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Full disclosure is I’m new to muay Thai so keep that in mind when reading my thoughts I think an *occasional* reminder to ‘ pivot ‘ foot or twist hip etc Can be helpful and appreciated- at least to me It is. I like it. elaborating a great deal.... I’d say no, not routinely. Not unless you’re asked and quite advanced yourself. But thats in my gym. It’s small enough that our teacher watches every one of us like a hawk and if we need correction you can believe we’ll get it from him Some people however may not receive feedback from non trainers as well. You could always ask.

@guyver4 there is a thread I started on this called Unsolicited advice during training which might give you some views. Is your gym a place where people give each other feedback a lot? If it is I guess you just need to "feel" where the line is. Otherwise I would let these questions guide me: 1. Am I a teacher with a mandate to teach instructions? 2. Did this person ask for my advice? 3. Am I really experienced enough to know how to teach this particular movement/technique? 4. Why do I have this urge to give feedback to this person? Do I really want to help or does it originate from my own desire to seem knowledgeable? Learning is an individual thing. Gyms are full with people who overestimate their own knowledge and enthusiastically share their knowledge with others in a way that is not constructive.

This is just a guess, but you might be tensing up before the impact hits. Try to "roll" with the impact as much as you can. It sounds counter-intuitive, but try to be soft/relaxed and see how that works for you. I know if I am holding Thai pads I would get sore if I was either meeting the kick or if I was tensing up just prior to the connection. Don't be completely passive, but try not to tense up either (easier said than done ).

This is 100% my experience. I couldn't even tell you when it happened. I used to have to mentally search for what to do in shadow and now it just flows out. Hahaha the gym, my kitchen, etc. It's basically like dancing, eventually you just find your rhythm and comfort zone. Just keep at it and enjoy it! It's your time to play, just keep adding stuff in that you like. I think the important thing is to find yourself in that moment and also keep a vision of an opponent in front of you. Focus on yourself (stuff you like) first though, then start mixing in defense and movement as well.

Hi guys, It's been a while since I posted, but I've been meaning to ask this question to a broader audience. Just where do we draw the line when it comes to critiquing someone, criticising, and basically commentating? What I mean is, I am an overthinker, unfortunately this is a curse and a blessing as I can't turn it off, it's amazing for my work, but not so great when it comes to Martial Arts. I can critique someone, the snap pointers where you see your partner not twisting their hips on a round kick, or pivoting on a hook... But it seems whenever I attempt a constructive criticism as to why something isn't working by brain goes into overdrive and I basically start explaining it step by step as if I was telling myself how to do something, which the digresses into micro adjustments and eventually onto a full blown commentary... There are examples of it on this forum. Extremely valid examples which I was called up on, which at the time I was writing seemed important, and relevant, but upon going back and reading after, I could totally see why I was called up on it and gave me a completely different perspective on what I'd written. Where should I be drawing the line to just help my partner? But at the same time, no be stepping on toes of instructors etc. Does anyone else have a similar problem with things like this? Especially if it is a subject which you are extremely enthusiastic about and have a tonne of observations which you think would benefit. There will always be a point where help becomes hindrance, and at that point no on is learning anything. How do I keep things objective, and subjective when there is so much noise to filter?

I have 2 daughter ages 12 and 15. My wife and I would like to take them to Thailand for a Muay Thai camp/vacation. Can anyone recommend a camp that would be good for 2 girls with only some martial arts and Muay Thai experience? I am just looking to give them an authentic experience—not actually fight at the end of it. Thank you!

Thank you for the feedback guys. It's much appreciated. @LengLeng I'll definitely keep your pointers in mind going forward. @MadelineGrace I completely understand what you're saying. I've just passed the year mark with Muay Thai, and as much or as hard as I train, I still think of myself as relatively "new". Our Muay Thai classes are only run twice a week at our gym, but there are guys there who train K1 5-6 times a week and do Muay Thai on top, but I only do the Muay Thai classes so always feel a level below if that makes sense. I think where I've watched almost 100 hours watching the Patreon videos though, there are small things I can contribute which they may not have thought or seen before and in most cases they havent, especially in the clinch. I think I will just try to keep myself more grounded going forward, and apply what I know, and just throw the nuggets if someone has me in a dominant position and doesn't know where to go, or vice versa.

I should but I hate to call more attention to being the oddball /odd man out ( 5’2” 118 lb middle aged mom in a sea of males ) That said, I’m not stupid so I’ll think it all over

...that really doesn't sound good. Ask your trainer, maybe he'll tell you to lay off holiding pads for a while. I was told the same thing because of my injured wrist, simply told not to hold for anyone until it was better.

Thank you for the very thoughtful reply. Chiang Mai seems like it would be great for us.

It always amuses me when people ask 'Can you recommend a Muay Thai camp in Thailand?'. It is a big country, did you want to narrow your options down a bit? Being the capital and home of the main stadia, Bangkok has the highest number of gyms. It's a bit chaotic and traffic is terrible, so it's not everyone's cup of tea (personally I love the place), but you can get excellent training there and there's plenty to do. Or, do your daughters (and yourself and your wife of course) like the idea of going to the beach after training? Then look into training on one of the islands. Or, do you like the idea of being in a pretty big city, but a lot more laid back and less traffic than Bangkok plus some great nearby scenery? Then look into Chiang Mai Or, do you like the idea of training at a gym in an area of the country that few tourists visit? Then look into training at a gym in Isaan Or how about up in the mountains? Then look into a place like Pai. Most gyms that are open to foreigners will be used to training beginners, so that shouldn't be a worry. You'll see this posted elsewhere on this forum, but when you do decide on your location let your daughters try out a few different gyms first before committing to one.

Today I held pads again for a strong guy with strong kicks. I felt it in my head. Almost like it briefly shook back and forth and I got a momentary headache sensation. I guess it was like whip lash. Maybe my neck isn’t strong enough to keep my head from ( for lack of a better word) going ‘ boing’ ??? Now I know what it was. Not sure how I can prevent it. I’m not too concerned.

As an American you can get a 6 month Tourist Visa (as of my fingers typing this; immigration stuff changes ALL THE TIME) before coming. I'd advise that. We have a thread on gym recommendations and reviews. If you're willing to go outside of Bangkok a bit I'd recommend checking out Sasakul Gym, Samart's Gym, getting a private with Sagat at 13 Coins (best private in Thailand); Chiang Mai is all pretty close together so you can see a few gyms in a period of a few days.

This is such a hard pill to swallow, but you are so right that when people say "I train 3 hours a day" that's not super accurate. I'm lazier than I think I am, too. But the honest answer is also what you get to next, which is that the amount of time required is just whatever gets you fight ready, mentally to the point where you know you did the work. I don't know that an "x" number of miles works for everyone, or "y" number of sparring rounds. I've fought with zero clinching and sparring (due to stitches or whatever), or with daily clinching/sparring leading up. I'm an anomaly in terms of how often I get to fight, but not in what those training methods' purposes are. They're to make you ready. And to me "ready" is a state of mind more than anything. If someone walked into my gym and said, "Sylvie, put me on a program to get me ready for a fight," I'd just make sure that the rounds of pads and on the bag are at least 1 minute longer than the rounds of the actual fight. So, 2 minute rounds in a fight = 3 minutes or more for each round in training. 3 minute rounds in a fight = 4 minutes in training, etc. And more rounds than the fight will be. So, if it's a 3 round fight, do 5 rounds on the bag and on pads. If it's a 5 round fight do 6-7 on pads and the bag. Although, padwork is largely up to your trainer, so you might have to do whatever they say and then get your extra time/rounds on the bag. Shadow a lot to get the feeling of movement and timing. I'd tell this person to run every morning (mileage doesn't matter, as long as it's pushing you to do it every day). Situps, knees, pushups, pullups, and teeps.

Hello mate, Be careful if you're purchasing a one way ticket. It never used to be an issue, but in recent years they now ask you to show proof of onward travel when you check in for your flight. You could get around that by buying a refundable ticket and then cancelling it once you're there. As for visas, you get 30 days on arrival at an airport, or you can get a 60 day tourist visa in advance and then that can be extended by another 30 days at an immigration office. Once that runs out you'll have to leave. You're best getting up to date information on this next bit because they're always changing the rules. I think now you only get a 15 day stamp if you re-enter Thailand via a land crossing, or 30 days if you come in by air. So if you're planning on staying longer you'd be better off getting another 60 day tourist visa at a Thai embassy or consulate in a neighbouring country. Were you after recommendations for touristy stuff or do you want Muay Thai related info?

.....oh and proper recovery stuff like nutrition sleep and body work (massage etc) is to me key to increase fitness level quicker. If I'm sloppy with that my training and endurance suffers a lot.

This is such an interesting topic. Personally I feel that if you have a decent level of conditioning you can get fight ready quite easily. But if you go from nothing it will take so much longer. We have a great fighter in my gym who is not actively fighting atm. But he joins clinching everyday to teach the others (he is one of the guys in Sylvies slomo video of Saranmuenglek clinching). He drinks a beer every evening and is as mentioned not training for fighting. But now he has an upcoming fight and he told me he needs a week to get ready. Most likely due to years and years of hard training giving him the basic conditioning needed. At fight camps in Thailand you usually train 2 2-3 hour sessions a day, 6 days/week. Morning session starting with a run and being a bit softer than afternoon sessions. Mix of bag work and pad rounds. At my gym I only join Saturday morning sessions due to my work and those are very soft. Run and then people working on their own stuff. 3 pad rounds. No clinching. Afternoon sessions start at 4pm with run or skipping depending on weather (30-40 min). Then 30 minutes clinch ending with man in the middle. Then it's either sparring usually 3-5 rounds of 3 min rounds. Or padrounds where you do your own work waiting to be called for 3 rounds of pads with 1-2 minutes in between. I often get three extra rounds of only teeps or elbows because apparently I need this . Once everyone got their pad rounds there is usually some technique drills followed by 200 jumping knees in the ring, pushups, 200 situps (but only a third of us actually doing any situps) and stretching. Done by 7pm. If any of the thai fighters have upcoming fights they will be given a lot of extra work and driven to the point of exhaustion by the trainers. The thing is people can say things like yeah we did skipping rope for 30 minutes and I did 5 rounds on the bag. But in reality they didn't skip for 30 minutes there were several breaks and the bag rounds were not efficient work. They pretend time spent in gyms is time spent training. But they just goofed around half the time not engaging in efficient training. So I feel it's difficult to get a true answer to how much time you need to prep. People are way lazier than they think. Personally (and I'm not very experienced in terms of muay thai but I've competed in other sports and have a decent understanding of how my body works) I want to keep a decent level of conditioning to always being able to train and learn. If I'm exhausted on the pads I will learn less and my movements will be sloppy. I train to train. What I find important is to drive yourself to and beyond point of exhaustion. This because I feel it increases my level of fitness, but it also teaches me that I have much more to give when I feel I'm dying. So it's both for mental training and for body conditioning. I love metcon workouts to do this. Sylvie has tonnes of very helpful articles on this topic on her blog. Perhaps look at articles tagged "overtraining". But also keep in mind that she is constantly fighting and she has done so for years. And I'm also pretty sure she might be a cyborg .

Gravel is good. My first trainer, Master K, used gardening gravel in his heavy bags and that worked great. As for shadow, it's awkward and limited and weird for a long time and then it just suddenly isn't anymore. It's like learning a language. At first you can only ask for the bathroom and say you are enjoying your food, over and over again. But gradually you start thinking, understanding, asking questions, etc. Just give it time. If you want to watch some fights and steal a few moves that you can throw in, that's going to be interesting, but it won't be "better" for you than just moving and letting the weapons come out of your own rhythm and flow. Better than coming up with "moves" or "combinations" for variety, is to get better at picturing an opponent and throwing weapons in response to whatever you're visualizing there. That's a much more useful skill.