I’ve been back from Southeast Asia for about three weeks now. Many of you have wondered what’s happened to my serialized memoir on this blog. You’ve probably seen a lot of my posts on social media, so you might have a sense of my experiences over the past month or so, but little reflection on them. I’ve missed about 20-30 posts. I hope this one will make up for that. It’s just a more concise version of what I would have written anyway, and brevity is always a good thing.
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A lot’s happened since I last posted.
For one thing, I’m now writing to most of you from the other side of the world! Second, and more important, I just finished my first week training at an authentic muay Thai camp.
In less than 24 hours I’ll be off to explore a new continent, off to fulfill a decade-long dream. I would do the normal thing and say that it feels “surreal”, but it doesn’t. I don’t want to ascribe myself some sort of high-minded quest. I’m just a farang from the suburbs of Toronto trying to understand muay Thai in its authentic form for a couple of weeks.
On Monday, I got a Facebook message from Kiatphontip Gym in Bangkok. I can only assume I was speaking with the owner/manager. He wanted to confirm my plans for next week and arrange transportation from the airport to the gym.
Shit, this is, like, real.
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So yeah, Southern Ontario got hit with an ice storm Saturday. I went to class Friday, couldn’t make class Saturday and the gym was closed because of the weather Sunday. It’s Monday afternoon as of writing. I’m not sure if I can even safely get to class today, given that a lot of government services are telling people to stay off the roads if possible. As much as I love going, it’s not worth risking a car accident. We’ll see in a few hours.
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I have absolutely no idea whether this is true, but I suspect The Karate Kid both made karate and ruined it.
What I know for sure is that The Karate Kid ruined the modern world.
Seriously, read that article in the link above. Go on. I’ll wait.
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I’ll be honest — I took a day off training on day three. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to go to class, and I was willing to push through the aches and pains in my legs. But extensive internet research suggested this is a bad idea if you want to develop strength in new muscles. I know that as I get more used to the drills my body will adapt.
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