Since Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan went online one year ago it has started growing and gained many more new members. The awareness regarding MMA in Pakistan has spread and there is now a core group of MMA Pakistan members.

Basically when this site started it was simply a blog telling my story of how I was/am trying to bring Mixed Martial Arts to Pakistan. The early blogs were very personal accounts of my day to day activities, be it visits to Pakistan or recounting my training and travel experiences. As the site grew it was time to give things a more professional look and feel and so the personal blog accounts were put on the back burner. Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan was becoming a proper, professional organization and so the website changed to accommodate the new direction. A focus on objective news reports, articles and information regarding training and different styles.

However, the drawback to this is that the PAK MMA fans are getting less information regarding what is going on behind the scenes and why. So to clear up any confusion regarding some of the information disseminated in the news section and to help the new fans understand a bit more of what goes into promoting MMA in Pakistan this personal blog is going to be a bit more active again
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And so with that, let’s go to the first item on the agenda, that regarding Pakistan Warrior Challenge and Shaheen Smokers.

Because of the advent of the Shaheen Smoker, due to the availability of a proper facility it seems to be a better bet to use the Shaheen Smokers to polish local talent in these small events. The expectations and potential for PWC have gotten so big that it is not suitable to have a PWC that is haphazardly organized, with people unsure of who they are going to fight, people not understanding the rules, the list of problems that are faced due to the publics lack of knowledge (particularly amongst the masses) go on and on.

With the expectations for these events rising, from now on there are to be some guidelines before any PWC announcement, which must take happen 6-8 weeks in advance, once a fight card has been set (meaning fighters have committed themselves and matched themselves up). My decision regarding this was based on what was originally set to be a PWC on April 17th but was then switched to the first Shaheen Smoker. At this event, people who said they were going to fight didn’t show up, people randomly showed and said they wanted to fight, instructors from other schools were taking advantage of the lack of experience in event organization to bark orders at people and create tension amongst those who came to watch the fights, the list goes on. But despite of these set backs, it was a good event and those who came had a good time. But it was time to realize that because Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan stands apart from all other Martial Arts organizations in Pakistan with higher standards and quality in our image and presentation of ourselves. For this reason I decided to create the Shaheen Smoker and save the PWC events when I can promise the fans a phenomenal show. So for the time being, there is no scheduled PWC event until I am done setting up Shaheen MMA Academy and have gone through a few more smokers. Shaheen Academy should be fully functional in about 2-4 more weeks.

We will use Shaheen Smokers to give people experience and use the opportunity we have at these small events to personally reach out  to athletes wishing to participate in PWC’s the ettiquette and procedure that is required to be followed to run a smooth show (like weighing in, training properly, notifying MMA Pakistan before coming to participate) This will take some time.

So apologies for those waiting for the next PWC, but take heart in the fact that the MMA scene in Pakistan is about to up another level!

It’s been exciting coming out to Abu Dhabi to watch UFC 112. The city is not very big and you can spot guys with their MMA team shirts or Tapout shirts in the hotels and malls.

I flew here from Lahore on Friday and after checking into my hotel, I headed straight for Marina Mall to catch the UFC 112 weigh-in’s.

Throughout the mall there were banners and the television screens advertising the fight. In the middle of the mall they had set up a stage on one side and a signing booth on the other so that GSP and Ross Pearson could sign autographs for the fans.

The weigh in area was PACKED. The majority of the fans were caucasian people from all over, mostly UK and USA but many from Europe as well. They probably made up about 40% of the crowd the rest of the crowd was a mix, with a lot of Arabs (of course, it’s the UAE) and Filipinos and then a random collection of people from the 196 countries that can be found in Abu Dhabi which happens to be 80% expatriate.

They played the countdown to UFC 112 on a giant screen above the weigh in stage and after spending 30 minutes watching that, I heard commotion from the opposite end of the staging area and saw GSP and Ross Pearson walking in to sit down for the signings. Immediately, people seemed to forget the concept of a line although it was not as bad as Pakistan. If this had been Pakistan I am sure the weigh in would have been canceled after people got out of control. But luckily it didn’t get too bad, just a lot of complaining from people about shoving. I got pictures of both Ross Pearson and GSP signed and quickly had the MMA Pakistan shirt I was wearing signed by GSP as well.

I then got out of the mayhem of the signing area and went upstairs to catch the weigh ins from the railing above (this was a mall).

The weigh in’s were very cool, fighters do not look as big as you would think they are in person. At least that was my impression.

After the weigh in’s there was a Q&A with GSP, during which about 7 fans asked the same question “will you go up in weight to fight Anderson Silva?”

At the same time in the back Dana White as well as other UFC and MMA personas like Bruce Buffer, Phil Nurse, Tiki, Eddie Bravo and Dana White were hanging out talking to fans.

Despite all the crap Dana White gets from people, I do have to say the man is very polite and personable with the fans and I did not hear him curse once .

After about 3 hours of standing in the same area I decided to go eat in the food court and leave. While in the food court it seems that although fighters seem to keep a disciplined diet the rest of their entourage certainly DO NOT. Lot’s of ice cream and sodas to be seen. I won’t name names

Over all, great experience and I look forward to tonight.

Tags: Abu Dhabi MMA, Invincible, Marina Mall, mma, pakistan, UFC, UFC 112, Weigh ins

Ali Ahmed from Team Shaheen gives a first hand account of his experience fighting MMA for the first time. If anyone else would like to submit their experience please send it in to info@pak-mma.com.

“Last Sunday was pretty awesome as I got to have my first amateur MMA fight and it was like a dream come true for me. I had been training in MMA for around a month when Coach Bashir told me about PWC 1 (thats Pakistan Warrior Challenge) and I just flipped out and wanted to fight immediately. Till now training was mostly about technique and learning basic ground game but now since the fight was coming up we really upped the conditioning and cardio. It was push ups, squats and burpees (they suck at first but pay huge dividends in the long run) all day long along with sparring and thai pad practice after jumping rope as a warm up. The last week before the fight was the worst. There was this weird drill which went for 30 second sets with 10 second rests in between and we had to do pushups and squats as quick as possible. The last week we also practiced specific things like ground control, striking, shrimping etc depending on who wanted to learn what. Since i have zero ground experience I was desperate to learn how to get back on my feet if I got taken down so my coach told me to practice my shrimping…alot. I was so nervous about getting mounted that I was “sleep-shrimping”. It was crazy but luckily I didn’t get mounted during the fight. When it was finally the 28th I woke up at 6 and had breakfast along with Wanderlei Silva highlights to get me going, reached our gym at 8 and then we left for the venue in Model Town. I was really excited to fight and seeing all sorts of fighters from all kinds of styles and places arrive just made me feel happier as I saw the sport had so much potential here in Pakistan. The officials weighed the fighters and their credentials were written down and the fights finally started at 12 o clock. There were lots of good fights but I was too nervous about mine to enjoy them even though I was cornering for most people who were representing Team Shaheen. My fight was the second last on the card and I felt a rush of adrenaline when my name was called out to get ready. Coach Bashir wrapped my hands and gave me some last minute tips and then the I was called to the ring. Even though it was like ten steps, it was the longest most nerve wrecking walk ever. We were briefed on the rules but I didn’t pay attention as millions of “what ifs” were running through my mind. We went to our corners and then it started…The other guy came hard with a low kick and then again. I noticed a pattern so the next time he kicked I checked it and countered with a combo which made him turn around, giving me his back. I grabbed him and attempted a throw but it didn’t work but we ended on the ground anyway, me on top in side control. After that it was just instinct and i started bashing away with my right with him holding on to my left. After a couple of seconds I guess he got annoyed by the pit pat of my short hammer fists and he turned but i cross faced him, making him turn away from me, giving me his back yet again. This time i capitalized on the opportunity and dug in a rear naked choke and he tapped. I got up and shook hands with my opponent and went to my corner to celebrate. It was the best feeling ever , I felt like I was on top of the world and all that anxiety got replaced with euphoria. I’d like to thank my coach, Bashir Ahmed for training me and Pak MMA for spreading this sport in the country. Big up to the Pakistani MMA scene and everyone involved in it!”

Tags: Judo Karate, lahore, martial arts, mixed martial arts, mma, pakistan, Pakistan Warrior Challenge, PWC, Super Ninja Cool Dude, team Shaheen, Wushu

Today I was lucky enough to spend 3 hours getting taught by some very high level BJJ players at a seminar at Synergy MMA in Dulles Virginia.

Leading the seminar was Tony Passos and Vicente Jr. both black belts under Ricardo De La Riva, De La Riva being considered one of the most technical Jiu Jitsu players in the games young history. It is he who (obviously) invented what is known as the De la Riva guard, which is an open guard style where one leg is wrapped around the opponents thigh with the foot hooking the leg.  Also instructing the seminar was Jake Mackenzie a brown belt under Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu. Jake is Canadian but spends half of his year training in Brazil where he is an instructor and sparring partner for Professional MMA fighters.

It was the one year anniversary of Synergy MMA academy and so the seminar was more like a day long party. Not that the quality of instruction was lacking but because there was food and a general celebratory atmosphere going on with lots of picture taking etc. The seminar itself which was 3 hours long was all business and and two sweeps which I really liked and intend to add to my jiu jitsu game were taught as well a collar choke from the guard.

The last hour of class consisted to “rolling” as free sparring is known in BJJ circles. Despite the mat being crowded due to there being close to 50 students attended the seminar, I had some good rolls where I tried to use the techniques I learned from the seminar only to face the realization that learning moves in BJJ takes some time .

After the BJJ seminar the Muay Thai class led by Instructor Matt Nielsen, a 14 year veteran of martial arts and regular visitor to Thailand put on a demo for those attending the open house. The demo was informal and showcased the students skills with a 45 minute sparring session.

Ranger wrestling, a youth wrestling program and Tony Quinn a boxing coach from Georgetown University with over 20 years experience also held class demos in which anyone was free to participate. I was worn out from the Muay Thai so I took a break and missed the wrestling class which was mostly teens and kids but did attend the boxing demo. I am very keen on learning pure traditional boxing. I have some experience from Muay Thai but it is not the same or as in depth as you would get from a pure western boxing coach. The instructor Tony Quinn was very knowledgeable and also quite a showman and the hour long class went by very quickly. Half of those attending came from the Muay Thai class, and I tihnk every one of them really enjoyed the demo and learned some great fundamentals from them.

Alongside the demos, former Redskin Eddie Mason conducted private sessions and also had an open house. Eddie Mason runs his MASE training i conjunction with Synergy MMA and does private coaching, group lessons along with specialized training for professional athletes. Highly technical fitness equipment (the kind you see on UFC All Access) is crammed into all corners. Luckily there was enough room for BBQ .

Synergy MMA is located in Dulles Virginia. It’s relatively young (obviously because today was the year anniversary) and the focus is on quality instruction. I have gone to some gyms in the NOVA area where the school will put in a mediocre instructor just to pull in the students with no requirement on setting a standard but Synergy MMA shows that steady progress and quality instructors are gonna lead this academy to top of the NOVA MMA food chain.

Tags: BJJ NOVA, BJJ Virginia, De La Riva, De La Riva Guard, MMA gyms in NOVA, MMA Virginia, NOVA MMA, Open Guard, Ricardo De La Riva, Synergy MMA, Tony Passos

This weekend I went up to NYC to corner my friend Hiro Perera for his 6th Muay Thai fight. I have not been to New York in a long time nor that often for that matter so I was just as excited to check out the big apple as I was to watch Hiro showcase his skills in the ring.

We left Virginia around noon and made the 5 hour trip north. As we entered New York i could feel the history and sheer size of the city before me. For an American city this place is old and this place is really big. It’s always a good time to visit such an iconic place. The buildings were old, industrial and brick brown with graffiti everywhere. The drivers were rude and every few blocks it was a new neighborhood. Passing from black sections to Puerto Rican sections to Chinese sections, New York is a truly multi-cultural city.

We arrived at the theater where the fights were to take place and it was unlike any other Muay Thai show that I have ever been to. The venue is normally a Korean night club that was rented out for the night to host the fights. The carpet was nice, there were couches with shiny embroidery, a nice lighting system.  A big change from the gritty venues I had been used to fighting in, in Thailand.

The fights started at 7:30 an hour later than they were supposed to but thats to be expected at these smaller shows. I have never been to a show that has started on time so I wasn’t exactly expecting anything different for this one.

The fights were good. North Eastern United States has alot of good Muay Thai gyms and it showed as almost all of the fighters showed the proper Muay Thai style. Often you go to a show dubbed Muay Thai but in the end looks like a kickboxing tournament. The vast majority of the fights looked like actual Muay Thai fights, with Muay Thai stance and techniques. The fights were all competitive and there were no mismatches. Overall great card.

My friends fight however did not go as expected. Not that he didn’t win. he won by TKO in the second round, thing is he won because his opponents shoulder got dislocated. Not quite the win that he wanted. However in the two rounds that preceded the incident he was looking strong and relaxed and you cold most definitely tell that he had improved as a fighter and in the end that’s what matters. Not being better than someone else, but being better than your former self.

If you want more information please visit www.takeonproductions.com

Tags: 5 Points academy, Ayuthaya Muay Thai, Hiro Perera, Muay Thai NY, Take On Muay Thai, Take on NY, Take On NYC Muay Thai, Take on Productions

So for the past two weeks I have been training MMA at Fairfax Jiu Jitsu, which is listed as being in Herndon but is more like Chantilly.

I have been very happy so far with the training that I have received. The head coach is a guy by the name of Bill Easlick, great coach. His strength is in the clinch which to me is a fascinating spot in the fight game and I ave gotten some great tips from him on some greco-roman clinch basics which I was wanting to get instruction in for a long time.

The facility is great. Lots of mat space and mats on the walls for training in cage tactics something which I believe to be very important in MMA competition because like the wearing the Gi vs No-Gi, fighting in a cage and fighting in a ring are much different since the entire fence can be used as a weapon to pin ones opponent as opposed to just the four corners of the ring which is still not the same.

They have a number of banana bags (the 6 ft heavy bags) in a separate mat area away from regular mats so that individuals can warm up and use the bags when another class is in session.

They have a full pro shop as well. Interestingly enough one of the owners of Fairfax Jiu Jitsu also owns NHB gear. A long established brand of MMA gear that’s been around since 1998.

MMA classes always start up to Bas Ruttens MMA workout. If your no familiar with this than that consists of 2 or 3 minute rounds of Bas Rutten calling out different combination’s, sprawls and a nice mixture of other calisthenics. After the warm up the rest of the class is around a specific technique within a specific fighting range, so either striking, clinching or grappling (other than sparring days). After doing the technique some partner exercises incorporating what you’ve learned are done, to really drill in the information you’ve just gotten. I really like that system since then each week has its focus and every three weeks you’ve covered all ranges of combat.

The students range from beginner to professional so its a good mix of training partners you get each class. the classes have between a dozen and twenty people and often the fighters get separated from the rest of the class to work on soemthing separate.

If one wants to learn MMA for fun, train to compete or look for a new gym to continue a professional career Fairfax Jiu Jitsu is a good place to check out.

MMA classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Friday being a sparring day. Sunday is open mat.

Tags: Fairfax Jiu jitsu, MMA Herndon, NHB Gear, NOVA MMA

Since I have been back in America after spending the past 16 months training Muay Thai in Thailand and checking out the Martial Arts scene in South Asia, I have been very much looking forward to training some MMA here since there have sprouted up some very solid teams in the Northern Virginia area.

My first stop was at One Spirit Martial Arts in Herndon. It’s been around for quite a while and is definitely one of the more established gyms in the area. They offer a whole range of classes from BJJ to Muay Thai to Krav Maga. I however, went in for the MMA class. They have MMA classes twice a week for an hour each on Monday and Wednesday.

I don’t know what the classes usually are like but the one that I attended was heavy on drills and circuits. The first 45 minutes of class consisted of a warm up and two rounds of circuits which I assume were 9 minutes per round since there were 9 stations.

The last 15 minutes focused on slipping the jab and responding with your own jab and then slipping the jab and coming in and closing the distance and getting to the back of your opponent.

The level of the students seemed beginner to intermediate and I didn’t notice there to be any one acting overly macho. Overall I can say it’s a positive learning environment.

So if your a beginner and want to find an MMA gym that can give you the basics and give you a good workout One Spirit Martial Arts is a good place to go to. However, if your thinking about competing or are looking to find a gym with some more serious athletes you may want to look around a bit more.

Tags: Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan, MMA Virginia, NOVA MMA, One spirit Martial Arts

It’s been a week since I came back from my 1 year and 4 month trip to Asia. I am having a bit of culture shock being back here. Big roads, big cars and no people hanging out in the street. Everyone is in a hurry going to and fro, busy, busy, busy, rush, rush, rush.

I have been busy this week planning the next few months and getting a training and working routine down so that I can make some extra cash and keep my skills sharp. While I am here in the USA I am going to be concentrating on my g round game as I have a wonderful coach here by the name of Tony Passos, who got his black belt from De La Riva who is the same person who gave the Nogeuira brothers their black belts. I have been training everyday but have yet to reach the same level of training intensity that one can get in Thailand with three hour sessions in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. Here people have to deal with juggling work and family and so that kind of schedule is very difficult. However, I am here to absorb Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques like a sponge. I will get the most out of this opportunity that I can.

My training aside, I am concentrating on establishing my own brand of Martial Arts gear, Somchai. I am looking for distributors and trying to set up channels with which to send my product out. In the next couple of weeks, as we get a new website I will have an online store showcasing the gear, the proceeds from which will directly support Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan.

On the Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan side here is what you should be looking for in the next couple of weeks. An updated website, more engaging and user friendly with a lot more information. A more focused mission statement regarding what it is Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan wants to achieve and what we stand for. Some more logistical planning on the training center in Lahore (or maybe somewhere else) and the details surrounding it as well as information on a potential event this winter.

So please stay tuned and be patient as things get sorted out over here. Good things are to come.

Tags: Mixed martial arts karachi, Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan, MMA Karachi, MMA Lahore, Pakistani MMA

This will be my last post from Thailand for a while. After leaving the United States in May of last year, 16 months ago I am set to go to the United States tomorrow.

I am in Chiang Mai now and tomorrow I fly to Bangkok from which I fly to London and then Washington DC. I saw my last live Muay Thai fight (authentic one at least, least for the next few months) and spent the end of my night sitting down next to the Ancient Chiang Mai gate of Tha Pae having a long conversation in basic Thai with my last opponent and his brother who was also an opponent of mine in the past (1-1 with those two). It was a really a good simple way to end this adventure (there will be many more).

It doesn’t feel like I am leaving to be quite honest with you, I don’t know when it will truly dawn on me. Maybe its being secure with the knowledge that I will be back here, and back many times over. Maybe because I am excited with all the new developments with Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan which is beginning to really find it’s legs. It’s with this great looming opportunity that I head out to put the rubber to the road and start getting ready for the big things to happen. My time spent in America will be committed to my return to Pakistan this winter where some real concrete changes are going to take place in Pakistan’s Martial Arts scene.

I’ve learned a lot in the past year, I have been gone so long that I can’t really tell you how I have changed as a person and a fighter from over a year ago. I guess I will find out from the reactions and changes people see when I return to the gym. It’s funny, despite saying good bye to “Land of Smiles”, its great people and great sport of Muay Thai this doesn’t feel like the end. It feels like things are just getting started. I leave you with a video appropriately titled Muay Thai’s Greatest Hits in honor of all my teachers who have taught me so much of this very effective, practical and honorable art.

See you on the other side…

Tags: Mixed martial arts karachi, Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan, MMA clubs Pakistan, MMA Karachi, MMA Lahore, pakistan, pakistan MMA Gyms, Pakistani MMA, Thailand, Thailand MMA, Thailand MMA camps, Thailand MMA Gyms, Thailand Muay Thai, training in Thailand

If you read some of the earlier posts, you’ll know that the blog isn’t 100% about Mixed Martial Arts in Pakistan but also about my training around the world and some of the experiences that come with it. Since we’ve gotten a much bigger following, I will soon update the website as to separate the two topics. Until then enjoy

Because I have been to Thailand for so long. I have a great deal of experience with what is known as a “visa run” what this means is that I have to leave the country every so often and re enter to have my visa re-issued. The majority of people then head to the nearest neighboring country, cross the border and come back, often staying in the country for less than 15 minutes, other will take a short holiday for a couple days or weeks. Before I had an education visa for a year, so I could stay in Thailand for 90 days before having to leave the country. This visa expired in April and so as of July I was on a month by month tourist visa.

Anyway, my visa was due to be up on the 4th of September and I needed to renew it. I would head up to Mae Sai, the Northern most city of Thailand and part of the fabled “Golden Triangle” and cross the border into Burma, check out the famous market and head back. I would get a 14 day extension which would be enough since I am slated to leave for the United States in two weeks.

I headed out on a motorbike to do the 400 plus km trek from Pai to Mae Sai against everyone’s objections. I was told that it would be a highly difficult ride and that it would be more tolerable if I went by bus. I however, wanted to leave immediately and get the thing over with, so I left in spite of everyone’s warnings that I would regret. I left around 5 pm, and when two hours later when reached the bottom of the mountain the leads up to Pai I knew that I was to be in for a long ride and it was now night time so I would not be able to go as fast as I could in the daylight when the objects coming up in the road would be more visible. It took me almost 6 more hours to reach Mae Sai. I would ride for sometimes 20 km without seeing another human being on the dark winding rural mountain roads. On the last part of the ride it started raining very hard, and I actually got kind of warning. Northern Thailand can flood very quickly due to the terrain, with water pooling at the bottom of the hills and if I were to run into one of these large pools, my motorbike would be out of commission until it dried off and I would be stuck in the middle of nowhere with who knows what lurking about in the jungle. So I was forced to ride very slowly and carefully down the wet winding roads and luckily I got my destination unscathed. I checked into a hotel and crashed immediately.

I woke the next morning and headed straight to the border where oddly enough I waited behind a large group of American’s (generally a rare site, since Americans don’t travel as much as Europeans or Australians) what was even more bizarre is that a large portion of them had Southern accents. Definitely not the American demographic known for traveling Asia. What made it even more strange was that on the other side of the road out of a duty free shop country music was blaring. My first guess was, was that these people were missionaries. I got this idea from the fact that I had heard of missionaries going into Burma and northern Thailand to spread their faith, this cliche is evident in the movie Rambo, second the country music was probably there because the people of the area had been exposed to this type of music for a while and some may have grown to like it, finally, from what I could gather by watching the Americans demeanor and conversation was that these were not the type of people to go traveling through Asia only to appreciate the culture or have a nice holiday. They seemed to be here for some kind of purpose, they had some sort of agenda. Anyway, I went through the line and got my passport stamped and was given a border pass while the Burmese immigration officials kept my passport to be sure that I would come back and not venture to far into Burma. My pass was good for 10 days. Immediately after crossing the border I was approached by a tuk tuk driver who would give me a tour of all the nearby sites for 200 baht (approx. 6 dollars of 480 rps) I spoke to him in Thai and he lowered his price to 120 baht which would could be negotiated lower to 100 or 80 baht but that extra dollar would mean much more to him than it would to me and there is no point in being stingy. He took me to a wonderful looking Stupa and an interesting temple and then asked if I wanted to go see a long neck Karen village. These women of this tribe wear gold rings around their neck, stretching them to twice their normal length. Everyone has probably seen this type of woman in a National Geographic or other such magazine or program. I had heard that these places could be likened to a human zoo but because I had time to kill and it was half the price it was in Thailand I decided I may as well get this over with and kill the curiosity.

It was interesting but in no way can I say I enjoyed the experience. It was most definitely human exploitation. The place was 3 km outside of town and from what it seemed it was 5-6 women with their children. From what I understand it was an orphanage and the husbands may have died from Opium addiction or having been killed by the Burmese government for being actual or perceived Karen rebels. Like the “Long neck villages” villages in Thailand this one was quite possibly operated by a Chinese businessman who essentially has these individuals as a form of property. I doubt they can leave the 500 meter squared site, or if they would even want to and venture into town only to be gawked at. I wanted to take a picture but was actually feeling quite sick of the idea of taking a picture of a human like an animal in a zoo. So after sitting down with one of the woman who was making some sort of handicraft to be sold to tourists I politely asked if I could take her picture. I felt guilty after doing it though because although she did not mind, I could tell she had done this thousands of times, quite possibly to groups of insensitive people pointing and giggling at the same time as taking the photo. I left the area feeling rather sad but consoled by the fact that these woman and their children has a much better life then they would have had they stayed in their ancestral homes. Chances are their families would be harassed and killed by Burmese soldiers and their children would remain uneducated. When I was there, they had a clean and decent living environment and their children got an education, they were actually learning lessons as I was there. I guess there is a give and take to everything in this world. After that I was done with the sight seeing and asked my driver to take me to the well known market. Mae Sai itself is a plain Thai Border town but the market on the Burmese side is famous for it’s black market goods including counterfeit items from China, very cheap non counterfeit items from China and exotic animal parts for Chinese medicine. The last bit was very sad to see since there were some animal skins from leopards and what-not and I am guessing some of these animals are endangered. I understand that Chinese medicine is legitimate and I myself look into some of it’s treatments for myself, but when it comes to over harvesting limited plants and animals of the world I think that it is a responsibility of western science and experimentation to see if these things really do work and if they do to set up a system where these animals and plants can be harvested privately to avoid exploiting these organisms in their natural habitat. But that’s just my personal opinion. I walked around, bought a few things, got hassled by cigarette vendors determined to sell me either cigarettes, porn or Viagra none of which I wanted or needed and decided I had enough and it was time to go back to Thailand.

I crossed back in, got my passport had my self and body thoroughly searched for drugs, got my re entry stamp and got back onto my bike. The ride back although tedious as well, I had to deal with three separate storms this time along with a flat tire was much nicer because it was daylight and the scenery is amazing. I also got more evidence that the people I had seen before waiting in line were indeed missionaries because it seemed that every village that I saw had a small white board with “Baptist Church of New Love” or “Jesus loves you new life congregation” etc. These churches would be 500 meters from each other. I actually went into one of the villages and checked out the church which seemed very still and quiet and the door was locked. This led me to believe and I am not sure if I am wrong or right but that many of these groups go to a village, plant a sign make a small church and then go back home and tell everyone they have a new congregation in the mountains of northern Thailand. There were so many different denominations that I saw along the way that it really seemed as if churches were coming here just because others were and didn’t want to be left out of the mix. I really don’t know but this is the impression that I got. I would need to go back and talk with people and hang around for a few weeks to see the real situation. Regardless it was an interesting experience and gave me some food for though.

I finally got back to Pai last night, with a sore back and a really painful pinching in my neck from looking up from the motorbike on my 800 km ride. I took a day off training but will be back tomorrow. I also have confirmation that I will be returning to the USA September 16th. That means two months of working for MMA Pakistan before I come back to Lahore and lay the ground work.

Tags: Lahore karate, Mixed martial arts karachi, Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan, MMA clubs Pakistan, MMA conditioning, MMA fighters UK, MMA Karachi, MMA Lahore, MMA Pakistan, MMA training, MMA Virginia, MMA workouts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai camps in Thailand, Muay Thai training, NOVA MMA, Paddys Gym, pakistan, Pakistan Martial Arts, Pakistan Mixed Martial Arts, Pakistan MMA, pakistan MMA Gyms, Pakistan Muay Thai, Pakistani Fighters, Thailand, Thailand MMA camps, Thailand MMA Gyms, true bee gym, Ultimate Challenge UK