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In all the gyms I've tried (three so far in Sydney, Australia) partner pad-holding has always had a prominent place in Muay Thai classes. Unfortunately I've found that holding pads for roundhouse kicks is my least favourite part of training. I'm a smaller man (162cm, 53-54kg) so there's a significant size disparity with most partners. Even with smaller ones I think that because of the pads the hits aren't localised to, say, the legs, arms, or body. Instead what I think happens is that the impact is spread across the whole body and is transmitted to the head and neck. Sometimes I'll get slight headaches. It's got me a bit worried about brain injuries. I do see some benefits to it: it helps my fight vision and understanding of how techniques work but I feel like if I'm going to take light hits I'd rather do it in sparring or if I'm going to take hard hits then I'd rather do it in a fight. Is partners holding pads a thing in Thailand as well? If not, what do they have instead and can I do that? Is this just a "learn to hold pads correctly and strengthen your neck" issue? There's not been a lot of instruction on that and there are conflicting opinions on the Internet on whether to meet the kick with the pads or resist it. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac as well so it's hard to gauge if I'm overreacting. I don't think it's a "toughen up" issue. Arm, body, shin pain, whatever is fine. But the head stuff is scary.

I'm sitting here crying as I watch this clip of Petchtong exiting the ring after losing by KO to Gongchai (a champion of the late Sangtiennoi). You can see Petchtong isn't all there, he's very raw and can't hold things in his gloves; he just wants to bury his face in the shoulder of his dad or trainer, the guy in the red shirt. For context, the gamblers cheering the fight offered a 53,000 Baht "injection" - an incentive offered during a fight to encourage a fighter to come from behind - and even though he lost by KO, the gamblers - who lost money - were so happy with his performance they still gave him 12,000 Baht in tips. I find this so beautiful. People complain about gambling and I understand the broad brush of how it has too much influence on outcome and matchmaking; but this is also absolutely a part of gambling and Muay Thai's relationship and I'd hate to see this go. https://www.facebook.com/reel/361832535882976?fs=e&s=cl And here's the fight: https://youtu.be/axug1xHs3xc

Two more thoughts on this, because it's a complicated issue. 1. Why not show your coach the Yodkhunpon shadowboxing session so he knows what page you are on. It could be that you are doing it earnestly, but maybe missing elements of what could be found in the video. It helps to have an educated eye looking on. If you want to gift him a month of Library access for free, we can do that. Just have him sign up and we'll send a refund for that month. 2. In a very different direction, we have a philosophy of gyms and training opportunities what is the logic of the Cupcake Bakery. If a bakery is really great at making cupcakes, and everything that comes out of it is cupcakes...and you don't want to be a cupcake, you want to be something different, it doesn't mean that you can't "go" to that bakery. It just means that you have to look at what the process (the gym, the coach) produces, and know that at a certain point you have to break off, or include other processes...or, you'll become a cupcake. For someone like Sylvie there just is no gym, trainer, promotion, NOTHING that will produce what she wants to become. None. So it is all cupcake bakeries, croissant factories, ice cream cake showrooms, it's all processes that make things other than what she wants to be. So, it takes a careful combination of processes - processes that make other things - to (possibly) create something new, the thing she wants to be. It means, unfortunately, ALL the processes are "wrong" in some way. But taking elements from many of them, changing those processes over time, could combine some of their strengths into a virgin ground territory. It also takes great patience and perspective for any particular process. It just isn't going to be baby bear. All are going to be mis-fitting.

I love that you're learning so much from the Library. That's awesome and exactly what we hope for out of the project, in addition to Preserving the Legacy. Exposure to different ideas and methods is food for growth for sure. But you also aren't going to meet many coaches who want their methods questioned or argued against, INCLUDING the men in the Library, Some are more open to ideas than others, but everyone corrects toward their own experience. Your post is posing a question - "should I move to another gym?" - but it's also expressing frustration. I see why you're frustrated, but I have to be blunt here: you might be bringing all these frustrations with you to another gym. Arguing with your trainer over "his way" and what you are learning in the Library will probably be true in 90% of the gyms you go to, unless your coach happens to be a patron or something. There are gym politics that are incredibly consistent. And the issue with no advanced only classes is likely a commercial or practical change, one that your gym is unlikely to abandon unless there are commercial and practical reasons to have the higher level classes. If you feel like you aren't getting what you need out of your gym, that's as good a reason to move as any you'll come across, other than a falling out or something, which is a much harder condition to leave under. But I do warn you that much of what you're finding dissatisfying will be true across many other gyms you might be able to move to. If you see a gym that has more heavyweights, that's beneficial. If you find a gym where it's easier to smile and nod to a correction from your coach and then wait for him to walk away before commencing your own experiments, that's helpful; but arguing with your coaches over technique will never be a welcome approach in any gym. I face this myself; I am more restrained during padwork and have to make an adjustment toward what a coach is saying whenever they say it, but I don't argue. I smile, nod, give it a try while they're watching and then be more experimental during my own shadow, bagwork, or sparring/clinching time.