Well only 3 days until I leave for Thailand! I’m so excited about it! I decided to keep a journal detailing my trip. I’m going to try to update it daily and keep it online.

I haven’t even left yet but my heart and my mind are already there. I keep imagining what it will be like…..

This is the schedule so far:

I leave SFO early Thursday morning and fly to LAX with my parents. From there fly directly to Bangkok (about 11 hrs). Arrive in Bangkok time on Friday around 1am and go directly to Majestic Grande Hotel to sleep. (we lose time on the way there, gain it on the way back)

Explore Bangkok Sat and Sun with my parents. I’m esp looking forward to seeing the Buddist Temples and the famous Floating Market. My Dad planned the Bangkok portion of the trip so for those days I’m just going to do whatever they want.

Then, Monday morning is when I hop in a cab, all alone, and head to Bangplee to the Fairtex Muay Thai kick boxing camp for 5-6 days. Here are some videos of the camp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip9oCGpwbVM (camp commercial)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCNN7UkdH5o (a day in the life)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntdka97tE4c (girl fight)

We will be training for 4-8 hours a day. It is about 90 degrees right now and very humid. It rains a lot too…. tropical rain.

For just the past 3 days I’ve bumped up my training to about 3 hrs a day to get my body ready. I took a class with a professional fighter on Friday at Fairtex in SF to learn some technique. I felt like I did really well and the trainer said he was impressed (yay!). I met several people who have been to the camp…. one of them, named Dave, had stayed at the camp for 2 months. He answered a lot of the questions I had and gave me pointers.

Yesterday (Sunday) Dave and I met up at Gold’s in SF and he worked with me on my technique. So nice of him!

Although I’m in shape as far as fitness, Muay Thai challenges your body in a completely different way then training in the gym. My wrists have been shaking like a crack addict bc of the repetitive impact on the joint from punching the pads; the skin on my shins is red and raw from kicks, and the balls of my feet are blistered bc you train barefoot on the mat. My calves are so sore from all the jumping rope and foot work….. and strangely enough, I love it!

I love the idea of being in pain and wanting to stop and then pushing myself through it. I think training is a complete metaphor for the challenges in life. You get knocked out, down for the count, and then you have a choice…. Do I stay down or do I get back up and fight? Do I give in now or do I stand up and risk another knock out? There is no guarantee that I’ll be victorious if I stand back up; but that is the only way I have a chance of being a champion.

I am not the pain, I am the fight to rise about the pain. I’m not always successful, but I won’t give up the fight. Ever.

You are standing up to fight anytime you overcome a challenge in life. The true battle always takes place on the inside with your thoughts and your mental dialogue. When times get tough it is so easy to talk yourself into giving up and that transforms into action. Beware of your thoughts. Decide the outcome you want and chose thoughts that are going to get you there. Thoughts don’t have to be a product of your circumstances. You can chose what to think and what to believe. When you overcome a broken heart, financial problems, or decide to stay at work late to finish the job, you are standing up to fight again.

People ask me why I decided to go to the camp. There are several reasons. One is learning a new skill I can use with my clients. However the REAL reason, and I’ve thought about this quite a bit, is to strengthen my mind. To discipline myself mentally. Like I said before, when you are in a place where your body is constantly telling you to stop and you have to keep redirecting your thoughts to push through; that ability transfers over to every area of your life. Training is so much more then just looking better naked, (although that’s great too) it is about strengthening your soul.

Ok, I’m not going to hold back in this blog. I’m going to bare it all. Those of you who know me know I was engaged at age 21 and that my fiancee Mario passed away in a motorcycle accident. I am very much at peace with his death (it has been 8 years now). Mario was an amazing person. He had a heart of gold and was completely fearless. He also used to compete in Muay Thai fighting. To be honest, when I first decided to go to the camp I didn’t think much about Mario. But the more I train and the more I look forward to it, the more I feel his loving energy and his spirit, like he’s he’s saying ‘I’m so proud of you”. There is something beyond words, beyond worlds, for that matter, to keeping his spirit alive.

Well, these are my thoughts and expectations so far; but things rarely turn out as you expect. I’m sure there will be suprises around every corner. Keep you posted.

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