Muay Thai Gift Guide – 2010

Wow it’s that time of year again, where people generally give and get a lot of useless crap.    Hopefully your peeps aren’t going to do you too wrong.  I’ve compiled a list of goodies that I think are useful for your muay thai life, training and upcoming trip to Thailand.  Thanks to the kids at fight and fitness for one my favorite pictures of Bunkerd!  Miss you.

Digital metronome

This bit of kit has changed the way I run.  If your serious about keeping pace and improving your stamina I would highly recommend this little device.   It’s quite simple really, you set the metronome at the desired beats per minute,  if you looking for a brisk run I would suggest 95+ BPM.   You want one of your feet/legs striking the ground whenever you hear the metronome beep.  If you watch any top runner, you’ll see that they are moving in a constant rhythm.  This metronome will free you from having to think or even worry about pacing, allowing you to purely focus on the running.  Try to resist the urge to run ahead of the beat, try to stay on beat.    You can find these on Amazon and as you can see they’re less then a 10′er

Flip video

It isn’t the best camera in the world but it’s simple, inexpensive and easy to tote around.  If you heading off to Thailand consider taking one of these along.  You can have someone film you as you train. As a training aid it’s helpful to see what people are talking about.  (I do drop my hands to my waist!)  You’ll be able to record your sessions and go back to them when your back at home.  Besides you’ll want to post your video evidence of your victory over a fat cab driver on facebook (kidding, you know who you are)

GYM Boss

You still haven’t bought one of these?  I end up training on my own a great deal (it’s because I’m so awesome)  Seriously must be nice to have friends…. This a must have piece of kit for any gym rat.  Who wants to kick a bag endlessly?  Work the bad in rounds… one of my favorite features is the ability to time tabata drills.  If you want to get more out of your workout I strongly suggest you get one.

Kettle Bells

I know…  what the hells up with the Kettle bells, it was like I woke up one day, and a russian kettlebell factory was liquidating their stock.  Everywhere I went someone was throwing one of these around.  I get it know… I’m sold.  I’ve been doing a lot of crossfit the past couple of months. (no I still can’t do a muscle up) We do a great deal of Kettlebell work.  You can go to youtube or amazon and find a thousand kettlebell workouts.  It’s amazing muay thai conditioning.   Lot’s of core work, lots of cardio and lots of compound exercises.

Runkeeper Pro

This will only be useful for those with an iphone or ipod.  If you want to be able to track the progress of your runs, how far and how fast your running (who doesn’t?) you might consider downloading this.  The App uses the iphones GPS to track and map all of your runs.  There are a lot of GPS watches and pedometers on the market… they’re all pretty solid but at $200+ for one, I’m not rushing out to get one of these.  I’ve been using one of these for the past 6 months and for the money I’m completely satisfied with it’s all of it’s functionality.

Naman Muay

What Nak Muay is complete without his bottle of Naman Muay!  Naman Muay is now available in the States.  The importers of  Naman Muay have been in regulatory hell dealing with the governement in getting this approved by the FDA.  Now you don’t have to pack bottles of this like a little drug mule on your return journeys from the land of smiles.  A nice little trick Bunkerd used to like to play on us was, he would put a small dab of this on the back of your arm pit/arm.  You would proceed to skip rope, unaware of the pain that was about to befall you.  Within a few minutes of skipping rope you would have people rushing to bathroom to douse water on their pits (thanks Bunkerd)

Sanchai Issarn Muay Thai Shorts

If you’ve ever seen Sanchai fight, he always comes out with a Pah Kama, a traditional Issarn sarong.  I came across these shorts on MuayThaiStuff, know you can pay homage to the Dr. with your very own Pah Kama Muay Thai shorts!

Athletic Body Care Antifungal

I’ve written enough about fungal issues.  The gym is a nasty little place.  Some of you may even have first hand experience with the nasties…  I was told by one of my mates, their was a ring worm problem at his camp!   The only way to be safe is to use common sense and tak precautions… if you going to the gym a lot or going to train in Thailand, you might consider picking up a bottle.

Berlitz language courses

These aren’t going to be cheap, but there is probably Berlitz center near you.  If you going all the way to Thailand, you might as well get the full experience.  Why not try to learn the language?  Yes you’ll be surrounded by people speaking Thai, but chances are it’s not going to be an ideal environment to learn it.  There is something about sitting in a structured environment going over boring as drills and flashcards, but hey it’s effective.  If your really interested in learning Thai I would suggest starting off in your home county.  Get some basics under your belt, by the time you get to Thailand you’ll have some of the basics down.  Believe me if you can speak a little Thai, it goes a very long way.  Thai people usually find it quite endearing and will help you learn if that’s what you want.

Ninja Tanto

This gift is only for the true pimps.  Don’t even bother looking at this if  don’t know who Sho Kusugi is or haven’t watched revenge of the ninja at least a dozen times… just stop reading, walk away son… you can’t handle this, you’ll hurt yourself.  I was once cornered in an alley by  half a dozen pissed off  thugs driving Tuk Tuks..  had recovered a buddha head that had been stolen from my villiage.  I’m always relieved to know I can call on my  throwing spike skills to dispatch death from 4 maybe 5 feet away. Needless to say I survived, and returned the buddha head safety to my village.

Snake Blocker Mantra Poster

Finally every self respecting nak muay should have a motivational poster to look at when you awake from your star wars bedsheets. The ideal application is put this next to your full length mirror if you have one.  You should clear your mind, then point to yourself and repeat the mantra ” I’m going to  Tattoo my opponent with my fist!”  shout it as loud as you can.  Don’t worry about your parents,girl friends, or wives.(haters)   You might want to present this as a gift to your Muay Thai camp or gym…   who want’s a picture of a stupid goat on a mountain talking about perseverance ? Effe that noise, Snake Blocker gonna tattoo your face!

What are you guys picking up?