Since settling in Houston, Kru Pong has influenced the lives of many individuals through his ability to teach authentic Muay Thai. It would be an arduous task to try and list the names of all the trainers he has mentored in the past but let’s just say you’ll find them all over the place in this town and beyond, spreading Kru Pong’s teachings in their own gyms. In fact, the only thing as authentic and renowned as his Thai boxing is the food in his restaurant – and both are equally liable to make you sweat should you find yourself brave enough to dabble in either.
Whether its pad-thai or pad work, Kru Pong is about as authentic as they come. His workouts are legendary for being able to push fighters to the brink of what they thought themselves capable of, only to come out the other side as better fighters and more disciplined human beings. Like his food, his brand of training is not for the faint of heart but likewise an institution here in Houston, Texas.
With an eye on familiarizing the community more on what it’s like to train with the master, we spoke to one of his longtime students Nethaneel Mongonia to get his take on what it’s really like training with Kru Pong and what’s in store for the Kru Pong Fight Team in the near future.
Nethaneel, it’s always our pleasure to share what more about our fight community so thanks for talking to us. Before we get into the gym, I want to learn more about your own martial arts history. How did you get into Muay Thai?
Well when I was a kid, I wanted to do karate, of course I didn’t know what else to call it (laughs) but I wanted to learn martial arts. Unfortunately, we (my family) were too poor to afford any official martial arts training. With my family spending some time in Thailand when I was real young, my dad had went and watched some of the fights in Bangkok. Plus with his boxing background, he would show my brother and I things that he had picked up along the way. That’s how we got started. My brother Samuel and I used to wrap our hands with tube socks and bare-knuckle box when we were kids.
Years later when my dad passed away, I needed an outlet for my emotions and a way to lose weight. That’s when the Thai boxing stuff came around full-circle. I just stopped making up reasons to not go and did it.
When I look back now, I can see that Thai boxing has been there with me through a lot of hardships in my life. After my dad died, after the bank took our home away that I built with my own hands, and a childhood of hard times when we couldn’t even afford decent food and had to eat nothing but rice and sleep on a floor…
Kru Pong’s was that consistent place in my life that was always there and never changed. Anybody that has met Kru Pong knows that he is a great man, with a huge heart! He’ll never know how much he and that gym have meant to me and I’m sure there are a thousand people out there that feel the same thing.
I have heard that many times over about this man’s character. What’s it like training with Kru Pong?
I mean come on; the man is a two-time Lumpinee stadium champion himself and has trained seven world Thai Boxing champions in addition. It doesn’t get more legit then that. You know when you walk through the door that you’re going to get pushed further then you have ever been before. Only the brave call this place home.
Personally, I try to stay in fight shape all the time. I don’t let myself go, I try to stay as close to peak performance as possible. So that way when hard training time comes, I only have to turn it up a couple of notches, verses climbing a huge mentally crushing mountain… and believe me I’ve climb that mountain several times. I learned the importance of that from Daniel Kim a couple of years ago.
As far as routines go, I train four days a week. First, I warm up (15-20 minutes), then I get to it with Kru Pong in the ring doing pad work (no easy task), and afterwards I’ll hold pads for a little bit training other people. Once I’m through with that I will start my bag work, which is also as intense as the pad work. Towards the end of the day, I do some hard sparring and clinch work. It’s not the quantity of training but the quality of training. I can’t put Kru Pong’s training in to words, but I will say that I’ve seen him break fighters before. But for me it’s just another wonderful day at the office, it’s just the life we live.
The thing to understand about the Thai style is that it really isn’t like a normal boxing gym or even an MMA gym… its VERY disciplined. You don’t get to just walk around, or take breaks, or do what you want whenever you want. You walk in, warm up, and then you’re training for a couple of hard intense hours… Everything is already preplanned and organized. So actually it’s a gauntlet of really intense 3 minute intervals with only 30 second breaks between rounds. It’s very grueling. As KP says, “train like real fighting.” (laughs)
That’s amazing. It sounds like dedicating yourself to Muay Thai is definitely a commitment. What’s it like living in that reality?
It’s busy. People don’t understand the amount of work, blood, sweat and tears you put in. I’m just lucky to have a wife that trains with me. I work, train, spend time with the wife, and sleep. That’s my life, work, train, and wife, sleep… and repeat. (laughs)
Well Alexis and Jason attended last year’s North American Championships, and a lot of us wanted to make it happen this year. Every single guy really worked hard to make this happen. We put together a plan, and along with our friendship, pulled together and made it happen. We did it all ourselves. Everyone’s just like “good luck” when we try to drum up the community in regards to Muay Thai, so there isn’t really a support system in Texas for Muay Thai. But somehow we pulled our resources together and brought home two belts.
What’s it like for you guys fighting as a team in an individual sport like Muay Thai? Take us through that.
It’s different… when you fight; it’s all about your match. But when you’re a team, you all have to pull together and take care of one another, even in training; it’s not everyman for himself. It’s great, because you have a group of people cheering you on and pulling for you at your “away” fights, and then there is also the goofing off and pranks. Personally, I feel lucky to have such a great and talented group of guys to be a part of a team with. I wish more people understood the importance of teamwork like these guys do… I’ve had a lot of people help me to get me where I am right now, but I credit these guys with walking through the door with me.
Who are some of the guys on the 2011 Kru Pong Fight team?
Well, the 2011 Kru Pong Fight team consists of our Mexican brothers, Alexis Chavarria (135lbs Champion, 2010) and his tornado of a younger brother Alan. Next you have John Stewart (147Lbs Champion, 2011) this guy is like the next Ramon Dekkers. Then of course we have our resident loud mouth and trash talker Dan Le, who’s always talking despite Kru Pong always telling him to shut up… (laughs). We also have Uriel “Woody” Figueroa (aka “Sexy Woodrow”) And our token black dude, Robert Baley. Of course there’s myself Nethaneel Mongonia (168lbs Champion) and my wife Veronica “Roni” Mongonia. She’s awesome handling our logistics, scheduling protein cookies, and a lot of the driving (there’s a lot of it). My brother Samuel Mongonia is also one of the main parts of the team and usually corners everyone.. Last but not least in spirit is Jason Willis, who was too sick to make it this year but will no doubt be back.
They had a lot of really good talent there; a lot of good fighters. They had really experienced and knowledgeable judges and referees that knew what they were looking at. Troy Green is an awesome guy and passionate about the sport. It’s organized and you weren’t sitting around dehydrated waiting to weigh in. they were really good at matching people up by skill and experience level. I don’t think anyone got “pwnd” or out-classed. It’s not like the big flashy shows here. You weigh in, get checked out, attend the rules meeting… go back to the hotel, goof off. Then come Saturday it’s time to work. There isn’t the same hyped-up pressure like here. It was great and a lot of fun.
How did everyone’s fights go from your team? Any highlights?
Well, everyone did great! Mind you that these guys had two or three fights in one day. Out of 7 guys, 6 of us made it to the championship bouts and it was everyone’s first fight event with the exception of Alexis and I. We as a team pretty much sent a BUNCH of schools home empty-handed in the elimination rounds and left a resounding impression on the tournament and its attendees.
John bloodied a couple of guys up and won his championship fight by KO. Alexis got a KO in 45 seconds in his first fight but lost his championship bout by a close decision. Dan Le won his fight and advanced too, but was unable to continue to the championship bout due to injury. Alan lost his championship bout by a close decision. Uriel “Woody” beat a larger opponent but lost his championship bout to “Apollo Creed” (laughs) also by a close decision.
As for me, I was fighting the Persian Johnny Bravo! (laughs) I’m telling you this guy was broad! They had me matched up with a kick-boxer with 9 wins with 4 by way of knock out and 0 losses on his record. I think I handled him real well; I controlled him in the clinch and broke him down with knees. I out boxed him, and slipped and moved… used my footwork and had him bleeding from the nose in the 3rd, but I was unable to put him away. But he was definitely feeling those knees I was sinking into him, he didn’t want any more of those. I could taste the knockout, but you have to be careful with a shorter more powerful guy. The guy was really good and really strategic. He landed a lot of really big shots. But I just out technically fought the guy. I think if I had one more round I would have had a knockout by way of knee. It was a great feeling, and it’s been a long time coming.
It felt great! I love this city and I love the people… I counted it as a huge honor to represent Kru Pong and my home town of Houston in the USMTA National Tournament. There is nothing like fighting on a national level and bringing home the title! I think Houston has a lot of great talent and would hold its own if not take a lot of titles if more people from here fight in the USMTA national tournament in the future.
Well that’s definitely something to keep in mind. Muay Thai definitely has the support of TXMMA.com in Houston and all around the state. Anyone you’d like to acknowledge to conclude this interview?
I would like to thank my wonderful wife Roni, Kru Pong, the KP Fight Team, my friends and family, my father (RIP), everybody at Antidote coffee, Arturo at www.NDmartialarts.com , Ed, Romelle, Lloyd, Eric and Hai and all my buddies at Elite MMA, Mick and Legacy Muay Thai, Kru Troy Green and the USMTA, Justin Covey, Samuel Mongonia, Thai Gourmet, Rav Michael Laitman and the BB group, and of course you Mike. Sorry anyone that I might have forgot your name, but thank you too!
We hope that you enjoyed this insightful interview with Nethaneel Mongonia as a representative of the Kru Pong Fight Team.
For more on the Texas Muay Thai scene, please check out our past article on another legend with the Life and Times of Saekson Janjira along with another story detailing the Muay Thai tournament experience through the eyes of 2011 KP Fight Team member Alexis Chavarria.
Until next time folks, remember to SMILE!
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