Unique View of Muay Thai Training…

I’m too cheap to pay for the upgrade to allow enough media space for video clips, so instead of simply uploading a video of some of my recent Muay Thai training from the beautiful island of Koh Tao, I thought I’d simply write out what a typical training round “sounds” like. Plus, I also thought it may also be a bit more entertaining this way 😉

After stretching, several minutes of jumping rope, shadow boxing, 100 front kicks on the bag and my hands wrapped and gloved up it’s time for training.

Before getting into it, I gotta admit a funny on my part. I would hear throughout the training that the trainers would say “ma” quite a bit. “Ma” in Thai has several meanings (dog, horse, come) and since I was most familiar with “ma” meaning “dog” from working at the animal shelter, I kept wondering why the trainers were calling us dogs, lol!! But then I recalled it also means “come” so that made more sense!

Round 1 (written as I hear it from the trainers with accompanying translations and/or my inner thoughts as the round goes along…)

Ma, Ma (come, come)
Jeb, pap (left front jab, right front jab)
Pap (right front jab)
Ook ma (left hook punch)
Pow-wer again! (more power needed in the punch, again!)
Ook ma (left hook punch)
Jeb (left front jab)
Ubber cut, ma (right upper cut, come)
Ook ma (left hook punch, come)
Pap (right front punch)
One two, pap-pap (front punches, left first then right)
Oh-oi! (trainer is taking a swing at my head that I must lean back to dodge quickly or get hit)
Jeb jeb (left front double punch)
Again ma!
Jeb jeb (left front double punch… again!)
Pow-wer!
Jeb jeb, ma (Ugh, punch harder!)
Yees, goud (yes, good!!! Happy day! 🙂 )
Ubber cut ma (right upper cut punch)
Four ma: one, two, three, foor (4 alternating front jabs)
Pap (right front punch)
Oh-oi! (whoa, I almost got hit that time!)
Pap (right front punch)
Oh-oi! (hee hee, missed it!!)
Knee! One, two (thrust right knee twice into the stomach pad)
Knee! One, two (thrust left knee twice into the stomach pad)
Elbow (step forward, smack right elbow in the pad)
Elbow (remember to step forward first!)
Up Elbow (step forward, thrust elbow upward into face)
Ehy-uup (trainer is holding pads at his head signaling for a swing kick: right leg)
Oh-ehh! or Oi-ish-she depending on trainer (heard if the kick was powerful or good enough)
Ehy-uup (another right leg swing kick)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she (yay-yaah!!)
Jeb (you get it)
Pap (more punches)
One-two, pap-pap (pretty much with every hit on the pads the trainer makes an accompanying noise, hence the pap-pap)
Block! (trainer is trying to kick my side, so I block his kick with my shin and fore arm)
Ehy-uup (swing kick again… Man this is getting exhausting!)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she
Sweech keek (this means to avoid his low kick to my left leg by changing my stance of left foot forward, right back to right foot forward, left back so I can then easily kick the pads at his head with my left leg)
Oh-ehh!/oi-ish-she (oh man I’m really getting exhausted… Just gotta breathe!!)
Ma, ma ( really it isn’t break time yet?!?!?)
Jeb
Pap
Foor: one two three foor (4 alternating front punches)
Elbow ma (strike with elbow)
Elbow ma
Ehy-uup (oh God another swing kick, BREATHE!!)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she (happy day!!!)
Ehy-uup (I can make it, I can make it!!)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she (happy day again!)
Front keek, ma (front kick right, come)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she (seriously is he just trying to make me feel better about my dwindling energy?!)
Front keek, ma (front kick left, front kicks aren’t so hard really)
Oh-ehh!/Oi-ish-she
Jeb, elbow ma (left front punch, swing behind with right elbow and strike, then back to original position)
Pow-wer, again ma (not forceful enough, more power, dang-it!!! come)
Jeb, elbow (Ugh, that powerful enough??)
Yees, good (yay!! Happy day!!)
Ten: one, two, three, foor, five, seeks, seven, eight, nine, ten (10 alternating front punches at rapid speed… Energy, energy!!)
Again! (Phew, breathe, ok, again…)
Yees, again! (Seriously?!?!?! UGH!!! Breathe, I can do this!)
Yeeah-pap! (final right front punch… Thank goodness!!!!)
Five ma ehy-uup (ok, ok, breathe, just 5 right swing kicks)
Five ma Ehy-uup (OMG now the left leg… I may vomit…Breathe, breathe, BREATHE!!!!)
Break! (Thank.Goodness!!!!! Can I go die now?)