What to look for in a MT gym

[Bahuyuddha]

Thanks for the responses.

There's something else I wanted to ask: Are MT gyms just after competitive fighters? Is an instructor likely to put pressure on me to 'get in the ring', especially if he already has title holders and a lot of other competitors at the gym?

There's probably a lot of variation from gym to gym, so look around, and ask the students at each place about their training.

I can only speak for the place where I train, and here the fighters do get more attention than the non-fighter students. But that is mostly because they tend to train at times when there aren't many other students around (like morning and mid-day), or they take private lessons (which cost more). There may be some sponsorship for the pro fighters, or the ones who look like promising future pro fighters, but I don't know the details of this because I am not a pro fighter and don't plan on becoming one.

The majority of our regular students don't want to compete. They are the bread and butter of our gym. I have never felt any pressure to compete. I have also never felt that I wasn't getting enough attention from our trainers, but that may be because I haven't trained at a gym where the ratio of teachers to students is 1:1. The list that thaiboxersp posted said in #3 that you should be training one-on-one with a trainer. I have never seen a gym in my area where all students get that level of attention (in Thailand you can stay at one of many Muay Thai camps and get 1-on-1 training from former pro Muay Thai fighters, which is awesome, but I can't usually spend more than three weeks per year at such a camp because of my work schedule).

At our gym, students aren't pushed to compete unless they show an interest, and the trainers think the student is going to put in the effort to get good enough. Most students just come to do pad work, bag work, and conditioning. Class size seems like it is usually about 15-20 students during the evening classes, lead by one or two trainers. A few regularly take the "sparring class," which is twice a week, and consists of free sparring for 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of clinch sparring. It is supervised by a trainer, who serves as ref, and also points out when students are doing something wrong, and gives advice and explanations. Most of us are pretty beginner-level since our gym is only about a year old, and the sparring class just started a few months ago.

[PirateJon]

Muay Thai teaches throws and sweeps?

Yes, from the clinch especially. You should learn these.

Apparently in Muay Boran, there's also some ground grappling kinda stuff but according to my coach it's not really worth learning. So we just learned to sprawl and if you wanted more, you took the bjj class.

[Keej613]

Thaifightersp had some great suggestions.

I'll add a few more tips to tryt to weed out suspicious schools that might simply be trying to capitalize on the popularity of Muay Thai.

Look at the gear the school/instructors use.

They should have Thai pads. These are a must. If someone is claiming to teach Muay Thai but they do not use Thai pads at all (perhaps they only use kicking shields) then it's extremely suspicious. It may be a kickboxing school that is trying to transition into Muay Thai without the proper background / gear.

Check to see if the instructors ever wear belly protection to coach people to push-kick / teep. Some instructors may simply use a shield instead (which isn't necessarily suspicious) but the absence of Thai pads combined with the absence of belly protection should raise some flags.

Check to see if the school has at least one banana bag (a long, thinner heavy punching/kicking bag). This is a staple of Thai training as well. The absence of a banana bag on its own isn't necessarily suspicious but, compounded with the absence of the other aforementioned gear, could be an indicator that the school is new to Muay Thai.

This might seem dumb, but look to see if the instructors have Thai trunks and train barefoot. This principle might not apply if you're training at a "genuine" MMA school where folks tend to prefer board shorts or vale tudo shorts . . . but if all the instructors are wearing kickboxing pants and/or aren't barefoot, this might be another hint that you might be at a kickboxing school that is trying to capitalize on the popularity of Muay Thai.

(I guess, generally, check to see if the instructors are using genuine Muay Thai gear as opposed to kickboxing gear.)

[thaiboxersp]

to go further into this thread. try and watch the instructor/trainer work out. watch what they do and how their training goes. i remember when i first got into muay thai about 6 years ago,i had a trainer who was suppossably a muay thai instructor (KRU) but everytime he worked out he always wore long pants and footgear (why i dont know). luckily i came from a full contcat kickboxing backround and moved on immediately. but some people may not know, so watch out

[JabCrossHook]

I can only speak for the place where I train, and here the fighters do get more attention than the non-fighter students. But that is mostly because they tend to train at times when there aren't many other students around (like morning and mid-day), or they take private lessons (which cost more). There may be some sponsorship for the pro fighters, or the ones who look like promising future pro fighters, but I don't know the details of this because I am not a pro fighter and don't plan on becoming one.

Yeah.. to be honest, I'd expect the fighters to get more attention (not just because I am one). With us, the fighters will do the same warmup/conditioning part with the rest of the group, and then do their own padwork in the ring or bagwork while the rest take a structured class.

The fighters represent the gym, so they should be trained to the highest level possible at said gym.

The majority of our regular students don't want to compete. They are the bread and butter of our gym. I have never felt any pressure to compete.

Likewise... we have around 8 active pro fighters, and a few amateurs. We have 10 times that many people who turn up regularly and will never fight. They don't want to - their choice. People are encouraged to at least spar, but far more choose not to.

[leec123]

A lot of good points here, just a couple more

See if they are doing the Ram Muay (traditional pre fight ritual dance). It may not happen every class, but if they dont know it, it aint Muay Thai.

When they are doing padwork drills, EVERYTHING should be going in at pretty much full power, unless they are learning or breaking down something. There are very few feints in Muay Thai

When doing the infamous round kick, watch the body position, the hips shuold be open and they should be moving across the target. If they chamber a kick, run away

If they start dropping hands to block kicks, its kickboxing. Muay Thai uses predominantly bone blocking techniques (elbow or shin/knee)

They should be able to tell you the names of the techniques in Thai and how they translate and why.(A lot of the more traditional techniques are very animalistic in nature)

When sparring, they should play that godawful music. Thai boxers are trained to react to the the music, so its like a dance. In traditional rings wher they have the 3 man orchestra, it is the musicians who dictate the pace of teh fight by upping or slowing the tempo

hope this helps some

[leec123]

to go further into this thread. try and watch the instructor/trainer work out. watch what they do and how their training goes. i remember when i first got into muay thai about 6 years ago,i had a trainer who was suppossably a muay thai instructor (KRU) but everytime he worked out he always wore long pants and footgear (why i dont know). luckily i came from a full contcat kickboxing backround and moved on immediately. but some people may not know, so watch out

there seems to be a big blurring going on between the pure kickboxing and pure Muay Thai these days. A lot of kickboxing clubs I have seen start to offer a few Thai techniques as they go further up the grades, and there are a lot of Thai Boxing clubs which fall short of pure Muay Thai.
I think it can be difficult for a beginner, but I personally wouldnt recommend one that tried to switch half way through. The whole attitude, not to mention the whole mechanics of the kicks are completely differetn betwen the two, with the kickboxing using primarily the power of the quadriceps to extend the foot, while Muay Thai moves the whole body and almost drags the shin behind it like a baseball bat

[Domite]

Yes, from the clinch especially. You should learn these.

Apparently in Muay Boran, there's also some ground grappling kinda stuff but according to my coach it's not really worth learning. So we just learned to sprawl and if you wanted more, you took the bjj class.

I have learned a good amount of throws and sweeps in sanda, but I thought that was the main difference between sanda and muay thai, other than no elbows.

[alex]

A lot of good points here, just a couple more

When they are doing padwork drills, EVERYTHING should be going in at pretty much full power, unless they are learning or breaking down something. There are very few feints in Muay Thai

wrong, i fucking hate people who come in to do padwork and try to break them in half. padwork is for technique and speed. bagwork is for power. there are very few feints if you are a shitty boxer.

When sparring, they should play that godawful music. Thai boxers are trained to react to the the music, so its like a dance. In traditional rings wher they have the 3 man orchestra, it is the musicians who dictate the pace of teh fight by upping or slowing the tempo

hope this helps some

thank god they dont play that cat strangling **** at any of the gyms i train at. we usually listen to stuff like king kapisi when we are training

[leec123]

wrong, i fucking hate people who come in to do padwork and try to break them in half. padwork is for technique and speed. bagwork is for power. there are very few feints if you are a shitty boxer.



thank god they dont play that cat strangling **** at any of the gyms i train at. we usually listen to stuff like king kapisi when we are training

I know what you mean about the music, but the world is a wonderful place when it stops.

We never really had any bags where I have trained, normally just rented halls etc.
We were always the guys leaning into the pads and using it as blocking/conditioning practise so thats what I have been used to.

My Sit Kru was European and 3 rings champion, so I wasn't going to argue with him when he said to try and KO the guy with everything