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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!?!
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
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