The participants of the camp gathered at the Subang studio on an early morning of Saturday. It was 7 in the morning to be exact and seeing that it was so early for me, I arrived at the studio half asleep. My dad who send me to the studio that morning was angry with me as he never wanted me to go for the camp since he has a wrong idea of how dangerous this camp can be with all the sparring and dangerous training. He insisted to see my kru to have a couple of words with him. Fortunately, my kru managed to persuade my father that everything will be alright. As all the participants gathered, my kru assigned the participants to different cars. There were 37 participants altogether and 8 out of the total participants brought their own car. After assigning the participants to the cars, we all hopped in and the convoy consisting of 8 cars started leaving Subang for Pangkor.
In order to reach Pangor, the convoy had to take a ferry from Lumut, Perak. The journey from Subang to Lumut was approximately 3 hours. On the way to Lumut, I managed to make new acquaintance with the passangers in the similar car as I am. The driver of the car I was riding in was Billy. He's an instructor in the PJ branch. Billy was not only friendly but also very hospitable as he always made sure we were all right throughout our trip. Then there was Jess; she's Billy's friend who trains at the PJ branch. Like Billy, she's also very hospitable. Both Billy and Jess are working adults unlike most of the students. Sitting behind with me were Fazli and Hazfiq. Both of them train at the Subang studio like me but on a different class schedule. Fazli is also a working adult like Billy and Jess. He is an engineer and he is in his mid 2o's. Fazli is funny and approachable. As for Hazfiq, he is the youngest among all of us. He is in his second year of secondary school and this dude is slightly immature. He talks a lot which can be slightly annoying but nevertheless, without him, the camp wouldn't be fun. We traded stories and jokes with one another on the way to Lumut which made the long journey an enjoyable one. Several hours later, the convoy reached Lumut.
Upon reaching Lumut, the convoy parked the cars at a parking building before having lunch together. We had lunch in a small restaurant that served Malay food. Unlike the usual restaurants where the waiter or waitresses take your order at your table, getting the food was on a self service buffet basis. There were a variety of food to mix and match on the plate; however, I didn't ate a lot as I had no appetite that afternoon. I just grabbed a plate of rice with some curry gravy and a piece of grilled fish. Lunch was okay and the price was reasonable. As all of us finish filling our stomach, we headed for the jetty.
The jetty in Lumut was small. That day was very crowded and getting ourselves to the ferry was slightly challenging as we had to shove and push our way through the overwhelming crowd. We even had to wait for a few minutes for the ferry's arrival. That Saturday evening was scorching hot, so all of us were waiting impatiently for the ferry's arrival. The moment the ferry arrived, we were all grateful and we immediately boarded the boat to escape the scorching heat.
Despite the ferry was equipped with air conditioner, most of us could not enjoy the cool soothing comfort as we were forced to sit outside because the indoor areas of the ferry were fully occupied. We grumbled about our unfortunate luck and sat outside under the scorching sun once again. Conversely, the strong wind that blew when the ferry was moving at a fast speed managed to cool us down; our patience finally paid off I guess. The trip to Pangkor island was approximately 35 minutes. On our way to the island, we passed by the Royal Malaysian Navy's post. There were several big destroyers parked at the docks and most of us had our jaws dropped in amaze looking at them. After a 35 minutes ride, we finally reached Pangkor Island.
From the Pangkor jetty, we were greeted by countless van and taxi drivers who constantly persuaded us to use their services. Kru then assigned us to different vans which took us to our motel. The motel we stayed in was small and it wasn't as luxurious as we thought it would be. On the other hand, it was enough for us to stay the night as it was equipped with basic facilities. I shared a room with Billy, Fazli and another Malay guy called Cikgu. Most of us don't really know what is his real name and the reason we called him Cikgu was because of his occupation as an English teacher in a primary school. Like others, he is friendly and approachable. Our room was small; it had only 2 queen size bed, a cupboard, a TV and a small bathroom. Still, it was good enough for the 4 of us. We all took a shower and a short nap before regrouping at the lobby. As all of us regrouped at the lobby, kru brought us to the beach nearby for some fun water activities.
Some of us swam in the waters of the beach while some were playing Frisbee. Initially, I was reluctant to swim in the waters as I only had my Muay Thai pants on. However, when I was persuaded by the water proof material of my pants, I decided to take a dip into the sea water. Swimming in the sea water was way different from swimming in a pool since the waves are constantly pushing me around and the waters are so murky and salty. You might never know what's ahead of you under the murky sea water when there could be sharks or God-knows-what man eating alien creatures down there. Kru then decided to held a sprinting competition on the beach. Knowing that I am not a good runner and running on the beach is difficult, I thought of sitting by the side just to watch the race. However, knowing that everyone including the girls joined, it would be so awkward for me not to try, so eventually I participated in the race. All of us got into our position; the girls who participated were given an advantage of a starting line 3 meters ahead of the guy's staring line. As kru was giving us a 3 second countdown, we all braced ourselves.
The moment kru shouted "Go", all of us sprinted as fast as we could. I ran as fast as I could while focusing on the finish line ahead of me. I knew I passed by a couple of guys and girls whom were ahead of me earlier on, so I knew I wouldn't be the last one. Just a couple of centimeters ahead of me was one Malay guy; it was only him and no one behind him except me. The finishing line was just a second away from both of us and I knew it was too late to overtake him. Eventually, he ended the race in first place while I ended in 2nd. Although I didn't finish first, I was quite surprise with my ability to sprint fast. Kru then added another 2 more rounds of race; I told myself to try harder this time. As we all got ready for the second race, kru started giving us the 3 second countdown. All of the students braced themselves and as for me, I was visualizing myself ending the race in first place. All of us shot off from the starting line like a bullet the moment kru shouted "Go". This time, I applied a sprinting technique I learned from some tiger ninja scroll and the next thing I knew I was passing everyone. I managed to catch up with the same Malay guy who got first in the earlier race and I told myself that he was going down. I ran faster overtaking him and I finished the race first. Joy was in the air for me knowing that I was the champion for the second race. Everyone was looking at me and whispering to each other as I look back at them; they seemed surprise that a small weakling like me could outrun them. For the final round, I thought of cutting the students some slack. As the race began, I paused myself to give them a 5 second advantage. Kru shouted at me and told me to run as he noticed I stood still. I smiled back at him and then sprinted off to catch up with the rest. I used the ninja running technique again and I overpassed several students. As I overpassed them, I could hear some of them mumbling in surprise. Billy who was just ahead of me was not far from my reach. I ran up to the side of him and he saw me by his side. I smiled at him giving him this s0-long-sucker look before I added more speed and overpassed him. After letting him bite my dust, I looked ahead and to my surprise there were 2 guys ahead of me. The finishing line was so close and I knew it was impossible to overpass them. At the end of the 3rd race, I finished 3rd. I guess I had it coming for being to arrogant by giving the others a 5 second advantage. Nevertheless, I felt proud of myself knowing that I am a fast runner. After the race, kru started his self defense class against knife attacks.
The self defense lesson against knife attacks was slightly difficult to learn. Before kru began the class, he gave us a short speech stating there are not many good knife fighters today. Those so-called knife fighters who love to display their fancy knife fighting style in front of everybody are actually the worst knife fighters that could even be intimidated by a loud shout or a taunt. Kru added that if we ever encounter a good knife fighter, we should flee for our lives if possible. One of us then asked how would we know if our attacker is a good knife fighter. A very good question to identify our type of attacker I thought. Kru replied wisely stating that a good knife fighter will always try his/her best to conceal his/her knife behind his/her palm when he/she approach the victim in order to give an impression that he/she does not bear a dangerous weapon. A very good reason I thought seeing that an attacker who doesn't seem dangerous will lower the victim's guard. Kru continued that once the knife fighter approached the target, the knife fighter will immediately unconcealed his/her knife before going straight for the victim's vital target like the hand wrists or neck. The healthier the victim is, the faster he/she will die upon being slashed. As kru ended his speech, he then taught us the techniques to defend against knife attacks. We all tried defending ourselves against our training partner who was using a rubber knife. Some manage to get the technique right but most of us ended up in confusion which forced Kru to repeat the demonstration.The required angling and grappling moves reminded me of the ninjutsu knife defense. Disarming the knives is not as difficult, but the follow up grappling techniques to submit the attacker after disarming the knife is often confusing and difficult. At the end of the class, I managed to learn a couple of simple knife defense despite the confusion and difficulty I experienced.
After classes, we all went back to our motel for a shower and headed out again for dinner. Some of the students decided to take a cab to downtown while some decided to have dinner nearby. I followed those who decided to have dinner nearby as I felt lazy to travel far just for dinner. The 14 of us went scouting for restaurants around the beach for dinner. The service in Pangkor was indeed horrible as we had to wait for hours for our dinner. We left restaurant after restaurant in anger as we couldn't wait any longer for dinner. We decided to be more patient as we tried our luck in the final restaurant however like the earlier restaurant we visited, we had to wait long. Instead of changing restaurant, we decided to stay put as all of us were so hungry to move around. What made the situation worst was the fact that young Hazfiq was constantly whining about how hungry he is like a spoil brat. I was annoyed and I felt like ripping his head out from his spine but when I considered his young age and his wealthy family background that made him immature and spoiled, I decided to let it go and be more patient. An hour and a half later, dinner was finally served; we had ikan bakar for dinner which clearly reminded me of my Malacca trip with my Strike Team a year ago. How I miss those days hanging out with them. After dinner, the clock struck 12 midnight and we all decided to call it a day as we knew that our wake up call the next morning would be very early.
After reaching home, I immediately threw myself on the bed and started to sleep as I was very tired. With all those sleepless days ever since I came back from Canada, I was lucky to have a good night sleep until Billy who was sleeping next to me, took all the blanket for himself. I started to shiver in cold as the air conditioner was on and the fan was at a fast speed. I thought about switching the fan off and increasing the temperature for the air conditioner but looking for those switches in the dark would be a waste of time;therefore, I decided to let it go and suffer for a while. Cikgu who was sleeping on the bed next to mine noticed I was shivering, so he asked me whether was I cold. Thank God someone noticed my suffering so I immediately said "yes". He got himself out from his bed and walked to the corner of the room before switching off the fan. I was surprised that he managed to find the fan's switch in the dark. As the fan stopped, the room felt warmer and I felt much comfortable. I thank Cikgu before returning to sleep, I finally could resume my sleep in one peace again. In the middle of my sleep, I was waken by the noise of the toilet door moving. I opened my eyes to see what was going on and to my false alarm, it was just Cikgu trying to take a shower. I wondered who would take a shower at a cold early morning like this, as I wasn't really bothered, I returned to sleep. Few hours later, I heard the same thing and I opened my eyes to see what was going on again. I saw Cikgu going to the bathroom again for a shower. At that moment, I was slightly spooked as I was either experiencing deja 'vu or the phenomena of sleep walking. As long as Cikgu didn't float around the room like a ghost or climb the walls of the room frantically like a possessed person, I couldn't be bothered less. It was 5 in the morning that day and I was still sleeping, until one of my roommates hand phone rang. The repeated ring tone of some Arabic song violated the required silence for everyone's sleep, and I was slightly annoyed. The rest of my roommates weren't disturb at all as they were sleeping so peacefully, I felt jealous of my roommates as I was the only one awake and troubled by the ringing hand phone. Few minutes later, the phone stopped ringing and I managed to return to sleep. A couple of hours later, Cikgu woke me up reminding me that breakfast will be ready. I immediately got myself up, took a shower and head for the lobby of the motel for my breakfast.
We had nasi lemak for breakfast the next morning at 8 am; the rice was partially filled with sambal, sotong and ikan bakar. In the middle of our breakfast, it started to rain and the environment became gloomy. As I finished my breakfast, I returned to my room with my roommates to wait for the rain to subside. With boredom around, I borrowed some magazines from my roommates to read. Fazli who was with me in my room was doing some shadow boxing, he was constantly annoying me with his punches and his kicks as if he was challenging me to a friendly sparring match. I immediately lay down the magazine and got myself up to spar with Fazli. Billy and Cikgu was cheering for us as both of us got into our fighting stance. Fazli was tall and muscular, yet I felt no fear facing him for some unknown reason. Fazli began with a lead front kick and I deflected with a scoop out. I returned attack with a rear crocodile tail kick but he blocked with his shin. As Billy and Cikgu continue cheering for both of us, we had more spirit to fight. I gave a barrage of punches to Fazli while he tried his best to evade my attacks. The moment he duck to avoid my cross, I immediately rush my rear knee up. My kneecaps crashed against Fazli's head and he fell back, the match was over with me emerging victorious. Both of us congratulated each other for our performance after the match just like how real Muay Thai fighters do after their fight. When the rain stopped, Kru informed us to meet him at the same beach we went the day before. After changing into our training gear, all of us headed for the beach.
At the beach,we took a swim in the sea water for 10 minutes before started training. On that morning itself, Kru thought us the basics of Muay Boran, the traditional Thai martial arts. Unlike Muay Thai, Muay Boran is an older martial arts that emphasis on traditional techniques which involves catching and breaking the enemy's limbs. The basics that Kru taught us clearly reminded me of Tony Jaa from the movie,"Ong Bak" . Muay Boran was easy to learn compared to the knife fighting techniques Kru taught yesterday. I really enjoyed learning Muay Boran as it was not only easy to learn but also very graceful.After finishing our class for that morning, we all decided to go for some water sports at the other side of the beach.
I managed to ride on the "banana boat", which was what everyone calls it. To me, I call it a "Navy SEAL high speed rubber duck". The 5 of us got onto a yellow rubber boat that looked like a big banana, I was fortunate to have the front seat of the boat. The banana boat is hooked with a long rope which is attached to a high speed boat that will drag the banana boat around the sea at a very fast speed. As the speed boat in front of us accelerated very fast, the banana boat we were riding on was speeding through the sea. The speed had my adrenaline pumping and the bumpy ride made it more exciting. It really reminded me of a Navy SEAL high speed boat, that is why I called it the "Navy SEAL high speed rubber duck" instead of a "banana boat". After our water sport, we went back to the motel to get a shower before heading for the Pangkor jetty and ending our Muay Thai camp.
Although, it was just a 1 night 2 days camp, I really enjoyed myself as I made new acquaintances and learned new combat techniques. Kru said there will be another camp in Tioman next year, however I wouldn't be able to attend it as I will not be back in Malaysia for the entire next year. After returning from the Muay Thai camp in Pangkor, I realised I became darker.Nevertheless, I like the tanned color I got from Pangkor as I managed to convince my parents that I trained hard over at Pangkor.
On the ferry boarding from Lumut to Pangkor. That was my first time to the islands of Pnagkor, so I was slightly excited about the trip.
(From left to right) Fazli, Rackson, me and Hazfiq. These 3 guys are my classmates from the Subang studio
Part of Pangkor Island.
The motel we stayed in for the night. Not exactly 5 star but it was good enough for us.
A picture of my motel room. 
The beaches of Pangkor. Our training ground for our Muay Thai camp
Hanging around the night market of Pangkor Island with Mal (second from the left) and Cikgu (next to me).
Pangkor's night market
Cikgu and I getting ready for training.
Aaron, my instructor and I trying to be macho 
On our way back to Lumut
No comments:
Post a Comment