Back In Training!

As many of you have aptly noted, my will to stay in Phuket and train was weakening. Egged on by a need to see more than my training camp whilst halfway around the world and a group of rowdy fighters, I took a week and went to Koh Pangang for the infamous Full Moon Party to let off a little steam.

I was hesitant to get involved in the debauchery but I was overwhelmed and eventually submersed myself. I countered any vulnerability I felt from the ten to twenty thousand person beach rave “not being my scene” by convincing myself it was just a social experiment.

Needless to say, the night started like this:

And ended like this:

Everything in between is a little hazy—but fantastically so.

The experience wasn’t entirely an exercise in hedonism. There was a wonderfully spiritual element to it and a view that I could watch forever:

And I learned that European bathing suits leave European bathing suit tans.


But really, who thinks to put on sunscreen before going out at 11PM?

But now I’m back at the camp and revving up for a fight that should take place in fewer than three weeks. It was my original intention to have a single fight but I have since learned that fighting is as much a learning experience as the training itself.

Sparring, although helpful, doesn’t have the same type of practical application that bare-bones throwin’-down does. So I’ve petitioned for fights as soon as the trainers think I’m ready. And I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me.