"Fuck plan B
We got plan A
And hell yeah I be going for it all day"
Pushing Myself
Today, I had my first taste of real "Thai Style" coaching. Saturday Morning. First training session of the day. My body and mind were tired but I showed up just to build that habit of coming in 6 times a week. We did five rounds of sparring followed by padwork and Wai Kru (พิธีไหว้ครู).
All I could think of after sparring was, "People at the factory would've loved seeing that". I regret taking three months off (see Regrets). The important thing was I showed up, kept my hands up, and kept throwing attacks. That wasn't when I saw Thai Style Coaching, that was when we did the padwork after sparring.
Sweating, sore, and mind focused on just standing and understanding this coach's thick Thai accent. At one time I swore he said two kicks, and when I threw the second I noticed that he dropped the pads so I stopped my kick. He wasn't happy with that which led to two strikes at me. Bam, bam. I threw an punch instead of an elbow. Bam, bam. Uppercut instead of a knee. Bam, bam. Needless to say, I was struggling. By the end of the three rounds the coach was done with me. I still said thank you for holding the pads.
So you'd think, with how tired I was I'd simply call it a day. No, for some reason I had the drive to go back to the evening session. I'm not sure if my ego was hurt or if I just wanted to prove to myself that I still had some skill. What ended up happening was a bruised left leg and a scratched up face.
It was a tough day, but I want to keep trying. Keep training. I want to come how with some better skills than I had when I left. Win something.
So What's the Plan?
Sunday
Rest. Relax. Enjoy myself. Maybe go see a beach or temple. If I can, rent a scooter and figure out how to drive that thing. Keeping it simple as I don't want to spend too much time on distracting stuff. I feel that I've done good this week. I've pushed myself and allowed myself to recover. Given myself good food (I love mango sticky rice). Even meditated a few times this week.
Next Week Plans?
With how I'm slowly increasing difficulty of my week; I'd like to either do two Muay Thai sessions a day or add BJJ to my training. I'll keep my gym ring training going too. Someday I have to add running (especially sprints) back into my training. Maybe next week?
Monthly Goals
I've talked about the Monk Manual in the past. Another one of the many questions that it has you ask yourself is, "What is really important right now?". It's a good question to ask myself as I make the transition into "Thai life". At the beginning of the year, my goals were:
Meditating
Train Consistently
Keep Reading and Studying
Go to another tournament/fight
Start making videos/start making a form of income
I wrote those in my little notebook after New Year's. So, I'd like to start studying Thai. That would let me get out of this room more and see more of Phuket. Before I came to Phuket, I said I'd find a place to help teach me more about meditation. I haven't done that yet.
So there are still a few things that I can work on this month.
Regrets
This week, especially today, has brought up some thoughts of regret. Things like:
Man, I wish I didn't take three months off MMA
Should've practiced Sanda more at Maling
I wish I would've taken martial arts more serious, earlier
I should've wrestled in High School
The endless thoughts continue going until you're regretting silly stuff. Luckily, there is always the opposite side of the coin that you have to remember when thoughts of regret come.
I wish I didn't take three months off MMA; If I didn't focus on work, I probably wouldn't have made as much money, wouldn't have trained the next person as well, and could've gotten hurt. Should've practiced Sanda more at Maling, Maling changed my thoughts about so many things and made me forever appreciate Kung Fu of all kinds. If I just did Sanda instead of learning what I did, I would be a different person.
You get the idea, just see what good has come out of the decisions that you've made. This way, you will have more confidence in your decisions later on. This method can also give you peace for your past actions.
📿Johnny
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