Reflection of a Fighter

Here is a guest post from our very own fighter Adrien "Kaew" Team Quest Thailand. Adrien reflects on the ups and downs this year he has went through.

"My fight on Saturday night will be my last fight of this year. Losing by TKO in round one was not the way I would have liked to finish my year and I am pretty pissed off by my performance. But when I sat down and thought about it afterward, I have no regrets. I had to think about how I started this year and how I ended it to understand. I started training Muay Thai just over a year and a half ago without any martial arts background at all. I just came to Thailand to travel and started training Muay Thai for fun. I decided to give it my all and put all my heart into this sport, because for once in my life I had found something I really enjoyed. I had one goal in mind, if I trained hard every day trying to get better I could one day be a professional.

After only 1 year I was given the opportunity to fight at one of Muay Thais most prestigious Stadiums: Lumpinee. My dream came true when I stepped in the ring, I didn't feel any pressure and I had a big smile on my face. After that first fight things started to move very fast, the level of my opponents increased exponentially. When I entered the Kai Yan Ha Dao Tournament, I was a huge underdog and no one expected me to win 1 fight. Fighting beside fighters with 200 to 300 fights, some of them champions, I also doubted I could win as well. But I was willing to try and put all of my heart and energy into my training and the fight. I ended up placing 2^nd in my group, winning 2 times and losing once. Giving me the chance to go to the semi finals, something I had never thought I would achieve. Then I hit a wall, the wall that is in front of me right now, this hindrance, I will overcome it for my own sake. I will do as I always do, keep aiming for the top, until there is nothing left above me! 15 fights this year, 11 wins and 4 losses, at the greatest level of Muay Thai. Now it's time to take a break and rest my body. I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and always remember to follow your dreams is the only way to happiness!

Adrien "Kaew" Team Quest Thailand"

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No Secrets, Just Hard Work.

Something I find interesting is that I am always hearing foreigners make comments about how the Thai's are not training scientifically. I hear stuff like, “Oh man, if they implemented a strength and conditioning program into there training they would be so much better.” Another great one is “The Thai's training methods are outdated.” Yeah there is always room for improvements but the bottom line is that it comes down to putting in the work, not some special new training methods. They have found something that works and at this point they are still producing the highest level fighters.

I think people forget that these fighters are not just fighters, they are professional athletes the same as any high level athlete. They know their body and what they need to do to prepare for competition. Muay Thai training is very sport specific. When you kick a bag you are getting resistance which is going to force your muscles to get broken down and repair better to yield greater results. It's not the same as say basketball when if you want to jump to dunk a basketball. You can jump as much as you want but there is no resistance that is going to force your muscles to get broken down and repair so they produce better results unless you implement some kind of strength and conditioning program.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee Working Hard.

Another great one I hear from recreational athletes is “The run is to long, more than 20 minutes can be counterproductive.” So ultimately what happens is students try to make excuses and skip the running thinking that nobody notices. Everybody, including your trainers notice. Yeah that is fine to skip the run if you are just a recreational trainee and not a professional athlete. For some reason that is unknown to me people are assuming the Thai's are running for cardiovascular reasons. But a nice jog isn't by itself going to get their cardio to the next level. People are missing the point completely why the Thai's are using this training method. Most Thai's are trying to fight as the lowest weight they can just like MMA fighters. This is a good method for keeping your weight down. But the main reason they are running is because running excites your nervous system ultimately giving you more bounce in your step and lightness on your toes.

I had the opportunity to work with Mike Dolce for a number or years back when I was at Team Quest in Portland. For those of you who are not familiar with Mike he is the the most sought after nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach in MMA. He has worked with the likes of Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Thiago Alves, Jake Ellenburger, and many more. Basically he knows his stuff. I think Mike said it best, he said that among his athletes the ones that did their runs were the ones that still had the bounce and lightness on their toes by the later rounds.

Basically my point is there is no “magic training methods”. If you want to be the best you have to do what is already working but do it right and consistent. It's the same as anything else, you have to put in the hard work to get the results you want.  

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Team Quest Thailand Producing Talent

One of the things we are focusing on here at Team Quest Thailand in Chiang Mai is producing talent from the ground up. When we began to make plans to open the gym here in Chiang Mai we discussed all of our options on the direction we wanted to go for the gym. One of the big questions was, “Do we want to bring in some really high level fighters or do we want to focus on a higher level coaching staff that will produce new talent?”

At the end of the day, gyms are remembered for what fighters they produced, not who is training at the gym. A good example is Chute Boxe will forever be remembered as a gym that produced the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Maurico “Shogun” Rua. Greg Jackson's camp is a gym that is known for taking talent and just being there to support them. In other words, we feel that producing talent is what actually contributes to the MMA and Muay Thai community.

Team Quest has built a track record for producing home grown talent. To name just a few, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Chael Sonnen, and Matt Lindland. I could literally probably go on for a page of just names that Team Quest produced. This is the stuff that people respect at the end of the day. At Team Quest Thailand we are choosing to build our fighters in the same traditional system as the original Team Quest has and that is through a lot of hard work and dedication.

So I guess what I am ultimately trying to say is that we are working hard on bringing up the new generation of Muay Thai and MMA fighters here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Results aren't instant but they are coming with time. Although we have had amazing success in our first year with fighters like HongTongLek winning the Thailand championship belt at Lumpinee Stadium that is actually not why we brought him in. We brought in HongTongLek because of his ability to teach and translate techniques to students and new fighters in the most efficient way.

If you are a young fighter and think you have what it takes to train with one of the biggest international Muay Thai and MMA brands in the world. Contact Joel @ tqmma DOT com to inquire about fighting professional opportunities. Visit our website at www.tqmmathailand.com for more information about our Thailand MMA and Chiang Mai Muay Thai training camp.

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Team Quest Thailand New Additions

Team Quest Thailand New additions

Our goal is to constantly be improving Team Quest Thailand. So now that our classes are up and running we have decided to turn more of our focus into things that can help students even more. Basically we have sat down with our budget and decided what is the most important area's of the gym we can improve for students to have the best over all experience at the gym.

First addition: The CAGE

We have installed a MMA cage in our MMA and grappling area so that students can train in the most realistic training environment possible. Students are able to practice techniques utilizing the cage to help improve aspects of their game. Our cage stands about 6' tall and is reenforced with steel so that students can train in the safest environment possible.

Second addition: A full set of KETTLE BELLS

We have been focusing on putting together our strength and conditioning program. With the help from Matt Lindland and the people from Team Quest Portland, Oregon, we have incorporated their world famous “Fit Quest” combat sports specific workouts. What sort of functional workout would be complete with out a complete set of Kettle bells. We went all out and purchased 6 sets of kettle bells ranging from 4 kilos to 24 kilos.

Third addition: Wall Mats

Team Quest Thailand has installed wall mats in our MMA and grapping area. The mats are 2 inches in thickness and very durable. They are designed for taking a lot of impact while keeping students as safe as possible. The covering of the mats is genuine leather. This helps absorb sweat and gives the perfect amount of traction.

For more information about news and updates to Team Quest Thailand, LIKE our facebook page. Be sure to check back soon for Team Quest Thailand up coming events.

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Jamie "The Official" Stamp, fighting with Team Quest Thailand in Chiang Mai.

For those of you who have been following our blog, you know that Jamie “The Official” Stamp (current Australian Pro Evolution Champion) has been training with Team Quest Thailand for the last few months. He was meant to fight 2-3 times over the past few months but unfortunately has been plagued with injuries this trip. I actually felt really bad for him because I could see the frustration in his eyes. All he wanted to do was train.

Jamie was dealing with a lot of things that were out of his control. Anything from being sick to typical injuries. But Jamie is pretty head strong so he worked through them the best that he could. He was still training hard but he had to totally tweek his training.

This actually brings me to a thought. Every athlete I have ever known encounters injuries or something that prevents them from training properly. This includes people who come to train in Thailand. Far to many times do I see someone get some small nagging injuries, say a hurt hand and then just completely stop training until it's healed. But this happens to every athlete. The athletes that find a way to work through it or do what they can are the ones who end up progressing. The question you need to ask yourself if this happens to you is “What CAN I do”.

Personally I have really bad tendinitis in my right hip. I have learned to train around my injury though. I usually can't kick with my right leg because the inflammation gets to much and I start limping really bad. So what I have done is used it as an opportunity to get better as a south paw. So over the last few years since this injury manifested I have got really good with my left kick. Because I took advantage of the opportunity I can now switch up my stance pretty easily.

I just find it frustrating when students or athletes use injuries as an excuse to completely stop training. This is why I really respect Jamie “The Official” Stamp because he literally did everything he could possibly do given his circumstances. Jamie was pretty determined, but the problem is that he was going home in two weeks. So he said “Screw it, get me the hardest fight you can get me and make it in a week.” He was determined to fight a Thai before he went home because even though he has 23 fights he had never fought a Thai.

So we actually didn't know who Jamie “The Official” Stamp was fighting until we got to the stadium. This is when Kru Joe came over with his eyes wide and said “Jamie, I know your opponent. He is good and big.” Remember, Kru Joe's opinion of what is good is basically someone who has a lumpinee belt or something equivalent. I seen a bit of fear on Jamie's face but that's a good thing because he fights better when he is the underdog.

Jamie "The Official" Stamp with Kru Joe.

Jamie's opponent was Fah Song Sang Chiang Mai Pa Who Yoot, a tough fighter from the isarn region who has fought a lot on the Bangkok circuit. But Jamie asked for a tough fight so that is exactly what he got.

I am not going to lie. Jamie was getting battered, and I mean battered for the first 3 rounds. His fitness was obviously a factor since he didn't get to train properly, he didn't have any sorta bounce to his step and his timing was off. He took probably 3 of the most brutal kicks to his ribs I have ever seen in my life. It also didn't help that in the start of the 2^nd round his opponent landed a flying down elbow on the top of Jamie's head splitting him wide open. He was bleeding like a faucet. Jamie's cut ended up being about an inch long and was really wide.

After the 3^rd round Jamie came back to sit and the ref came over to stop the fight. We started screaming at the ref in Thai that he still wanted to fight. Jamie was on the border of wanting to stop the fight. Kru Joe looked Jamie straight in the face and screamed at him “ALL YOU HAVE LEFT IS HEART AND YOUR HANDS, I NEED YOU TO USE THEM. GIVE ME ONE MORE ROUND.” So Jamie stood up and was ready to go, we still had to convince the ref not to stop it.

The 4^th round started and here is what happened.

It was one of the best comeback's I have ever seen. You can see that the crowd was going nuts. When he knocked him down the first time we thought he was finished and we were so excited we jumped into the ring to early. I looked over and realized that the ref was only giving a count. So we scrambled back out of the ring and waited the extra few seconds for Jamie to finish him. It was an amazing show of heart.

Jamie will be heading back to Australia this coming Thursday. It was great to have him out. He will be coming back next April to train with Team Quest Thailand for 3 months. I truly can't wait because he is amazing to have at our gym.

Team Quest Thailand has some big fights coming up. First up is HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee who will be fighting in Team Quest Thailand's first international fight in Switzerland October 20^th against a tough french fighter named Amine Kacem. Amine fights out of Fabio Pinca's gym in France so you know he is going to be game for a fight.

After this, Adrien “Kaew” Team Quest Thailand will be fighting in the Muay Thai Marathon November 1^st in Korat, Thailand. This is a huge opportunity for Adrien because this tournament is set up for him. To win this tournament you need fitness because you might fight 3 fights of 9 rounds total in one day. Fitness is Adrien's secret weapon, he never gets tired.

For upcoming news and updates check back here with Team Quest Thailand soon.

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Fight Day: Lumpinee Stadium, Adrien "Kaew" Team Quest Thailand

Team quest Thailand had some big fights this last weekend again. Adrien “Kaew” Team Quest Thailand was one of them and has been on a tear. This time he was facing yet another tough opponent, Siangjan Kiatrachanok in the “Gai thort haa dow” 8 man round robin tournament at Lumpinee stadium. Adrien was looking to improve his almost flawless record.

Usually I am busy beyond belief here at the gym but this time I had a chance to go down with Adrien and help him prepare for the fight. I filmed as much as I could so that anybody interested in what it's like behind the scenes at Lumpinee stadium could check it out.

We are really happy to have Adrien representing Team Quest Thailand, he really represents himself and the gym in a professional way. This guy is for sure the biggest uprising superstar on the Muay Thai scene in Thailand.

So in the first video, Kru Ping (Team Quest Thailand's first MMA Thai fighter) and myself had to make the 9 hour bus trek down to Bangkok, Thailand. Adrien previously flew down because he had to cut a lot of weight. Taking a 9 hour bus would be miserable while cutting weight. We arrived early in the morning of the day of the fight and met Adrien at his hotel. At about 6:30am we walked about 10 minutes to Lumpinee stadium and checked in. Adrien went through all of the procedures such as checking in, checking with the doctor, and checking his unofficial weight.

after checking his unofficial weight was about 70.4 kilos and he had to make 70 kilos. So he was about a pound over. So he threw on his sweat suit and had to run it off. At Lumpinee stadium the fighters that have to make weight can go behind the stadium and run on a track. After 20 minutes of running Adrien came back and made weight. After a a bit of rehydration and food we headed back to the room so he could get some sleep and relax.

After a bit of rest and a lot of rehydrating through out the day it was time to make our way back to Lumpinee stadium to get ready for the fight. We headed back around 7:00pm. Adrien was weighing back in at a healthly 76.5 kilos and looking huge compared to his opponent.

I started out wrapping Adrien's hands almost immediately when we got there. I was completely new to wrapping hands. I had watched it many times but was only taught the night before by Team Quest Thailand's head trainer, Kru Joe. I had never actually practiced it though. Thankfully for me, Adrien is really easy going and let me practice on him for the first time. Adrien had to help me remember certain spots throughout the process. There is two stations to wrap hands at Lumpinee and they are right next to each other. The Thai guy next to me wrapped 3 peoples hands in the time it took me to do Adrien's.

Adrien received the typical massage, warmed up, and received his mongkong. It was time for him to walk out. He made his way out. T-sport (Thailand's premier sports channel) gave him a prefight interview and then it was time to walk to the ring.

Check out the fight

In typical Adrien style, Adrien started out a bit slow and his opponent tossed him a few times. One thing about Adrien's opponents is that they usually have good game plans. The game plans work for the first few rounds until Adrien starts to wear on them. Usually by round 3 the fight is already over. The opponents start to slow down and then that's when he really lets his knee's go.

After the fight Adrien had to get 4 stitches in his nose. At Lumpinee stadium they just take you in the back and stick you up right there.

Adrien has advanced to the semi finals of the tournament and will be taking on the #1 ranked Rajadamnern stadium fighter next. This will be his toughest fight to date. Adrien will also be participating in the “Muay Thai Marathon” in Korat, Thailand November 1st. Check back soon for more details on Adrien fights and Team Quest Thailand.

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Team Quest Thailand Muay Thai Festival

For those of you who have never been to a Thai festival, you are really missing out. Periodically through out the year different towns will host a festival where people from all around the region will come and celebrate. The festivals are a collection of fair games, amazing food, partying, music, and Muay Thai. They are usually held in huge fields in the country side.

The fairs typically start out with people eating some nice food and walking around and just enjoying the atmosphere. Although these are family friendly, usually most of the adults start hitting the booze. After a while some local bands start to play and this is when the festivals get good. Everybody starts to dance and really enjoy themselves. The music goes on for quit a while. At some point usually around 10pm the Muay Thai fights begin. Now remember, most of these are in the country side so it's very rare to have foreigners on these Muay Thai cards. So when a foreigner rocks up they are treated like a superstar. A lot of these thai people might never have seen a foreigner before or possibly only a few.

Here is a video of the festivals. You can see the Muay Thai ring at the end.

I'll share with you our last experience at one of these fairs. So on a Saturday morning a local promoter called us up and asked if we had any foreigners who would like to fight at his fair in the Lampang province. Now, we live in the Chiang Mai province so this is a bit of a trek for us. He assured us that it was only 1 hour a way. The problem with the Lampang province is that it is rather big.

We had a fighter named Steve from Australia step up and take the fight. So we packed into our truck and started heading to Lampang. This is where it started to become shady. After about 1 hour we were only 33% of the way there on the map. Remember that we still have training sessions on Saturday afternoon so we didn't actually leave from the gym until about 7pm. So after getting lost, misdirected, a flat tire, we were starting to get a bit worried we wouldn't make it on time.

After about 3 hours we finally found it. We were in the sticks. This was the definition of Thai country side. We rocked up and the atmosphere was awesome. The Muay Thai fights had already started and we just got told that our fighter was the next fight. So we rush to get out of the truck and literally every single Thai person stopped to stare at us. We showed up with about 10 foreigners which is about 9 more than any of them had seen in there life. We rushed through the crowd to the Muay Thai ring and started prepping Steve for the fight.

The great part about it is that we had been reserved front row VIP seats by the promoter and the Team Quest Thailand students were offered free whiskey in a friendly offer from the him. It was a really cool experience but at this point I just started to get a bad feeling. The crowd seemed to be a little biased to say the least. Most were very much rooting for their fellow Thai Muay Thai fighter.

So the fight began and right off the bat I could see we were a little mismatched. The promoter told us that the Thai fighter only had 5 fights which was equivalent to Steve's experience. The fact that the Thai fighter had a good 5 kilo's on him didn't make me feel to good either. I could tell after the first minute this guy had 100 + fights. But Steve was a warrior and put on a very good first round.

The second round is where it got a bit sketch. In typical Thai style the opponent was very relaxed and started to open up a bit more in this round. I forgot to mention this guy had tree trucks for legs and kicked like a mule. So during this round things got a little weird. Some random racist old Thai man threw a half full beer at Steve's head during the fight and yelled some racist stuff in Thai. Now remember, this is Thailand's country side so it is the equivalent of any countries sticks. Usually these area's are less educated and not as tolerable of outsiders. The old man disappeared into the Huge uncontrolled crowd. This festival is completely uncontrolled. There is no security guards to sorta grab this guy and push him out the door.

At this point the fight was obviously stopped and random people tried to solve the situation. Lucky for us our Thai trainer ping went crazy and took matters into his own hands. He tried to go after the guy but was held back. Not many people actually knew who did it but Ping saw the guy do it. So Ping jumped into the ring and demanded either the guy fight him now in the ring on the spot or gets thrown out. So the crowd did some self policing so pushed this guy to the street where he was forced to walk home and think about what he had just done. Most of the Thai people were happy to host us. It's always just one person that ruins it for everyone.

So the second round began again and Steve fought on like a warrior. In the 3 round the Thai picked it up a bit more. His experience, better technique, and size advantage was to much to overcome. The Thai eventually stopped Steve with a brutal body kick. It was ok though, I was proud of Steve for stepping up and fighting this guy on 12 hour notice. He could have opted out after he seen the size of this guy but he didn’t' care, he just wanted to fight.

So the fight was finished and we were planning on sticking around a bit longer to enjoy the festival. At this time everybody started to get a bit more rowdy. This is typical at any place where people have been drinking alcohol for 6 hours straight. Thai people started to physically fight with each other and people were passed out everywhere. It was time to count our blessings and hit the road.

Although it sounded like a bit of a bad story, it was actually a lot of fun. Steve wasn't hurt more than just typical soreness from being kicked by a mule. Nothing was broken or needed medical supervision. So we pretty much got out of the ring and went straight back to our truck. We left about midnight and pretty much had the same journey back that we had on the way there. We got lost and misguided by locals. I think we rocked up at like 4am and everyone was ready to just pass out.

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Students Training in Chiang Mai at Team Quest Thailand

Students from all around the world come to Thailand for training in Chiang Mai. The Chiang Mai Muay Thai and MMA scene is growing at a rapid pace. Team Quest Thailand was lucky to have two very special students that came to check out our facility from Hong Kong.

Meet Matthew Wong and Nick Hong Kong. Matthew is in the black shirt and Nick in the white shirt below.

Here are some more pictures of them.

Here is Nick taking pictures of Matthew eating Korn.

And here is Matthew taking pictures of Nick eating Korn.

Both Matthew and Nick were truly a pleasure to have at the gym. Both came in, worked hard, and were just good all around people. What made them so much fun is that they were very comparable in skill level and had a friendly rivalry amongst each other.

Back in Hong Kong, these guys sparred a lot. Initially when they first arrived for training in Chiang Mai, Matthew sparred a lot better. Matthew beat up Nick pretty good. In the first session of sparring Matthew kicked Nick in the balls and then later KO'd him with a body shot. I am not going to lie, it's always funny when somebody gets dropped with a body shot.

So later that night we all headed over to Central Airport Plaza, the biggest shopping mall in Chiang Mai. Luckily for us, this mall is only a 5 minute walk from our facility. That is what is great about the Team Quest Thailand facility is that it's so close to the mall but also quiet and secluded. So anyways, at dinner Matthew and Nick started arguing a bit about who was better. Nick insisted that the only reason Matthew wins is because he kicks him in the balls every time. He even went on to say “he very accurlate for kick ball.” They actually got in an argument about how many times Matthew kicked him in the balls. Nick insists it was 8 and Matthew says it was only 6.

This is where I got my idea. These guys were with us for two weeks. Since Matthew was sparring better I thought it would be fun to take Nick aside everyday and teach him how to beat Matthew sparring. I watched Matthew spar the first day and I saw that he had more of a punchers style, he liked the inside leg kick, and he also covered up to much when somebody attacked him.

So I took Nick aside and for the first week I taught him 3 basic moves. How to use his jab and teep to keep a puncher at distance (0:25 and 4:57 below in the video is an example), how to push a puncher away and follow with a right body kick (3:56), and also when Matthew threw his inside leg kick how to step back and return with a big left kick (2:06 and 4:30). So every day we drilled these and I started to see him using them more and more in sparring. I have never seen anybody pick it up so fast. Nick is definitely a coaches dream. He listened and did everything I helped him with. Although I am not a actual coach here (We have 5 full time thai trainers for that), I do help people who have a newer skill set when I can.

After the first week we moved on to a little bit more advanced stuff. Now we worked on faking the teep and following with a jap or straight (4:50). Nick really started to put everything together. So at the end of their two weeks we decided to set up a friendly sparring match where the students were the judges. It was a lot of fun, we told them to only go 50% but they were not so good at controlling their power. At one point at 1:01 Matthew actually starts yelling at Nick in Chinese “YOU CALL THAT 50%.” Nick responded with “YEAH THAT IS MY 50%”.

Check out the video (Nick with the pony tail and Matthew in the orange and black shorts).

I was really proud of Nick. He did literally everything we worked on when I pulled him aside for extra training. You can tell Matthew was really frustrated because this was the first time he didn't beat up Nick while sparring. You can actually hear one of Team Quest Thailand's trainers in the background at one point say “before I think Matthew better, now I change...Nick better.” The best part was that Nick opened up and pulled out a flying super man punch at 7:39 which I didn't know was in his arsenal.

Nick and Matthew said they would be back for training in Chiang Mai soon at Team Quest Thailand. They were a pleasure to have out. We look forward to having them again.

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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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HongTongLek Team Quest Thailand Title Run

I know most of you have seen some of these fights already but I figured I would put them all together for people who haven't watched them. For those of you that haven't followed along, Team Quest Thailand just produced our first Thailand Champion after only being open for 8 months. You guy's can see how HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee's championship run unfolded.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee

It all started back in March, 2012 when HongTongLek was called to take a fight the next day as a last minute replacement. He literally was given 20 hours notice. He hadn't had any fights scheduled so he hadn't trained hard in about a month. But he can take fights on short notice because he has what is considered a “I.Q. Style”, meaning he uses his brain and not his strength. He literally packed his bag and left for the airport 2 hours later. This fight was live on national television on channel 3. HongTongLek was a huge underdog going into this fight.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy

Before this fight, HongTongLek's career was coming to an end. He has been fighting since he was 6 years old and has had over 350 fights. Before the short notice fight against Phetchartchay, HongTongLek had just been previously knocked out by 16 year old and up and comer Songkom Sahomsin. After this was talks of HongTongLek retiring. But after the channel 3 fight his spirits had been lifted.

The promoter was so impressed with HongTonglek's willingness to take the fight against Phetchartchay on short notice that he awarded him with another big fight. This time against a young and hungry fighters named Kong Esarn. The difference for HongTongLek in this fight was that he had a full training camp. Again, HongTongLek was a huge underdog though.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee vs Kong Esarn

This fight was very close but HongTongLek edged out a close victory. At this point, people started talking about HongTongLek as a legit contender again. It was his experience that won him this fight. It's true what they say, you are only as good as your last fight.

Once again the promoter called and asked HongTongLek to fight on 3 days notice. This time it was against a fighter named Rocko (same as Rocky in Thai). HongTongLek never refuses a fight and with no training left to Bangkok the next day. Rocko was supposed to be tougher than his last opponents but HongTongLek's style is designed for clinch fighters like Rocko.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee vs. Rocko

This turned out to be a fairly easy fight for HongTongLek. It was never close at any point and HongTongLek finished Rocko with a flying knee. After this fight the promoter told HongTongLek that he might be fighting for the title next.

HongTongLek didn't end up getting the next title shot but he did win the chance to fight the toughest fight of his championship run. Rungsak Pansomboom had been on a tear leading up to the fight with HongTongLek. Rungsak had won 7 straight and again, HongTongLek was considered a underdog. Lucky for us, HongTongLek had a full training camp. So he went in 100% into the fight.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs RungSak Pansomboom.

You can see in this fight that HongTongLek had one of his best performances ever. He literally defended everything including the kitchen sink. As the fight progressed he started to take over. After this fight the promoter was so impressed with HongTongLek's performance that he promised him the next title shot on the spot. The next day the media was buzzing about it.

The media was classing this as one of the greatest Muay Thai comebacks in the history of the sport. For those of you that don't know, HongTongLek retired at age 22 and came out of retirement at age 28. He was a huge superstar in his day but at this point in his career he was considered only a gatekeeper for up and coming superstars to fight so they could make a name off of him.

Before coming to Team Quest Thailand, HongTongLek's results were sub par on his comeback. He had won about half his fights . When we brought him in to Team Quest Thailand, it was our highest priority to give him the best training environment. If fighters are happy, it directly effects the students experience while training.

During HongTongLek's run, another fighter had been putting together a nice winning streak. Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy, who HongTongLek originally fought to start his streak. Phetchartchay put together a string of wins. The belt was vacated at this point so it only made sense for them to fight for it. This time though, HongTongLek was the favorite. Here is HongTongLek's championship fight for the Thailand title at Lumpinee stadium.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy II

HongTongLek surpassed all of his last performances . This was one of the most lopsided championship fights I have ever seen. HongTongLek dominated the entire fight.

On August 7, 2012 HongTongLek will be fighting once again at Lumpinee stadium. Check back soon to get the video and fight results.

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Team Quest Thailand fighters

Right now, I would have to say that this is the most exciting time of my life. For so long we had the dream of opening the gym here but never imagined we would be off to a start like we have. This past weekend we had another huge fight.

Adrien “Kaew” Team Quest Thailand is an amazing story. About 10 months ago he came to Chiang Mai, Thailand as a tourist not knowing what he wanted to do with his life. He had recently got out of the military and decided he just wanted to travel. He met Team Quest Thailand trainer Tanaphong “Ping” Khunhankaew and decided to start training Muay Thai. To make a long story short, Adrien is a Muay Thai phenom. Adrien in only 10 months of total training (with no past experience) has had 18 fights all ending in him either knee or elbow knocking out his opponent. Only 2 fights have got past the 3^rd round.

We are really happy to have him at the gym. This is a guy who has screwed his head on straight. He has figured out what he wants to do and has been living the Muay Thai life style. Adrien has a lot going for him. He is motivated, focused, and a good all around guy. He also is 6'4” and can make 70 kilos (154 pounds).

Adrien has been doing so well that he was offered to fight in the “Gai Yang Haa Dow” 8 man round robin tournament sponsored by Petchyindee. For those who don't know, Petchyindee is one of the biggest promoters in Thailand for Muay Thai. This is what has been so amazing about our gym. Right now we have great connections for our MMA team with organizations such as ONE FC and we can also get Muay Thai fights at the highest level. Our Muay Thai training staff works closely with the promoter Petchyindee. Petchyindee can get fights at almost any venue in Thailand, including Lumpinee stadium. So last weekend Adrien was due for his 19^th fight. To show you how good our training staff's connections are, Adrien is the only foreigner in this tournament. The winner will take home 260,000 THB. (Adrien is the white guy on the left, click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Adrien tipped the scale at 70 kilo which was not easy for him to make. But Adrien got mentally tough and squeezed off the last few ounces. Leading up to the fight, Adrien is not well known so nobody really knew his style. Basically his style is grab you and knee you until you die. Adrien faced Yodkhunporn in the first round of the tournament.

What made this match amazing for me is that in the locker room while Adrien was getting ready for the fight. Yodkhunporn's corner man started to chirp Adrien in Thai language. He was saying things like “This is muay thai, you don't belong here” and “please don't hurt my fighter”and laughing in a condescending way. Adrien was respectful and ignored him. Well here is the fight, you can see what happened:

Adrien over whelmed Yodkhunporn with his clinch style and caught him with an up elbow. Yodkhunporn was literally out for about 3 minutes and even back stage was not all together. So Adrien improves to 19-0 with 19 Knock outs. What's next for Adrien is he will be fighting in the next round of the tournament in August. The date hasn't been confirmed yet but I will let everyone know when it has been confirmed.

As I talked about in a past blog, we are looking to sponsor a few fighters. We are willing to cover training costs and accommodation if we can find the right fit. Basically we have been looking for someone that will actually take advantage of the opportunity to live in Thailand and not get distracted. Everyone who has applied has not really been what we are looking for. That is until Chris Herrera showed up over a month ago.

Chris is a fighter out of Team Quest Temecula in California. Chris has a collegiate wrestling background and has grappled for a while. He trains like a mad man and never complains. He is coachable and basically a man's man. His personality reminds me a bit of Dan Henderson's with his approach to training and fighting. He's confident while being reserved but performs.

Chris has the stereo typical Team Quest fighting style for MMA. Check out one of his MMA fights (Chris in blue corner):

Here is his Muay Thai fight Chiang Mai, Thailand (Chris shows his huge heart after being hurt badly):

Chris already has a good base for striking but I know he will improve a lot over the next year. I am excited to see him transform as an MMA/ Muay Thai fighter. Basically, Chris has everything working for him. We are really excited to have him join the team.

Our MMA and Muay Thai team is growing stronger every day. Our goal is to keep improving the team with good people who all have the same goal. Our success at this point is definitely from the students and staff. As long as we can keep a good student and staff base (meaning good moral people with the same goals.), we will continue to build as a gym.

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HongThongLek Team Quest Thailand Title fight.

LEADING UP TO THE FIGHT

Imagine training your entire life (23 years) for the opportunity to one day fight for a world championship. Team Quest Thailand's own resident fighter, HongThongLek Team Quest Thailand is getting just that. After training since the age of 6, HongThongLek has had over 350 fights. At the age of 29 he has finally earned his first shot at the Thailand title. HongThongLek earned an opportunity to fight for the Thailand Title in Bangkok, Thailand at Lumpinee stadium on July 13, 2012.

Leading up to the fight, Team Quest Thailand had lots of time to plan for the event. Being located in the province Chiang Mai, Thailand, we are quite the journey from Bangkok, Thailand. All of the students and the staff here made a trek to show support for HongThongLek. 12 of us in total traveled the 9 hour bus ride to meet and support HongThongLek for his championship fight. Unlike most destinations in Thailand that consist of the big city draw of Bangkok and the overly populated islands. Team Quest Thailand's facility is tucked away on the outskirts of the Jungle in Chiang Mai.

We arrived at 6:00am on Bangkok's legendary tourist trap of Khao San road. This road is infamous amongst backpackers looking to settle in for a few nights and party until the sun rises. Even arriving at 6:00am we sat and ate breakfast and continually watched drunk person after drunk person wandering around.

We decided to stay at 13 coins muay thai gym. The reason being is that this is a gym I personally spent a lot of time at while training in Thailand. During my time there is where I originally met HongThongLek and his twin brother Kru Joe. Kru Joe was my Muay Thai teacher. I spent about 6 months in total working with him. I learned more from him in 6 months than I learned in my previous 6 years of training muay thai. So every day Kru Joe was helping me skill build and then I got to spar and clinch with HongThongLek everyday. It was truly the most amazing training. This is why we brought them on at Team Quest Thailand. Kru Joe was promoted to Head Muay Thai trainer because of his ability to relate and explain muay thai concepts to students.

After we settled in and cleaned up, Ian (Co-CEO of TQ Thailand) and I had an appointment to meet up with Fairtex's general manager, Chano. Chano has been a huge help to us here in Chiang Mai. Fairtex is getting ready to release new models of all of their equipment so he invited us by to personally show us some of these improvements. The new equipment is amazing, I wish I could talk more about it but I will have to wait until they publicly release them.

So by this time, it was starting to get a bit later in the afternoon and it was time to start getting ready for HongThongLek's fight. We had an epic amount of support from the students and his preexisting fans. In all I think we had about 25 foreigners that came out to support him. We were later told by the promoter that HongThongLek's corner that consisted of 25 foreigners strong was a record, surpassing even support for superstars such as Saenchai sor kingstar.

THE FIGHT

I have said this before and I will say it again. There is no other sporting event in the world that matches the atmosphere of Lumpinee Stadium. The entire crowd is filled with professional gamblers. Every single fight is being bet on. The entire crowd is involved verbally and physically through out the entire event. The best thing about Lumpinee stadium is that it is relatively open. So when you pull up in a taxi you get a feel for what is going on inside.

We arrived after the fights had already started. HongThongLek was the main event of the night so he was rushed to the back. I say the back because at Lumpinee stadium there is no locker room. It's just a area in the back where fighters all prepare and get ready side by side. Literally HongThongLek was preparing with in 10 feet of his opponent Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy. HongThongLek was cool and collected though. He was focused and looked very professional. Remember HongThongLek is a vet of over 350 fights, he's done this before. These two had also fought 3 months prior and HongThongLek won very decisively with a 2nd round KO. Phetchartchay was visually very nervous and he was constantly looking at HongThonglek leading up to the fight.

So HongThongLek's name was called and we made our way to the ring. We had an army of 25 foreigners and a lot of Thai people to march out with him. HongThonLek preformed the wai kru and it was time to start.

Both fighters started off very slow in the 1st round. Both fighters were a bit cautious but in the second round is where HongThongLek took control. I would love to write about some epic battle where HongThongLek barely edged ahead to win the victory. But in reality the fight was never close. HongThongLek was on a different level. He almost played with Phetchartchay. Here is the video:

So now you are looking at the new 115lb Thailand champion at Lumpinee Stadium. What's next for HongThongLek is that he will be defending his title one time on August 7th, 2012. If he is successful than a super fight will be scheduled between him and the current 115lb Lumpinee champion where each fighter will put their belt on the line. Check back soon for updated information on his upcoming fight.

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