Training Days 4-8: Enter the Routine

It’s fascinating how quickly the extraordinary becomes mundane. The first week I’m intrigued by the sort of work ethic that it takes to slowly wear away skin and the next I’m dutifully kicking the heavy. It’s only when I notice the winces of a first-weeker that I’m reminded this isn’t normal. With the exception of a few hiccups, I was able to work into a good groove for the week.

I woke up Monday morning desperate enough for Yoga and started the day with an hour-long stretch. My skin was still sore and open in spots and the yoga reminded me how fatigued I was so I skipped the Muay Thai class and headed to the weight canopy. Peter, known throughout camp as the “Thai Hulk,” greeted me enthusiastically, “Hey. Kyle. Today we do back and arms. We go now!” Too enthusiastically. I pretended to tie the laces on my flip-flops and when I saw Peter’s back was turned, I hobbled as quickly as I could to my room.

One of the benefits of paying for a full month of open training is that almost every second not spent training feels like wasted money. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed to the mats where the MMA classes were starting. Until now I was unconvinced that learning Jujitsu in Thailand would be worthwhile. Why move to the land of striking and practice grappling? That’d be like moving to Egypt to learn how to play ice hokey. At the same time, I wasn’t up for striking quite yet.

The BJJ classes were brilliantly run and we were instructed on various techniques to escape from the guard position. Having had many years of grappling experience, I excelled at each move taught and felt good about my abilities for the first time since arriving here (with the exception of the runs). I manhandled several training partners and excused myself from the class once the free-grappling session started.

And thus the week continued with the following daily schedule:

6:00AM: Wake up and morning nutrients
7:00-8:00: Yoga
8:00-9:00: Situps and other core exercises
9:00-11:00: Jujitsu
11:00-11:30: Shower
11:45-12:30: Eat
12:45-1:45: Nap
1:45-2:45: E-mail
2:45-3:30: Prep for afternoon workout
3:30-4:00: Muay Thai Technique
4:00-7:00: Muay Thai
7:00-8:00: Shower, Eat
8:30-… Read until sleep

I intended to take the training slower but I fell into the aforementioned schedule. But just about every spare moment that I wasn’t spending training was devoted to either eating or sleeping—or dealing with the shadows of New York.

The internet and electricity have also been spotty which accounts for the posting dry-spell. Now that I’ve found a new reliable internet source and my body is starting to accept the abuse, I will try to post daily—if not more often than that