We are also beginning an exciting new project this summer with the opening of the first Muay Thai Gym in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. We are looking forward to the opportunity to introduce Muay Thai to a region where it is relatively unknown. Den and Sarah will be running the gym and anyone who is passing through Dubai will be welcome to visit and train with them. The opening should be in September and I will post all the details soon. Sadly we have some bad news that I hope it will also serve as a strong warning, there has been the death of a friend of one of our visitors from England. He had been in Thailand but a few hours when he died in a road accident. Though we did not know him our thoughts are with his family. Unfortunately this is a grim reminder of the risks inherent in driving a small motorcycle in a foreign country, more especially late at night! Take heed all you boy racers!! Amongst the troubling events at the Camp this past six months, one of the worst has been the outbreak of the mosquito borne Dengue Fever. We have had ten of our Thai boys and twelve visitors down with the fever over the months of May and June, the worst case being Dtung our youngest boy who was one of the first to come down with the fever, thankfully he made a full recovery and is back to training hard again! Then there are those, like myself, who though being bitten everyday, have escaped the illness. The worst of this strain of the fever seems to have passed now but we continue to watch everyone carefully. Also Den and Sarah have had a nasty accident with Den receiving serious head injuries. I am very happy and relieved to say at this time that Den is making a good recovery and he will be back to full fitness in a few more months. On a lighter note we have had several of our old friends returning to visit, with Piero from Italy returning for another of his regular visits, the first of which was more than ten years ago. And Dave Tew from England, author of the "approachingstorm" website. He is still building up his fitness but will once again be attempting another record run on the mountain and in the meantime still outruns us all on the flats! One of the more positive happenings recently here in Chiang Mai has been the opening and upgrading of Muay Thai gyms in Chiang Mai. Along with Derrys' Chiang Mai Olympia in Sangkangpeng there is Ajarn Sutchart from Toronto and Chiang Mai, and one of my mentors in Muay Thai, Kru Buem, opening the second Siam #1 gym. In Chiang Mai city, Pedro Villalobos, co-author of the excellent book "Fighting Strategies of Muay Thai" has opened a small gym with private training in Muay Boran and Krabi Krabong, Chai Yai Gym in the city centre, Swiss Peter and the Bar Beer Centre are all now providing decent facilities and instruction for Muay Thai training. Chiang Mai is becoming a centre of learning for Muay Thai and I hope we will see the emergence of top-level fighters both Thai and Foreign who will compete on both local and international stages representing Muay Thai. With all the events of the past few months and so little fights recently we have to go all the way back to February for the start of this updates fight. On the 5th Sompong traveled to Phinsanalouk with his friends and teacher from school and fought his first fight of the year to a five round draw. On the 7th our next fight was at Gawilla Stadium in Chiang Mai, with Rueben from Toronto, he fought five rounds that had had much promise, but faded to a dance and Rueben lost the decision. On Valentines Day I passed a big milestone in my experiences here in the Muay Thai life, I went for the first time to Lumpinee Stadium and though we were scheduled to have two fighters, JR was refused a fight due to excessive weight loss, he had had to come down too much to make the weight. He has now moved up a weight category and we will have more news on JR later. Meanwhile Solams fight had a twist to it. He had been asked to take part in a six round Boxing match but with JR's withdrawal he was switched to back to Muay Thai, and he pulled off a strong five round victory, not appreciated by the crowd for a lack of knees but he won nonetheless. The knees we are working on! On the same night, but back in Chiang Mai at Gawilla Stadium, Yan Lei fought a hard fight through three rounds before losing steam and going out to a TKO, his lack of fitness was due to a long term health condition which I am very happy to say our Doctor was able to help him with and we are looking forward to a return visit from him soon. Next up, Gat, one of our "young lads" fought to a five round decision, easily out pointing his opponent. And last of the evening was Jay from Canada, fighting first time in Thailand, he had a very good fight throughout five rounds only losing closely on points. The following evening after an all night drive back to Chiang Mai from Lumpinee Stadium and a sleep through the day we were in the small town of Hang Dong just south of Chiang Mai for Manat and Blake. Manat fought another strong fight with both boys were well matched and a draw was a good decision. Blake from New Zealand was taking on his first fight in Thailand and his opponent, who KOed Wang in the first round earlier in the year, came out in the same fashion and the fight turned into a furious two minutes of non-stop action, close range knees, elbows, and punches with Blake finally coming off on the wrong end of a blow to the chin. A wild fight with Blake showing lots of heart! Next up on the 21st February was Wang, at Gawilla Stadium for his fifth fight, he fought hard for five rounds but could not find his way round the more experienced Thai fighter and lost the decision. On the 27th February we traveled to Li, south about 150 kilometers. With Manat up first, he fought to a second round stoppage over a new boxer who had no answers! Yet! Next up Jin, and then Gat, both fought through five round wins, the "young lads" suffering from a lack of fitness but boxing smart to win! And at the end of the evening it was Thomas Krogh from Denmark, fighting his first ever fight and up against a big Thai lad of good experience but who still gave away a lot of weight. The fight went five rounds and to Thomas' credit he stayed the distance and only his lack of fitness, as with every new fighter, stopped him from finishing better! On the 1st March Alex Ricci was our only fighter at the local Lamphun Stadium, fighting against an experienced boxer from Lampang, Tha Harn Ek, and though Alex pushed hard he could not find a way into his opponent and lost the decision. And on the following Wednesday Kem fought at Rajadamnern, winning a hard fight with a third round KO, his trademark combination hands and high kicks doing the job. The next Friday at Gawilla Stadium, Carlos from Mexico stepped into the ring for his first fight in Thailand and though his Muay Thai skills were limited he had excellent hands and KOed his opponent in third round with a combination of crosses and hooks. The next evening was a big night for us with JR fighting for a Northern Champions Belt at Jr. Lightweight. We traveled to Hang Dong district and the new Tamako Stadium with four fighters. Gat up first and won in five, again lacking fitness but showing great heart and style to stay the distance and take the decision. Boon fought to a five round loss, though most felt he had won but taking on a hometown boy is always difficult! Sompong too went the distance and lost to the more aggressive fighter in the next bout before JR stepped up to take on an old opponent of Solams, Utta Pom from Lampang, the reigning Champion. JR used his low kick punch combinations to great effect gradually wearing down Utta Pom and though the fight ended without much action JR took a deserved decision to become our newest Northern Champion. On the following Friday, 14th March, we had five boxers fighting at Gawilla Stadium. First up was Manat, taking a good five round decision in a very evenly fought match. Chun, Manats' older brother came out of semi-retirement to put on a superb show of style and control but lost to a poor refereeing decision, at least in our eyes! Sompong, the middle brother of the latter two fought next and once again though his defense is excellent Sompong did not do enough to take the decision. Gat came next and though he was fit for this fight the promoter had thrown in a last minute replacement who proved much to good for Gat and the ref stopped the fight in the first to save him any further punishment. Finally, in the last fight of the evening, Alex Ricci KOed his opponent in the first round with a neat elbow to the jaw. The very next night we traveled to Lamphun, with Dtung, our youngest lad having his second fight but unfortunately he was outmatched and the referee stopped the fight in the first round. Next up was Alex, as his fight had been short and sweet the night before, he took on this evenings fight to fill in for an injured fighter and went through five hard rounds to take the decision. Last of the evening was Blake, in his second fight in Thailand, he fought well but caught the edge of an elbow in the third and the doctor had no choice but to stop the fight. Blake returned home shortly after this second fight but returns to the Camp in only a couple of months to continue his fight career here in Thailand. More on him later. Boon returned to Chiang Mai in March after his extended stay in China and on the 19th March with Sompong, they went to Chang Dao north of Chiang Mai, Boons hometown, to fight at a village fair. Sompong won his fight with a rare KO in the fourth, the result of a good combination kick knee! And Boon returned to his village after a year away a winner, taking a five round decision with a good display of fight control and clean combinations. On the following Friday Solam fought at Gawilla, against an unknown fighter from the south and though both fighters were cautious in the first, no holds were barred for the next round and a half until Solam won with a straight right to the chin, Sweet! Two days later on Sunday the 23rd at a small village in Lamphun district, Wang fought his sixth fight and won with a second round KO knee against a younger but enthusiastic opponent! Melissa, from Canada, next fought a local girl who though out weighed, put up a good fight against her taller opponent. Melissa showed good technique and control to win in the third with a TKO. The next Friday, 28th March, at Gawilla, Brandon, from Australia, stepped in the ring for his first fight in Thailand and fought an excellent five round fight showing good basic technique and strong heart to take his more experienced Thai opponent the five rounds and closely lose the decision. At this point we had a break of two and half weeks before the beginning of the fights through the holiday season of Song Khran. The next fight night came on Friday the 11th of April with six fighters at Gawillla Stadium. Gat, first up and set the tone for the night with a comeback win in the fifth. Next up were two of our youngest ever fighters from overseas, Jason and Adam, from Knuckles Muay Thai in Oldham England. Jason was first up and showed good basics and a lot of strength in fighting and winning the five rounds against a good Thai lad. Adam followed next buoyed by Jason's win, but quickly overcome by the stadium, the lights, and a much better young Thai lad, the ref stopped the fight in the first round. And though he was shaken, Adam will climb back in the ring again in a few days time! Next up on this night was Joe, from New York, back with us again for his second visit and fighting a good strong three rounds before winning with a KO knee. Next up, Ole, from Norway, fighting his first fight against a new Thai lad and it was a battle of the swingers with Ole connecting first. Not bad for his first fight now we will try and add some technique! Last of the night, Wang, fought a hard five rounds and again found it tough going against a more technical opponent, losing the decision, but not his heart! On Sunday 13th in the midst of Song Khran celebrations, with madness and mayhem reigning all around, Solam and Boon both fought in Uttaradit, to five round loses and they then traveled onto to Tak, where JR fought the next day on a televised broadcast going to a five round draw against a tough opponent from Isan. The next night, 15th April, we were able to hastily arrange for Jason and Adam to fight again at the Song Khran Fight Night in Thapae Bar Beer Centre and despite the name of the place the fights were properly sanctioned. Jason was first up again and showed increased confidence and taking the fight to his opponent recorded a second round KO. Adam followed next and this time he rose to the occasion with power and belief in himself and took on a good young Thai lad to win the three round fight convincingly. For both Jason and Adam, though their visit was short they manage to experience Muay Thai training and fights at the grassroots of Muay Thai and with a good attitude showed themselves to be excellent young ambassadors of the sport. (Pictures at the end of Part 2) After this we had a break of over a week until the next fights on the 27th April, when we traveled to Lamphun district where Steve Binggeli from Switzerland fought a good fight with heart only to lose the five round decision against the hometown boy. On the very next night at a temple near the town centre of Lamphun, Dtung fought for the third time, an amazing fight by both boys with all the heart and technique you ever wish to see. Though Dtung was outclassed he never stopped fighting and the ref had to step in to save him from the older boy at the end of the third round! Later Jin stepped in and produced one of his best fights yet, showing strength to go the distance and smarts to outpoint his opponent over five rounds. The last fights for April came on the 30th with Alex and Wang fighting on the under card of a televised afternoon promotion from Mae Jo University just outside Chiang Mai. After the main program of Burmese fights and a Champions fight, Alex stepped in to give the fight of the afternoon with a measured and controlled first two rounds and then producing a classic KO, low kick high kick, good night! Wang followed next but was completely outclassed, not that it stopped him from giving it all and despite going down three times in the first round he came out fighting in the second to put his opponent down before enduring an onslaught that the ref stepped in to stop. Wang said afterwards, "next time!" Our first fights of May came on the 8th in Uttaradit. We were in the grip of the hot season, everything baking, the heat dry but oppressive and after a long drive and a hot afternoon with dust storms the evening produced three very good fights, with Jin winning five rounds against the hometown boy, JR turning a fight around with some very good combinations and control to win in five and Solam producing the fight of the evening to take the favoured boxer from Bangkok to five and getting the decision. This fight showed that all the knee work in pad training has paid off! The next night in Chiang Mai, Jay from Canada, after losing his first fight in five rounds at Gawilla came out again at the Stadium this time against an opponent from France. Jay went in from the bell and used all his weapons scoring heavily with the low kicks. Though his opponent managed, to his credit, to come back later in the fight Jay held on to win a very good decision. On the 16th at Thapae Bar Beer Centre, Boon stepped out of his semi-retirement once again, only to lose a lopsided decision, judges sometimes!! Then David Le Blanc from Canada stepped in the ring for his first Muay Thai fight and gave a good show of control, technique, and power to keep his more experienced Thai opponent at bay and win in five rounds. The following Wednesday we traveled to Hot, an hour and a half south of Chiang Mai. First up was Jin, who fought out a hard five round fight, winning a good decision. Gat was next and he also out fought out his more experienced opponent over five rounds to take the win. Alex fought next against the experienced Yod Keng who stood off against the ropes and in the corners to win with a superior defense and counter. It was good lesson learned and a rematch is coming up! The finale of the night was Natasha, from Canada, fighting a local girl. With David more nervous for Natasha than he was for his fight five days earlier, Natasha stepped up to give a solid fight with clean sharp technique and control against a less skilled but enthusiastic opponent, winning with a third round TKO. Two days later at Gawilla Chun fought out another five round loss, unable to find a convincing way past his taller opponent, one of the stories of his fight career, always being the smaller opponent, but with the biggest heart! At the end of May and start of June the rains came thus signaling the end to the years fight season. With Gawilla closing for the month of June and the daily rains preventing outdoor venues we expected a quiet time ahead for the next month or so, but nothing quite prepared us for the next two months when the Dengue Fever struck the area around the Camp. The mosquito borne illness generally lays people low with a high fever for three days followed by five days or so of lethargy, not better but not well either and when the potential danger from the fever is at it's worst. We spent more time at the hospital than we did training but thankfully in the end everyone has recovered and are back to full health and fitness again. So after the imposed break from the fight scene we re-entered the fray exactly two months later on the 25th July at the WMC Championships in Bangkok. Jaime Luengo from Spain, back again after several months, and Alex Ricci, took on foreign opposition for a change. Jaime was up against Trevor Symandech from Canada, and though the Canadian was far more experienced, Jaime once again demonstrated that innate talent he has, to hold the strong and determined Canadian at bay and though losing the decision, his fitness once again letting him down, many of the audience considered his fight one of the best of the day. Alex fought against Alex Dally from England and though our Alex clearly dominated the fight with better technique the English fighter wore him down with strong low kicks which at the start of the fifth round Alex went down to two well placed kicks that took all he had left in legs. Though Alex was bitterly disappointed to lose after being so close to taking the decision he learned a valuable lesson and was also privileged to be treated for his extremely sore legs by an avid fight fan whom also happened to be healer. She had special massage oil for his bruises and it seemed to work as he was up and dancing that evening! At the fights we were happy once again to meet up with many of our friends in the Muay Thai world, with the Australians and English there in their usual numbers and the Canadians led by Mike Miles, after all these years! With the local Bangkok, Koh Samui, and Pattaya gyms in attendance there were familiar faces as well as many new ones and it is very good to see that Muay Thai continues to grow around the world, long may it continue. Despite our losses at these fights this was one of our best showings on a WMC Fight Promotion and we are looking forward to the next one! The last two fight nights of this report are quite extraodinary and one of the many things that makes all this hard work worthwhile, First on the Monday, 28th July, following our Bangkok fights, we visited the Thapae Bar Beer Centre in Chiang Mai city with four fighters. First up was Jin against a bigger and stronger opponent and though having a tough time of it initially Jin work away with strong knees in the clinch before finishing off in the third round with a solid body punch to the solar plexus that sent his opponent to the canvas. Next up was Zagar, from Holland, entering the ring for his first fight and though he was both taller and out weighed his opponent considerably he fought an excellent fight showing control of both his temper and technique to go through four rounds before the referee stopped the fight. Though Zagar could have used his weight and height advantage to end the fight in the first instead he learned some valuable lessons, one of the most important being his fitness, which was not good enough, despite what he thought was all that hard training! Following Zagar, was Solam, fighting for the first time in almost 3 months and up against Yod Keng whom he drew with last time they met and who defeated Alex in May. The fight promised to be a good one with Solams attacking style against the more defensive Yod Keng and so it proved, as the action was full on from the first bell. With both fighters being caught and rocked, Solam, found the spot in the third round with his trademark straight right, lovely! Last of the evening with all the pressure on after three wins by KO, Blake stepped into the ring for his third fight in Thailand. Against an evenly matched opponent who attacked Blake's legs unrelentingly through the first round Blake came back in the second to block the low kicks and counter with good punches scoring a KO late in the second. An exciting fight which topped off a very good night for the Camp. The last fight night for this report turns out to be even more amazing than the previous fight night. This time we traveled to Hang Dong, just south of Chiang Mai and in the grounds of a local school on a large gala night we had Dtung entering the ring first for his fourth fight and though he was up against a much bigger boy he fought with heart and determination to completely overwhelm the older boy with a second round KO high kick punch combination! Next up was Blake, fighting this time against a good but shorter opponent and after two hard rounds a couple of sharp downward elbows caught his opponent on the head and a rather bloody fight was stopped in the third. Next up was Manat, coming back too after a long lay off, fought a furious three rounds which though he was scrappy at times was also unstoppable and won by a third round KO straight! Following Manat into the ring was Gat who started out with his usual swaggering style and showing a sharp eye he caught his opponent with a perfect elbow which though seeming to go through air opened a large cut on the forehead to end the fight. Last up on the night was Michael, our newest young Thai lad, at thirteen and a young Mike Tyson look alike, entering the ring for the first time. He was up against a much taller boy who had already had several fights but in two fast furious rounds which had the crowd on their feet, Michael plowed forward with heavy accurate punches and the occasional low and mid range kicks for good measure to win by second round KO punch. Not a bad first fight! And a perfect way to end another good fight night for the Camp. It is not often you will have nine fight wins in a row, let alone none going the distance. It has been a good set of results for us since coming back from the Fever and the long break and we are continuing to work hard at our training with several important fights coming up soon. The past six months have been one of the most eventful times I have seen at the Camp and with all the people who have come through there have been a few problems. In hope of avoiding these problems again I would like to try and clarify a couple of things about training and fighting here. Concerning training at the Camp, we train every day, it is our life and when a person comes to train with us they join in and train along at their own level and pace rather than in a group all doing the same thing. This means working with their own self-discipline and desire to train, to be fitter and improve technique because they want to and not because someone is telling them. And if the desire to learn and willingness to work hard is shown, then the Trainers will be more than happy to teach. We do our best to make sure everyone gets proper training, but you also have to stand up and ask for what you want, it will not be handed to you, and you may need to wait your turn too, but then that is part of the training, learning patience. And if there is a problem then speak up instead of waiting to the last day of the stay to unload. People in Thailand and especially at the Camp are more than willing to help and accommodate, or explain! Criticize by all means, we are not perfect and welcome constructive criticism, it is how we learn and grow, but also respect where you are, things are done differently here for better or worse, that is life. So, the more you put out the more you will get back. And remember, as with all Martial Arts, there are no short cuts, you must spend years of training to achieve a good standard. So put it into perspective with the two or three month visit. Fighting in Thailand, is for many people from beginners upwards, part of the reason for visiting and training in Thailand. And yes, we can arrange fights for most people up to about 75 kg and though we always do our best to ensure a balanced match up it is often difficult where beginners are concerned, as most Thais over 16 who are fighting have had considerable experience already. Having said this if you truly want to experience the fight and are sure in your heart then a good month or two at the most of training and you will be ready for your first fight. The first fight is not about winning or losing but it is about testing you heart (or mettle as others would say) and about learning and understanding just how much more training and hard work you will need to apply to become good at this! The Thais attitude towards fighting is of making a good fight and not taking unfair advantage of the lesser opponent, though beware anyone who steps into the ring with a bad attitude! And also remember this is a fight and even beginners can be dangerous and hurt each other so do not take it lightly and be prepared for some hard knocks or else do not get into the ring in the first place. And in most cases, win or lose, it is going to hurt, a lot! For over ten years now we have been matching people up to fight and though we have always done our best to ensure a good match up there have been some bad fights in that time but everyone has survived, including myself, matched up with a small Thai (no problem for this big farang!) who I later learned had had over 100 fights and my legs knew all about that by the end. Some of the worst pain I have experienced in my life came on after the fight! Still it did not put me off, but instead taught me much respect for Muay Thai and the Thai fighters. To finish this marathon Update I would like to thank all of you, who have managed to read through this far, for your attention and I hope you have enjoyed the news of the past six months. We said so long, "See you again soon", to many good friends over the past few months. Ursula, home having a child now, good luck and we will be looking forward to meeting the next world champion! Mel "the beautiful" Bellissimo who despite having the nastiest fight, never lost his love or faith in Muay Thai, you are sorely missed and need to come back soon! David and Natasha after what was a very short seven months have returned the rigours of the real world. As have Todd and Amy, you are all missed, and Azi I hope your motorbike ride round Thailand is going well. And to all the others who are many, it was wonderful to have you all here, our Muay Thai family continues to grow and gain strength and I hope to see you all again in the future. Finally Mingson, thank you ever so much for your kind words, they make it all worthwhile and they give me much strength to continue in the Muay Thai world. Good Luck to all in Muay Thai Take Care Andy But first we start with Friday night, 22nd November 2002 when Supot, one of our trainers stepped back in the ring after a several year absence to take on a former student, Hendrik, from Germany. Hendrick moved down to Udon to train with another gym and then came back to Chiang Mai to fight. Because of Supots lack of fight fitness he came out with a measured and unrelenting low leg attack that had all but finished his opponent by the end of the first round and within 30 seconds of the start of the second the referee mercifully stepped in to stop further punishment. Hendrik learned a tough lesson as well as some humility and Supot was happy but mostly relieved! As I mentioned in my last report JR was scheduled to fight in Bangkok and he finally made his long awaited debut on TV from Bangkok on the 24th November. Unfortunately the combination of too much weight loss prior to the fight and nerves on the big day left JR drained and though he fought out five rounds he was outclassed by his opponent who turned the tables on JR with sharp hands and accurate low kicks. JR was naturally disappointed at losing and ending his 17 fights no loss streak, but he will be back! The day following JR's fight we traveled to the countryside in Lamphun district, for one our youngsters, Jin, taking on an older fighter at a local village school fair. Experience won on the day with Jin being taken the distance by wits and guile of an old experienced fighter. Another good lesson! This year we did not have a fighter in the Kings Birthday Tournament in Bangkok as we had hoped, but instead Chiang Mai celebrated the Kings Birthday with their own fights, staged at Thapae Gate in the centre of Chiang Mai on the 4th December. First up was Solam taking on a tall lanky fighter from Uttdradit and after hard first round with both fighters connecting, Solam found the mark half way through the second with a straight to the chin! A lovely KO! Immediately after Solam, Kem stepped into the ring to take on an opponent from Uttdradit whom he had fought earlier in the year and won over five rounds, and this time going one better and pulling off one of his trademark shin kicks to the head! Another lovely KO! Last up on the night was Jono, taking on his last fight for this visit before returning to the UK (in December? rather him than me!). Jono was up against a highly respected though semi retired fighter Muan Wai who still puts most of his younger opponents through the ringer and at 41 years gives hope to some of us who thought we might be over the hill! This night was no exception for Muan Wai and despite Jono's youth and strength he could not gain control of the fight and lost a five round decision. What can I say, another good lesson learned! The following night, 5th December, once again in Lamphun district, Marco from Italy fought to a 3rd round KO win over a smaller but more experienced fighter. Marco has since traveled to Koh Samui where he is continuing his fighting ways with 3 wins and a loss so far. Good luck Marco and if you ever tire of the sun and sand we will be happy to see you back up here again. The following evening, now our third fight night in a row, was at Gawilla Stadium in Chiang Mai, for our regular Friday fight night. First up was Manat, Chun and Sompong's younger brother, he was fighting a boy who had beaten him in their last two meetings. It was a hard fight from the first bell that went five rounds with Manat winning the decision after a decisive display of knees and clinching, the lack of which had lost him the previous two encounters. But this is where the story just begins, after the fight Manat complained of a sore arm (left and he is southpaw) and upon getting an x-ray done on the way home from the fights we found Manat has a fractured arm. When reviewed later the video shows clearly that the very first kick of the first round does the damage but remarkably Manat, with not a word of complaint, fights on despite, he tells us later, being unable to punch (remember he is lefthanded) push or pull with his left hand! And all this from a 12 year old boy. It truly is a matter of heart, to never give up. Something that many of us have forgetton, or in all reality have no idea about! Manat has just recently had the cast removed after a month of lugging it around with him on his daily runs and he is very happy to be able to get back to some serious training again. His next fight will be 14th February. Now, this Friday night still has not finished, because after Manat, it was Mel, from Toronto, who was entering the ring for his second fight against a good fighter from Chiang Mai and though he easily out weighed his opponent, the Thai fighter decided to end the fight in the third round before Mel's weight overwhelmed him, with a measured uppercut elbow which he had only just missed in the second round at a first try, and broke Mel's nose! Luckily it is not to bent out of shape, the nose that is, and Mel is now back in training wanting another crack at the ring! Friday the 13th was our next fight night with Ashley from Denmark following in his brother Leroy's footsteps and having his first fight at Gawillla Stadium. Though Ashley showed much style and potential technique. His lack of any real fight experience lost him the decision, but a good showing nonetheless for his first fight. The following Friday Eric Wu stepped into the ring at Gawilla for his 7th fight in eight months and was very unlucky to catch another elbow in the second round above the left eye and the ref had no choice but to stop the fight on Doctors orders! So disappointed was Eric that one week later, cut barely healed, he entered the ring again on the 26th, Boxing Day! And, up against a very tough fighter who came out of the corner in the first round with heavy punches straight to the solar plexus and chest, so sudden and powerfully accurate were the blows that Eric was down within 1 minute of the first round. This was to be Eric's last fight before he returned home to Toronto to continue his engineering studies but before he left he had the pleasure of seeing a very good fighter from Isan (northeast Thailand) suffer the same fate as he did at the hands of his last opponent! KO'ed in the first with a series of powerful and accurate punches to the chest and solar plexus! On the same night as Eric's spectacular KO, Ashley had been up earlier and once again lost a five round decision but showed he had learned from his first fight and gave a strong display of good basics. And last of the evening was Melissa, also from Toronto, who unfortunately ended her fight a no contest due to the weight and height difference. There are not too many 6ft Thai women around! And so ended 2002, a year of many fights once again, some won some lost and a lot learned! We had a delicious Christmas dinner, courtesy of Pom and Howard. New Year passed quietly for some and not so quiet for others. I was up on the mountain at 7am, walking the dogs! And we were continuing on where we left off the last year, preparing to fight. First for the New Year came on the 5th January, at the 700 Year Stadium in Chiang Mai. A very big fight for us with JR appearing once again on the TV, in his second top level fight, this time up against a favoured fighter from Isan. Once again JR had cut his weight for the fight and was not at his best, but he proved us all wrong and fought a controlled and intelligent fight to win by decision. It was a nice start to the New Year and I was also honoured to have one of my former bosses from work days in Saudi, Karl Hilthon, come to see us and attend the fights. After years of talking about my "other life" it was good to have a friend from the work see it for real! In the meantime our fight nights in Gawilla continued on the 10th January, with Jin, once again fighting an older fighter, and after an exciting non-stop five rounds lost a very close decision. Next up was Solam, fighting an old enemy! They have met twice previously, Solam won the first, lost the second, KO'ed! and was looking for revenge tonight! And get it he did, though it took five rounds he dominated from the start and showed great improvement even over his last fight to win a convincing decision. There is a slightly unusual re-match coming between these two soon! Last on the evening was Ashley, entering the ring for his third fight against the "Old Man" Muan Wai, who beat Jono earlier. Once again the fight went five rounds and though we were all sure Ashley had won, the decision was given to Muan Wai, out of respect if not points! Ashley, as Jono, was very privileged to have been able to fight against Muan Wai. We had a couple of weeks off from the fights before returning to Gawilla on the 24th January with Shannon Forrester from Australia. Shannon was back again for a brief visit and decided to take on a fight at short notice to fill in for Rhys who had to return to NZ on a family emergency. We hope all is well back at home, Rhys! Shannon outclassed his opponent staving off a frantic first round assault to finish the fight in the second when the ref stepped in to stop the damage! The next and last fights for this update came on the 1st February with Ashley fighting in his fourth fight and having a rematch with the second fighter he previously fought. Once again the fight went five rounds and this time Ashley was beaten by his lack of fitness, but again a good lesson was learned! And finally, we see once again Alex Ricci back with us after a break of two months, enjoying the festive season back in Canada (and all that good, fat food!) returning to the ring after a month of hard training to come back down to fighting weight (almost) and win his fight. After a scrappy first two rounds he planted the perfect elbow in the middle of the third to knock his opponent down and prompt both his corner and the ref to step in and stop the fight! A good start to Alex's return and start of his long haul to the top! Our next fights are coming up on the 14th and 15th February. JR and Solam are both fighting at Lumpinee on the 14th, with Solam taking on his last opponent in a straight boxing match, an interesting prospect as it is next to impossible to turn a Muay Thai fighter into a boxer in two weeks. Solam is very strong and knows his opponent well. For both Solam and JR, not to mention myself, it is going to be an experience of a life time and what I hope will be the first of many visits to Lumpinee with our fighters. On the same night but back in Chiangmai at Gawilla Gat and Jay from Canada will be fighting. On the following evening in Hang Dong, Manat will be fighting his first fight after having his cast removed. Doi has now joined Den in England, and is working with Mike Duffy at Knuckles Muay Thai in Oldham. Den is continuing to live in Manchester for the meantime freelancing his Muay Thai training at various gyms and waiting on an interesting new project we have in the making. I will not tempt fate by speaking too soon, but this could be a first for us and we are very excited about it! To finish up this update I had thought of many things I would like to say, especially on the way Muay Thai is going, both here and overseas. But as words usually go in one ear and out the other, ultimately actions speak louder than words. I think it is best to continue quietly doing what we believe in, with dedication and heart, staying true to the life and culture of Muay Thai. It is with great anticipation that I am looking forward to another year both inside and outside of the ring. I wish everyone the very best of luck and may Muay Thai be a grounding and strengthing in your life. Take Care as always! Andy PS. Hope you enjoy the pictures! We have had some friends leave and some old friends revisit, Matt Pace returned to his hometown of NY City after a nine month and both Carla Fox and Joey Grier left last month after over one year with us, we hope to see you all back up this way again some time in the future. And after several years, Ross from New Zealand and Martin from Swaziland are back for more! At the end of the last update we were looking forward to JRs' first visit to the Bangkok fight scene, but as always there have been delays and we are now expecting him to fight in Bangkok on the 24th November. In the meantime, JR has continued his winning ways, more on that later. The first fight of this update comes on the 16th August at Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai where Eric Wu, from Toronto Canada, took on a local boy and won a hard fought five round decision. Eric's fitness and determination making the difference. The next fights, on the following day, were a special occasion for us, traveling to Macau and Hong Kong for the first time, Jaime (Kasper) Luengo and Ahmed Ait were privileged to be part of the Macau Muay Thai Championships. Ahmed took on an older but highly respect former Muay Thai Champion from Bangkok and despite two very powerful knees to his stomach at the end of the second round, Ahmed toughed out an exceptionally good five round fight and though he lost the decision, his strength and tenacity were much admired by the Thais attending the fights and later in the Muay Thai press. Kasper fought against a local Macau fighter and had to fight by the Chinese rules (an ugly form of fighting which allows leg grapples and throws similar to WWF but doesn't allow elbows and knees!) Nevertheless Jaime showed form and composure well above what was expected and he should have won the fight only to be beaten by the rules. Thank you to ISS/Brute Force Promotions for the introduction to another side of the wide world of the fight game! Following our return from Macau the next fights were again at Gawilla Stadium, on the 23rd August, where Alex Ricci took on Payakdam for their third fight against each other. Going into this fight Alex had won the first encounter while Payakdam had won the second and on this night Alex prevailed with a fourth round TKO when the ref stopped the fight after a flurry of unanswered kicks and punches. The next Friday, the 30th August, young Manat had another rematch against the same lad who has beaten him twice before and once again Manat lost to the knees but he has improved a lot and feels his turn to win will come soon! The next fight of the night was Eric Wu, up against another tough opponent in a fight that was going to be a close decision before Eric caught a big elbow with his temple in the fifth. The resulting cut stopped the fight and 17 stitches later Eric is the proud owner of a few battle scars! The following Friday, 6th September, Guerra, from Spain finally had his chance to fight again after his injury shortened fight at the Amateurs back in July. Though a little scrappy Guerra showed good control and strength to go through five rounds and win by decision, a good way to end his stay with us for this year, we look forward to Guerra returning next year. For a change of pace on the 11th of September I flew to Denmark to spend a month working with Dennis Ruiz helping set up his Muay Thai gym and train with friends old and new. It was my second visit to Arhus and it was very good to see Ninna and Nico again, amongst many others. Near the end of my stay Den came over from Manchester, where he is living now, and once again we worked together in Denmark for a week before I returned home. Den took over, continuing to help Dennis with the gym. And after also staying for a month, Den is now back in Manchester, freezing! but happy to be home with Sarah!! We wish Dennis all the best with the Gym and will look forward to hearing from him soon! In the meantime while I was away in Denmark the fights continued with a Champions fight on the 14th September in Lamphun. Sompong fighting for a Northern Title Belt fought well and took the fight five rounds but his opponent was the more aggressive fighter and won the Title on a split decision. Earlier on the same card JR continued his winning ways with a first round KO of an opponent fancied to beat him, JR's record extends to 16-0-1. One of the other reasons that I was going to Denmark was to attend a fight promotion in England to see Den take on an English lad. I am not superstitious but maybe Friday the 13th was lucky for me and had something to do with me being unable to get a flight to Manchester and then Dens opponent withdrawing at the last moment, in the ring! stomach problems? Den did take on a fight the following Sunday at short notice, but unfortunately the rules were no knees, clinch, or elbow! Den earned a very lopsided draw in a fight that proved once again few people outside of Thailand truly understand the respect that Thai fighters show when competing in the ring. Next up is Wang, from China, on the 28th September in Lamphun, he had his first fight since returning for his second stay with us, and won in a spectacular first round KO, straight right punch! But this is only the start of the story, wait for more! On the 4th October at Gawilla Stadium, Jaime (Kasper) Luengo fought an exciting five rounder and though he lost the decision proved he could go five hard rounds! Sompong was next up and after dominating the first two rounds the fight was stopped as a no contest after an unfortunate knee to the groin! And on this particular night the best was saved for last with JR winning a thrilling five rounder, showing that not only can he knock them out but has the strength to go the distance. He maintains his record at 17-0-1. The next evening in Lamphun, Gat won by an easy KO in the second round and our newest fighter, at 11 years, Dtung, lost his first fight after being winded in the second round and unable to recover in time! Dtung is now back in training and showing extraordinary dedication for a young lad! A few of our older lads could take a lesson or two from him. He will go far if he keeps it up! On the 11th October at Gawilla, Jono Redden fought his 14th fight in Thailand against a very good fighter from Lampang and though Jono gave his best throughout the 5 rounds he lost a close decision to a more experienced fighter. And on the following weekend Eric Wu had his 6th fight since arriving in May and his first after being cut. Though he lost another close decision Eric continues to improve and is facing some very tough opponents in the process. The next evening Saturday the 19th October, again in Lamphun, Wang had his second fight, and once more like his first fight he won with a first round KO, straight right, and there is still more to come! The following Wednesday, 23rd October, in a small village south of Chiangmai, Matt Pace fought his third fight and despite losing the fight after five hard rounds he showed much improvement in all areas and lots of promise if he keeps up the training back in New York. Next, Wang stepped up and took a fight on the night, going up against a bigger Thai fighter and Wang got a dose of his own medicine being put down on his backside several times within the first two minutes before wisely staying down! Wang has had to return again to China to renew his visa and we are hoping for his quick return. The first fights for November were on the 1st, at the Bar Beer Centre, Chiangmai, with Manat fighting a fast and furious five rounds and once again losing a close decision. Manat is showing dedication and strength beyond his years as he trains and fights and waits for that elusive win! Next up is Manats older brother Sompong, and he too has a tough fight against a bigger fighter (in Sompongs case they are always bigger!) losing a five round decision. Last up was Colin, from England, having only his second fight, up against an equally new opponent from Iran, in a fight that raised the roof, providing lots of cheers and wild swings! Colin caught one of those wild swings square on the chin! For the next two weeks we had a period of intense training as we prepared Solam and Kem for their first fights in five months, China being their last outing where they both lost to the dubious Chinese rules and then an extended period of work but no training in China meant they lost most of their fighting fitness. But on the 15th November we traveled down to Udttaradit, about 4 hours south of Chiangmai, a place where we have always had tough fights. Solam was first up in the heat of the afternoon, and despite lacking ring time gave a strong and solid performance to take a close decision. Kem fought later as the sun was going down and the heat of the day had eased and though he had to fight hard Kem scored a cut in the fourth and though it did not stop the fight all the steam went out of his opponent and Kem took a comfortable five round win. On the same day but back in Chiangmai at Gawilla Stadium, Marco, from Italy, had his first fight here in Chiangmai and showed good technique as he overwhelmed his opponent with knees to win by referee decision in the fourth. Two days later we headed for Hang Dong, just south of Chiangmai, when only minutes from the fight location the heavens opened, drenched everybody in the back of the pick up and as the rain did not stop for several hours the fights were cancelled until the following evening. On the next evening the rains stayed away and Manat was first up. He exploded through the first two rounds winning both before his opponent took the third and fourth and then in the fifth Manat pulled out all the stops, delivered an excellent knee to the head of his opponent and won convincingly. It was a superb win and well deserved after all his hard work and his first win in six fights! The luck followed and once again Manats older brother Sompong fought next, and won a very close decision over five rounds. The final fight of the evening turned into a bit of a miss-match with a 6'3" Jonathon, from the USA, up against a much smaller Thai fighter who toughed out three good rounds before succumbing to the reach and weight advantage of Jonathon. Despite his advantages Jonathon showed respect and control and did well for his first fight. The final fights for this update come from the following day, 19th November, the annual holiday of Loi Krathong culminates for us in a fight day that starts at Thapae Gate in the centre of Chiangmai in the afternoon, to a small field at a local community centre just outside Chiangmai in the evening. In the heat and sun of the late afternoon under the blaze of TV cameras Eric Wu took on a strong fighter from Tak, cheered on by many supporters and in a very closely fought match that had Eric close to winning in the fourth before the Thai lad came on strong in the fifth and won the decision. Eric is getting his fair share of strong opponents now and despite the losses he is growing in strength from fight to fight. With the evening fights looming we left Thapae Gate immediately after Erics fight, thus missing the Trophies ceremony, but Jono stepped in to accept for Eric the Trophy for Best fight of the afternoon. That evening in the field, we had five fighters stepping into the ring. First up was Dtung, going for his second fight. The first kick hurt the other boy's stomach, a flurry of punches followed by a kick to the chest send the lad down! Winner in less than twenty seconds! Next up was Jin, and in a first round demonstration of total control he prompted his opponent to remain seated at the bell for the second round. Gat followed next with a controlled and composed fight despite a concentrated attack for two and half rounds and a well placed elbow in the third round gave Gat a deserved win. The next fight was Chun, in a rare appearance in the ring these days this was not a fight at all, but two friends, in the ring after being asked to help fill the bill and give some good entertainment for the crowd. And that was what they proceeded to do with many believing they were watching the real thing. A demonstration of ability and control many of us would love to be able to possess. The final fight of the evening, and for this report, is Chai, who has returned to stay with us and help work with our fighters for the next few months, entered the ring for the first time since Ubon back in June and his opponent was a local Chiangmai fighter, also a trainer, at the Bar Beer Centre Gym. The fight was a balanced battle of wits and tactics and with Chai using his superior IQ he took the decision at the end of an impressive fight. We are now well into the fight season once again and are expecting some upcoming exciting events including the Kings Birthday and fights in Bangkok. Not to forget our young up and coming lads with lots of local promotions over the next few months too. I will be a bit more prompt with our updates, yes I know I have said this before but I have a helping hand now and should have no excuse from now, right Mel! To finish up this update, I would like to offer a small piece of advice. I was asked for a hardcore training tip a while back and after some thought replied, train hard, train consistently, with respect and dedication, keep it simple and smile! Good luck to every one, be strong! Take Care Andy We have done a lot of traveling this past two months and spent too much time away from home! The wins have been hard to come by and we have had a few good lessons learned. The first fights came on the 2nd June when we traveled down to Uttaradit, about 400km south of Chiangmai, where Alex and JR both fought hard five round fights. Alex was up first against a very tough fighter from Isan, who came out in the first round as if there was no tomorrow, catching Alex with several elbows as well as everything else! Alex, showing no fear, worked hard and stayed in the fight The second round was more of the first with both fighters throwing elbows every chance they had. Alex was the first to draw blood, catching his opponent just above the eye at the end of the second and then in the fourth Alex was cut, by the fifth both fighters were tired but Alex ran out of steam first and lost the decision on a very close fight. JR fought out a fast paced fight against another fighter from Isan, that saw both fighters standing toe to toe for most of the fight and for once the draw was a deserved decision. It put JRs' record at 14-0-1, still unbeaten in almost a year and a half! Most of June was a month of solid training, preparing for the upcoming events in July, and next fight came at the end of June, the 28th, when Chris Pollack from the US had his first fight at the Bar Beer Centre in Chiangmai. It was a well matched fight that ended in the third when Chris caught his opponent on the chin with a straight and in the stomach with a knee to win by KO. On the 3rd July we traveled with Chai one of our consultant trainers, Carla Fox of the US, and Eric Wu from Canada/Taiwan, to Ubon Ratchatani in the East of Thailand. It was a 2000 km round trip and my first visit to Isan, the land is flat but quite beautiful, farming is the main industry and the people were friendly and welcoming. Though this is Chais' hometown he had not fought here often and was hoping very much for a win. He was first up, a hard fought fight that went five rounds and despite landing a precision reverse elbow in the fifth it was not enough take the decision. Carla was up next but just 15 minutes before fight time, with hands wrapped, she was ill to her stomach having eaten something bad during that afternoons visit to the local radio station to promote the fight. Everyone was disappointed, not least Carla, as she would have made history being the first woman foreigner to fight in Ubon. Eric finished the night for us with a win in the third round against an old fighter who could not match the fitness level of Eric. Though Eric did not have a hard fight his opponent did show up a few of Erics weaknesses and Eric and Buem spent much of the 1000km trip home reviewing over and over on the video camera the tape of the fight and discussing what needed working on. Five days after getting back to Chiangmai from Ubon, I flew to Guang Zhou, formerly Canton, in southern China. My second ever visit to China and the first to Guang Zhou, a city of 40 million, it was hard to believe this city alone held two thirds of all the people in the whole of Thailand! But hospitality was excellent and the whole visit a great learning experience. Chun has been in Guang Zhou for almost one year working as a trainer and Boon has now joined him, also on a one year stay as a trainer, while Supot, Kem amd Solam are staying for a three month stint to help with training and to fight. All five of the lads had fights on the 13th July and what a farce it turned out to be. The fights were billed as Thai Boxing when in reality it was WWF style throwing and some very undisciplined Kung fu style front leg kicking (did not see the Chinese fighters throw a single rear leg kick the whole night) and undisciplined boxing. The fights were four two minute rounds with two minute breaks, no knees to the head and no elbows and you are allowed to dive for the legs and throw down anyway possible, in a ring that had a slick surface mat, on which the slightest bit of sweat or water turned the surface into a skating rink! No matter what style you fight it turns the whole affair into a melee! Not nice to watch and no chance really for real skill to show through. Chun was first up and won his fight easily, but only after fighting six rounds! His opponent had been hanging over the ropes exhausted while the referee allowed time for him to recover in the forth, then again picked up off the floor in the fifth by the ref and his corner and urged to fight on, but the judges deemed it a draw and called for the sixth round with only more of the same from the Chinese fighter. It should have been a sign of things to come! Next up was Boon who won his fight by virtue of his opponent being so exhausted after three rounds he could not stand, despite every effort of the ref and cornermen. Supot was up next and his opponent was as wild a puncher as I have ever seen with little else to his technique. Supot tried hard to maintain his composure while being overwhelm by the wild boxing and throw downs from leg dives and finally reacted impulsively in the third round by dropping two elbows into the exposed back of his opponent who was trying yet again to throw him bodily over his shoulders, a natural reaction for any Muay Thai fighter! Nevertheless this brought first a disqualification from the ref, and then a barrage of water bottles(plastic thankfully, though some were full) and a physical attack on us was prevented by the organizers only at the last minute, a very scary moment! After all had settled down and I was persuaded not to leave with our fighters, Kem and Solam both went on to lose their fights even though, and even by the Chinese rules that we were fighting by, they under had clearly won. The Chinese were trying to save face, otherwise except for Pots disqualification, it would have been a clean sweep for all the Thai fighters competeing that night. Muay Thai in China has along way to go, but their fighting heart is very strong and with the background of Kung fu discipline and dedication, the Chinese will one day be a powerful force in Muay Thai if they embrace the "Art" fully. The day after the fights in Guang Zhou, JR and Manat, both had fights in Mae Rim just outside of Chiangmai. Once again I missed Manat fighting. This was his fifth fight, the forth in a row I have missed, and he lost again after dominating the first two of three rounds but losing in the third! Not to worry at 12 years old Manat has a long way to go yet and he remains positive. JR on the other hand continued his winning ways by once again KO'ing his opponent with his now trade mark low kick straight punch combination. His record is now 15-0-1. And his next fight is in Bangkok on the 25th August! Again, only a few days after arriving back in Chiangmai, I was once more on the road headed for Bangkok, our pick up and Buem, with his van, loaded with Alex, Eric, Joey, Carla, Jaime, Guerra, Halfdan and Matt. An over night drive had us arrive on the morning of the register and weigh-in. We ended up representing several countries including Canada, Taiwan, Spain, Denmark, and the USA. Over the next seven days of competition, with the exception of the day off before the finals, we had one or two fighters in the ring each day. The first day, in the class A division, saw Joey fight and lose to a Russian boxer who eventually fought through to the final. Joey got caught with a spinning elbow within the first minute and was unable to recover properly and after a few more shots on target the ref stopped the fight. Carla fought next against an opponent from Finland whom she should have been able to beat but having had a cold for the four days prior to the fight had drained her of energy and she lost the decision. Eric fought next against an Irish lad who showed heart and boxing skill but lost to Eric on points. Next up was Guerra, our first fighter in the B class, he was having an excellent first ever fight and on his way to winning when he landed awkwardly on his foot and could not fight on! Next was Jamie, and though he showed excellent technique in the first round his lack of fitness let him down and he could not deal with his Thai opponents strength in the clinch and knees, losing the decision. The most anticipated fighter for me of the tournament was Alex, having fought all over Thailand, including Rajadamnern, he should have been able to make a good showing but instead had a terrible fight where nothing would connect and his Finnish opponent forced him into making a few basic mistakes in the clinch and only the lack of experience from his opponent saved Alex getting a knee or two in the head. In a departure from my normal post fight reaction to people who lose I tore a strip off Alex, and he took it to heart and has worked hard since and we will get a chance to see what he has learned when he fights on Friday, 9th August here in Chiangmai. The fact that his mother and two of his friends arrived from Canada the day of the fight had nothing to do with him losing! Next to fight was Halfdan, he was our second B Class fighter and he was overwhelmed by a fighter from Italy who charged forward arms flying only to catch Dan on the side of the head early in the first round and after a second hit to the head and despite Dan protesting that he was okay the ref stopped the fight. On this day also, Eric fought his second round fight and was up against one of the toughest fighters in the tournament, Kirk Finlay from Australia, it was a non stop fight from the first bell to the last, Eric fought with all he had but in the end lacked the experience to overcome such a tough opponent. But he came away very happy with having gone the distance and once again a few good lessons learned. The last fight for us of the tournament was Matt, straight into the final of his B class where he fought against a Chinese fighter, who, though inexperienced like Matt had the upper hand for most of the fight and won the decision. All in all it was a tough tournament for us, but we learned some good and valuable lessons and will be back to fight another day! The tournament also showed beyond a doubt how much Muay Thai has spread around the world, with a very high standard of fighter competeing and most people showing a good attitude and being true to the traditions of Muay Thai, it is very promising for the future of Muay Thai around the world. We all made some new friends too! Back in Chiangmai and catching up on a month of not being home, both training and answering emails has kept me busy, apologies to those of you who have been waiting to hear from me and those who I have missed at the camp and especially to one man from Austria, I dropped him off at the Up North guesthouse as we were full at the camp late on one evening before we went out for a good bye dinner for Alexs' Mom and that was the last we heard of him. I am slowly catching up but only in time to leave again, this time for Macau, where we will have Jaime and Ahmed fighting on the 17th August. We are also hoping to be part of a fight promotion in central China in September, more news on that one later, and there are going to several more good fights coming up in October and November. As I mentioned before we are especially looking forward to JRs' first foray into the Bangkok fight scene on the 25th August. I hope you enjoy the photos I have included this time, I wish to thank all of those who contribute their photos to these Camp updates, without you I would not have any photos! I wish everyone strength, heart, and patience in Muay Thai. Take Care…………….Andy The first bit of news, on the 2nd March, Lee Lancaster, from England broke the mountain run record, by five seconds and then a month and a half later Ahmed returned to training and took it back, by 5 seconds. We have heard Dave Tew will be returning soon with the intention of regaining the record he originally held first last year! Our first fights for this update happened on the 15th March, in Fang, a tough place to fight, with Sompong winning in five rounds using his usual impeccable defense. JR fought next, producing another of his hard KO's, more on that later, and Boon fighting a fifty fifty loss in five. On the same night, but in Chiangmai, at Gawilla Stadium, our young lad Manat had a rematch against his previous opponent and once again lost in the clinch, we are working on it! Alex fought a good five round win against Payak Dam, a Thai fighter who has fought many of our foreigners and is considered awkward and hard to beat. Jaime (Kasper) had his second fight since returning to training, taking TKO when the ref stopped the fight half way through the fifth. Two weeks later on the 28th March, in Hang Dong, we had one of our best nights in a long time, with four wins out of four! Jin won in the first, by knee, a little too easy but then no fight is easy! JR, once again producing a devastating KO, in the second. Boon, a great win in five rounds. And Solam defending his Northern title against an old foe and winning in five with a strong and polished performance. The following evening we traveled to Lamphun where Shane Martell from Australia, on a return visit to the Camp, pulled off the second most improbable win of this update, with a jumping straight punch KO in the second! Next up was Halfdan Schionning, from Denmark, also on a return visit to the Camp, he took on a tough fight, doing his best to stay with an older fighter who, though out of shape, still had the moves, Halfdan losing by KO punch in the second round. The first fights for April were on the 5th, we had a single fight at Gawilla, with Alex fighting a Burmese Boxer, and though the gloves stayed on, Alex's' opponent had one thing only on his mind, elbows. He came out swinging them from the first bell and caught Alex with several, the final one just before the end of the round cutting him high on the forehead. The cut was controllable and Alex came out in the second going straight back with a few elbows of his own and half way through the round dropped his opponent with an elbow behind the ear, cut included! Good win, No Fear! On the 9th April, we fought on a televised fight promotion in Kanachanaburi, site of the famous Bridge over the river Kwai. It was a tough fight program and though there was a lack of audience, with the fights in the middle of one of the hottest days of the year, on an uncovered ring, all which may have contributed to the results, but heh, we do not make excuses!!! Joey lost in three rounds to punches against Ismal from France, and Jaime took on an opponent who not only outclassed him but also had a lot of face to save as his older brother had lost a champions fight earlier on the program. Jamie went down to the vicious spinning elbow that caught him on the top of the head in the second minute of the first round. The night after arriving back from Kanachanaburi, we had fights at a large festival in Chiangmai, to signal the start of Song Khran. Carla Fox fought the main fight of the night, facing an old foe for the third time. Carla showed over five rounds that all the hard training she had been putting in gave her the strength and ability to overcome a difficult and strong Thai opponent who had beat her at their last meeting. It was a very good win for her. On the same night at the end of the program, Ait, our new/old Thai boy (at 21 you are a bit old by Thai standards to be starting boxing!) had his third fight stopped due to a mismatch, he had the heart but not the ability! The next night on the 12th April we once again had two fight venues for the night, in Lampang and at Bar Beer Centre in Chiangmai. George Chan fought his second fight for us in Lampang and produced the most improbable win of this report. Being totally out matched for the whole fight, with the trainers considering throwing in the towel after the fourth, let the fight go to the fifth where George delivered a beautiful spinning elbow, which, though he had attempted it a couple of unsuccessful times earlier, caught his opponent perfectly. Good Night, thank you very much! It was lovely! Next up was Matt Pace, from the US, having his first ever fight and though he outweighed his opponent, he fought Payak Dam, who gave Matt a good fight before catching him with a straight in the third. Meanwhile in Chiangmai we were in Thapae Bar Beer Centre, with Jono having a warm up fight ahead of his biggest fight yet! and winning in the third against a good but older fighter who could not take the punishment any more! And then we had our second, after Georges great win, fight drama, with Jin going up next to fight his 7th fight against a boy he had fought in his third fight and lost to a cut from an elbow in the fifth round. This time, while once again losing the fight in the fifth round Jin pulled out another of those beautiful straights to the chin, they are becoming Jin's trademark! It was a sweet rematch win, who says it isn't nice to get a little bit of revenge sometimes! For a week or so after this we had a quiet time at the Camp, as most people took time out to get over the festivities of Song Khran, it takes heavy toll!! The first fights of the Thai new year on the 18th April, were in Ban Hong, a small village south of Lamphun, where Brian Cleary from the US, fought a great fight against a good Thai boxer and though Brian won by a KO punch in the fifth round it was his surprising superiority in the clinch and knees which won him the fight, an all round great performance of guts and determination, love it like this! Next up was Ninna Nygarrd, from Denmark, having trained hard and looking for more of a fight than her first outing was Ninna got more than she bargained for in a smaller but much better opponent who did not give her much to hit. Losing in five Ninna came away tired, bruised but wiser and as determined as ever to fight on! The fighter's heart! Next on the 24th April, Jin once again fought in Bar Beer, winning a dubious decision in the third round of an even fight with a knee rather close to the groin! You win some and you lose some, at this level it is inevitable, but something, which I am to learn very soon is totally unacceptable at the top level! Halfdan takes on his second fight after Jin, and once again comes up against an older but this time fitter old boxer. But Dan shows he has taken the hard lessons learned from the first fight and gives a good performance before the ref stops the fight in the third in favour of his opponent. The last fight for April was in Gawilla, with Ahmed Ait making a come back after 6 months out of the ring, and though losing on points in five had a good fight and all bodes well for the future. The end of April and the start of May saw several moves on the part of a few of our Trainers and Boxers. Taywin Boontham has finally made his long awaited trip to Australia, where he is staying with Jim Gloftis and Shannon Forrester at Boonchu Gym, Mermaid Beach, on the Gold Coast. Chun returned from Guang Zhou, where he is now the head trainer at a large Muay Thai Gym, for a short visit with us and to pick up several trainers and fighters to take back with him to China. Boon is finally getting his chance to go and work with Chun as a trainer on a one year contract, and Supot, Kem and Solam have gone over for two months and will be fighting as well as training. Every one is missed at the Camp but we will get by as you all enjoy your stays overseas! The first fight in May was with Gat, at Loi Kroh Bar Beer Centre in Chiangmai, the fight was early in the program and Gat won well against a fairly new boy, we were home early for a change! On the 5th May we fought in Hang Dong, Sompong took on a bigger fighter, by about 5 kgs. (Yes too much!), they went the five rounds and once again even though Sompong lost on points he showed the strength of his defensive style by lasting the distance without too much harm. Next up was JR, who once again produced another of his strong performances against an old opponent from Lampang, with a low kick punch KO win in the 4th round. Strong and a bit scary! It is now that we are in the final build up to what is one of the biggest moments for me since I started Muay Thai 12 years ago, to go to Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok, with not one but two of our fighters from overseas, Alex Ricci, from Canada and Jono Redden, from England, both getting a chance to fight in one of the top Stadiums in the Muay Thai world. A small group of us traveled down to Bangkok on Friday night and in the meantime on the Saturday while we were adjusting to the big city we had fights in Lamphun, with Derry from Ireland having his second fight and winning in great style, KO in the third. Jin fought next and had a tough loss in five rounds against a better fighter. On Sunday morning we met up with Jono, who had been training for three weeks prior to this fight at Sit MonChai Gym near Kanachanburi, at the 6am weigh in. Jono made his weight with a pound to spare and with a light jog Alex dropped the two pounds he needed to make his weight. Everything was set for the evening and I was running around more nervous than either of the two fighters. Sunday night and we made our way through the notorious Bangkok traffic to arrive on an unusually wet and windy night. There was a small but appreciative crowd at a Stadium I was getting to see, other than on TV, for the first time! From the first fight it was plain to see we had entered the top level of the fight game, even on this Sunday night, which was obviously a quiet night, the standard was of the highest level. Jono, eighth fight on a card of twelve, had a good fight that went the five round distance and though he tried all he knew his opponent just stayed one step ahead and ultimately controlled the fight to win on points. Alex, up two fights after Jono, had a similar result against a former Rajadamnern Champion, the fight started well and Alex showed he could stay the pace, even after taking a straight to the chin in the second, he was back on his feet and went the distance with strength in the clinch which surprised his opponent. It was during Alex's fight where we saw what is expected of a fighter here at the top level. In the second round Alex caught his opponent with a low knee, and the referee gave him a stern warning at the time and then repeated the warning at the end of the round both to Alex and to myself at ringside, a first for me in all the years I have been here. The level of control over the fight game, the ability of the fighter, and the sportsmanship expected is second to none. It makes me realize that mere politics and in fighting amongst the powers to be in Muay Thai will never detract from the true essence of the Muay Thai Fight. It is a comforting thought! That about wraps it up this update, if you have made it this far I thank you for your attention, I know these updates can be long winded as I leave them so long, but it is good to be able to relive these moments and share with everyone our trials and tribulations in the fight game of Muay Thai. We are now entering the rainy season here where the fight scene quietens somewhat due to the fact that most of our venues are outdoors, the Thai lads are going back to school, with both JR and Sompong graduating to Technical College and Agricultural College respectively. We are entering a time of extended training which is always a test for everyone as it is tough to stay focused without the regular fight on the horizon, but it is also the time when we can build consistently on the fitness levels of everyone and I am looking forward to some good training in the next few months, I will be chasing them all up the mountain! A final word on one of our fighters JR, someone commented to me after JRs' last fight that they could not remember the last time he lost and I checked back on the records I have been keeping over the past 16 months and found that JR has not lost in his last fourteen fights, with 5 Kos, four of them in his most recent fights. This is quite an achievement for JR and he has done so quietly and without fuss, let us see now where he might go! As always I hope that everyone is training hard and enjoying Muay Thai, until next time round, Good luck to all in, Muay Thai and life. Take Care…………….Andy After nearly two years with us Eddie has finally had to return to the "real world" back in Toronto, and is he feeling the cold or what! What can I say!!! But a few months of hard work, some money in pocket and who knows, Eddie may be back for more! Some who have returned for more include Joey, the Canadian winter over Xmas was enough, Jaime (Kasper) back from Spain, and finally, after some mis-adventures in Norway, Ahmed is safely back with us. Our first fight of the new year was Kem at Rachatdamnern, on the 10th January, and though we did not get to see it on TV, Kem KO'd his opponent in the third, starting the year as he ended the last one! Our next fight was Garth(Gaz)Brady from Mike Duffys' Knuckles Muay Thai Gym in Oldham, fighting his second fight this visit, at Gawilla Stadium on the 18th January. He got a measure of revenge for his first fight loss, winning in the second by knee KO. On the following Sunday Gat and Sompong fought in Lamphun, with Gat losing five hard rounds and Sompong winning in five against a good fighter from Isan. On the 25th January we once again journeyed to Lamphun where Solam fought for his Northern Champions Belt, he won in a display of control and power punching and kicking, a very good fight for Solam and a deserved win. He will have the chance in a few days(3/3/02) when he will be defending the belt, to show his strength, we are eagerly anticipating the fight! On the same fight card Boon had his first fight in the North since his return from Bangkok and won easily. Not so later! Our last fight night for January was on the 31st, with Manat, Jin, Shuji, from Japan for his first time, and Alex, all fighting at Gawilla. Manats' fight was his third and I had particular interest in this one as I have taken personnal charge of Manats training and we have been working a lot together, but though Manat fought hard and controlled much of the fight at the end of three rounds his opponent had sat him on the floor too many times. Jin continued in his amazing run of KOs' by kneeing his opponent out of the fight in the third. Shuji, up for the first time faced a Thai boxer of good standard and after an explosive 1st round where Shuji gave almost as good as he got the referee stopped the fight with seconds left in the first round. Shuji is back training and learning from that first visit to the ring! Alex fought last on the night and though much was expected from Alex against an awkward Thai fighter who has had considerable success against our foreign fighters, he was unable to deliver and lost a five round decision. On the same night, but in Mae Hong Son, JR fought a local Mae hong Son boy and won by third round KO, "with everything" JR said! JR and our Trainer, Supot, flew to Mae Hong Sorn, an adventure for both as neither had flown in an airplane before! The next fight night was on Valentines day, lovers and boxers! In a small town near Poms' hometown, called Wang Chin. Alex again up this time in a rematch against his first opponent in Thailand, whom he lost to and George Chan, from Holland and Hong Kong, had his first fight in Thailand against the same fighter Alex had fought two weeks previous. Alex proved that he had learned some of his lessons when he took the fight to his opponent and gained a good five round desicion. George confounded everyone with a solid, smiling effort against a much better opponent, cutting him in the fourth and upsetting him throughout the fight with a great smile! only to lose the decision! On the weekend of the 22nd, 23rd February we set a new record for fights, with three fighters fighting in Chiangmai, one in Bangkok, two in Koh Samui, and one in Perth, Australia. The next trick we have to master is how to be four places at one time! On Friday, 22nd, in Chiangmai at one of the local Bar Beer Centres, Gat once again had a very hard fight against a much better opponent and though again showing great heart and fighting spirit lost the decision. Derry Temple from Ireland, up next, was having his first fight in Thailand and though his opponent was an overweight Thai boxer it proved to be a great fight with a very close decision going to Derry. He was well pleased with the result and we will have more news of him in the future. Boon fought last and was very unlucky to get caught with an elbow in the second, opening a cut just below the eye and the Doc stopped the fight. At about the same time as we were fighting in Chiangmai Joey would have been in the ring, in Perth, for his match against a good Aussie fighter, Eugene, who caught Joey with a hook out of nowhere two minutes into the first round. Joey was disappointed to say the least, to have gone all that way!! Anyway he is back at training and looking to improve that guard! On Saturday both Carla and Ninna fought at the new stadium at Lamai Beach on the Island of Koh Samui. Both won by first round KOs and are already well back into training looking for the next fight. They both had their first visit to the Islands and though they enjoyed the beach were happy to be back home in Chiangmai and training within a couple of days! Finally, also on Saturday Kem was fighting on a hot afternoon, just outside Bangkok, where he lost a tough fight against a good opponent and against the heat of the afternoon. This fight ended his win streak in Bangkok at five fights, but he is back at Rachatdamnern on the 18th March, and we are looking to make up for this loss. And lastly for this report, Friday night, 1st March, at Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai proved to be a good night with Jin, fighting a very tough, though older fighter, lost the decision but not before giving all he had, It was a excellent fight for Jin and a good lesson! Following Jin was a new boy. Pin, who was having his first fight in the big stadium. We had no idea of his ability other than being told he had heart and so it proved with five rounds of swings and round abouts and lots of heart. Pin taking the decision after five rounds. Next was Jaime(Kasper) having his first fight since returning from the Xmas break and this time he was, unusually, up against another foreigner, Pat from Ireland. Kasper proved to be much supierior and after landing three unanswered knee elbow combinations the Irish lads corner threw in the towel at the end of the first round. Pat was not happy and seemed to be very keen to take on Kasper again at a later date, but first he will have to learn to stop being a boxer!!! The Camp continues to be busy with many people coming through for training from all over the world. Our training schedule is starting to pick up the pace a bit more now with all the folk coming to train for fights and this year continues to look promising on the fight scene with many opportunities coming up as the year proceeds. The mountain run record held by Ahmed has been broken by Lee Lancaster from England, by just five seconds, and as Ahmed is on his way back to peak fitness we expect a few good morning runs up the mountain over the next few months!! On a final note I have just read through the open letter that Stephan Fox of the WMTC wrote on the Internet, in answer to the critics of himself and WMTC. And he had many good things to say concerning all the problems and politics that is currently plaguing many aspects of Muay Thai at the moment. I truly hope that everyone will stop the infighting and begin working together to promote Muay Thai in a way that it deserves. And he also answered something that is close to my own heart. It is time that all those people sitting in their comfortable chairs back home, telling the world how good or bad gyms are in Thailand (without actually visiting) to realise that it is not the gym but the people themselves who make the difference as to how much they can learn or to being a good fighter. I doubt there is a Gym in Thailand that would not teach you and teach you well, if you showed the right dedication, desire and heart. So regardless if the gym is on Koh Samui, in Chiangmai or the heart of Bangkok, the trainers at these gyms are dedicated to teaching Muay Thai and it is only up to you as to how much you can learn. Do not wait to be told, get out there and do it for yourself. Until the next time round I hope everyone enjoys their training, gives it their all, and good luck to all those taking on that ultimate challenge in the ring. Take Care..........Andy We are also very happy to have welcomed two special guests to the Camp in December. Ajarn Sutchart, owner and head trainer of Siam #1 Muay Thai Club in Toronto, Canada, was back visiting his hometown and family and training with us in preparation for a "no gloves" Burmese fight on the 28th Dec. He was also on hand to see two of his students from Canada, Clifton Brown and Alex Ricci fight, see reports later. Also visiting was Mike and Louise Duffy, of Knuckles Muay Thai, Oldham, UK., taking their annual holiday in Chiangmai and watching over the training of one of their lads, Gareth Brady, who fights later in the month. Mike was responsible for giving both Den and Doi the opportunity to visit and teach in the UK earlier this year and Doi has been returning the hospitality Mike and Louise showed him on his stay in Oldham. After the last report most of November was quiet until the 30th when Solam and Zeq, from Argentina, both fought at Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai. It was a tough night for both fighters as Zeq lost in five, as did Solam. Zeq was full of nervous enegry and burned himself out before the end but still gave a great fight and, although losing the decision, came out unhurt and wanting another fight soon! Check out the second fight of Zeqs' later in this report. Solam took on a tough fighter from Bangkok and was given a hard lesson, but to his credit went the full distance and came away if not happy at least knowing he can go the distance with the best! The next fight was on the 5th December, when both myself and Kem, one of the original lads who started with us at Lanna/Kiat Busaba Camp eight years ago, saw the realisation of a dream we had had for many years, to have a fighter fight, and to fight on the Kings Birthday! Kems fight was the only televised five rounder (the other televised fights being three rounders, part of a round robin competition) and he was up against Toto, a very tough fighter from France. The fight was dominated by Kem from the start with the French fighter seemimgly unable to reply to Kems powerful kicks and punches. Asked after the fight why he did not KO his opponent after dominanting the fight so completely Kem said that Toto was very strong and try as he might, and he was trying hard, Kem could not knock him out! This fight was proof to both Kem and myself that all the hard work and dedication, and belief in what we are doing, was worth the wait. I hope Kem will be the first of many of our lads who will have the honour to fight on the Kings Birthday. The next fight was on the night after Kems win in Bangkok. This time we were fighting in the countryside with Gat going for his fourth fight, he won by KO in the third with a lovely knee to the solar plexus, showing that his hard work with Supot, one of our trainers, is begining to pay off. On the following evening, 7th Dec, at Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai, Eddie DeNobrega, in his 13th fight, went up against a tough southpaw fighter from Bangkok and lost in the third to a beautiful high kick to the temple. Though Eddie was back on his feet just in time, the referee erred on the side of caution and stopped the fight. A hard way to learn a lesson but Eddie will be carrying his guard that bit higher from now on!!! Two days later we travelled to Lampang, about 100 km. south of Chiangmai, with three lads, Zeq, from Argentina, going for his second fight, Wang, from China, in his first Muay Thai fight, and Alex Ricci from Canada, having his first fight in Thailand. Zeq was first up and fought a much improved and more relaxed fight than his first one, and though he lost the decision, to the hometown boy, it was a fifty fifty fight and could have gone either way with both fighters showing great heart. Wang also lost in five, but he too show great fighting spirit and had some flashs of brillance, his Kung Fu training showing through, and with some more training we are looking forward to big things from Wang. Alex was last up and he too lost in five rounds but showed that he has all the tools needed to compete here in Thailand and just needs to relax and believe in his ability. Again check out Alexs' second fight later in this report. After Lampang, we had a couple of weeks of concentrating on training before fights on the 22nd in Gawilla and the 24th on the island of Koh Samui. Solam was up again on the 22nd and Gareth Brady, from Knuckles Muay Thai in Oldham, was taking on a local Chiangmai lad on the same night. Gareth fought a good technical fight over five rounds and was unlucky to lose the desicion to small but tough opponent. Gareth will have a chance to atone for the lose later in January when he will have a rematch. Solam finally broke his losing streak of five fights, winning this one with a hard fought five round decision. He was given inspiration for the fight with news that he may be heading to England next year! Koh Samui was next up and we went down with four fighters, Roman Rounkle, from Spain, Kimberely Tomes, from New York, and Eddie De Nobrega and Clifton Brown, from Canada, for fights at a World Muay Thai Council Championship Promotion on Christmas Eve. Arriving on the island on the 21st allowed us to have a couple of training sessions at Stephan Foxes WMC Muay Thai Camp at Lamai Beach and a couple of days "playing in the waves". Koh Samui was the first place I learned Muay Thai eleven years ago, and though parts of the island had changed beyond recgonition it was good to visit again after all these years and to have a couple of days relaxing by the ocean. On the fight night Roman was first up and also having his first fight. After six weeks of hard training Roman fought a full five rounds against a local Koh Samui fighter who though less fit was much more experienced. Roman lost a close desicion of a tough fight. Next up was Kimberely, in her third fight going up against a local Thai girl who was having her first fight. Both fighters were well trained but from the start Kimberely held the advantage with some sharp punching and solid knees. In the third round Kimberely delivered a powerful knee to the stomach and was given the fight. Eddie was up next, fighting one of Koh Samuis' best fighters. Eddie lost the first two rounds but came back in the third and fourth but ultimately did not have enough left in the final round and lost on points. Last up for us was Clifton Brown, fighting another of Koh Samuis' best fighters. From the start Clifton was relaxed and flowing, hitting the target with almost every kick and punch thrown. In the second round after some hard exchanges, with elbows flying, Clifton let go a perfect uppercut, straight combination for a great KO. The final fight for the evening was a Championship bout between Fisal of Sudan, the holder of the WMC Super Middleweight Belt and challenger Paul Solinski of Australia. Paul Solinski won the title with a good example of hard hitting Muay Thai and rounded off an excellent evening of Muay Thai. The following day the fighters stayed on the island nursing their bruises and enjoying Christmas Day on the beach, and I was home in time for Christmas dinner at the Camp, two big turkeys and all the trimmings was enjoyed by everyone at the Camp. On the 28th we had a special fight night with Ajarn Sutchart and his student Alex Ricci both fighting at Gawilla Stadium. Ajarn Sutchart took on a very tough Burmese fighter in a "No Gloves" contest. The first round exploded from the bell, barefists were flying, some very hard hits being landed by both fighters. The Burmese fighter landed the first real telling blow on the chin of Ajarn Sutchart, resulting in an eight count, from which Sutchart recovered to finish the round. In the second more of the same explosive action from both fighters before Ajarn Sutchart was caught by a second punch and though he was quickly on his feet the referee, once again, erred on the side of caution and stopped the fight. Though only two rounds, the fight had raised the crowd from its seats for every second, with many hearts in mouth! Alex was the final fight of the evening and he gave his trainer and teacher, Ajarn Sutchart, a perfect answer to his loss, by winning by KO knee in the third round of a very good fight where Alex showed much improvement over his first fight earlier in the month. Alex will be staying with us over the next 6 mionths and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in the ring. The final fights for 2001 happened on the following night in a small town, Sangkangpang, just outside Chiangmai. We travelled with two of our young Thai lads and after a long night of 18 prior fights, JR, one of our fifteen year olds, finally had his turn when he fought out a tough five round battle, winning a good decision. The best was saved for last with Jin, at thirteen and only his fourth fight, showed once again his battling heart for three rounds before a beautifully placed punch, straight on the chin of his opponent sealed the last fight of the year for us with great a KO win. Our Overseas report this month comes from Argentina, where Make tells us that the first Argentina Muay Thai Championship Title was born. Though they had many problems with fighters they finally came out with two champions Mike Carpinacci, Middle Heavyweight Champion of Argentina and Hernan Rosenthal, Middleweight Champion of Argentina. We wish them both the best of luck in the future defending their titles and hope the New Year brings more success for Muay Thai in Argentina. Here in Chiangmai the weather has cooled considerably and the mornings are cold but the training continues as usual with Solam, Boon, who has returned from Bangkok, Sompong, JR, Jin, Gat, Yu, and Manat, along with Carla, Kimberely, Ninna, Gareth, Alex, Lee, and Wang all in training for their next fights. We have many opportunities coming up in 2002 and are looking forward to fights all around the world. Our first fight of 2002 will be Kem, fighting at Rajadamnern, on the 10th January. In the meantime, from all of us at Lanna/Kiat Busaba Muay Thai Camp, Good luck to everyone in the New Year, both in Muay Thai and in Life. May the New Year bring Peace to everyone......... Take Care.......Andy First though, to catch up with fights from back over a month ago. Solams' Northern Champions Lightweight title fight was a tough fight, as most of Solams fights are, and ended in a five round decision to the holder. Solam won the first three rounds but the Champion came back to win the last two with good control of the clinch and knees, dropping Solam to the floor once in the fourth and once in the fifth. It was a worthy win for the Champion and Solam will be back training soon. With his ranking in the North at #4, Solam will have a few months before he may try again for the Title. On the same night as Solams Title fight, JR had a fought against Nat McIntyre from Minnesota, who turned up with his Trainer, Greg Nelson of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, and a film crew who were there to capture Nats training and the fight for a TV program back home. JR won the fight but it was a hard fight with Nat showing good technique and strong leg kicks, JR was hurting the next day! Most of October was quiet until Sompong fought on the 20th at Gawilla Stadium. He fought against a former opponent who had beaten him in their previous meeting. This time though Sompong was a worthy winner of a five round decision. The next fights were on the 31st October, the "Loi Kratong" holidays in Thailand. This turned out to be a very tough day for us when we were on the losing end of three top quality fights. In the afternoon we gathered in the centre of Chiangmai at Thapae Gate where a large ring and seating had been erected with live TV coverage of the fights. First up was Eddie fighting against Lakang Nueng from Uttradit. Eddie was mostly ineffective in the first two rounds, but then in the third he started getting the upper hand in both the clinching and knees. The fourth was more of the same with Eddie causing real problems for his opponent. Just when it was looking as if Eddie was going to win Lakang came off the ropes landing a powerful elbow and with blood pouring from the cut the Doctor took one look and stopped the bout. It was a tough fight for Eddie to lose but happily the cut is healing well and Eddie is back at training. We had no time to catch our breath as next up was Solam, fighting against a big Moroccan, Hanine Khalid. This turned out to be a toe to toe fight of low kicks and power punching. Hanine had the upper hand for most of the fight with his extra weight proving tough for Solam to overcome. In the fifth Solam went for it with a relentless barrage of kicks and punches, but once again we were beaten by an elbow, when Hanine came off the ropes and landed a short elbow to Solams face knocking him out. Hanine and Solam were both awarded trophies for the best fight of the afternoon. Last up for us was Jamie (Kasper) Luengo, from Spain. He fought against Siyak from Uttradit. Though Jaime was outclassed by his opponent he fought with style and landed many good punches and elbows before going down in the third round to some very strong low leg kicks that drained the last of his energy. So our big afternoon of fighting ended in three losses, but they were very good exciting fights and everybody went home with a lesson learned. But that was not the end of the day for us as we had five more fights at a village fair in Hang Dong, just south of Chiangmai, that evening. First up in the evening fights was Yu, at nine years of age he was stepping into the ring for the second time against a local boy who was bigger and more experienced than him. Despite the showboating of the other boy Yu kept his cool and fought an excellent three rounds but lost a very close decision. Next up was Jin, having his fourth fight against a boy with fifteen fights and Jin pulled off the unexpected by winning with a KO punch in the third. Our first win of the day was much needed! Dan Fine, from South Africa, was next up for his third fight, against an old man and though Dan was obviously able to win this fight easily he played the game and made a good fight of it, trying out some of the technique he had been working on in training. Make, from Argentina, was up next. Make has visited and trained with us several times over the years but this was his first opportunity to fight in the ring and though he lost the fight in five rounds he was very happy with his performance and will be back again for more next year! Last fight of the day was Carla, from USA. She was entering the ring for her third fight and was up against a tough Thai girl who made up for a lack of height with some powerful low leg kicks. Carla fought hard but eventually lost a five round decision. So that was the 31st October, 2 wins and 6 losses, lots of lessons learned. "That's Boxing". We will be back again!! November started with young Gat fighting on the 3rd, his second time and losing when the referee called the fight in the third as Gat was too inexperienced to deal with his opponent. The next evening, at the same village fair, Manat, our newest fighter and at 12 years the youngest brother of Sompong, who I have mentioned earlier, and Chun, who is teaching Muay Thai in China now. Manat is a small lad, like his two brothers, but has the same fighting heart. He lost his first fight in five rounds against a bigger and better fighter but showed that he is going to be going places!! The main fight of the evening was Sompong fighting a rematch against an old opponent who Sompong has lost to once and more recently beaten. In this third meeting Sompong prove the stronger and smarter fighter and took home a five round decision and the trophy for best fight of the night. On the same evening but thousands of miles away in England, Den fought against a boxer from Scotland, winning in five rounds. Den said after the fight that he was glad to win as the other boxer had been very strong. Den has now been in England for three months and he is learning lots from Knuckles Muay Thai Gym on the different training styles between England and Thailand. With the cold weather settling into the UK now, Den is feeling the cold a lot. I shiver just thinking about it! But to help him keep warm, Den is now turning his attentions to his upcoming marriage to Sarah and I will post details later when they let us know their plans!! The following day, on TV, Kem fought at Rajadamnern Stadium. This time he took no chances and fought a very smart fight. Using his powerful punching and low kicks he KOed his opponent in the third round. Kem is getting close to the chance of a Champions fight and in the step towards that goal will be fighting on the 29th November, in the main fight of the night at Rajadamnern Stadium. I am hoping to be there in person to see it!! Our next fights are on the 23rd November and the 9th December. Ahmed was to have his first fight in four months on the 23rd but has now had to pull out to return home on a family emergency. We will be looking forward to his return in the new year. In the meantime there are several other fights slated but no details yet. After I wrote about the problems in some quarters of Muay Thai in the last Camp news edition, I had a response from one of our students in Canada and I would like to quote a portion of the email he sent as it puts so clearly into words the essence of Muay Thai. Jim M., Toronto "I knew exactly what you were talking about when you described the fiasco which has become karate. Having now spent 32 years in karate I am painfully aware of twisted politics, self serving and chest pounding of people who are respected as masters and yet behave like 'yellow belts with one solid tournament win under their belts'. The example has been set and there are now generations of karateka emulating their teachers - karate is doomed to degenerate further away from its basic truths as energy continues to be poured into the argument and not the practice. The very things which captured me the moment I saw Muay Thai was the simple purity, the absence of any selling features, and the stand alone proof that makes technique either effective or not - the practical application of it. The lack of belts, you must look around you to see who works out and who does not. Respect earned through teaching ability, and personal ethics, not power sold/conferred or demanded. I hope that Muay Thai trainers and promoters worldwide will learn from the errors of Karate instructors and work to protect the integrity of their art. I would encourage you to redouble your efforts to protect Muay Thai, this a fight most worth the effort." I do not think there is much more one can say, lets hope that the future of Muay Thai is bright and heading in the right direction. I will bring this report to a close with one last piece of news on the Cancer fight. I am very pleased to say that I am now 90% better and only the side affects of the radiation still linger in the form of a tender mouth and tongue, no spicy food in the land of spicy food!! I wish to thank all those people who continue to write with their kind words and blessing in the fight against Cancer and for Life. Best of Luck in Muay Thai Take Care.......Andy Here in Chiangmai life continues on with lots of fights to report on from the past month and a successful conclusion, we hope, to a very big fight against the big "C"! Also on the 30th September Solam will be fighting for the Northern Champions Lightweight Belt, the report on this fight will be in the next update. But first we start with Sompong, he fought at Gawilla Stadium on the 24th August against a very tough boxer from Isan, losing the fight in five rounds, but doing very well to go the five rounds and learning some good lessons. At the same time nine of our foreigners with our Trainer Taywin and Manager Pom, took off for Kazakhstan and the Open Kazakhstan Amateur Muay Thai Competition that was held in Amalty from the 25th to 31st August. Our fighters included Dan Fine from South Africa, Peter Aberdeen, from New Zealand, Joseph Grier, from Canada, Jamie Luengo, from Spain, Simon Corner and Joseph Hutton from the UK, and Jerry Anderson, Carla Fox, and Eric Storm from the USA. The competition hosted fighters from around the world with a very strong group of teams from the Central Asian region. All our fighters with the exception of Joseph Grier and Jamie Luengo were outclassed and lost their first round fights. Despite this, everybody gave their best and came home with some valuable lessons learned and a great experience. Joesph Grier fought a good fight against a Sudanese fighter who has been doing the rounds in Thailand against some of the better Thai fighters and Joey, though losing the fight, should have won and we are looking forward to getting a rematch for Joey here in Thailand. The surprise of the competition for us was Jamie, he won his first round fight against a fighter from Ukraine and then took on an Australian Champion and went the full distance only to lose on points. Considering that Jaime had not fought in a Muay Thai fight prior to going to Kazakhstan he showed great presence of mind and good technique in his fights and will be continuing his training and fighting here in Thailand for several more months, look out for reports on his fights later this year. After returning from Kazakhstan Joseph Grier stayed on in Bangkok and joined a team of eight Thai Fighters going to China to take on the best of Chinas' Kung Fu Fighters. Joey atoned for his loss in Kazakhstan by being one of only three winners in a very difficult competition where the rules were changed drastically from the usual Muay Thai rules. Meanwhile our Thai Lads who are in Bangkok, have been fighting some tough battles. Seemok after losing twice at Rajadamnern Stadium won his most recent fight, which was televised on the 29th August, with a hard earned points decision. Boon has also had a couple of fights over the past month and has lost both, the fights being stopped due to cuts. Boon is continuing to stay on in Bangkok and will be fighting again in October. Kem after a long wait finally got his first fight in Bangkok, at the Mall, and won by fourth round KO. His next fight came on the 17th September, when he fought at Rajadamnern on a televised promotion. This fight had us all on the edges of our seats here in Chiangmai as Kem was up against a seasoned Bangkok fighter. Kem had won the fight by the fourth round having completely dominated with brillant combinations of low kicks and punching power that had his opponent on the run for most of the fight, then in the fifth round with nothing to lose his oppenent took the fight to a surprised Kem, delivering two devestating elbows to Kems right eyebrow opening a nasty cut. Kem had to fight with all his heart to hang on for the win. Kem will be fighting again next month and everyone is looking forward to the fight as he will be taking on one of the top fighters out of Rajadamnern Stadium. Back here in Chiangmai, Nico, from Denmark took on his first fight since returning to Chiangmai in July, his fourth fight overall, on the 31st August and won by a KO knee in the second round. On the 7th September, Jin, one of our younger fighters had his second fight, and as in his first fight, he had to dig deep in his heart to fight off a more experienced boxer to win in five rounds. On the same night JR, fought and won in five rounds, this was one of the elimination fights for JR in his bid to fight for a Belt. And the third fighter that night was Dan Fine, from South Africa, fresh from the fights in Kazakhstan, he took on a local Thai fighter who has beaten a few of our foreigners in the past to record a five round win, his powerful kicks making the difference in a close fought encounter. Just last weekend (21st) Nico had his second fight this visit, fighting against a shorter, but very strong opponent. The fight was stopped in the third round after Nico received a knee to the groin and was unable to continue, the dangers of fighting someone shorter! Nico was otherwise unhurt and is back in training already in preparation for his next fight in October. Also on this same night, Jin had his third fight and though he was fighting against a bigger and more experienced opponent he once again showed that indomitable spirit and never say die attitude of the Thai fighter and despite losing due to a cut above the eye in the fifth round Jin is ready and waiting for his next fight! Some news now from our fighters overseas. Shannon Forrester, an Australian fighter who stayed and trained with us in August returned to Australia take on two fights, one Muay Thai fight, which he won and then a twelve round kick boxing fight which he lost, through lack of fitness. Shannon has now returned to Thailand and after a few days with us he headed for the WMTC Camp on Koh Samui to meet up and train with some of his mates from Australia. From New Zealand comes news of Rex Redden, he is continuing his winning ways with a tough five round win over Australian Soren King last month and then more recently he took on a full contact Kung Fu fighter that he found very awkward to fight against, but using the knees to slow him down Rex KOed him in the third with a left hook. Keep up the good work Rex and we look forward to seeing you next year. Sean Seagrave from New York travelled to Kanas city to take part in an IKF Amatuer National Tournament. Sean fought well through to the finals where he won and became the "2001 IFK Amatuer National Muay Thai Middleweight Champion". Sean has now arrived in Chiangmai for a few weeks training in preparation to defend his belt. Rochelle Turner, from England, on her way to train with us for her third visit in three years, stop off in Bangkok for a week, training at Jittys' Gym, off Kosan Road, and she took on her second Muay Thai fight against a Thai girl who had had fifteen fights. She had a tough fight, getting a fat lip and bruised shins on her way to well earned draw! Rochelle is also now with us here in Chiangmai training hard and may be taking on her third fight soon. Our last news from overseas comes from England where Den and Doi are currently staying with Mike Duffy, Knuckles Muay Thai, in Oldham Manchester. They are both working hard conducting Training Seminars with Mike and seeing some of the country at the same time, travelling to London, Birmingham, and Glasgow to teach. Den also fought this past weekend against a British Champion, Maurice Riley, and although giving away three kilos, Den fought a tough fight against a fighter who relied on his better boxing skills to win by desicion after five rounds. Den has done us proud despite losing and will be staying on in England to continue teaching for a couple more months. This trip to England has been the culmination of a dream of mine from many years ago, that I would be able, one day, to give my fighters and trainers a chance to travel and see the world, at the same time as giving a chance to those who will not have the opportunity to travel to Thailand to train with a Thai Trainer. A lot of work on both Mikes' and my part went into this trip and as we had tried to arrange this trip two years earlier but then had to cancel at the last moment due to a loss of venue for the fights, we were both anxious that this time things would go without a problem. And so everything was until the small matter of some people in the UK who are letting Muay Thai down very badly. Barely veiled threats were posted on the Internet that our Fighter and Trainer would not be allowed to go to the UK unless we went through their organisation, which happens to be an organisation which we work with regularly here in Thailand and with whom we had no problem concerning the trip to the UK, but the people in the UK, even after we had been given the clearance by the authorities here, continued in their threatening ways and seemed to be doing everything they could to make life as difficult as possible for Mike to stage his promotion and conduct the Training Seminars. I will say this, without mentioning names, as those of you out there know who you are and not one of you has had the balls to talk with me here in Thailand. Yes, we do need to have a world governing body to ensure that the rules of the fight are the same regardless of where the fight takes place and that the safety and well being of all the fighters involved is being taken care of. But do you really think that for one moment I would allow any of my Fighters or Trainers to go to a foreign country to teach and fight for someone who was not already known and trusted. Sadly, it seems what we have is a group of power hungry, greedy people, who charge over the top fees for fighters , trainers, referees and even for sanctioning fights. If you think for a moment that either Mike and I are making much money out of this venture think again. This is not about making money (And yes of course I hope to make something, at least to cover the costs! If you want to ask me I will gladly tell you exactly how much once they have returned and I work out all the finances.) but rather about promoting Muay Thai and Thailand, showing the world one of the best fighting arts there is, and about showing the world the heart and the respect that is Muay Thai. In the meantime consider who it is who ultimately will lose because of all the difficulties you place in the way of Mike or any others who wish to promote the same as Mike, it is the ordinary people who want to see a Thai fight, it is those in the many gyms around the UK who wish to train with a Thai trainer but cannot because of the prohibitive costs, it is those same trainers and fighters who have a chance to earn a decent wage, by Thai standards, for once in their Muay Thai careers. These are the people who lose. If you have a Champion from Lumpinee or Rajadamnern Stadium then by all means charge the earth, you will no doubt have big sponsors etc. so go for it, but in the meantime let the rest of us get on with what we truly love and what is our lives, the sharing and teaching of Muay Thai to all those who wish to learn, without charging a fortune to do so. One last thing to consider in all this, leave the politics to the politicians, do not let Muay Thai degenerate into the fiasco that is now TaeKwonDo, Karate, or KungFu with all the different groups claimimng to be the best, the only one etc. Your attitude in England will, and is, driving people away from you rather than bringing people together. Muay Thai is Muay Thai regardless of whether it is in England, US, Australia, wherever, the rules may vary but the true essence and heart of the sport should remain above the bickering of the politicians. I will now apologies to all of you who do not know what I am going on about, but I felt that I had to say this and hope that maybe we will improve the lot of all people who wish to experience the "Art of Muay Thai". Now on to something that is even closer to my heart at the moment, my fight against Cancer. The reason this update has been delayed is that I had a bad time for a few weeks with the side effects of the Radiation Treatment. Ironically it became particularly bad as the treatment ended leaving me with a serious blood infection and unable to do much for the past couple of weeks. But I am now very happy to say that all the problems have passed and I am now on the road to recovery and full fitness once again. I have to return for a full check up, in about a month, once my mouth has completely healed from the effects of the radiation, but everything is looking good to the point that I may have my life back again with no sign of the cancer. I have been extremely lucky in my fight against Cancer, with having caught the disease in time and successfully having it treated and ultimately the price for having my life back has been small and compared to what others must endure, I am continuing to count my blessings. So this update now ends on both a positive note from a personal point of view and an anxious note, in the hope that we are not seeing the start of a war which is going to turn our world upside down. May all the people who are in the position of power make the right desicions regarding all of our lives and bring peace to this world of ours. I have lived in many different places in the world, with many different religions, and there is one simple truth in this life of ours, people are the same the world over, no matter colour, race or religion. Overwhelmingly what people want is to live their lives in Peace. Take Care All..........Andy First though on the fight front, Eric Wu, from Toronto, Canada and JR, on of our Thai lads fought at the Barbeer Centre on Friday 3rd August. Though the Barbeer centre is usually just for the tourists on this night it was a proper Muay Thai fight night. In the ring first for us was JR, he was up against Nang from Lampang, in what was to be the third fight between the two of them, and as Jr had won the previous two, Nang was determined to change the result this time round. The first two rounds started fast and furious with Nang holding the upper hand putting JR down twice in the second round with powerful low kicks, a measure of revenge from their previous fight where JR won through low kicks. But in the third and fourth rounds JR turned on the style and was able to cleanly throw Nang to the floor from the clinch, delivered the sharper kicks and knees, as well as getting an eight count from a hard right hook. Nang came back in the fifth and scored well with knees to make the fight very close, both camps thinking they had won but the decision went to JR to make it three wins against Nang. Two fights later it was Erics' turn. Eric who trains out of Siam #1 Gym, under Ajarn Suchart, in Toronto had had three fights previously in Canada but was entering the ring in Thailand for the first time. Though he out weighed his opponent by about 5 pounds the Thai lad had very strong leg kicks and a sharp pair of hands. He was able to put Eric on the floor a couple of times in the first and second rounds while avoiding several punches to the head himself. In the third Eric began to find his range and landed a few good kicks to the mid section following up with good clean punches which rocked his opponent. The fourth had much of the same until Eric landed a hard knee to the mid section and the referee stepped in to halt the fight. Eric took a well deserved win and though he had little memory of the fight afterwards it was there for him to view on the video the next day. Chun, one of our older fighters, who now concentrates more on his studies at college than his fighting, took on a fight in Lamphun, a town just south of Chiangmai on a weeks notice. He was up against a much taller opponent call Pattin, from Lampang. Chun did very well in the first three rounds keeping his opponent at bay with his shifting side kick that he has perfected over the years but in the last two rounds his lack of regular training took its toll and he was unable to maintain the momentum of the earlier rounds losing to a decision after five rounds. Chuns' fighting days are now basically over but he has just received an offer to go to the city of Guangzhou in China to work as a Muay Thai Trainer for the next six months. He will leaving us in the next few weeks and though we will miss him very much this is an excellent opportunity for him and we all wish him the best of luck. The last fight for this report was on Friday 10th August. One of our new lads Jin, a 14 year old, who joined us about 2 months ago was entering the ring for his first fight and what a fight it turn out to be. Jins opponent had had only two fights but was at least half a head taller and after the first two rounds it looked like Jin was going to lose as the taller lad, though taking some good punches from Jin, was landing plenty of telling knees with his long legs and Jin seemed to be wilting fast. But in the third Jin dug deep as his opponent began to tire and with all of us from the camp shouting our lungs out, was able to regain some control. Though both lads were tired and running on pure heart in the fourth round Jin landed a strong straight to the solar plexus that shook his opponent and another minute later landed another straight punch but this time to the jaw and followed through with a knee and that was it, Jin the winner by KO. We all had shouted ourselves hoarse but there were smiles all round and Jins father was very happy. Jin himself was fine with only a sore chest from all the knees but after a few days off he was back at training today. News now of upcoming fights. Both Seemok and Boon who are still in Bangkok will now be fighting at Ratchajdamnern Stadium on the 30th of August. This is a definite now, barring any injury, after having had earlier fights cancelled twice. Seemok returned to Chiangmai for a short visit just recently and said that both Boon and Kem were training hard in Bangkok but they missed home very much. The big news of the month for our foreigners is an Amateur Muay Thai Competition in Kazakhstan. It is all being laid on for the fighters from Bangkok to Kazakhstan and back again. We are sending 10 fighters from all over the world to compete in this competition: Dan Fine, South Africa Peter Aberdeen, New Zealand Joseph Grier, Canada Ahmed Ait, Morroco Jamie Luengo, Spain Simon Corner, UK Jerry Anderson, USA Carla Fox, USA Joe Hutton, UK Eric Storm, USA Some of these competitors have had several fights before but many are going to compete for the first time, but training has been good and hard and they are all ready, willing and looking forward to the trip. Pom and Taywin will be accompanying them as Manager and Trainer and they will be joining up and travelling with many other fighters from camps around Thailand as well as fighters coming in from Korea and Singapore. It should be an interesting trip with the chance to see a rarely visited part of the world. Our top foreigner, Eddie De Nobrega from Canada, is missing out on the Kazakhstan fights due to a commitment to fight on a major promotion here in the North on the 5th September during the Lamyai Festival in Lamphun. It will be a big fight for Eddie and a welcome return to the ring after a long lay off. And Joey Grier will be heading directly to China after his return from Kazakhstan to take part in a tournament of Kung Fu vs Muay Thai. The Chinese are begining to show a lot of interest in Muay Thai and we will be looking forward to hearing all about this competition. News from overseas this time comes from Chris White in Perth. After he had waited for weeks to get fights he has suddenly been offer three in quick succession, one being in Japan. Unfortunately he had to turn down the Japan fight due to his earlier commitment and he will now be fighting on the 25th August against a fighter from New Zealand and then will be taking on a Thai fighter on the 8th September. Chris has got his work cut out for himself now and he is looking forward to both fights. The best of luck Chris and we look forward to hearing all the news. In addition to Chun going to China to teach, Doi, one of our senior Trainers and Den, one of our older fighters have been invited to England by Mike Duffy of Knuckles Muay Thai in Oldham, Grt. Manchester. Mike has been, with some of his students, to train with us in the past and has enjoyed the training of Doi so much that due to popular demand has asked if Doi would come and spend a month in England. At the same time Den will be fighting on Mikes' promotion on the 22nd September. He will be up against Maurice Riley, a Britsh fighter who holds several titles in England. Den will also be conducting some training seminars after he has fought. Both den and Doi are looking forward to their visit to England and for me it is one more of my dreams come true, to be able to give the opportunity to my Trainers and boxers to see the part of the world where I come from. Some other bits of news now, the mountain run record has been broken, sorry Dave, your record stood for only five weeks before Ahmed came back from his holiday to Phuket and ran the mountain in an astonishing time of 31:55 cutting more than a minute from the record. Ahmed reckons he can still improve on this time too! We now have some competition in the form of a new Muay Thai Camp opened just down the road from us. Derry McCourt, a friend of mine and one of the first people to come and train with us at Lanna Muay Thai camp eight years ago has opened up "Chiangmai Olympia". Derry is an excellent Tae Kwon Doist and has trained periodical with us over the years, having fought a few times here in Chiangmai and has now finally followed up on a dream of his to open a Muay Thai Camp. He has many years of hard work ahead to build up his Thai team but we are looking forward to the competition we will have from his larger foreigners. Good luck Derry, with your Gym, see you in the ring!!! Finally the last word for this report is again about the big C. I would like to thank all those who have continued to wish me well in my fight against this disease. I am now in my second week of Radiation Treatment, I attend the hosiptal, as an outpatient, on a daily basis to receive the treatment and so far the side affects are very tender lower gums, inner cheeks and tongue, it makes eating a delicate affair and absolutely nothing hot or spicy. And just to complicate things I have come down with Tonsilitis but it is not affecting the training too much and I am still working all the fighters at the Camp hard, just cannot call out the rounds to loud!!!! But there are many ways of teaching and I am finding new methods as I adjust to all these small things that come along to test ones' determination. As all trainers and teachers should do, I continue to learn and grow with every new situation or obstacle that is placed in my path. Our students, old and new, also continue to be part of the learning curve with everyone having something, no matter how small, to offer in the big picture of life and Muay Thai. One should never stop learning, it is one of the great pleasures of life. Until next time all the best to everyone in their training, whether for fighting or for life, stay true......Andy First though back on the 9th July, on a rainy night in Hang Dong, a small village just south of Chiangmai, Sompong and JR, our two fifteen year olds took on opponents from Lampang and Sankanpeng. The ring had a tarpaulin strung over it and most of the audience were under umbrellas as a steady drizzle fell all evening. Sompong was first up and he had his work cut out for him as his opponent was half a head taller and 2 kg heavier. The first two rounds were fairly even but in the third Sompong turned on the technique and outclassed his opponent so much so that though he took some heavy blows in the last two rounds he won the fight by decision on the strength of that third round. JR followed immediately after Sompong and had an almost identical fight, with the first two rounds being equal and then in the third round produced some excellent combinations of kicks, punches, and knees to totally dominate his opponent and gain a decision at the end of five rounds. The next fight night was on Friday the 13th, unlucky for some, but in our case a very good night! Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai was the venue and Leroy Beck, one of Nico Henriksens' students from Kung Fu Toa in Arhus, Denmark took on his first fight in Thailand against Yutapoom, a tall lanky Thai fighter who last fought against Joey Grier back in June. The match up was very good and with a large contingent of Danes in the audience there was plenty support for both fighters. From the first bell the fight was all action with Leroy using low kicks and punches to great effect and Yutapoom delivering hard accurate knees every time Leroy got in too close. In the third round Leroy landed two powerful elbows but Yutapoom weathered the storm and came back with more strong knees and he controlled the clinch very effectively, not allowing Leroy to use his best weapons, his knees. At the end of five rounds the fight could have gone either way but the judges gave Leroy the decision, much to the delight of Leroy and the Danes in the crowd. Our next confirmed fights are on the 3th August with Sompong fighting in Lamphun and JR fighting at Gawilla Stadium here in Chiangmai on the 10th August. Boon and Seemok, who are both training in Bangkok have fights at Rajchadamnern stadium on the 26th July and the 6th August respectively. We are looking forward to seeing these fights on television and both Lads are looking to improve on the losses they had last month in Bangkok. Later on in August, exact date still to be confirmed, both Samatha and Carla will be fighting on an all women fight card in Bangkok, more on this one later. The overseas news this time comes from Mak in Argentina. Mak works with Mike who teaches Muay Thai at three gyms in Buenos Aries, at Acassusso, Belgrano, and Palmero. Both Mak and Mike have visited us several times over the last few years and they have taken the Lanna Muay Thai name and techniques to Argentina and been very successful both in their training and in the ring. On the 14th July they had two Muay Thai fighters taking part in a large Kickboxing and Muay Thai Promotion. Lucas Garcia, trained by Mike and Mak, fought Francisco Mendez in the 71 kg weight catagory. Lucas won the bout with strong clinch work and powerful low kicks. Mikes' second fighter Maximiliano Villanueva fought against Paul Marlfort in the 74 kg weight catagory. Although Paul won by TKO with a great kick to the head Maximiliano showed great courage and heart and will be back again soon. If you would like to know more about Mike and Mak in Argentina check their web site <www.muaythaiargentina.com>. In the meantime, Mak and Mike, we will look forward to hearing more from Argentina, Good luck to you both! In another piece of news from overseas, a part of Lanna Muay Thai/Kiat Busaba has gone to North Eastern England. Our camp Mong Khon, now very old and worn, has gone, along with a pair of old Pratchia which belonged to Chun, to be used in a display at the Seaham Carnival, Co Durham and in the long term, to find a home in the Oriental Museum at Durham University. Bill Griffiths had contacted me expressing an interest in an original Mong Khon from our camp and by pure coincidence a week or so later our head trainer decided it was time to retire the old Mong Khon we were had been using over the past five years. This is a very fitting end to a Mong Khon which has seen many fights and even a couple of champions belts! Many thanks Bill for the timely email! Some training news now, a new record has been set for our weekly Mountain run! Dave Tew from England, on his last run up the mountain before returning to the UK after 3 months with us, set a time of 32 minutes 58 seconds from the gates of the Institute of Technology to the view point finish, 6.5 km up the mountain. It is a tough run as many will testify and Daves' achievement looks set to stand for a quite while yet! Zane, you will have to come back and put these youngsters in their place! And Ahmed will be making a run at this record when he returns from his holiday in Phuket next month! Continuing with training news, we will be soon offering certification to those students who are interested in earning a Certificate of Achievement for their time here at our camp. These certificates will be issued in conjunction with the Northern Muay Thai Association, who will be setting the standards. A Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Certificate will be offered to all who train with us and a special Fighters Certificate will be offered to those who have fought here. Instructors Certification will also be available but only upon meeting of a very strict criteria. We are still working on the details of this program but within two months will have all the details worked out and will post the relevant information on the website. Do not expect to see courses being offered as this is contray to the way Muay Thai should be taught, it is an individual sport that allows each person to develop and advance at their own pace and certification will be done in the same manner, on an individual basis. Finally news of my fight with the big C. I have still not started the radiation treatment as I had to have an impacted tooth removed and am now waiting for this to heal before treatment can begin. In the meantime I am continuing to grow stronger each day, my weight has leveled off at 75-76 kg, a good ten kilo under what it was before but probably a good indication of what my real weight should be and the strength and mobility of my left shoulder is almost back to normal. I have picked up the kick pads again in the mornings and the focus mitts in the afternoons, though I do not train quite as many people each day as before, I am getting there slowly but surely! To be honest I am now feeling as good as I have ever done in my life and much of it has to do with the fact that I feel I am being given a second chance at life and being lucky enough to be doing something I love on a full time basis there really is nothing to complain about. I still have some trepidation about the Radiation Treatment but my Radiologist thinks that aside from some possible pain during each treatment and a very dry mouth over the next five to six weeks of the course I should be able to get on with my life as normal and most importantly to kill off any lingering cancer cells. I continue to look at this whole episode of my life as a "blessing in disguise" and count myself lucky that I have been able to beat this disease without much of the difficulty and pain that so many others have had to or are now enduring in their fights with the big C. I wish all the luck and strength in the world to those people who have not been as lucky as myself. Stay positive, no matter what assails you in life, a positive attitude will help you gather strength and resiliance to fight off even the worst enemy. Take Care, Good Luck........Andy As the fight schedule here in Chiangmai has slowed considerably we will start to bring reports of some of our former fighters and students who have return home to continue their Muay Thai careers in their own countries. But first our lastest fights here in Thailand were held in Phayoa, a town about three hours drive northeast of Chiangmai. A large school auditorium was the venue and the large crowd was noisy and expectant as there were several top level fights on the Card. First though we had Carla Fox from Ohio, USA, going for her first fight in Thailand. Though she was a good head taller than her opponent they both weighed in the same at 59kg. Carlas' long reach, both with her arms and legs, made it difficult for her opponent to score in the first two rounds, but by the third she seemed to have found her range and got in with some powerful low kicks and tied up Carla in the clinch. Carla though maintained her composure and came through a winner by desicion after five rounds. It was an excellent start to Carlas' fight career here in Thailand and look out for more on her as she will be here for another year. One of the main fights of the evening was between a local Phayao fighter and Boon, one of our more experienced fighters. Boon had recently returned from Bangkok where he had fought a hard five rounder which he lost and he had not completely recovered his fitness when he took on this fight and as a result was unable to find his rhythm or range and lost again in another hard fought five rounder. Luckily he was unhurt, other than his pride, as he felt he was the better fighter and was disappointed by the loss. The home town crowd was delighted with the result though!! The next fights coming up are in Jomtong, just south of Chiangmai, where JR and Sompong, our two fifteen year old lads, will be fighting on the 9th July. In the meantime I took Seemok, Kem, and Boon to the bus station last night and saw them off to Bangkok where they will be staying and training at Seemoks' second home, Sitmonchai Camp in Kanchanaburi. Seemok has already spent several years training and fighting in Bangkok and Boon has had one extended stay there with the one fight, a loss, that I mention earlier and for Kem this is his first taste of the rigours of a Bangkok camp and the Bangkok fight scene. We are all eagerly awaiting news about how Kem gets on in his training, those of you who know him, will also be like the rest of us in wondering just how long he will survive the training! Regardless, it should do him a lot of good and may be his chance to break into the big time. I have recently started to receive news from overseas of people who have stayed and trained with us here before and it seems that they are all having a good chance to try out the skills that they have learned from their training with us. The first report comes from Rex Redden, of New Zealand, he stayed and fought for us four times in his three month stay and then went home to take on a tough Japanese fighter who fights on the Australian Pro Curcuit. Rex won every round and demolished his opponent by the end of the fight. In doing so he has attracted a lot of attention from promoters in Australia and to quote one of the fight magazines in Australia "Look out Daniel Dawson as Rex Redden is here to fight!" Rex, we are looking forward to hearing more of your exploits in the ring, Good luck! Next to write me was Chris "Kiat Busaba" White, from Perth. Chris spent over six months with us at the end of last year, his third visit to our Camp, having six fights in his latest stay with us. He went home ready to try out his improved skills in the ring in Perth but has had to wait a long time to finally get a match up and in doing so he had to give away several kilos(58kg vs 64kg). He fought a good fight and was the better fighter skill wise but the weight advantage proved to much when he was Ko'd in the fourth round. Chris was happy with the fight though as he managed to clear some of the cobwebs away after his long absence from the ring and is looking forward to his next fight in about 4 weeks from now and against an opponent of his own weight. Good Luck Chris! We look forward to hearing all about the fight. Now the next report is a special one coming from New York. Kimberly Tomes was with us for just over a month and trained hard improving on her already good technique she brought with her from Phil Nurses' Gym. Kimberely was entering the ring for her second fight in New York and right from the bell she used a low kick to put her opponent on the floor. Although her opponent was throwing lots of punches and kicks, Kimberly continued to use her low kick to great effect and when in the clinch out knee'd her opponent to win the fight by decision. We are all very proud of your win Kimberly, especially Eddie, he was talking about it to everyone who would listen to him after we received the news. Keep up the good work and we eagerly await your next fight. I also received news today from Chris Kew in Toronto, Canada. He had fought here earlier in the year at the World Amatuer Muay Thai Championships after training with us prior to the tournament. We had not heard anything from him for months, but I am happy to say that he is alive and kicking and training hard in preparation for fights coming up at home. Though he has had his last two scheduled fights cancelled at the last minute he is still in training waiting for his next fight and is already looking forward to a return visit to our camp in October. You will get your fight at Gawilla Stadium this time Chris! In the meantime my own fight against the cancer has taken a turn for the better. Today I had the stitches removed from my tongue after having had to have them restitched several times over the past ten days, once when uncontrolled bleeding occured after a couple of the stitches came out. It was a very scary time and required that I stay in hospital for second time and, as it occured at night, I was taken to one of the largest hospitals in Chiangmai and admitted to a general cancer ward for the night and following morning until the stitches could be redone. That brief stay in the general ward was one of the most disturbing things that has ever happened to me, to see wards designed for six beds holding eight and the corridors three deep with extra cots in some places brought home to me just how serious my condition was and also just how lucky I was to be able to afford the private room I was to stay in the for the second night. Following my discharge the next day I started on the road to recovery from the surgery, my morning walks with Tem and Bum, my two dogs, up the mountain each morning getting easier each day and the excellent food prepared by Pom, all of it had to be liquidized and yet she still managed to turn out some delicious mush!, helped speed the healing process both on the huge u-shaped scar on the left side of my neck and on my rebuilt tongue. On top of all this my former company in Saudi, BJ Services, came through with my health insurance, easing one of the burdens that I was faced with. The support from all my workmates and bosses in Saudi has been overwhelming and their prayers for my recovery is appreciated beyond words. I do not miss my job, but I most certainly miss all of you that I worked with in Saudi, and I hope to see some of you here in Chiangmai in the near future. And so the news continues to get better with the results of the post surgery report showing that the cancer has not spread to my lymph nodes, just about the best news one could have and I had to suppress the urge to shout with joy! The next step now is Radiation Treatment, which I will probably start on next week. If I am lucky it will be as an outpatient, something I am desperately hoping for as hospitals make me feel so depressed no matter if you have a private room or not! And not mention that even though I have not been able to attend the training sessions at the camp, due to the fact that I could not talk too much, and have had a lot of extra time as a result, I have been kept busy everyday answering emails, sending equipment overseas and catching up with updates for our website, so much needs doing that I never seem to have enough time even without attending the camp. Once again I wish to thank all those who have been so supportive of me, even when they have been on the otherside of the world, or as in the case of my sister who dropped everything on a moments notice to come to my side for the surgery and to the people who have recently left our camp to continue their travels or return home and their letters of appreciation for all that they got from our camp. Without all this support my life and my battle against this cancer would have been infinitely harder. My heartfelt thanks to all and may the prayers continue as I enter what I hope will be the last stage in this particular fight against this terrible disease which is affecting so many people these days. In my next Camp news report I will let you all know how all our fights are going. And as my friend Chris Kew said "Life is but a boxing ring, and the boxing ring is but a reflection of life." To win in life, as in the ring, hard work, a postive attitude and a good heart will take you all the way to where you are going. Take Care All.......Andy The main fight of the evening was Eddies' WMTC Jr. Middleweight Title fight but first up of the evening was Kem, unfortunately he had an easy fight and in the end his opponent was unable to deal with Kems superior technique and devastating power and although the fight went the five rounds Kem jumped out of the ring ready to have another fight! His opponent was bruised & battered from head to toe and this was even with Kem backing off and taking it easy! Next up was Ahmed, who after an extended lay off due to injury was raring to go for his fifth fight and he pulled off a lovely win running rings around his Thai opponent who already had eleven fights under his belt. The fight was stopped in the middle of the third round after Ahmed sent his opponent crashing to the floor for the fourth time with a low leg kick that dropped him awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder. Ahmed showed great improvement from his last fight despite the long lay off and lack of recent ring time and we are all eagerly awaiting his next match up. Sam was next up and she took on Kaen Pau of Saktean Gym. From the outset of the fight it was immediately clear that Sam was up against a far superior fighter and though Sam did not let up for the whole fight always moving in and pushing opponent she was unable to deal with the excellent counter punching and kicking of Kaen Pau, who won the fight on a majority decision. Sam took the loss hard but once she had sat down and reviewed the video of the fight she agreed that though she lost she had still shown improvement over her previous fight and targeted areas to work on before her next match up. The Main event came after three more fights and Eddie stepped in the ring for his tenth fight and with an impressive 8-0-1 record, the 1 draw being in his fifth fight when he went to Australia and took on an Australian Champion for an Oceanic Title, and we were all hoping he was going to pull off another amazing win. But this time things were not to go his way so easily. His opponent was Mod X, of Sipolek Gym in Pattaya, who is a former Isan and Lumpinee Champion who had come out of semi retirement for this fight. The first round proved to be one of the toughest and hardest rounds Eddie had ever experienced, he was on the receiving end of more than seven vicious elbows that Mod X seemed to be able to land with amazing speed and power, one of which nearly took Eddie out for the count but he hung on and survived the onslaught. The second and third rounds were much of the same as Mod X tied up Eddie at every turn and seemed to anticipate each move Eddie tried and for once even Eddies' usually deadly knees proved ineffective. In the fourth and fifth rounds ModX tired somewhat allowing Eddie a bit more movement and chance to try a few different moves and though Eddie was still losing he pushed on right to the bitter end taking another vicious elbow for his troubles just before the final bell. Eddie was obviously very disappointed with his performance, berating himself afterwards for his lack of being able to put together any decent combinations, but the same as with Sam, he admitted after watching the video of the fight that he had been simply outclassed by a far better and much more experienced fighter and that he had lots more to learn and many more hours of hard work ahead of himself to bring himself up to the standard he will need to be to take the best in Thailand. He is now fully recovered and back in training and we will be, as always, eagerly awaiting his next fight. The last fight of the evening was Solam in a rematch against Pan Luang of Kiat Chanat Gym, who Solam had beaten in a hard fought match during our last visit to Pattaya in early April. On this night though Pan Luang proved to be too much for Solam to deal with, showing good style and clean technique in taking a unanimous five round decision in revenge for the earlier loss. There will be another rematch, the best of three, between these two which promises to be a good fight if Solam has anything to say about it! So all in all Pattaya proved to be a tough fight night for us with the two wins and three losses sending us back up to Chiangmai with lots to think about and work on. We will be going back again, possibly as early as next month and I will let you know the details once all is arranged once again. When we returned to Chiangmai after the Pattaya fights I had to start my own fight, (the reason for the delay in this report) only this time instead of being in the ring, it is the fight of my life as I have been diagnosed with Cancer and I needed to enter hospital for surgery. I had delayed this inevitable meeting with the surgeons knife to see the Pattaya fights through but there was no putting it off any longer and within two days of being back in Chiangmai I was in hospital. I ended up being there for one week, having half my tongue cut away and my neck cut open and then the tongue rebuilt again. The many years of living, loving and training in Muay Thai that I have done were suddenly to prove to be one of the best things I could have had in my life to help me deal with this terrible disease. It has given me the strength of body and mind to stay strong and focused throughout the ordeal so far. The support of my extended family within the Muay Thai world and from my friends at my previous job and of course my sister and mother has been overwhelming and something I do not think I could have done without. It goes to prove something that I have always said about Muay Thai, life in all its trials, tribulations, triumphs, and disasters can be seen and reflected in the life that Muay Thai is to those who live it everyday of their lives. To reach ones dreams and goals in life, whether fighting for a world title, fighting for your beliefs, or fighting for your life, requires an extraordinary amount of self discipline and hard work as well as the support of all those around you. I will not dwell on this subject too much more but will keep you updated on my progress as I continue the fight against this cancer. In the meantime while I was laid up in the hospital with IV drips, needles and drain tubes stuck into me the Camp continued its daily work and JR, one of our younger Thai lads and Joey, from Canada, both had fights on the night of the 22nd. As they were in different locations, out in countryside villages south of Chiangmai, the video camera could only go with one fighter and the next day I was able to watch Joey in his third fight win by a third round KO with knees against Yutapoom, a tall lanky Thai fighter, who has fought, at one time or another, against all of our foreign fighters over 65 kg. Joeys fight was very good as he showed vast improvement in the control of his technique, though he still droppped his guard too much, claiming he could hear me telling him to get his guard up from my hospital bed. Joey is going to be around for a long time yet so look out for more on him. JR was also victorious on the night winning an easy five round decision though he had to wait until nearly 2am before he entered the ring. And finally for those of you who know him, Nico is back from Denmark and the Kung Fu Toa Gym of Mohammed F. Tehrani in Arhus. We have had a long association with Kung Fu Toa going there before both to conduct Training Seminars and provide fighters from Thailand for Mohammads' Promotions. Nico has brought seven of his fighters with him for training with us and though most of his Lads will only be staying for one or two months Nico will be staying for the next year to improve his own fighting skills and develop his knowledge as a Trainer. Well this has been a long report this time and at the moment we do not have any fights confirmed for the future as we are heading into the monsoon season, traditionally the quiet time for fights as most of our venues are outdoors. As soon as we have some news I will give you another update. In the meantime, never give up, never quit! Good Luck To All In Muay Thai Best Regards Andy The ring was set up in a small orchard and the crowd, loud and enthusiastic, were packed around the ring. Masa was first up and facing a tough, young and relatively new fighter. Unfortunately Masa had no answer to the hand speed of the younger fighter and went down in the 3rd round from a hard right hook, took a standing eight count and then was finished off by a knee to the stomach. The fight was loudly cheered as Masa showed good fighting spirit and the crowd applauded in appreciation when he gave a traditional Japanese bow before leaving the ring. The following evening we were at Mae Jo University on the outskirts of Chiangmai with JR, one of our young Thai lads, Sam, from New Zealand, and Jono, from England, all taking part. The ring, this time, was set up inside a huge auditorium and although there was a large crowd for the evenings fights it seemed dwarfed inside the large hall. There were several preliminary fights with some of the local youngsters showing their skills before JR took to the ring. He was facing a shorter but very strong opponent and neither boxer wasted any time in turning up the power, with the opening round a flurry of hard kicks punches and knees. At the start of the second round JR delivered a perfect low kick to the thigh which staggered his opponent, and capitalising on this, JR started an unrelenting attack of low kicks which brought down his opponent within the first 30 seconds of the second round. Immediately after JR Sam was up, in her fourth fight, a rematch against her first opponent whom she beat four months ago. In the first round Sam stood back and controlled the fight, trying out different technique, listening to her corner, working her opponent. In the second Sam started to move in and took the fight to her opponent forcing the pace and tying her up on the ropes with strong clinch work. By the third round Sam had complete control and quickly finished the fight off with a series of knees to the stomach and head. Sams' record is now 3-1-0. The main fight of the evening saw Jono, from England, take on a Thai boxer from Chiangmai. Jono entered this, his seventh fight, with the unenvious record of 1-5-0, having won his first fight and then lost the next five to much better opposition he was bound and determined to break his losing streak. With the collective will of all those at the camp urging him on to win, Jono fought hard for the first two rounds giving as good as he got before stepping up the pace in the third to win with knees to the stomach. The smile on his face at the end spoke volumes for how happy and relieved Jono was with the win. On the following Wednesday Den and Gareth fought at a Temple fair where the ring was part of a small gym situated behind the Temple. It was a long night of fights with, once again, a lot of younger fighters taking part early on in the evening. Den, one of our Trainers who still fights on a part time basis, was a last minute addition to the fight card and then again, once we had arrived, the opponent was changed. When Den did finally enter the ring at fight #15 of the 17 fights on that evening he was facing an opponent who though competent, was lacking fitness and after Den turned on the style, using much of the arsenal of technique he has built up over the years, the Ref stopped the fight in the third, declaring Den the winner by TKO. Next up in the second last fight of the evening was Gareth, from England, who was entering the ring for his first time. He was facing a Thai boxer who had had 11 fights but was giving away 6-8 kg in weight to Gareth. Although Gareth was given instruction to go in and try to make a fight of it, and being the first fight, as soon as both fighters had caught each other with a couple of punches to the face both of them were turning out windmill punches and wild swings. In the melee Gareth prevailed and brought a crashing knee into the side of his opponent which sent him down for the count. For a first fight Gareth did very well, remembering much of what had happened and learning from it and very keen to have another go. Our next set of fights are coming up on the 16th in Pattaya. This is going to be a big night for us with Eddie, from Canada, going for a WMTC JR Middleweight World Champions Belt. Also on the card will be Sam going for her fifth fight and as yet an unnamed one or two other fighters. Until next week, keep up the training...... remember consistency and hard work will help you improve. Good luck to all in Muay Thai. Andy Thomson - Lanna Muay Thai Earlier on the card of fifteen fights, Chun fought fight #5. He was brought in as a last minute replacement for a boxer who fell ill and was giving away 4 kg and a head in height to his opponent. Despite these disadvantages Chun fought an excellent fight, getting to heights with his kick that seemed impossible. In the 3rd round Chun let go with a strong accurate right hook that sent his opponent to the floor for an eight count only to have his opponent send him half way through the ropes with a kick to the head in return. Chun survived the eight count and went on to finish the fight with a good show but ultimately his taller and heavier opponent won the fight on points. Kem's fight was eagerly awaited by the crowd as word of his two previous visits, the defeat of two tough fighters out of Bangkok, had passed around the fight fans of Uttaradit. The fight started as usual with Kem's slow swaggering style keeping his opponent at bay with accurate teeps and throwing the occasional high kick, testing the waters! In the second round both fighters fought hard with Kem taking a heavy kick to the head, and he had to hang on for a moment to survive. The third was the turning point for Kem when he managed to drop his opponent twice, once with his trade mark high kick and once out of the clinch with a hard low kick. Kem's opponent though proved to be very tough and despite another flurry of high kicks to the head in the fourth survived through to the final bell. Kem took the fight on points and went home nursing a big lump on the head from the kick he took in the second round. For those of you who know Seemok, he will be fighting on the 31st May for a Ratchatderm Stadium Champions Belt. He has once again returned to train with his Camp in Bangkok and this time he has taken Boon with him and for the first time in Boons 8 years fighting Muay Thai he will be finding out all about the rigours of training at the top level. The promoter there is very impressed with Boon and has arranged a fight for him in Bangkok on the 10th of June. The Camp is in full swing just now with several boxers training for up coming fights. On the 1st June at a small village, Sampatong, about a half hour drive from the Camp, we have Joey, from Canada, fighting his second bout since arriving 3 months ago and Masa, from Japan, also fighting for his second time. On the 2nd June, at Mae Jo University in Chiangmai, we have Sam, from New Zealand, taking on her fourth fight against the first girl she fought and won against back in December. Jono, from England will be lookng to end his losing streak, he has had some tough fights with close decisions and is determined to take the next fight and has been putting in some good hard training over the past two weeks. Ahmed, coming back from injury and illness will taking on his fourth fight. The big fight of the month should be in Pattaya on the 16th June when Eddie goes for a WMTC Junior Middleweight Title against a good Thai fighter, Mot Eck, who trains out of Sipolek Gym in Pattaya. As yet unconfirmed, we should have 3 or 4 other boxers fighting on the same night. As we find out I will update along with the results of the fights on the 1st and 2nd. If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact us through the web site. Good luck to all in Muay Thai. Andy Thomson - Lanna Muay Thai Sompong, one of our younger fighters, at 15 years, has been training hard over his school holidays and was first in the ring to have a rematch against a fighter he had aleady beaten once before. It was a hard fought five rounder and Sompongs' supierior kicking won him a close decision. Next up was Jono, from England, fighting his fifth fight against an older but very good Thai fighter. Despite being in great shape Jono had a hard fight and ran out of steam in the fourth round, losing on points to a deserving winner. In the main fight of the night Eddie, from Canada, was up against a tough fighter from Lampang who has won once and lost twice against our boxers previously. Even before the first kick was thrown there was a roar from the audience as Eddie entered the ring, a large contingent of Canadians in the crowd raising the loudest cheers. The fight started straight in with kicks, knees, and elbows, from both fighters, no quarter being given and by the end of the first both had taken and given some hard blows. In the second Eddie began to control the fight with the clinch and less than a minute into the round delivered one of his now trademark high knees to the head to secure an exciting KO win. Next fights will be in Uttaradit on the 15th, with Kem and Chun both returning to defend previous wins. In other news, Eddie has now earned a #8 ranking with the WMTC and will possibly have a crack at a title in June or July. Samantha, from New Zealand, has been challenged to a rematch with her last opponent, Sam won a hard fight on points first time round, the rematch is scheduled for July and will be televised. There are several other fights scheduled over the next month and once dates are confirmed we will update. Until later, keep the guard up! If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact us through the web site. Good luck to all in Muay Thai. Andy Thomson - Lanna Muay Thai Yesterday we left from the camp at 10 am going to Uttaradit, it's a four hour journey on a good day but this day it decided to rain constantly, all day, a very unusual occurence for this time of year. The fights were to feature Den and Kem but when we arrived in pouring rain, and with an outdoor ring, it seemed impossible the fights could go ahead in view of the weather. The 3 oclock start time past and still it rained but slow progress was being made on a makeshift roof for the ring, the spectators had to use their umbrellas! The fights started at 5pm still amid pouring rain and thankfully by 8pm when it was our turn to fight at #5, the rain had eased off. Den was first up and faced a younger and larger opponent, Den was on five fight winning streak going into this fight but after a tough fought four rounds the referee stepped in to stop further damaged as Dens opponent pummelled him with punches. Other than a sore jaw Den was okay after the fight and is now looking forward to a month of teaching Muay Thai in Denmark. Kem was next up and was facing a tough fighter from Lumpinee Stadium. The fight started in typical slow fashion with Kems swaggering style hiding the power in his kicks until he unleashed a couple of kicks to the neck and ribs of his opponent. Kem gave notice of his power at the end of the first round with an excellent highkick to the neck, but in the second was himself on the receiving end of a powerful kick to the jaw, which left him dazed and hanging on for a few seconds. In the third Kem came out again with high kicks to the head and by the middle of the round after working three kicks in succession to the head, his opponent went down with a broken arm after taking the kicks defending his head! It was once again an awesome display of powerkicking that Kem delivers every fight he has. After Kems fight there were two main fights featuring some of the top fighters out of Bangkok and we were given a opportunity to watch some of the best in action. It rounded off a long day which still was not over,as we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us back to Chiangmai. Finally back at 2am everyone was safely home again after a difficult drive through constant rain. Our next Camp News Report will be after the 11th May, when Eddie and Jono and Sompong are fighting at Gawilla Stadium in Chiangmai. If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact us through the web site. Good luck to all in Muay Thai. Andy Thomson - Lanna Muay Thai
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Our camp news will be updated whenever there is anything newsworthy - make sure to come back here every now and then.......

 

August 21st, 2003 (Part 1)
A big welcome once again to our Camp update, this one is later than most and these past six months have had all the drama, highs and lows, that life can throw at us. We have past another Thai New Year, Song Khran, which was quiet for myself though not so for a few others, but that is another story! The Camp was very busy up to April but with Song Khran and then the combined elements of the Iraq war, Sars and the holiday hangover kept down numbers at the Camp through the end of the hot season. Now at the time of writing we are well into the rainy season though this one has not been so wet as yet! And people are returning to Thailand once again.
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August 21st, 2003 (Part 2)
Next on Friday 18th April, we had two fight locations. First we traveled two hours south to Li, where Gat and Jin fought on an afternoon promotion, part of the towns Song Khran celebrations. Gat was first up and pulled off a great KO win in the third against much better opposition and then Jin fought hard over five rounds only to lose the decision. We then drove an hour back towards Chiang Mai to Ban Hong for the evenings fights where we had a young Thai lad, Bowie, have his first fight and at 12 years of age he show great calm and vision as well as heart for a lad so young, taking the fight in five rounds. Though Bowie is now continuing his boxing career elsewhere we wish him well and Muay Thai fans will be hearing a lot more of him in the future. Last for this day of fighting was Solam and he was up against a bigger lad, Jod Keng, and had a tough fight over five rounds and though we all thought he had won, the fight was called a draw.
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February 21st, 2003
Hello and Welcome as always to our Camp Update. Our year 2002 ended with a couple of serious injuries and some hard loses, but I am happy to say the New Year started out more promising and there are some interesting times ahead this year.

We also have what for me is the story of the year from Lanna / Kiat Busaba Camp, a demonstration of what heart is all about and it comes from one of our youngest lads. (read more)

November 25th, 2002
Welcome again to another Camp news update. I am late as always, with the fight season being in full swing, some major travels undertaken over the past few months and along with the everyday work keeping us all at the Camp busy there is never enough time for everything. But well worth the wait, I hope! (read more)

August 12th, 2002
Welcome to everyone once again, we have had another hectic two and half months since the last update. We are fully into the rainy season now but this year has been relatively mild so far compared to some years, it rains each day, just enough to keep the heat down! (read more)

May 27th, 2002
Welcome once again to another Camp update, I am late as always, two and a half months late so there is a lot that has happened. We have gone from the hot season to rainy season, ten days ago, when the rains came with a vengeance, but here the rain is life giving and a welcome respite from the heat, dryness and smoke, everything is growing and green once again and the air is cool and clear. We (I) survived another Song Khran, sober and dry, which for any of you who have been here for Thai New Year will know, that is a feat in itself! Pom has opened a restaurant at our house near the Camp, finally returning to her original and preferred occupation of Chef extraordinary! Den is getting married, for all of you who did not already know, he is marrying Sarah on the 27th May, and everyone is welcome, if you cannot make it here in person we will expect you in spirit! We have many exciting fights to report on, some amazing KO's, and we achieved another step on that climb to the top! And we have a young and upcoming fighter who is taking out every opponent in his path! More on that later! (read more)

March 5th, 2002
Welcome once again to a late Camp News! It has been another hectic time and never seeming to be enough of it for all that has to be done! We have a new Champion at the Camp, some first timers in the ring, and few friends departed and returned. Our boxers bio has finally been updated and there are some updates to the equipment list too.
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Jan 9th, 2002
Welcome to our last Camp News for the year 2001. Much has happened this year, with some of the worst lows I have known in my life, as well as the realisation of a dream of many years for both myself and one of our Boxers.
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Nov 14th, 2001
Welcome to our Camp news update. I am a bit late again with the updates and will in the future be attempting to update once every two weeks. And to all of those who are waiting on an email from me I will reply soon! Once again we have a lot of fights to report on and also a few photos included of the big fight day on the 31st Oct. (read more)

Sept 25th, 2001
Welcome again to our Camp News and our latest update. A lot has happened over the past month since the last update, not only at our Camp but in the world in general. We are very pleased to report that all our friends that we know in New York are okay, and remain fighting fit. Our sympathy goes out to all those who have lost loved ones in the horrible events that occured in New York, there are no words to express the feelings that we all felt while watching the events unfold before our eyes.
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August 15th, 2001
Welcome once again to our Camp News update, this time round I have four fights to report on, some interesting fights coming up, Training Seminars in England, and a word about the new Camp that has opened in Chiangmai.
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July 20th, 2001
Despite the continuing rain the Training sessions have pick up momentum and as I have now sorted out the schedule for my Radiation Treatment I am able to take charge of the morning training. So each morning the fighters and those who enjoy the hard training are putting in some good work, making use of the quiet fight period to build on their fitness and technique. We have several big fights coming up in August and September, some of which I will mention later and others as we get confirmation of them.
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July 9th, 2001
We are now well into "Naa Phon", the rainy season. With daily rains to keep the temperatures down around a sweltering 32 deg.C training is continuing on as usual. The mornings are lovely and cool making the runs much more bearable and the view of Chiangmai from the mountain is stunning and makes the weekly run up to the view point a pleasure!?!
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June 26th, 2001
This report has been delayed slightly but there was a good reason as I will explain later but first the Fights. We went to Pattaya on the 16th with five fighters all together. Along with Sam and Eddie there was also Ahmed, from Morocco, and Kem and Solam, two of our big Thai lads. (read more)

June 11th, 2001
A great start to the month of June. On the 1st, we had Masa, from Japan, and Joey, from Canada, both going for their second fights at a small country fair in a village 30 km south of Chiangmai. (read more)

May 28th, 2001
Kem goes for his third in a row. Back on the 15th May, Kem and Chun travelled once again to Uttaradit. Kem was looking for his third win in three visits to Uttaradit and the crowd was enthusiastically looking forward to the fight, the main bout of the evening. (read more)

May 14th, 2001
Eddie Does it Again!
Last Friday, 11th, Sompong , Eddie, and Jono all entered the ring at Gawilla Stadium. The crowd was large and noisy, a sign of a good night's fighting ahead.
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May 4th, 2001
The aftermath of the Holidays and the increase in the daily temperature has slowed everybody down a bit and the gym has been quiet except for the four with fights coming up and a few hardy souls who like to sweat a lot! (read more)
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