Tiger Camp, Phuket!

Please bear with me with the Blog, it's not panned out the way I wished; I didn't have free wi fi in Bangkok, so therefore had no time really to Blog on here. Now I am at the Tiger Camp and with free wi fi, I will be able to post more often, so will start with the training here in Phuket.

Had a nice easy flight down to Phuket and an even easier ride in a fully air con people carrier to the camp and that was the last time I would see A/C. Having plumped for the budget fighter room, the room comes with no air con, so it's a matter of having to adjust to the heat in the room at night.

The Tiger Camp is situated outdoors, with all the areas covered by tin roofs; there are 5 rings, a cage, weights and kettle bell areas all on site, together with office and food and drinks bar.

Upon arrival which was about 11pm, there was no one about so I had a quick look round and then went top bed and tried to get some sleep; the bed was very springy and lumpy and I managed about an hour's sleep and attended the Yoga class at 7am.

The session is a godsend for anyone training here; I've always been into Yoga and there is a session every morning at the same time and is a great way to start the day and get your mindset in the right place, ready for the day ahead.

8am arrived and there followed three and a half hours of Thai training, from warm ups, techniques, bag and pad work, ring work, clinch work and plenty of conditioning and sweating.

There are quite a few UK guys here at the camp and it wasn't long before new friends were made and I knew most of the gyms the other lads train out of; the Thai session over, I headed off for a shower and had one of my daily meal allowances, having pre paid for a meal plan. This gives you two healthy meals a day washed down with water and fruit and saves you the hassle of having to cook. It's so cheap to eat you don't need to make the food yourself, just take a walk to one of the many bars and there is food galore and all very cheap.

The wise people on the camp all scurried off and went into their rooms and tried to get some sleep, not easy when your room is right in the middle of the camp, with privates going on and your fridge and fan on the go all day. Hoping for an easier experience on the mattress, I put mine on the floor and had 2 hours solid sleep, much to my suprise.

Energised and refreshed I hit the MMA class - 3x5 mins with a Thai trainer on the pads, 3x5 mins bag work and 3x5 mins light sparring makes the warm up section and then it was an open mat, due to the upcoming Never Tap 2 event this Saturday, plus a BBQ Beatdown, where you eat and drink as much as you can handle and watch some smoker fights in MMA and Thai. All goes well I'll be in the event and may even do an MMA fight; it's 16 oz gloes and shins on each fight but it's going to be a fun day and Ray, the MMA coach will be on hand making sure we don't kill each other.

So that's been my day; had dinner with Phil Baroni who's here for the Never Tap event and will be giving a wrestling masterclass this Friday and also met and hung out with Shooto legend Buko, watching him train and witnessing some serious athletic and acrobatic skills.

Ended the day off watching UFC Live with Jon Jones v Brandon Vera on the main event, eating BBQ chicken and fresh fruit with all the Tiger Camp lads at Tony's Restaurant, just a few double legs away from the Tiger Camp.

So now it's off to bed, on the floor again, as 7am will be here way to quick!