Chuwattana Gym, Bangkok

Laura Dal Farra

Currently there’s a welt on my shinbone that’s the shape of another shinbone.  It’s been with me for a few hours now – there’s discoloration on my inner thigh that’s pretty grey.  It’s been with me for at least two months now; two months after the bruise faded.  And then there’s the random purpleness all over me.

So yeah, that’s my current state here at Chuwattana.  A little beaten, a little bruised and definitely silly happy.

I’ve paused until now on writing about Chuwattana Gym, as currently, it’s my home and as with most things that are personal, objectivity can get skewed.  So, I’ll preface the following with this, I’ve been training here, I believe for approximately four months now and outside the gym, I really don’t have much of a life in Bangkok.  My days and nights are spent with these cats, so please keep that in mind as I try to dial the rest of you into what it has been like training here.

Accommodations

For 700 Baht a day, guys can eat, sleep and train twice a day, six days a week. Training occurs once on Sunday afternoons. Food is great and is MSG free (a hard thing to find on the streets of Bangkok).  Note, sleeping at night can be difficult from what I’ve been told.  There are about ten beds to an air con room and if someone is fighting with their girlfriend, or has stomach problems, you’re going to know about it.  A.k.a, be prepared to have no privacy whatsoever.  500 Baht a day gives you training and food, less a place to crash and the options in the immediate vicinity are limited.  There are a few guesthouses within walking distance that are available on a per month basis (they don’t rent out for less than one month, one for less than three).  Prices start at approximately 3,500 Baht a month. There is the Burapa Hotel for 600 Baht a night.  The dreaded Khao San Road (sorry people, I can’t stand the place) is about a 60 Baht tuk tuk ride away, and there’s the Green Hotel, which has rooms starting at 400 Baht a night.  It’s about a 50 Baht tuk tuk ride away and is within walking distance to Raja stadium.

Pets

There’s no way around this one. If you’re going to train at Chuwattana, you’re going to see roaches and rats. Lots of them.  When you’re hanging, when you’re training.  A few days ago, a rat ran over my bare feet while I was talking to guys at the side of the ring.  They’re bold. The gym has been trying their best to exterminate the vermin….recently a nak muay was handling what I believe was a plate of glue with a dead, skinless bloody rat pasted to it….the plan was to pitch it in the main garbage…I personally think his mission would have been a success if the thing hadn’t come back from the dead and try to bite his thumb off.  Straight up horror show…did your mother say it only happened in the movies?  Lies.  Be prepared.

The Immediate Neighborhood

No swanky cafes. No dance clubs. A few 7-Elevens.  We’re talking working class, dirty automotive section, full out Thai.  If I see a foreigner and I don’t know them, I get confused…I forget we’re here….so,  if you’re into Vespas, automotive parts, rusty hammers, crews and crews of dudes hustling porn, pirated karoke cds, cellphones, mp3 players, weird electrical parts, random weapons and lots of noise, this is your spot.

Nighttime, the place clears out.  As there’s nowhere really to hang, other than a few tiny karaoke joints about a ten minute walk away, people drink on the street and on the odd occasion, when some of the automotive guys work overtime, hip hop becomes the soundtrack to your nighttime high jinx.

On weekends the place turns into, in my opinion, the worst market ever.  On the flipside, a friend of mine from the UK loves it (you freak).  Take everything I just wrote, multiply it by fifty, add the same boxes of filthy screws week after week, rubix cubes, five year old chocolates, bad underwear and things salvaged from some dead foreigner creep’s home and pack it so tight that a five minute walk that normally takes one leaves you wondering why you didn’t just let the two guys carrying a fridge trample you, and you’ll get a taste of what every Saturday and Sunday is like.  What do we do for fun?  We hang on the steps of the nearby hospital, until about midnight when we get kicked out by armed guards.

I love it.

Training

Morning session begins at 6 am with a 10 km run around the neighbourhood followed by about an hour and a half of training. Afternoon session commences at 3 pm with a half hour of skipping rope and a few hours of training – pads, bag work, clinching, etc.  Floors are concrete. This isn’t a gym that’s going to give you a lot of guidance/hold your hand.  You’ll get your five rounds with a trainer, both in the morning and in the afternoon; however, you’ll get back what you put into your training.

Chuwattana is also a boxing gym, some of the nak muays become boxers, some tip toe between both sports.  This is a hand heavy gym.  If your hands need polishing, I definitely recommend you visit.

If you’re interested in increasing your power, come check it out.  I came in thinking my hands were pretty good, that I was more powerful than I was quick or technically sound.  They worked my power like mental, and I surpassed what I thought was conceivable for my frame.

Environment

This is where my objectivity may get skewed.  I love these cats, like brothers, like friends, like boyfriends I never wanted.  It’s a crazy mix for me here, and I’m beyond grateful to have the experience.  Some days I want to hug some, some days I want to stick my fingers in ribs and dig….and some days I try…and on those days, yeah, those are the days like today when I’m a little more beaten up than usual…so in short, it’s great here. People are open, friendly, goofy and generally pretty easy to be around.  And if there’s someone you can’t stand, there’s about nineteen other nak muays to hang with.  It’s not a small gym and as the owner is also one of the promoters at Raja stadium, there’s a high turnover of new faces coming through. I love this aspect – I’m constantly meeting new people and making contacts at gyms in the middle of nowhere that produce fighters worthy of being on a Raja card.

This definitely isn’t a tourist gym, but there has been a consistent flow of foreigners in the time I’ve spent here.  Currently there are three of us, including myself.  If I had to generalize, I’d say the bulk of foreigners that come in are from Japan.  If you want to stay here for awhile, I suggest picking up some Thai; it’ll make your experience that much better.

Ladies

I’m not going to dance around this – there are times when training here is tough.  We can’t sleep at the gym. We’re not allowed in the ring.  We’re expected to work with trainers last.  We’re expected to work the bags last.  Clinching is a grey area.  I’ve been slowly pushing some of the boundaries to varying degrees of success.  I show up a half hour early, skip and sometimes get a trainer to work with me while the guys are skipping.  And clinching?  It’s more impromptu, I just wait until one of the guys randomly decide they want to spar, no wait, beat on me, and I just go in.  Is this great?  I don’t know, it is what it is, and currently, I’m okay with it.  I’ll say this though, if you think you can come in here and get exactly what you want, when you want it ….good luck.  I’ve seen people try…(guys, this includes you too).

What keeps me here?  The technique, the power I’ve learned to generate, the pace of the training, the level I’m expected to be at, the level of the people I’m surrounded by, the relationships I’ve developed with some of these knuckleheads and most importantly, the results.  Yes, I’m definitely treated differently being female here – I can’t lie, at times I’ve questioned if I stay because my brain unknowingly leaks during the night, and then something happens, like four guys spend about ten minutes of their training time to make sure I get something down, or I move rooms and a crew of them wash my floor and walls….So no, it’s not easy being a (lone) chick here, yet I wouldn’t say it’s negative either –  most people here are supportive of my growth in this art, but there are limitations, and ladies, you’ll have to figure out a way around them if you plan to be here long term.

Another thing I’m doing is cross training at other gyms.  The plan is to go for around a week, get in the ring, clinch, and come back ….after a few weeks, possibly go back or check out another gym.  It’s all a matter of what fits your personality, this fits mine; I thrive on change.  I look forward to the challenges and possibilities it brings.

Currently, Chuwattana is a good fit for me; it’s the one constant I plan to keep in my training.