for the fighters it doesn't have enough sparring, and the clinching you are just left to do it and not adjusted on bad technique.

The positives about the training at 13 coins are you will get some basics down, they work you hard till you are dead on the pads, so when you go into a fight you will be in good shape, everyone is friendly and Mr. Coke has a great heart, shouts encouragement while you are training, like when you are clinching, he would shout at the foreigners, " 'beat him up', 'knee him hard', 'stronger' " many different things, which can be a push you harder. I did enjoy the atmosphere there, but as my career is in Muay Thai mainly (just starting with MMA), I really need a good stand up gym to take me further.

This is my fight from China - I won by 2nd round Submission, Thank you to the 13 coins team and Brandon Kesler for helping me with my MMA skills