* Next fight : August 24, 2003 for a IMTO light welterweight title belt at the Table Mountain Casino in Fresno, California USA.

* A detailed summary of my experience training in Thailand for this upcoming fight.

It has been quite awhile since my last journal entry. I have basically just been waiting patiently for my camp to negotiate all those “little things” before I sign a contract for a fight.
Unfortunately I will not be fighting the upcoming K-1 semifinals at the Bellagio on August 15, 2003, but I do want to wish KIMO and all the other fighters luck with their bouts.
I am however pleased to announce my next fight .
I will be fighting on Sunday August 24, 2003 in Fresno, California at the Table Mountain Casino for an IMTO world title belt against Ra’Karma Young. It will be a 5 round fight with Muay Thai rules.

My trainers arranged to have me come to Bangkok, Thailand for the past month to continue training for this upcoming fight. My camp and I were actually planning on fighting in Thailand if negotiations were not completed for K-1 or the IMTO fight before the first of August, things pretty much worked out in my favor; The fact being that I will fight in a city with many Armenians makes me feel very proud. What better opportunity for me to perform in a city that is largely populated by the people of my own nationality, and even better, for a IMTO world title belt. I think its great exposure for me. I can always fight in Thailand because there is actually a fight almost everyday of the week in Thailand.

Training in Thailand has been a great experience thus far ( I still have 5 more days before I go back home as I write this entry ). I have been staying at one of the top 10 gyms in Thailand, the Sasiprapa gym (www.sasiprapa-gym.com ). The gym is home to 20 fighters who all have devoted their lives to the sport of Muay Thai; remember that Muay Thai originated in Thailand and is quite different from American Kickboxing.
There is not so much advanced knees and elbows along with neck wrestling allowed in Kickboxing as there is in Muay Thai. The gym is located in Bang Kapi, Bangkok, a poor village-like area, with the weather being very hot and humid at the same time. The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the camp was that it wasn’t anywhere near as clean as my gym (www.houseofchampions.com ) in Van Nuys, California USA.
The gym reminded me somewhat of a stable for horses :), it was located outside roofed by a metal canopy type cover as seen in the gym’s gallery pics on their website. The floor was cement covered by a large old carpet and all the gloves, bags for kicking and equipment including the ring were pretty beat up looking.
Wow! So this is a real Thai Boxing gym … AAAHHH I want to go home!!! just kidding .
Training was held twice a day, 6 days a week, from 730am - 930am and 400pm - 600pm. The morning and evening training sessions slightly differed and routines gradually increased weekly as you become more in shape.
Morning training began with a
* 3 mile jog around the block
* shadowbox for 2 rounds. (1 round = 3 minutes + 30 second rest). (Shadowboxing is basically throwing punches, kicks, knees and elbows in the air to an imaginary opponent, which helps balance, coordination and to loosen up your body for the training regimen ahead).
* hit bag for 3 rounds. (1st round just punching with elbows, 2nd kicking with knees, 3rd a combination of everything)
* Focus Mitts for 3 rounds, (this is where the trainer holds the pads that cover his arms and stomach area so may execute blows to help out power and precision)
* 5 rounds of Neck Wrestling with knees ( this is a great exercise to help you advance your balance when you are held for a knee to be thrown from an opponent ).
* Calisthenics (sit-ups, push-ups etc. … ).
…. The evening sessions are when you add boxing sparring and light contact sparring with kicks and knees to your routine.
All in all I have learned a lot and can’t wait to show-off my new moves

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Before I end this entry I would like to send out my condolences to the family and freinds a fellow fighter Alex “F-14″ Gong, who was recently, shot and killed outside of his gym.

Shawn