My Double Birthday Celebration Thursday, Aug 28 2008

My family and I were in Thailand during my 33rd birthday (August 7) and celebrated it with our two groups of friends.  The first was sort of an advanced birthday blow-out because we held it on July 31 and Beck, RP and I are leaving Bangkok for Pattaya the following day.    The whole RP contingent, including Philippine Sports  Commissioner Ambrosio De Luna joined the celebration.  We dined out at Relax, an outdoor restaurant within the Suan Lum shopping complex.    I would tease the RP team that who would have thought that from eating sisig at our usual get together at Aysee’s (a known dining place beside Ultra) we will end up savoring Tom Yum Goong in Suam Lum, Bangkok

 The second celebration was on August 7, this time with the trainers and boxers of Fairtex Pattaya including one Korean who’s also training and staying at Fairtex Hotel.   Ted, the Camp manager, advised me that the trainers would only eat Thai food and it would be best to let them choose the place.   Our favorite trainer Chok and Ram volunteered to be the organizers of the party and brought us at a simple roadside diner along Naklua Road.  There, I sampled one of the best Thai food I ever tasted.  The food was so great that Beck and I went back to the said restaurant on our last night in Pattaya.

The RP Muay Thai Team pigging out at Suan Lum.  Everybody ate to their heart’s content except for two sorry individuals, Jonathan Pulosan and Ricalene Aquino.  These two have to maintain their weight as they will still be competing in the finals of the Prince Cup which will be held on August 2 (two days after the celebration)

Romnick, what the hell are you doing?

 The picture that will break the heart of thousands of women.  Me with Naruepol Fairtex and his lovely wife.   Hundreds of netizens have used “Naruepol Fairtex girlfriend” as the search term they encoded  in search engines that led them to my blog.  It only means that lot of women are interested to find out the marital status of Naruepol (well, I can’t blame them.  He’s a quintessential tall, dark and handsome guy).   Ted (the camp manager of Fairtex Pattaya) even told me that groupies from the US would travel all the way to Thailand just to see Naruepol.  We’ll sorry gals,  the very lucky girl is a Thai. 

The place is just a small roadside restaurant along Naklua Road.   The restaurant is so small and simple I never imagined I will be tasting one of the best Thai cuisine ever.    I sort of made a rule of thumb that in Thailand, the best way to sample Thai cuisine is to eat in small roadside mom and pop restaurants. And its good on the budget too.   I treated more people in Pattaya than in Suan Lum and yet my total bill is less than half of what I spent treating the RP team in Bangkok. 

Thai cuisine is one of my favorite (along with Indian food). I remember when I first came to Thailand way back 1997 as a student, I never like spicy food.  But when I came back from Thailand, I could only eat spicy food. 

 

My birthday cake courtesy of Naruepol Fairtex and his wife.  Thank you very much, Lek (Naruepol’s nickname)

 Beck and Me together with the fighters and trainers of Fairtex Pattaya

 Be Inspired.  That is the motto of Fairtex Gym.   Well, if you are with these guys, you will surely be inspired to train hard. Me with the three reigning muay thai champions from Fairtex Gym.   From left to right:  Naruepol Fairtex (Lumpinee Champion and Champion of Thailand), Kaew Fairtex (Lumpinee Champion and Champion of Thailand) and Yodsaenklai Fairtex (Lumpinee Champion, Radjadamnern Champion, WBC Muay Thai Champion and the 1st  Contender Asia Champion)

 This is one of the best birthday gifts that I ever received.  Yodsaenklai gave me as a birthday present one of his fight shorts.  He used this in one of his fights in Europe.   I am planning to wear this short in one of my fights as well but figured that it would be much better if I’ll just frame this for display together with this picture. 

 

 

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2008 Prince Cup-Huamark, Bangkok Thailand Monday, Aug 25 2008

The 2008 Prince Cup was organized by the Muay Thai Association of Thailand under the patronage of the Crown Prince Vaijiralongkorn and was held from July 28 until August 2 in Huamark Stadium, Huamark Bangkok, Thailand. Around 15 countries participated in this amateur muay thai competition.   The Philippines sent its best bets to bring home medals and glory for the country. 

As expected, Thailand emerged as the Over-All Champion while Philippines settled as the 2nd Runner-Up with 1 Gold Medal, courtesy of Jonathan Pulosan, 1 Silver, courtesy of Ricalene Aquino and 4 bronze medals.   It is Pulosan’s first international muay thai stint and his amazing performance is a big surprise.  

In tournaments like this, getting medals sometimes depend on the luck of the draw.  In several matches, the Philippines have to face Thailand in semi-finals or quarter finals and thus the RP team would have to settle for the bronze.   Had the RP team faced another country, they are sure to bring silver medals and not just bronze medals.  Still, the Philippines good performance is an indication that Filipinos excel in combative sports and should be the priority of the Philippines’ sports program.

Beck (fresh from her 3 weeks training at Kaewsamrit Gym in Bangkok)  almost fought at the Prince Cup, she got the nod of Coach Billy Alumno and MAP President Robert Valdez, but at the last minute, RP Team Thai coach Ajarn Pudpadnoy disagreed and Beck has to withdraw from the competition.   Suddently I found a new drive in my muay thai training, basing on the skill level of the competitors in my weight division,  I aim to compete in next year’s Prince Cup, I want to go down in the tournament’s history as the oldest participant or as the oldest competitor to  get a medal (even if its just a bronze medal) 

 

Beck with RP team members Jay Olod and Ricalene Aquino in front of Chaleena Hotel.  This is the official residence of the participants of the 2008 Prince Cup

Inside the shuttle van on the way to Huamark Stadium, venue of the Prince Cup

The parade of nations,  around 15 countries participated in this tournament. 

The RP Delegation with the Philippine Flag:  From left to right: Jay Olod, Jay Harold Gregorio, Rica Aquino (behind Jay Harold), the Thai lady flag bearer, Jonathan Pulosan,  Red Dumuk (MAP Secretary General), Zaidi Laruan, Eugene Toquero and Clint Anawe

 Beck with Ajarn Pudpadnoy (RP Team’s Thai coach), Andy Galvez (MAP Vice Pres. and International Referee) and the RP Muay Thai Team.

Me with Romnick Pabalate and Andy Galvez clowning around

 

No, this is not from the movie X-files.  The dome of Huamark Stadium looks like a flying saucer, so Beck and Romnick are acting out like they are being abducted by aliens. 

 Ricalene going up for her fight against Turkey.   She won this match which qualified her for the finals.   In her finals match, she went against a Thai Champion.  Even though Rica is suffering from dysmenorrhea, she still fought gallantly and only lost on points and settled for the silver medal

 Eugene Toquero landing a jab against his Thai opponent who’s a former Lumpinee Champion. 

 Romnick is a girl magnet.  Better be careful, Nick, that pretty lady on your right is Master Woody’s daughter. 

 Jay Harold missing a roundhouse kick to his Thai opponent. 

 Ajarn Pudpadnoy and Kru Billy are the cornermen of the RP Team.   

 Jay Olod evading a headkick. 

 Jay Olod’s fight is a very close one.  Though the Thai won the match,  some quarters saw it as a victory for Jay. 

 RP Team member Jonathan Pulosan (wearing Blue vest) in action against a fighter from Turkey 

 Jonathan Pulosan winning against Turkey.  Jonathan went on to win a Gold Medal by a victory against a Thai fighter. 

 The lone gold medal winner from the Philippines, Mr. Jonathan Pulosan with team mates Romnick Pabalate, Eugene Toquero and Jay Harold Gregorio.  

RP and Ricalene with the “official mascot” of the Thai delegation.  This Thai is a one man cheering squad and would play his drum and sing in between rounds.  At one time, I heard him sing Orange and Lemon’s “Pinoy Ako”, which is to my big surprise.  I later found out that he was in the Philippines during the 2005 SEA Games in Manila and that’s where he learned that song.

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Vince Soberano Muay Thai Seminar Monday, Aug 18 2008

Its official, my blog entries are DVD… Delayed Very Delayed.   I shoud have posted this last month but I will be on a two week trip to Thailand during the last week of July until the first week of August, I have to endorse tons of work and responsibilities to my staff before I leave.  Plus, I am also organizing the 5th NCR Muay Thai Tournament which will be held in August 30.  This leaves me little time to write in my blog.   But as they say, better late than never…

A day after the recent URCC, I received a  private message in pinoymma forum (of which I am an active poster) from my friend Richmond Sia.    He invited me to attend the muay thai seminar by Kru Vince Soberano,  this seminar is by invitation only and is almost exclusive to members of the Gracie Barra BJJ Team.     Of course, why would I say no, its an honor to be invited to an exclusive seminar, specially that it will be conducted by a muay thai expert who won the King’s Cup and Queen’s Cup in 2007.

Vince Soberano, a Fil-Am martial artist,  started his muay thai training in 1974, one year before I was born.   Muay Thai is a  brutal and physically demanding sport wherein fighters retiring at the age of 30 is a norm.  Kru Vince, at the age of 43 won the prestigious muay thai tournament King’s Cup and Queen’s Cup in Thailand in the same year, in front of thousand of Thais.    In Thailand, he trains at the famous Kaewsamrit Gym and teaches at the Kaewsamrit China/Black Tiger Gym in Beijing, China.    Here’s the website of the Black Tiger Gym:  www.muaythai-china.com

There’s a huge downpour of rain on that night of July 9, 2008, but its not enough to deter me and Beck to brave the floods and the traffic from Ortigas to Richmond’s Gym in Quezon City.     The group has just started their warm-up session when we arrived.   First, Kru Vince taught us some good warm up drills for the hips and the legs, then proceeded to teach us several combinations and its applications both as offense and defense.   Then he also taught us several clinching drills and important things to remember when in a “plum” (the thai term for the clinch).     He even thought us his preferred way of doing the shin block, and it makes perfect sense.   I do the shin block with my foot pointing downwards. Kru Vince said that it is better to execute this technique with the foot pointing upwards because it flexes the muscles in front of the shin, thus providing a better shield in blocking a kick.   Since then, I changed my way of doing the shin block.

 Kru Vince Soberano teaching his favorite clinching techniques that proved effective in his numerous muay thai matches.   His training partner is Jaime Sin-MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai Expert and owner of K-1, the number martial arts supply store in Manila.

 Kru Vince checking the clinching techniques of the participants. 

 Kru Vince giving some pointers to the group

URCC fighter and now referee Christian Wong and his girlfriend Jane together with Kru Vince

Richmond Sia posing with Kr Vince.  Don’t let his big size fool you, he’s a very nice and cool person.   Our friendship started in the pinoymma forum when we both posted about our experiences while training at the famous Kaewsamrit Gym.  He stayed there for a month and a half way back 2005, even fought a professional muay thai match, while I only stayed for a week in 2007.    His gym is the venue of  the seminar.   He has his own blog: http://lordsgym.multiply.com where he give helpful tips and insights on strength training, nutrition and BJJ training. 

 

 Beck and Me with Kru Vince

 Gracie Barra team members together with the King’s Cup and Queen’s Cup Champion.   It is not my first time to be with GB boys,  two of my fellow former Red Corner Makati Boxing Team mates are from Gracie Barra Makati.   But it is my first time to train with them in a group being the only non-GB member.  They are very cool guys and I really felt that Beck and I are very welcome.   I wish them success in their future competitions, be it BJJ or MMA.  Thank you very much, guys!  More power to Gracie Barra-Philippines. 

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