THE KIATPETCH GYM CAMP
The KIATPETCH GYM in BANGKOK
Special report by Serge TREFEU (2009)
(Thanks to Alex Romain for the contact)
Kiatpetch Gym is the camp of one of the biggest Thai promoters in service, Mister Peerapong Theeradejpong says Mister Chun. Mr Peerapong Theeradejpong is also the owner of the famous stadium TV7. In Thailand, he organizes 150 events a year of which about fifty in his stadium TV7!
Kiatpetch Gym exists from now on 25 years and is situated in the district from Huaykwang to Bangkok. At the bottom of an impasse we result in the entrance of the camp which is not very big in surface. A court, a small boxing ring and a just man two bags of striking, the camp does not pay an appearance. But here, sizes of Muay Thai it trainings and practices one of the roughest trainings of the capital. Twice a day, the boxer’s training with seriousness and furies. This camp has no specificity appropriate for a particular style of training but centre especially on the key points of every boxer. If the nakmuay is strong with its fists, the trainers will make him progress even more in this domain, similar for a specialist of knees or elbows.
The training of after noon is particularly trying. From 3 pm under a blazing sun, nakmuays begins a jogging in paths near the camp. Then to link the warm-up by skipping rope in a room without air, a real oven or the sweat of the boxers soaks walls with it. In this room, the boxers warm up and sweat looking at the programs of small television hung on the wall. Only moment of entertainment during the training.
The warm-up goes on in the court of the camp, right in the sun on a burning ground, the boxers execute their “shadow boxing”. We pass in the serious things with paos on the boxing ring, every boxer to link endless rounds interrupted with series of push-ups.
Three trainers hardened by the camp do not let them inhale a moment, pushing the boxers up to the end of them even. The session «clinch» is also very trying, there is no injury time here. After their sessions of clinch the boxers return to “the oven”, the room or are hung on the bags of striking, to begin series of knees and middle in bags there.
Finally again right in the sun in the court, nakmuays makes another shadow boxing with series of push-ups. They finish by a jogging with from time to time sprints. This tiring training ends at about 6 pm, in the slept of the sun, the fatigued boxers are going to taste a well deserved rest…
With training so hard, Kiatpetch always has of good result during all year. About twenty nakmuays high-level represent Kiatpetch Gym and plunder the boxing rings of the country successfully. Since his creation, of big champion were in this camp such Singdam Oroukit (Lumpinee Champion) and Samanloung (Lumpinee Champion) who were a long time the best representing of Kiatpetch Gym.
And the legend of Muay Thai, Somrak Khamsing (Olympic champion of boxing) having begun in Jocky Gym was then in Kiatpetch Gym.
Today the champions who represent the camp are among the best current in the Thai circuit and fight in everything big stadium of Bangkok. There is Thanongdeth (current Lumpinee Champion – 67 kg), Sakeddao (current Radja Champion – 57 kg, Lumpinee Champion in 2007 and 2008), Noppadeth (current TV7 Champion and Thailand Champion – 63 kg, Lumpinee Champion), Tukkatatong (current TV7 Champion – 61 kg), Fahmaï (current TV7 Champion – 59 Kg), Changpeuk (N°3 in the ranking stadium TV7 and Omnoï – 63 kg, Radja Champion) and Naruenart (N° 2 in the ranking stadium TV7 – 55 kg, Lumpinee Champion) for the most titled. But also redoubtable fighters as Sittisak (N°3 in the ranking stadium TV7 – 59 kg), Taveesaklek (N°8 in the ranking stadium TV7 – 56 kg) and Kingstar (N°6 in the ranking Thailand – 63 kg).
The owner of the camp Mr Peerapong Theeradejpong is so proud of his camp that he authorizes no boxer to carry the name of Kiatpetch, the one who can carry this name will have to be the best the best. It is for it that his boxers carry or the name of another camp or sponsor as “Phetpayathai”, “Skindewgym” and “Siangsimewgym”, Thanongdeth Siangsimewgym, Sakeddao Phetpayathai, Tukkatatong Skindewgym …
Really little foreigner came to train in Kiatpetch Gym. Indeed Mister Chun accepts only professional fighters of a high level who owe if they stay for a long time at him to fight for the camp. The Brazilian champion Leonardo Monteiro (WMC Mad Champion, Champion of the Stadium of Chaweng, Brazil Champion) and French Christophe Mertens (France Champion) who live in Thailand trained already here and fought for Kiatpetch Gym.
So the French young person Thomas Adamandopoulos who begins to rise in French Muay Thai it is train here during a week. Two big French champion Fabio Pinca and Yohan Lidon are going to come also certainly soon to train at Mister Chun. But what the foreigners say it to themselves, if they want to come to train in it prestigious camp, they will have to be as high as their ambition!