Training - Beginners Class

Tiger Muay Thai Review
Training - Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp

Beginners Class

Beginners Training Area

 (pic taken between group lessons, private lessons in action)

The following is a review of the Beginners Muay Thai class at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA in Phuket, Thailand.

Training is tough but fun.

You will improve, that’s for sure.  The trainers are all very nice and friendly so you needn’t worry about the fact that they can all crack your skull with their pinkeys if they feel like it.

 Training begins with 15 minutes of stretch work and then a 20 minute warm up (which includes a lot of running). You then proceed to work on technique by means of shadowboxing with an instructor in front of a long mirror. I found this to be quite helpful as they go over all the types of punches, kicks, kneeing and elbow movements, whilst all the other instructors walk around the group and let you know what you are doing wrong. If this is your first lesson, you will be taken aside by an instructor who will show you everything from scratch – how to punch, kick, knee and elbow.

After shadowboxing, the head instructor proceeds to teach the class the movements of the day. Each day he demonstrates a different set of techniques. You then pair up and practice on a partner. All in all it's about 3 new moves a day.

After you have finished practicing the new moves, its 3X3 time – 3 sets of pad work, then ring work and then bag work (not necessarily in that order).  

Pad work – This is when a trainer takes you aside and makes you practice everything you know whilst he holds up pads for you to punch, kick elbow and knee. This is what you have come to Thailand for! Pad work with ex- world champions. Trainers push you to your limit and correct your technique whilst making sure you sweat like a pig. If you find a trainer you like, ask him when he's free for a private session as these are invaluable. (As discussed under my "private training" blog entry).

Ring work – This is when you get in the ring and either spar or do clinch work with a partner. A good place to practice what you have learnt. Not to worry about getting hurt, as partners are using about 20% strength.

Bag work – practice all your combinations on the punch bag for 3 rounds. Instructors come and check to see your style and push you on.

Lesson ends with 20 minutes of cardio which can be either running or bag work (100 elbows, 100 knees, 100 front kicks) and then 300 situps and 100 pushups. 

Atmosphere – Everyone is very friendly, which is important when practicing an intimidating sport such as Muay Thai in Thailand. At the beginners class, everyone is just looking to learn so it's easy to make friends. People aren’t aggressive and people are just enjoying the training. I'm sure everyone else is nice at the more advanced classes, as you can see that most people are friendly around the camp, at the hostels and at the restaurants, however I'm sure things get a bit more aggressive there.  You will also find a lot of people coming to the beginners class to lose weight as their main objective, with learning muay thai as a positive side effect. About 30% percent of the beginners class are female, so they partner up and spar with each other.

Summary

I was doing just the afternoon group sessions, as I did a private every late morning (my body doesn’t agree with me training before 10 am, even though I got up every day at 0730, I still like a few hours to wake up and warm up). For the first week I was loving every minute of the group training, but after a week I saw that it wasn’t changing one bit and became quite monotonous. Every day you have a couple of new people joining and people leaving, so it started to become a bit tedious. I also found that the head instructor just kept saying the same things, day in day out, none being too interesting and I therefore found originality to be quite lacking. But that’s probably what's needed in a beginners class. I was told to move to intermediate class after a few days, as I had already done a few months of muay thai back home about 3 years before, so I wasn’t such a beginner. Even so, I spoke to many people in class and they all seemed to agree that after a week things became too monotonous.

My advice – do not pay for more than a week in advance. Do as many private sessions as possible, as this will advance your technique at a greater speed.

Weight loss

Well, I am not here to lose weight, however I can definitely tell you that if you want to lose weight in an original, fun and downright awesome manner, then this is the place to come to. You can spend all your time at the beginners class, come twice a day and shed those pounds. You are gonna sweat your ass off. Restaurants nearby and the Tiger Grill all have low fat low calorie meals to offer so as long as you are dedicated and don’t chow up on pizzas and burgers which you can find as well, you will do fine.

Not to do

If it's your first lesson ever, it might not be the best idea to start on a Saturday afternoon. It’s the last lesson of the week so it is very different from the regular daily sessions. The trainers have basically finished a grueling week of training (they never stop, every day, all day, as they give private lessons in between group lessons), so the lesson is a bit less formal than any other lesson during the week. It’s a bit easier, with a bit more talk and a bit less action. If it is your first lesson it will be a bit difficult to learn basic technique. The group works a bit on Muay Thai combinations and then receives a somewhat bizarre lecture on Muay Thai history (if you can understand a word of what Dang the head instructor is saying then it might be interesting, no one I spoke to understood what he was talking about).

Above: Dang (near mirror) explaining the history of Muay Thai on a Saturday Afternoon