After the week at the Gibbons, it was time for my Muay Thai week. It's the sport that you can compare with football in Europe; everybody likes it, watches it or does it. During this week I would get a total of 9 trainings, 2 on each day except for wednesday on which I would have 1 training.

I did the program accompanied by Lisa, Andrea (Ger), Karin (Swe) and Femke and Britt (Nld). On Monday, we gathered at 06:00 with bicycles to go to the gym where we would have the training. The gym had a ring with a lot of gloves and protective gear, a pull up bar, some fitness equipment and 4 boxing/kick bags. The trainer (Sayan, 57(!)) was awaiting us, got on his scooter and we followed him by bike. We drove for a few minutes until we met up with his sons (Bon, 20 + Tuk, 14) who were jogging. The entire round was 10 kilometers.

When we arrived at the gym again, the trainer and his oldest son learned us how to stand in 'guard' position and walk through the ring. I needed to focus on the positioning of my front foot during the walking because you continiously needed to land first with the front part of your feet (the toe section ;)). We learned how to punch as well, a jab (single strike with left) and 1 2 (strike with left followed by a strike with the right hand). The training ended at 08:00 and Bon gave a demo after our training with his father. At 08:30 we had breakfast at the gym, rice with chicken! :)

In the afternoon we started at 15:30 and we repeated what we learned in the morning session. It was quite frustrating at the start that the training only continued when everybody would understand how it worked. It was not that hard for me to learn how to walk through the ring and how to execute the striking but some people needed some more time to learn it so I had to wait. This was a bit frustrating at the start. At the end of the training, Sayan told me that I would be running half of the round on Tuesday morning.

When we arrived the morning after, I left my bike at the gym and Sayan drove me on his scooter to the point where his sons already ran and I joined them for the rest of the round. It was not that hard for me to keep up with them and on Wednesday I ran the full round, starting at 06:00 instead of 06:30. On Thursday and Friday I did the full lap as well but with weights in my hands just like his sons. The weights were about 0,5 kilo each and it made it a lot harder. I liked the running a lot and I was able to keep up with his sons and speed up at the end of the round. On Friday we did an extra lap of 3 kilometers after the afternoon training. The weather was actually good to run in the morning since it wasn't like 35 degrees already. That is also the reason that the trainings started at 06:00 and 16:00 because it is too hot to train in the middle of the day.

On Wednesday we started working with pads, where Bon and Sayan would have protective gear on and tell you to kick, knee, punch or elbow them. We learned these techniques on Monday and Tuesday and practiced them without power to learn and control the motion of the technique before we would use power. I was already allowed to use some power on the pads since I learned quicker than the rest of the volunteers (no offence to them intended :)). I always trained with Sayan. The punches were no problem but the kicks hurt my shin because I am not used to kick with that part of the leg. Even though it hurt, I forced myself to man up and just continue the kicking. During the sparring sessions I iced my shin and I got like a cut in half sock to put on my shin. This helped a lot and prevented my shin from swelling. After the trainings I put some tigerbalm on it as well.

On Thursday and Friday we needed to work the pads with force. Each training we would have 2 sessions each that lasted about 6 minutes. This was very exhausting. The running was a piece of cake compared to the pads since one minute of sparring made me more out of breath. It was a completely different level of stamina that we were practising than I am used to with the fitness and running. A session made the sweat drip from me like the big Tee Lo Su waterfall in Umphang. Straight after my session I drank ice cold water that the trainers provided and ice my shin for a few minutes before continuing my efforts on the kickbags. The bags were very hard so I didn't kick them with force since that felt like kicking a concrete wall. When not working with the trainers, I sometimes practised their commands on the bag or in the air.

It was a very satisfying week since I wanted to do a week of Muay Thai in the country of its origin. Although it hurt a lot sometimes, I'm proud of myself for continuing with the kicking. The trainer was very happy with me, probably because I'm a bit bigger and stronger than the average volunteer he trained. We ended the Friday afternoon training with some beers and small talk.

I asked Phil, the Greenway coordinator, if it was possible to stay until Tuesday at the Twinhouse because my flight to Cambodia leaves on Wednesday. Phil allowed me to stay at the Twinhouse for free until Tuesday and I can join the orphanage project on Monday and Tuesday! I am really excited being able to experience a new project and stay until my flight leaves. Some people that I got to know at the start of my arrival at Greenway/the Twinhouse are coming back this weekend and I haven't seen them since I left for the Elephant project so that makes it extra nice to be able to stay longer. I don't have to pay extra money and ofcourse this is much appreciated as well!

So next week it is orphanage time! I plan to join the Muay Thai group for the running in the morning on Monday and Tuesday and maybe some exercise outside of the ring if the group is not too big. Today, Sunday, I will plan my trip in Cambodia; what do I want to see in which week and where should I have a hostel at a certain point of time. I already know I want to be in Phnom Peng for New Years Eve and on the second of January my amazing brother will join me for two weeks! Looking forward to that ofcourse!