Pacific NW Muay Thai Camp. The best training in the world!

Every year the best Muay Thai talent in America, no, the best Muay Thai talent in the world gather in one place to share their knowledge. This year I had the honor to participate.

The legendary Pacific Northwest Muay Thai Camp is held together by the megalith that is Ajarn Surachai Sirisute.

Ajarn Chai, as he is known, was the first Thai to spread Muay Thai to the United States back in 1968, when he founded the Thai Boxing Association (TBA), and starting in 1990 has held this camp every summer. There is no better place to learn Muay Thai.

I have been studying Muay Thai since 1993. I am by no means a beginner, and the level of teaching at this camp blew my mind. I feel as though I have learned more in four days of training than I have learned in the last ten years. Not even in Thailand can you find this many Ajarns (Masters) in one place.

The special guest this year was Lumpini Champion Ajarn Sangtennoi (picture above on right) , known as "The Deadly Kisser" for his penchant to kiss his opponents before he knocked them out. However, he was not the only instuctor that deserved our awe. The list of teachers includes, Ajarn Bryan Dobler, Ajarn Greg Nelson, Ajarn Rex, Ajarn Kim, Ajarn Popejoy, and Professor Leonard Trigg. While at camp Ajarn Kim (picture below instructing an attendee on the bags) told us about his Muay Thai career, 130 wins with 115 knockouts!

But this camp was not about fighting. It was about family... The TBA family. An attendee that was new to the TBA, but not to Muay Thai, told me how amazed he was that everyone at the camp truly felt kinship with each other. Something, he said, he has never seen in any other organization.

Not only did I receive the highest level of training in the world (and the most grueling that I have ever been through), not only did I become part of the TBA family and build relationships that will last me the rest of my life, but I also got to experience what it's like to be so very ravenously hungry, and satiated with incredible home cooked Thai food.

I cannot wait for next year!