As you can read in the first part of preparation for a fight, I have been training hard to fight in Thailand. My main focus was on technique in the beginning. I think that 80% of my focus was on pure technique improvement. To fight in Thailand, you have to adapt your style somewhat, at least in my case it is. The scoring system in Thailand is a lot different from the one in Holland. If you kick to the legs, in Holland you get equal points for this as if you would kick to the body. However, in Thailand, a kick to the body gets far more credit than a lowkick.
An other example is that if you throw a middle kick that your opponent block with his arms, in Holland, you would not get any points for this. In Thailand this only counts when you block it with your leg, if you get kicked on your arms, it is a point for your adversary. Furthermore, clinching gets a lot more points in Thailand (after all, it is called Thai clinch).
This are just some of the differences in the game and a reason for me to change my style. I always blocked kicks with my arms, but besides the obvious reasons to block with your leg looking at the scoring system, it is an improvement in your fighting game. I broke my forearm in a fight in 2008 because I blocked all the body kicks with it and it snapped. This led to a long period of recovering and several medical interventions. But this you can read in the post about mental toughness when injured.
This was actually one of the hardest part to master. In order to be able to lift my leg up high enough to block incoming kicks to the body, I had to change my whole stand. By holding my feet apart a little more and putting my right foot somewhat more to the back I could shift my weight more to the front foot. Doing this meant less weight leaning on the leg I use to block most of the kicks to my ribs and liver. However, the natural reflex is to still put my arm in front of a kick. Not the same way as I used to do it, now I used to block with one arm close to my body and the other one in front of it. After seeing the way the boxers train here (and especially how hard they kick), I see the advantage of blocking with your leg. However, it is very hard to unlearn something that has been in your system for many years. When I focus on it a lot, I can block very well with my leg up, but when the opponent surprises me with a kick and I have to react fast, it is automatically going back on the same old reflexes. Do you also experience something like this? Having to unlearn something because it just isn’t pratical anymore?
In my opinion it is not easy, but if you persist it should be possible. Only time will tell how I will act in the fight. Usually I tend to fall back to my old habits and fight instinctively. We will see.
Another thing I am training on a lot is the Thai clinch. In Holland, it is not often used like here (makes sense right) so it is a weak spot for me. I notice that even when I am heavier than most of my fellow boxers, it still is very hard for me to push them around or let them fall on the ground. Actually, it is more the other way around. Â Technique is vitally important when clinching. It is a feeling that you have to grasp and it is only possible by doing it very often.
Now that I am training 6 days in the week, I have to make sure that I take my day of rest. Every Saturday when I am done with the afternoon session, which lasts from 3.30 til 6 PM, I go home by taxi. The first thing I do is prepare a nice cold ice bath. I have my freezer filled with many bottles with ice as can possibly fit into it and throw everything in my bathtub. 
I always sit in it for twelve minutes (normal time is 10 – 15), with the water up to my abs and my arms also in the water. It is very cold and you are sitting still, that’s why I reccomend to put on a sweater. So, nothing else, onlyt a sweater, no boxers or short or anything. The sweater makes sure that your upper body stays warm while your legs and arms get the much needed treatment. Especially my shins need this after a week of kicking pads and kicking bags. Make sure you have something to do while sitting there because else it will seem like forever. For me, I put on loud music and try to relax until the buzzer tell me that twelve minutes have passed.
After this, and is important, do not rush into the hot shower. This will minimize the effect of the ice bath and you will have sat there and suffered coldness for nothing. Wait for 30 minutes til one hour to really let the colling effect be maximally effective and then take a nice shower. After that, you will feel very good, even rested. Now it is time to go and eat a lot of food, something that is always nice to do and very simple and cheap in Thailand.
The next day, I make sure it is really a day of complete rest, everything I do, I do it very relaxed and no rush at all. This is not only good for your body, because it needs to recover, but also mentally it is very good. I just go out to the marketplace and meet with some friends, hang around the appartment and watch TV and SKype with my family. At one time in my life I approached training very simple, as many people still do these days. I thought: “If I want to be strong I need to train,m so just train every day, as hard as you can”. This is agood way to get over-trained. Rest is imperative for your training. You can read more about it in my other post.
For now, I am getting ready for an other week of hard training since the fight is approaching rapidly. I am really looking forward to it and plan to give it my all. Hopefully it will be a good fight against a worthy opponent. Any remarks, questions or other feedback are always welcome.
In strenght and peace my friends,
Signing off,
MTD