Yellow wall merges with dirty white ceiling as my 60 kilos get swung over the shoulder of a beast of a man. This is the same guy I shook the hand of a couple of minutes ago, and while travelling mid-air I find myself not fully grasping what has just happened. The impact as my back hits the floor makes my eyes shut tight and when I open them again my newfound ‘friend’ is bent over me with a closed fist that promptly slams into my face.

I blink and almost fail to register the rapid blur of the kick to my head that follows. I stay down; sweat running down the side of my face, hair standing straight up. I can feel blood pumping through my veins like a double bass drum. I gather some strength to stand up, get into position and then launch myself towards my opponent with the sole purpose of strangling him with my bare hands. I don’t even remember his name.

And I used to be such a nice guy.

“Fighting: I don’t care what colour you are, or what language you speak, or what country you live in, we’re all human beings and fighting’s in our DNA. We get it and we like it.” – Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White

We live in an age when newspapers are filled with terror, media consistently reporting freakish war crimes. Immersed in pop culture crammed with glorified violence, it is fair to ask: ‘What’s so appealing about fighting?’

The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is one of the fastest growing in the world and, like pimples before a date, gyms offering martial arts training are popping up everywhere.

Usually run by a highly skilled, professional trainer, this is where the real magic happens; far from the limelight, multimillion-dollar contracts and live-streamed events.

“Ultimately, martial art means honestly expressing yourself.” – Bruce Lee

We pair up and start practicing a looping overhand right to the guard of our sparring partner, stopping just before impact to avoid damaging our hands. That overhand is then combined with a wrestling technique: the body lock. Chan Reach explains how a thrown punch can also be used to trick an opponent into exposing himself to other attacks. The next step, he says, is to take your opponent to the ground. Still gripping the waist of his skinny sparring partner, whose only real job is to take a beating, Chan Reach sweeps the man’s legs from under him, sending him tumbling backwards with the help of his bodyweight and a push to the head. As the man slams into the ground, the trainer springs into position and secures side control: a dominant ground position that allows him to land elbows or knees or move in for an arm lock.

Asked about the rising popularity of MMA, Chan Reach, whose gym is favoured among the country’s established and emerging professional fighters, points to the intensely competitive nature of the sport and cites the pride of representing both country and gym.

Riding home, I start to connect the dots. There are so many different variables, both physical and mental, that go into creating a fighter. If you compete, those variables come together in just a few glorious minutes of victory or defeat. Hundreds, maybe thousands of hours, peaking the moment you enter the ring. Even if your opponent is a sworn enemy, you still have to respect the hours of discipline and training they’ve endured. But I’m about to find out that fight training isn’t something that prepares you solely for the ring; it also prepares you for potentially dangerous situations in life.

K1 Fitness & Fight Factory, #131 Street 199 MMA, Krav Maga 7am – 9pm Monday – Sunday

Arriving early to check things out before getting kicked, I’m immediately greeted with steady handshakes from trainers and trainees alike. A few expats are doing pad work on a well-lit floor covered with yellow mats. In the background, old-school rapper DMX asks loudly through the speakers “Where the hood at?”, but no-one answers. Flyers from UFC events hang on the walls alongside photos of one of the hand-shakers, K1 Fitness & Fight Factory Director Francois Xavier Leal de la Torre. Xavier, known as ‘FX’, met the gym’s boss, David Minetti, when he was a kid: FX’s father and Minetti share a background in the French Foreign Legion.

The schedule includes kids’ boxing, cardio conditioning and Krav Maga, a system of self-defence known for its effectiveness/brutality and the class I’ve signed up for. Developed to train the Israeli military for realistic fighting situations, Krav Maga encourages practitioners to avoid confrontation, but, as FX says: “Sometimes you don’t have that option, then what do you do?” He proceeds to answer his own question, demonstrating a slew of defensive-, offensive- and counter-attacks, and setting the standard before we – with extreme caution – practice eye gouging, throat strikes and kicks to the groin.

Where there’s an almost artistic element to the traditions of Kun Khmer, wrestling and Ju-Jitsu, Krav Maga focuses solely on survival. I’m thrown to the ground repeatedly by the smallest manipulation of my joints and finished off with kicks and punches to the head. Efficient and simple, this system. The techniques being taught are (mostly) forbidden in professional settings and I wouldn’t dream of kicking a sparring partner in the crown jewels, but someone threatening my family? That’s a different story.

We continue practicing real-life scenarios, including multiple attackers and how to get out of various locks, as the clock closes in on an MMA class. With energy still to spare, I goof around with FX and experience what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a Krav Maga fighter. A leg kick lands flat on my thigh and I collapse in pain, electing to take a time-out and watch from a safe distance as the next class warms up by crawling the length of the room – which looks both funny and gruelling. Breathing in gasps, I stand up and stagger towards my bike for the ride home.

As the wind starts to chill my body, I become aware of sharp pains in my neck, thigh and – strangely – my right ear. I reflect on the physical challenges of the past week and how well I’ve been sleeping (traditionally, I’m an insomniac). Confident despite having been kicked around and thrown to the ground with my limbs yanked in unnatural directions, I’ve gained valuable knowledge of my inner workings, in just a few days, through brutal trial-and-error.

The soundtrack from Into The Wild seeps into my headphones and the soothing voice of Eddie Vedder accompanies the somewhat wobbly ride home. I get stuck thinking about a quote from the movie that I’m convinced would fit this article, if only I could remember what it was. Just before I fall asleep, I look it up and experience feel a double win, because a) it sums up my Cambodian fight club experiences, and b) it means my memory is still functioning, which hopefully means no brain damage. Sweet!

“It is important in life not to be strong, but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once.” – Into The Wild

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