Round 2 : Fight!

Not only have I lived to see another day of training... but I have triumphed through four!  This second entry comes at you in the form of a flying right kick on the eve of my final training day of week one! Cue the DMX song they used in Deadpool.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way. My training has been slightly less Deadpool, and more like, I might legit end up dead in somebodies pool due to exhaustion. Case and point, the third day of training started with a 7k run at 6am. Not cool man. Important to note, I barely made it through the 5k two days prior. Also important to note, every day I take a stroll up the street and I pass by this one house that has a very distinct smell. It draws me in every time. I've looked inside to see if I could place what they were making, or doing, to create this familiar, but sort of gross, smell. You know how Fritos smell kind of good, but also sort of like feet at the same time? (I'm going to assume you're nodding your head vehemently). Anyway, it's the Fritos smell! I've been grossed out by it every time I pass the house.

So, at the very end of our 7k run, just as my body was about to give in, and all hope was nearly lost. Running with my head down, sweating bullets in the early morning Thai sun, I found my inspiration in the form of a faint whiff of something familiar yet disgusting. None other than the sweet smell of corn chips and feet. The Fritos house! This was my sign that we were two minutes from the gym. Hope restored. I hath survived to smell feet yet another day.

That night, after getting through a full day of training, we packed into the gym bus, open air pick up truck situation (pictured to the left), and headed to Chiang Mai proper to see one of our fighters in an actual match. It was thrilling and sort of bizarre. I was so sore and tired I looked like I was about 74 as I climbed the bleachers to the top row with my buddy Steve. We watched a couple of matches while enjoying Chiang beer (local goodness) between fairly young local Thai fighters (15-17 years old) and they were incredibly fast and furious. The third fight of the night featured one our fighters, Lisa, who happens to be from England. She has been staying at the gym and training for a few months. I learned that fighters from all around the world pay to train here and when they are deemed fit for action, the gym sets up fights, splitting the winnings. Pretty cool set up. So here's this lovely young lady from England, real sweet and personable, going up against a random fighter from Thailand who she claimed earlier in the day, "really likes to elbow".  I was impressed by this humans courage to say the least.

The first couple of rounds were fairly even. In the middle of the third and final round though, Lisa got crazy aggressive. Unfortunately, this made her vulnerable and her opponent tripped her up a couple of times. Not really causing any damage, but scoring points with the judges and a bunch of drunken morons like us, who responded with, "OOHHH", as if someone just made a ya mamma crack. In typical heroic fashion however, Lisa, turned it up even more, and hit homegirl with an onslaught of punches and kicks before the round was out. The one that pretty much won her the fight was a solid clean front kick to the grill of said opponent (grill means face)...and well...you're welcome (see below). Nailed it. Stay tuned for more stories of smells and kicks.

And all jokes aside, I just want to spread the love for the amazing Chris Cornell who passed away yesterday. He was a very special musician, front man, and vocalist. He inspired and left an amazing legacy. Bless up. RIP sir.