has anyone ever been to one , i was thinking about doing this in about 2-3 years , what’s the best one ? my friend told me it’s pretty cheap but the plane ticket from america is the expensive part
I’d love to go. Hopefully you’re studying Muay Thai under/with someone who’s spent time there and can give you advice/has connections…
…from what I’ve gathered though, it’s not that hard to get there and change plans. Stay at a camp a couple of weeks, maybe it’s not your favorite, so you go somewhere else…
What I’d like to know if it’s true that some camps will pretty much let you stay there for months at a time for very little money, and you’re expected to run with the whole camp every morning.
I’d love to go there for 3-4 months at a time.
Tiger Thai in Phuket
800 bucks for 3 months, they have little apartments above the gym, they have a grill and kitchen…its a complete training get away. If I didnt have a family to support, I’d be there now.
a couple guys from my gym went over there for a while…but they’re still not that good at MT, so i have no idea what they learned… i’ll hvae to talk to them and see where they went, and how long they stayed…
Read “A fighter’s heart” by Sam Sheridan. He describes, with a good degree of detail, training in Thailand.
From what I’ve gathered experiences can vary quite a lot, from very Americanized camps to more traditional camps where most people fight regularly for money to support themselves and the camp. My guess is the people who get the most out of it are the ones who do the latter.
I know 2 people who have gone regularly.
1 person went to Phuket to train and really loves the hard handling by the trainers and the choice of who to train with. He is also pretty experienced so I trust his judgement as a professional fighter.
The other one went to Chiang Mai, wich is a thai/mma oriented gym. He spent the last 4 months there and he had the time of his life. Also it’s not always expected that you run with the entire camp in the morning.
Go Man! Go when ever you have the chance. The atomosphere of being there steps you up another level. I try get there or send my guys when ever I can, and they come back charged, fit and ready for action. There is a lot of awesome gyms to train at! I sent my son to Fairtex for 2 weeks and his formed improved immensely, and then sent him to another one of our Brother gyms we go to every year “Sasiprapa in Bangkapi Bangkok” his first time there and he was treated so awesomely, he couldnt stop talking about it. We trained there last year for world champs with other clubs from around the world and the training was top notch, everyone runs then everyone trains. It was Awesome!
It also depends where in Thailand you go, there are good gyms everywhere, I am sure someone who has been there can giv you some good direction to a good one. Ko Samui, WMC Camp Samui at Lamai beach is a good one as well, a lot of the teams that complete in the Muay Thai World champs go train there. Awesome place wish I was there right now! Very cheap to stay its ridiculous.
Also keep in mind that if you go to party and train,its a bit of a waste of time. Either go there to Party,or go there to train. You cant do both if you are serious about fighting, too many distractions.
Anyway good luck, hope ya get there soon.
Joe
[quote]JoePineapples wrote:
Go Man! Go when ever you have the chance. The atomosphere of being there steps you up another level. I try send my guys when ever I can, and they come back charged, fit and ready for action. There is a lot of awesome gyms to train at! There are the westernized ones eg: Fairtex and there are also the little quaint gyms with awesome one on one trainings. I sent my son to Fairtex for 2 weeks and his formed improved immensely, and then sent him to another one of our Brother gyms we go all the time “Sasiprapa in Bangkapi Bangkok” he was treated so awesomely, he couldnt stop talking about it.
It also depends where in Thailand you go, there are good gyms everywhere, I am sure someone who has been there can giv you some good direction to a good one.
Keep in mind that if you go to party and train,its a bit of a waste of time. Either go there to Party,or go there to train. You cant do both if you are serious about fighting, too many distractions. Anyway good luck, hope ya get there soon.
Joe [/quote]
So you think it’s a good thing to do at any point in your training, and not something best done (most bang for your buck) as a more advanced student?
I was in Phuket for 6 monyhs. Spent 1 month at tiger didn’t like it too much, very crowded while I was there and the trainers didn’t seem to care too much.
I was then at Sinbi Muay Thai for 5 months which I really liked. they set me up with a fight in Korea too. Google it they got a nice site. If you go training price is the same but the accomodation is quite expensive. So if you go to Sinbi live outside the camp (plenty of it nearby).
Yes I do, because the learning process will never stop. Even though 2 years down the track and you have a bit of experience, you will still learn a shit load from your trip to thailand. I been doing Muay Thai for 20 years, and I am still learning. I learn every trip and everytime I spend with my Teacher. I still am hungry for knowledge! I am a very very greedy individual when it comes to knowledge for Muay Thai, I want an edge, I want my fighters to be the best, my apetite is insatiable. Plus the experience of Muay Thai culture in the camps is something you just can not teach anyone. Go as soon as you can, you wont regret it.
Does anyone know of any other places that offer cheap chances at great live in training?
In particular I’m looking for kickboxing that has a higher emphasis on the boxing than traditional MT has. Either that or something like Sanshou.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Does anyone know of any other places that offer cheap chances at great live in training?
In particular I’m looking for kickboxing that has a higher emphasis on the boxing than traditional MT has. Either that or something like Sanshou.[/quote]
A few Thai boxers also have Professional boxing records too. Though the Thai style of western boxing tends to be alot more about hitting them hard nd being able to take a punch with little focus on defence.
Go to Thailand to learn Muay Thai don’t go for grappling or boxing or anything else.
The grappling class at Tiger was very crowded and there was only one intructor Ray Elbe who didn’t really help much when we were drilling he just focused on his favourite 2 people.
I had a friend who went to Legacy gym in Ubon. They do MMA/ Muay Thai and have a brown belt up there coaching. He really enjoyed that. Ubon is incredibly cheap too even by Thailand standards. I still think you should only go to Thailand to learn Muay Thai though.
After this deployment is over and I return to Germany, I’ll be spending three weeks in Amsterdam, training at VOS Gym. Thailand sounds like a good time, as well, however, I’ll only have a month off and from the sounds of it, that’s a trip you want several months for. Perhaps when I get out. But, I honestly wouldn’t go to Thailand for anything BUT MT. To go there for anything else, training wise, seems silly. Not judging, though. 
[quote]Beast27195 wrote:
After this deployment is over and I return to Germany, I’ll be spending three weeks in Amsterdam, training at VOS Gym. Thailand sounds like a good time, as well, however, I’ll only have a month off and from the sounds of it, that’s a trip you want several months for. Perhaps when I get out. But, I honestly wouldn’t go to Thailand for anything BUT MT. To go there for anything else, training wise, seems silly. Not judging, though. [/quote]
i wondered about this as well…it seems like the European version of MT seems better suited for bigger, athletic people. maybe i’m missing out on some of the intricities of the sport, though…
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Beast27195 wrote:
After this deployment is over and I return to Germany, I’ll be spending three weeks in Amsterdam, training at VOS Gym. Thailand sounds like a good time, as well, however, I’ll only have a month off and from the sounds of it, that’s a trip you want several months for. Perhaps when I get out. But, I honestly wouldn’t go to Thailand for anything BUT MT. To go there for anything else, training wise, seems silly. Not judging, though. [/quote]
i wondered about this as well…it seems like the European version of MT seems better suited for bigger, athletic people. maybe i’m missing out on some of the intricities of the sport, though…[/quote]
I honestly hadn’t thought of that, cyco. It does make sense, though. Most of the people you see training in Thailand are pretty small. Not taking anything away from them, but there are some things that, as a large man, I won’t even think about attempting. At least in Europe, I have a better chance of training with people that are closer to my size, if not bigger.
[quote]Spartiates wrote:
From what I’ve gathered experiences can vary quite a lot, from very Americanized camps to more traditional camps where most people fight regularly for money to support themselves and the camp. My guess is the people who get the most out of it are the ones who do the latter.[/quote]
I think any athlete competing in a combat sport should be attending a traditional gym. The fighters at the traditional gyms have a desire to win, whether it be for the sake of competition or their finances they’ve something to prove. Trainers also simply don’t have time to waste with you so they’re not going to let your mistakes slide. You’re forced to push yourself and can’t coast through training.