The best of the best!
Champions of the champions!
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night!
Live at Bangla boxing stadium!

Tomorrow night it's time for Philip Klangs professional fighting debute! We have now for almost a whole week seen Philips fightingposter spead around town.
Today Philip had a resting day where he just relaxed and prepared his wraps for tomorrows event!
The rest of us in Thaiboxproject wishes Philip best luck!



As the third fighter on the right side, you see Philip! His Thainame is Johnson!

Today the rest of us had training, 3½ hour hard training.
We did alot of Muay Thai sparring today with the advanced class.





Marcus & Christoffer from todays training.

Today we worked with our project! We made 5 different interviews with each memeber of the Thaiboxproject. The interview was about comparing the martial arts status in the Thai society to the martial arts in Sweden. In the interviews we all agreed with that the martial arts in Thailand was alot more honorable than in Sweden, but we also agreed with that it was so much harder not only the training, the mentality but also the pressure of always being pushed to be the best or as great as you can be!

We are also sorry to tell that some of us are really ill, yesterday Dennis payed the Patong hostpital a visit and came back with seven different medicines!



Philip is being instructed how to kick by a 12 year old boy!

By the way, we also think that the 21/11 would be a great day for the BBQ party at Lundh's!

At the moment many in the group are ill, for example the flue and still some eye infections. But ofcourse this doesn´t keep us from working with our project. Today we probably got an interview with the number one ranked thaiboxer in Asia.
Christoffer is very thankful for all the congratulations.
By the way, we have all begun to miss the Swedish food so on the BBQ party at Lundhs we´re expecting French hot dogs, spare ribs with potatosallad, nice big steaks and potato gratin!

As the headline says, we have been affected by eye infections, well everybody except Philip! We all have very red and scratchy eyes, we were told by the  pharamacy were we got our eyedrops not to train until our eyes are better. So we are sorry to inform you that we are having a break with our training until we are fully recovered.

Sorry for the late update, the internet has been down in the hotel for a while now.
We have had three more trainings wich contains three hours hard work. Everyone is very tired, exhausted and soar. This whole weekend we have only rested, layed on the beach for some hours and went out on the market and such. Our last three trainings we have been on the beach with Daniel and since the weather is very hot we got tired almost immedeatly and after three hours hard training some of us actually threw up.


André kicking Dennis, notice the beautiful background!


Andrés leg after some hard kicking techniques!

Today we had a resting day were we planned to go to the beach, but unfortunately we woke up with extreme rain. Instead we just stayed in our rooms and relaxed. Now we decided to go to the cinema and watch a movie, we've heard that the cinema here in Patong is huge! Deluxe chairs and couches wouldn't be that bad right?
We haven't decided what movie to watch yet, but we are thinking to watch the followup on "The Independent Day", and that movie is called "2012" or the Michael Jackson tribute which actually was released today!

Pictures from yesterdays training at Tiger muay thai!


André and Dennis with their new wraps which is illegal in Sweden.



Clinch training, Dennis and Philip beeing instructed.

Christoffer, Daniel, Dennis and Philip in the dressingroom before Daniels fight!

Today we were on a fightnight in Patong stadium. We experienced nine great fights. From children around six years old to grown ups and finally the main event of the night, Daniels fight.
Since we knew Daniel he could show us into the lockerrooms of the fighters, so we could get some nice material for our documentary. We learned how to wrap hands for fighting, how to massage before a fight and how to warmup. We were also told about some muay thai traditions/rituals before the fights.
We from Thaiboxproject appreciate this learning experience alot, and thinks it going to be useful material for our documentary.


On of the youngest fighter of the night, hes around 6 years old.


The younger fighters doing their rituals before the fight. This dance is called the Ram muay. It represents the relationship betwen the fighters and thier trainers.

This is us with our muay-thai trainers at Tiger Muay-thai!

As the picture shows we are training with some thaichampions and also worlds champions! Todays practce was the hardest we have had so far!
At 08:00am we started warming up with some shadowboxing/punchingcombinations for about one hour.
After that we moved on to some very easy sparring for about half an hour.

When we thougt we were finished with the training session, we were told that we only had done the warmup! So we moved on with some hard exhausting padwork training and punchingbag hitting/kicking.

We finished the training with some extremly physicaltraining with 200 knees, 200 fronkicks on eachother, after that we had to do 300 situps and 100 pushups! While they were using a bambustick to hit us if we didn't do all the things we were told to do in the right speed!

Now we are back at the guesthouse just resting and refilling our watersupplies! Since the weather is bad at the moment are we going to rest some more and prepare for tonights fights on the muay-thai stadion in Patong!

Today we had a planed interview with a professional Swedish thaiboxer, living in Thailand. His namn is Daniel Nima and he has been training thaiboxing here in Thailand for about eight months.
He gave us some good advices for our training sessions, what we had to think about while practicing. He also gave us an insight about how it is to actually be a professional thaiboxer in Thailand. Since he was from Sweden he could also make a comparison between the culture, the martial arts culture.
What comes to todays training, we were invited to Daniels gym to the get some muay-thai clinch training even though it was sunday which is actually a resting day for thaiboxers!
While we were at the gym we decided that Philip is going to make his professional thaiboxning debute here in Thailand! Daniel helped us with this aswell, which we are very greatful for. Thanks Daniel!


This is us, interviewing Daniel Nima at his gym inside the ring!


Philip, Marcus, Daniel, Christoffer, Dennis and André.
First time we met our new friend Daniel!

Now are we going to bed and tomorrow are we going to train at 08:00.
Around 13:00 are we going to have private lessons in muay-thai with Daniel on the beach!
20:00 are we going to visit Daniel before his match and look how the professionals prepares before their matches!
21:00 are we going to see around 10 differents fights, where Daniel is going to be in one of the fights!

Thaiboxproject wishes Daniel the best luck in tomorrows fight!

Today we made a quick visit at the gym and checked so everything was allright. They told us that we could start training with them tomorrow morning at 08:00 with muay thai tecniques and after that we will probably have a one and a half hour long sparring session.
Below you'll find some pictures from our first days in the wonderful Thailand!



This is Christoffer, Philip, Marcus and Dennis on our way to Kastrup airport.


On this picture you see André, Marcus, Dennis, Philip and Christoffer. This is on our exploring trip of Patong.


We took a trip to Kata beach after we checked the gym! Anyone jealous?


As you see, we made some shopping for food, water and sun protection!


This is us enjoying some delicious cheap thaidishes!


The beautiful thai sundown with the beach in the background, isn't amazing?

Yesturday we started our trip to the other side of the world. At 09;30 we were all gathered on knutpunkten, Helsingborg. We said goodbye to our beloved parents, wich became an emotional goodbye for almost everyone in the group!
We took the boat over to Helsingör 09;50 and after that we took the train 10:35 from Helsingör to Copenhagen.
When we finaly arrived to Castrup we checked in our luggage  and found our way to the gates.
The plane was going to leave at 14;25 but due some technical problems with the one of the engines, we couldnt leave Kastrup until 16;00. You can all guess how very nervous and frightened  we were!
Since our second plane betwen Bangkok and Phuket was booked an hour after we were supposed to have landed  in Bangkok, we missed this plane and we didn't really know what to do, lucky for us the Thai airways staff was very helpful and helped us get seats onboard on the next plane leaving for Phuket!

And here we are know, we have just recived to the guest house! :) We are all very tired since we all had a hard time sleeping on the plane except André :p. The 32 celsius degrees have made the already tired us, almost exhausted. So today we are just going to check out Patong and go to sleep very early so we have enough stamina for tomorrows first practice !

Pictures will be posted shortly!
Feel free to comment anything u´d like.

Muay Thai history is deeply entwined with the history of Thailand itself. Because of perpetual invasions from neighbouring countries when Thailand was in the process of forming, Thai people depended on their ability to defend themselves. In these early times only short-range weapons such as spears, pikes and clubs would have been available for use in battle. During this kind of hand-to-hand combat, fighting methods can quickly change and the body’s natural weapons such as the head, fists, elbows and feet would necessarily also have been utilised. Undoubtedly, it is the systemised use of these natural weapons, developed as a practical fighting skill for the battlefield that came to be Muay Thai boxing.

 

There are few written records pertaining to pre-twentieth century Muay Thai history. Knowledge has been passed down by oral tradition, which makes it difficult to be sure of the facts. But even in times of peace self-defence techniques have always been of great importance to Thai military leaders and the monarchy; we can be sure that Thai soldiers have studied Muay Thai boxing since early times. Muay Thai has most likely earned money for its competitors since the Sukothai era (1238 – 1377). During this time Muay Thai boxing gradually became a means of personal advancement as the nobility increasingly esteemed skilful practitioners. About 50 miles north of Bangkok lies the ancient city Ayuthaya. This once great city was Thailand’s capital for over 400 years. Here a platoon of elite guards was formed to protect the king. Officers were highly skilled in Muay Thai boxing. As well as its continued use as a practical fighting technique Muay Thai became a sport where spectators went to watch for entertainment. Regional varieties of Muay Thai existed with different fighting styles being adopted in the various provinces. For example, Southern fighters from Surat Thani province are renowned for using their brain to decide on strategy and tactics.

 

During the late 1920s and 30s Muay Thai training was developed. Gyms were constructed and punch bags and balls became widely available. The use of training gloves and contest gloves became the norm. Muay Thai became a favourite sport and pastime. Every village staged prize fights and people from all walks of life flocked to training camps.

After WWII Muay Thai boxers headed to the capital for fame and fortune, and the glory is still to be found at Rajadamnoen or Lumpinee boxing stadiums in Bangkok. Today in the villages in the provinces people can be seen clustered around available TV sets to see televised matches. All professional fighters have official ring names. The first part of the name is generally their own, while the second is the name of the training camp to which they belong. Today many men and women of all ages enjoy regular training sessions. There is now a World Championship for Muay Thai and it has become an accepted amateur sport in many countries. Muay Thai boxing is an essential part of Thai culture. Thais have a fiery belief in the lethal effectiveness of their fighting art and have proved it time and again.

horizonmuaythai.com

We have reached our first goal in our estimated time-plan. Our tickets are now paid for and we will be receiving them on friday.

As we said we have paid the ticets but still we are missing money to pay our rental and practice amount. So please if anyone have any suggestions on sponsors och ways of making more money, please tell us in a comment!

Since we are leaving Sweden for Thailand in exactly two weeks we decided to write down our expectations.

André Gustafsson: I expect hard training, good weather, good food and nice people.
And i look forward to the asian culture and get some new experience.

Christoffer Lundh: I really look forward to this Thailand trip. I would love to learn about a new culture and try out some new things. I also look forward to the Thai boxing training. Meet some new people and experience some new adventures.

Dennis Ninic: I think this is going to be one of the greatest experience of our lives! I really look forward to the practice with all the muay-thai fighters but also to the practice with Royce Gracie. What comes to the visit in Phuket i hope we are going to have a pleasant time and enjoy every moment.

Marcus Klint: I have really been looking forward to this! To practice in one of the best gyms and to practice with Royce Gracie for example. Also to the thai culture and hopefully good weather. To meet new people and just have a great time.

Philip Klang: My expectations for the trip is pretty big. What i´ve got to know, and what people who have been there has been telling me anything else would be crazy. Eat good food, slack on the beach and get some nice workouts, this is what i´ve planed. Anyhow, i think that we all will have a good time and we will be really enjoy this, a memory for life


.

We are going to recive our tickets today since we made the payment friday last week. We are now working with getting more sponsers for our houseing and traning costs. we are also working with how we are going to record our movie in the best way.

Overall we have made our final order on the cloths that we are going to wear in the movie. We think all our sponsers will be very pleased with the ressults. They are going to be send to the printing office next week. We will put up some pictures that you will be able to comment and give some critizes here on our blog or on our facebook group (thaibox project).

As you can see we have a new header!
From left; Marcus Klint, Christoffer Lundh, Philip Klang, André Gustafsson and Dennis Nilsson.

As you maybe have noticed we havn't updated our blog lately, but today we added the new header and some more sponsors.

Alot have happened in the project since we made our last contribution to the blog. We have for example had a meeting with every groupmembers parents, our supervisor and also our principal. In this meeting we discussed how the parent where feeling about out project but also how we felt about our exiting trip to the other side of the world.

We are also glad to tell that we now have all the money needed for the flight tickets which we are going to pay tomorrow.

What comes to our sponsors we have been searching some more and today we had a meeting with a man from Lions, Råå. This meeting went really well so now we are hoping for them to sponsor us with the last money needed for housing and training expenses.

Today one of the local medias, City Helsingborg,  called us for an interview by the phone and made a promise to have us in their paper this week! It feels really good for us to know that every reader of this popular newspaper is going to see us and might get an interest of us, that´s what we are hoping for!

We can also tell that we have got alot of really nice, and handy training clothes from one of our sponsors, Team sportia at Väla. Pictures will be out as soon as we get the clothes back from the printing office.
Thanks alot for everything Anders!

However it´s only one month left til we are leaving to Thailand!!!!