Chiang Mai Doi Suthep Run

Team Quest Thailand has a secret weapon, mother nature. Muay Thai camps and MMA gyms all over Thailand will be jealous that we have such an amazing training tool right here in Chiang Mai. Doi Suthep mountain is 5498 ft tall (1676 meters) straight up to the very top. Our Team Quest Thailand fighters and students have been using the Doi Suthep run to help increase their training edge.

There is a very famous temple up the mountain called Doi Suthep temple and when you reach it you'll have an amazing view of the city Chiang Mai. From the bottom of the mountain to the temple it's about 7.5 miles straight up (12 kilo meters) of pure hell.

About 3 times a week, Adrien “Kaew” Rubis and Jamie “The Official” Stamp have been doing the run to increase their cardio and strength. For those of you that are familiar with Adrien and what he has been accomplishing in the Muay Thai community in Thailand, he is contributing this run to giving him that extra edge that helps him push through fights when he is tired. Jamie jokingly says the run is great but still contributes his success to the “UpperCut Energy Drink”, the energy drink that gives you energy for hours.

Here is a picture of Adrien and Jamie getting ready to run at 6:30am. You can see the tired look on their faces.

So basically I just told Adrien and Jamie to do the Doi Suthep run and that I was going to film it. I told them don't look at me and just act like I am not there. Adrien is a beast when he does the Doi Suthep run, I am pretty sure only professional running athletes could keep up. He usually finishes a good 30 minutes before everyone. You can see from the beginning that he starts pulling away from Jamie. The funny thing is that Jamie actually runs it fast to but Adrien makes everyone appear like they run it slow.

My favorite part of the run is that their was a bicyclist that started way before Adrien and Jamie. I kept having to stop, film, and then get on my motorcycle and race ahead to get the next shot. I kept passing this bicyclist that was going up the hill, he kept giving me weird looks because I would pass him and just wait for Adrien, but he had no idea what I was doing. Eventually Adrien actually caught the bicyclist and started to pass him. When the bicyclist realized what was going on, he turned off right before Adrien passed him. You can see this in the video. Adrien said he was mad because he wanted to pass him.

Here is the video:

Adrien has done this Doi Suthep run so many times that he actually figured out a really cool and cheap way to get down the mountain. Because he leaves his motor bike at the base of the mountain, he doesn’t want to have to pay every time to come back down. So he used to wait for hours on end to try to hitchhike with a random Thai person. Eventually because Adrien was spending so much time waiting around he started to make friends with all the local Chiang Mai people who work in the area, including the local monks. Everyday the monks leave the Doi Suthep temple at a certain time to head down the mountain. Adrien was invited by the monks to get free rides everyday.

Check out the video:

The best part about making it up Doi Suthep mountain is the view. Here are some pics at the top.

Both fighters are gearing up for big fights. Adrien is getting ready for his 3^rd fight in the “Gai Thort Haa Dow” tournament at lumpinee stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Sept 15th. Jamie came to Team Quest Thailand in Chiang Mai to gear up for an 8 man tournament “Rumble at the Metro 4”which is a collection of Australia's 8 best 63 kilo fighters and the winner brings home 10,000 AUS.

So there you have it, Team Quest Thailand's Muay Thai and MMA's secret weapon in Chiang Mai: The Doi Suthep run. Check back soon for updates and upcoming events and information.

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Team Quest Thailand Super Fight.

Ok, so let's get right into it. If you have been following our blog you will know that HongTongLek fought last week. He fought SuperLek Wor Sangprpai. SuperLek is only 17 years old and already has a Lumpinee belt and Thailand belt at Lumpinee stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. So with HongTongLek being the current Thailand champion at Lumpinee stadium, it was classed a super fight.

All in all, HongTongLek fought great. He won all of the exchanges when at a distance but SuperLek has the style that is HongTongLek's kryptonite. SuperLek has it all, he puts a lot of pressure on his opponents. HongTongLek does the best when he has time to calculate, in other words if you aren't pressuring HongTongLek you are going to get picked apart. Below is the fight.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee (Team Quest Thailand) vs. SuperLek Wor Sangprpai.

As you can see, it was a great fight but SuperLek just imposed his game plan a bit better. The great news is that HongTongLek's Thailand belt wasn't on the line. So HongTongLek is still the current 115lb Thailand champion. HongTongLek is scheduled to fight in 3 weeks at Lumpinee stadium again. He doesn't have an opponent yet but I will let everyone know as soon as he does.

Also big news, Chris Herrera is looking to make some noise tonight. Chris will be fighting in his 2^nd professional Muay Thai fight tonight in Chiang Mai, Thailand against a tough opponent. Chris made the move for at least the next year to Chiang Mai, Thailand to work on his Muay Thai. Chris is already bringing an array of tools with him. Chris is a collegiate wrestler that has been grappling his whole life. With his skill set, Team Quest Thailand is the perfect place for him to improve the area's of his game he needs to. So last month Chris had his first Muay Thai fight. Check it out.

Chris Herrera (red corner) vs Muay Thai fighter

Our goal with Chris is to help him become the best Muay Thai striker in MMA. Chris has a lot of stuff to work on but he has the right attitude. He is learning at an exponential rate. Every training session you can see his improvements. One particular thing we are working on with him right now (besides general technique) is his composure for kicks. If you watch his MMA fights where people usually are boxing, he is perfectly composed and comfortable. In his Muay Thai fight above you can see after he takes a few kicks he is a little hesitate to step into range. So we have been focusing a lot more on kick sparring. Kick sparring (no punches or very few) is a great way to improve your defense and composure for kicks.

Other things we have been working on with Chris include his foot work, cutting off the ring, keeping his hands up, and his timing. You can see in his fight video above that sometimes he has the tendency to step with his back leg first. This is something we have been working on with him. Also, he has the habit of following people a bit instead of cutting them off. I know in this fight tonight everyone will see a big improvement when he starts cutting his opponent off. Keeping your hands up seems easy, but sometimes no matter how many times you tell someone, they have to take a big kick like above to get the point. I know Chris's hand will be glued to his chin this fight. Last but not least, Chris's timing. What I mean by that is, when his opponent kicks or throws a strike, we have been working on throwing something back right away and keeping control of the exchanges.

I will get the fight video up as soon as possible. So check back soon for results.

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Team Quest Thailand news

Team Quest Thailand is happy to announce our newest addition to the Team. Meet Kru Nee. Kru Nee grew up in Chiang Mai, Thailand so he is very familiar with the city. He has fought all over Thailand but after retiring he decided to move back in an effort to be close to his family. Kru Nee was heavily recruited by Team Quest Thailand. He comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the sport of Muay Thai. Kru Nee has what is considered an I.Q. Style for fighting meaning he doesn’t take a lot of damage but gives a lot.

Our team out here in Chiang Mai, Thailand is growing strong. Right now we have one of the best Muay Thai and MMA programs in Thailand. One thing we are particularly proud of is that we are the only MMA school in Thailand who has produced a champion at Lumpinee stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. We credit our success at this point to our training staff. Our training staff is going above and beyond what is expected of them.

What's interesting about our training staff is that they teach in a much different manor than most Thai's teach Muay Thai. Most Thai's find it difficult to communicate and because of that they get frustrated and just stop actually teaching. We have a very stringent training schedule here at Team Quest Thailand. All of our training staff is required to complete a training course teaching them how to teach and run a class.

One thing that many people forget (or just don't know), is that Thai's are hardly taught how to fight Muay Thai themselves. At a early age, they are thrown on a bag for months before the teachers will attend to them. The kids that mimic the older fighters and show passion for Muay Thai are looked after. But they don't actually teach technique in the way westerners are taught. From my time in Thailand I hear foreigners at every gym complain about not getting taught technique. In reality, the Thai teachers were never really taught either, they just learned on the spot, so they don't have the experience of relating the techniques.

This is where we are able to stand out. Team Quest Thailand teaches our training staff how to relate techniques and run a class. It is no secret why our gym shows the most technique, our trainers are educated on how to work with foreigners. There is no other gym in Thailand that shows the amount of technique we show. We do technique every single day and we teach it in a way that students will retrain the information and be able to bring it back home to practice.

On another note, we just had a big fight last week. Adrien Team Quest Thailand just fought last week in the “Gai Thort Haa Dow” round robin tournament. Adrien after having only 11 months experience in Muay Thai was thrown to the wolves (this is what he wanted). He took on Muay Thai superstar Petchmonkong. Check out the video.

Petchmonkong came in with a lot of experience and has been fighting his whole life. Adrien had a great performance. We are really proud of him. Although he came up short, he showed a lot of heart and proves he is going to have an amazing career in Muay Thai. Petchmonkong fought great too though. He was the first person to solve the puzzle of Adriens size and clinch. It was Petchmonkong's better technique and experience that won him this fight. Adrien's head is high though and he is already back in the gym training. Adrien is improving at a rapid rate, each fight you can see improvements.

The best thing that came out of this fight is that Adrien proved to himself and everyone else that he belongs in the tournament. Adrien also has a new list of things to work on. Other fighters haven't been able to expose some of Adrien's weakness's because Adrien is so good at other things, but Petchmonkong was different. The great news is that Adrien is not out of the tournament and will be fighting next month again.

Kru Gen (HongTongLek) flew down to Bangkok yesterday to take on Thai super star “Super Lek Wor Sangprpai”. This is def one of the hardest fights of HongTongLek's life. Super Lek is an amazing young star with a similar style to HongTongLek. Super Lek will have the power and speed advantage, HongTongLek will have the experience advantage. It will be an interesting match up. Here is a highlight of his opponent.

Here is HongTongLek and SuperLek in a prefight interview today.

Check back soon for results and more upcoming news.

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