Freedom, Icon, Laguna

So if you have been wondering where I have been the last few weeks, the three words in this blog title says it all...

FREEDOM...ICON...LAGUNA

That is basically the three main bars people hangout in around Rawai. Unfortunately I haven't been doing much training dude to a shoulder injury that hasn't gone away and has actually gotten worse... So that only leaves Freedom, Icon, Laguna.

Don't worry, still here.

Since my fight I haven't been doing much training at all. I was so bruised up I really couldn't hit the bags or anything. So next thing I know its 3 weeks later and I have trained maybe 5 times. I am going to try to get back into it pretty hard but I believe this weekend a bunch of us are going to Phi Phi Island. Thats basically a huge party island and also where the movie "The Beach" was filmed.

I was planning to fight again before I leave but now it looks doubtful, but in Phi Phi there is a bar with a ring in it and drunks fight for a bucket of whisky. So I think I will fight some poor drunk there totally sober, and so technically I will have another fight in Thailand haha!

Also I think I will be moving out of the shared bungalows just to my own private one, I am tired of living I am in college and need my privacy.

Hope everyone is doing well back in the cali and to everyone else that reads my blogs as I found out its more than I thought!

Fight Results

Ok, so here is my whole fight uncut. It went 5 rounds...It was very close but I lost on points on a mistake in the 5th round. Watch the rounds and tell me what you think, I will write up some notes on each round as well! Enjoy!


Al Araneta's Fight Round 1 & 2

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Al Araneta's Fight Round 3 & 4

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Al Araneta's Fight Round 5

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SHORTER VERSION OF MY FIGHT: VIEW FROM RINGSIDE
Al from the USA - 16th July 2007

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without sacrifice there is no reward

Rest...I finally get some rest and a few days off before my fight. These next 2 days I will use to clear my mind and let my body heal from about two weeks of fight training. A slightly black eye, bruises on my nose, stomach, legs and muscle fatigue everywhere. My daily routine of fight training consisted of waking up at 6 am training at 7 am. About 5 rounds of shadow boxing, 5 rounds of padwork, more technique and then running 5k. Go home, eat, sleep and repeat the process at 4pm...off Sunday. These past two weeks I have been in agony training, and yet I am in the best shape of my life...without sacrifice there is no reward.

In total I have been training 5 weeks and have been totally SOBER (no booze or cigarettes) for 10 weeks now. 10 WEEKS! For those that know me well know thats a long fucking time for me. I am not going to lie...I admit, it has been hard some nights going out with people here but I stayed strong. At this 10 week point its not to difficult to stay sober anymore. The thought of being hungover and stinking like cigarettes makes me cringe!

A lot of people ask me "Are you ready for your fight on Sunday?" I have been training hard, eating right, doing everything I can possibly do to come out on top of this fight in the time I have. From what I believe and been learning from people's advice and training, the fight is won or lost before the fighter ever steps in the ring. It has to be won first in the fighters mind and heart. The fighter has to believe in his trainers, his training and in himself. And in the end when two people step in a ring, the one that wins is the one that wants it the most, the one with the most heart. Training isn't just about making your body strong its also about making your mind strong, the confidence in yourself. I am ready...

Fight Update

Sooo...now in fight training mode, my body is still get used to it, I am almost training a full six hours a day. The sparring is harder and the runs longer. I actually threw up yesterday from training and today as well, but I threw up a little later than yesterday so I think I am getting better haha! Anyway Tuk told me that it looks like I am going to fight on the 15th, but that date may change. Its no joke now, I better train hard or get my ass kicked in the ring...wish me luck!

I have a day off tomorrow as I have to do my visa run. I didn't opt for a 90 day visa when I was back in the states so I have to go to Burma I believe to renew another 30 days. I am looking forward to the ride so I can read one of the like ten books I brought with me and sit in AC for the day. Praise Jesus!!! Air Conditioning!!!!

The Path to War

Well, believing I am ready to fight soon I told Tuk, the head trainer at the gym that whenever he thinks I am ready to fight I will fight. He told me I am ready now and that everyone thinks that they are never ready, which I find true cause I never think I am. With that said, I am going to be training more on the fight training side and my sessions more intense.

So that night, I believe it was Tuks brother's birthday party at a place called "Candy Bar". I thought I would hangout a bit and join in on the festivities. During the night, Bang, another trainer at the gym called me over. He asked me if I wanted to fight tomorrow night, I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't! I ask about fighting that day and they asked if I wanted to fight the next day, holy shit...I wasn't ready for that! Well I had to say no, it was way to soon, for one thing my cardio isn't where I want it to be and could use a little more work in other areas too. But now that I know I may fight any day now, if they ask me again to fight on short notice again, I am ready...

The Big Budda

Here is a short slide show of some us that took a trip to the Big Budda!

hello hello

Hey whats up everyone!
Just wanted to say hello and will update soon, I have been getting a little lazy with my blog but promise I will get to it! Hope all is well with everyone back home :)

Finding the Balance

So this past week I wanted to go to every morning and afternoon session, really get my routine going...buts that's not what exactly happened. Monday I went to the morning session then at noon I went to the regular gym then the afternoon session. I felt real good, not tired at all. Then I woke up the next day worthless, I still went to both sessions that day but had no power or stamina. I took Wednesday off to recover and was going to come back strong Thursday. I wake up Thursday with the biggest headache I have ever had, I couldn't even walk it hurt so much I don't know what was wrong with me. Basically I just slept all day, so two days wasted. Today I feel pretty good, going to go run this morning and go to afternoon session.

So back at the bungalow, one roommate Nick went home...back to the "Real World". Good god, I have been here 16 of 90 days and I am already dreading the day I leave here. My other roommate Reese is leaving today too. Last night 2 guys from Scotland moved in, Neil and Matt, they are here for 2 months. I still have a room to myself but I am sure that will end pretty soon.
Alright off to my run!

Latest Video!

What up, here is a short video I have been working on. Its some footage of the fights I went to that I was talking about in my last blog and some training footage. Hope you enjoy, please leave comments and tell me what you think about the video!

12 days in...

On Thursday I went to a fight at Patong Stadium, two students from Rawai were fighting that night, one girl from Sweden and a guy from Australia I believe. I was excited to finally go see a fight live in Thailand and to see one of the two stadiums I will be fighting in the near future. Around 8 pm Friday all the students and teachers who are going to the fight meet at the gym, then we all leave together to head to Patong Stadium. Patong is the big city on the Island of Phuket. Now living in the small town of Rawai for about a week, when we went to Patong I felt like a country boy going to the big city for the first time. Patong reminds me of the intro to the movie “The Beach” Hundreds of neon signings illumination the narrow streets packed with families, drunk tourists and hookers. It was very surreal. Unfortunately we were just driving through to get to the stadium so again I have no pictures. I know I have really been slacking on pictures.

As the fights commence, betting in the stands begin, I hear Thai’s bet on everything. There was a few gyms fighting that night, Rawai, Sinbi and Tiger. The fights were ok, there was one fight in particular where it was probably this guys first fight. As the bell rung he came out swinging like there was no tomorrow. NO TECHNIQUE NO GAME PLAN. He didn’t block kicks that well if any, as he just ran away from them and swung wide and didn’t have his hands up at all. Well finally this Thai guy who was not that good either, was kicking him low and setting up to hit him high. One low kick and then one good straight found its way to this farang’s jaw (farang is the term foreigner in thai) And he found himself laying flat on his back, he slowly got up and survived a few more seconds until he took another blow to the stomach which bent him over and it was stopped. The sloppiest fight I have ever seen, I don’t even know where this guy was training but he sucked ass.

The girl from my gym won by KO in the first round and the guy from my gym lost due to a cut on his forehead, elbows cut like knives. The cut didn’t look that bad from what I saw but people that saw it up close said it was massive. You can see the guy covered with blood and the girls knock out in the next video I put up.

As for my own training, things are going well. My boxing is better but for some reason my kicks aren’t as good as they used to be. Going to have to focus more on my kicks, and work out my legs at the regular gym. I am going to train one more week then put in the word with my trainers that I want to fight. So in about 3 weeks will be my first fight. I probably could of fought sooner, but I needed a little more time for me to mentally get ready. One problem for me right now is my big toe on my right foot, It got a little better so I went to training now its all swollen again. I think it may be fractured, reminds me of when Tom broke his finger back home. FUCK..well see how it does in a couple of days. I really shouldn't complain though, people fight with injuries all the time. This one guy DJ that is here fights with fractured ribs! Good lord. Oh, and there is a guy here names Chuck that looks like Chuck Liddell, its really funny. They are both really cool guys.

DJ's myspace click here

Chucks myspace click here

Damn you big toe

So yesterdays afternoons training went pretty well except for when we started the clinch. For you that don't know its when you are grabbing your opponent behind the neck and kneeing him in the stomach. Well at the same time you can try to throw your opponent to the ground as well, and the guy I was clinching with tried to throw me down and I stepped on my right foot wrong. I somehow stepped down on top of my big toe and bent it in a way it should not be bent. Last night and this morning when you touch it its like someone is stabbing the top of my toe and I cant bend it downward. To not make it any worse I am going to take the day off today which i really don't want to do but know I should. I found a regular gym out here I am going to join today so in the down time I can do weights, the weight gym at the muay thai gym are not great at all. So a lot of down time for me today possibly tomorrow, think I will go take some pictures or something...

Day 6

I can't believe I have been here only six god damn days. Seem like so much longer but I still have 11 weeks to go and I am dreading coming back to LA already. I have gotten over jet lag and just settling in to my training. Yesterday I went to morning training and afternoon training, I was able to keep up without a problem but jumping rope barefoot on concrete has taken its toll on my feet. So I am taking this morning off to give them a rest and dont think I will be jumping rope barefoot anytime soon.

One thing that is interesting is still getting used to the cultural differences from the US and here. Well for one thing I was watching some movie and they showed a girl topless but blurred out someone pointing a gun, and someone smoking a cigarette. Instead of like a mouse or spider there are lizards all over the bungalow, there is one above me right now hanging out on the ceiling. Although even thousands of miles away Paris Hilton and her jail sentence still make the news here, sickening I tell you, its is impossible to escape her.

Over the weekend I took my moped to Kata Beach, I was actually headed to Patong but decided not to go that far. Kata and Kata Noi Beaches are amazing, great views and its busier with the typical shops selling everything you can imagine. There are a lot of suit stores out here that are from what I hear very good quality and very cheap. Anyway on the way to Kata, its like a a few miles drive on a small road through the dense hills and as I was driving I had to break really fast at one point because something was crossing the street. It was a god damn monkey taking its sweet time just walking and staring at me like I invaded its privacy. It was pretty funny just seeing a monkey out in the open. Not to long after that I saw an elephant crossing sign too, and sorry I didnt have my camera on me. But now I will make it a fact to carry at least one camera at all times!

Streets of Rawai

Heres a shitty little video I did today, nothing to interesting I was bored. I strapped my dv camera to the front of my moped and drove around and at the end is Nai Han Beach! Alright off to eat and Saturday session!

Rawai Streets Video CLICK HERE

WELLLLLL

In only my second day here I am getting settled in fast. I guess its pretty easy to get the routine down of daily life here when it consists of training, eat, beach, training, eat then sleep. I again skipped morning training, still adjusting to the heat and time difference, so with most of the day free I explored the island a little to get my bearings.

I went to go to eat at the Cheap Ass Cafe again but really had no idea where it was so I drove around looking for it and found it like an hour later. To my surprise I had passed it like 3 times already. Everything kinda looks exactly the same for the first few days. Most of the bars and resuturants are basically tables and chairs in the open air. I got a big plate of Pad Thai which cost me 30 Baht that translates into 1 dollar. I have read in other peoples blogs about Thailand that you will see people that basically come here to take advantage of the "sex industry" from what it seems...they basically are easy to spot. I guess what happens in Thailand stays in Thailand!

After lunch I drove around to Rawai Beach and to a hill above Nai Harn Beach. The pictures aren't that great but I was so hot I didnt want to be out there to long. I will have better pictures I promise!

First Session...first bloody nose...

So instead of a mountain bike I just went for the scooter which was the best idea. Its like driving in Grand Theft Auto: Thailand...weaving in and out of people, animals, oh yeah and traffic. It wasn't to hard to adjust to driving on the other side of the rode, either way you are forced to do it so you better learn it quick! With my new wheels to get me around town, I ate lunch at this place called Cheap Ass Cafe and then headed to the Nar""something beach (I forget the name) with my roommates. Clear blue water, clear blue sky, it was great and I am not even really a beach person.

Then at 4 I had my first training session, started out as usual training a little jump rope, some shadow boxing, one on one with a trainer and today some sparring. I have been worried about losing some skin on the bottom of my big toes during training cause I know when you train hard thats the first thing to go. And well I was facking jumping rope on concrete that people jump on and what do you know some skin is gone off my right big toe...great I didnt even get in the ring and this happens. Next for me came some one on one with the trainer and after only 3 rounds of elbows and knees the Thai Heat got to me...I almost threw up so hard my body was going to turn inside out, I was dry heaving and couldn't breath at the same time. But I made sure no one saw me, so I didnt look to much like a puss the first day.

Whew! The worst is over, wait what....one of the trainers starts calling my name and puts gloves on me and I get to sparring. Now lucky me or unlucky me I am about the same size as most of the thai fighters out here so there is no shortage of billy bad asses and they pair me up with one. I jab he moves, I jab faster and he moves...god damn it let me hit you! So I back up re evaluate and now I start catching him, but for every one punch I get on him he has like two on me. Second round it started to look like a fight, Thais yelling aaayyyy ayyyyy I am getting into it and then he gets a stiff straight to my stomach and follows up with a upper cut to the face. Wind knocked out of me, blood running from my nose I realize how much I love this. I didn't do to bad considering this Thai guy has been fighting since he was knee high and he was for sure taking it easy on the newbie.

Muay Thai which is Thai boxing with elbows, knees and kicks is the national sport here. Which is why it is taken so serious and how a good percentage of Thais make their living. And hopefully I will make some money out of it too!

Good Morning!

I just woke up to my first day in Thailand, its about 7:00 am. I arrived to the gym last night around 8:30 pm where I was greeted by Danny. He gave me a little run down of the place and drove me to my bungalow which I think is about a half a mile from the camp. In Thailand they drive on the opposite side of the road and the main form of transportation is scooters which I am going to have to do soon. Now people drive out here pretty much like there is no lines in the road or speed limits, I have seen scooters coming from every which way you can imagine. I was even told 2 students died last year from scooters. So I think I am going to wait till I get on one of the scooters probably in about a week, for now I am going to rent a mountain bike.

The Bungalow is pretty sweet, the one I am in has two rooms and two beds in each room. Right now its slow season and I have a room all to myself. I will get pictures up later. One picture I had to take though is of one of the stray dogs that lives around the Bungalow, I woke up this morning and she was sleeping in my living room. I forget her name but I will call her buddy or itchy because my roommates told me she had fleas haha.

I have 2 roommates in the other room...Nick, 24, from Canada and Reese, 19, from Australia. They are really cool and gave me a bit of the rundown too. Nick just recently fought his first match and won by knockout in the 2nd round. I also met Paul from Ireland and Alex from Huntington Beach CA. Hungout with them for a bit last night as they are all going to Bangkok for a few days so I will have the Bungalow all to myself.

There is about 30 students training right now plus all the Thai people that train too. I skipped morning training today which starts at 7am but will go to my first training at 4pm. Danny is going to stop by around 10 AM and show me around town, after that I think I will get my mountain bike and head to the beach till training later! Oh I will start taking some pictures too for all of you that are interested.

1 plane 21 hours...

and I am not even in Thailand yet. When I got dropped off at LAX it actually hit me that I was going to Thailand, I was freaking out a little but now that I am close and in Malaysia all is well. I just arrived at Kuala Lumpur where I have a 6 hour layover till my next flight which by the way is only an hour and a half ride! The first flight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I fell asleep through half of it and watched a few movies, shooter by the way wasnt too bad. The guy next to me didn't know how to unbuckle his seatbelt, he asked me how to do it after I watched him try to unbuckle it for 5 minutes...dumbass. Oh I think there was this Malaysia actor on my flight, He is a little weird dark skinny looking guy with big glasses. I think he was in Van Wilder or something like that anyway nothing to exciting as you can see.

I have been to quite a few places around the world and you can count on one thing, there is Starbucks everywhere. Sooo think I am going to get a coffee and veg watching some Malasian TV they got playing here at the airport...

waiting...

Its exactly 6 days until I depart for Thailand, I am excited to say the least. It has been 3 weeks since I made the decision to go and it seems like it was only yesterday. Every night I have been looking at pictures of Thailand on my computer like it was pornography...fantasizing about the adventures I will have there. So now I just have 2 more days of work, a few goodbyes and a few days to pack...Thailand here I come.