TZ22

Hey, It's currently my second time in Thailand and both times I was travelling alone. I don't think you need to worry too much, and just like someone else said, as long as you don't go looking for trouble and stay away from things that seem too good to be true you should be fine. The first time I was in Bangkok I did two guided tours (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) through a company called urbanadventures.com - the tours were not expensive and I've seen a lot during those tours so it was definitely money well spent and could be an option for one of your days in Bangkok. When you're going to Phuket, consider contacting the gym you're going to before your arrival and ask them if they can arrange a taxi to pick you up from the airport, at least that way you don't have to worry about trying to explain to the taxi driver where it is you're trying to go and then end up being taken to just any Muay Thai gym (lol, I had that happen when I tried to take a motorbike taxi and the driver assured me that he knows the gym I am talking about)...it is possible that the gym might have a flat rate for arranging a pick up, it might be a bit more expensive but can save you some inconveniences. Also, both times I was surprised by just how many Thais speak at least some English so language may not be as much of a problem either, but i would also suggest picking up a business card from the hotel you will be staying at so that it would have the address written in Thai and you can show it to someone if you get lost. Hope this helps. Cheers

Hi Sylvie, I have two questions for you and if you have time, it would be great to hear your opinion on my situation. Firstly, I am currently training at a gym in Chiang Mai area and my original plan was only to train here for 1 month and then go to Bangkok to a gym owned by a famous fighter in October for 1 month, however, after checking out that gym for a morning session I really did not like the area that it is located in (I'm not sure that I would feel safe going for a run there by myself), and I am questioning if I would be taken seriously there, whether I would get the kind of training that would help me get to the next level rather than treating me like a beginner, so I am now contemplating whether I should extend my stay at my current gym to two months or should I still go to another gym so that I get some variety of technique...To be honest, I like how detailed oriented the trainers at my current gym are and that they are picking up on the small things that I didn't know I was doing wrong (although everything I thought I knew has been corrected so many times that it left me wondering if I actually know anything at all and what it was that I was learning/doing for the last 2.5 years, lol), but I feel like I am not learning any new techniques and only get corrected on the techniques that I already have, so I started paying for private sessions (I've done 2 so far and don't know if I should keep going with that) so that I can learn some clinch, since the group clinch sessions are pretty short (maybe 15 minutes at the end of the afternoon session), and to also do some sparring since there doesn't seem to be much sparring happening and the one session that they called boxing sparring was pretty short too and I got put in a ring with a bunch of complete beginners who didn't know how to control their punches and so it was just me trying to avoid any of the wild haymaker punches, while the trainer that was in our ring was jus watching and not saying anything, so I don't know if this is the norm in Thai gyms and this is how they conduct their sparring sessions so would going to another gym be really that different? Do you think it would be a good idea for me to train at another gym after my 1 month at my current gym or do you think I would be making it worse since the other gym would spend time to teach me "their way" of doing things and I would be basically unlearning again what I thought I knew? Or should I stay here at my current gym so that I can put in enough time to learn one style the right way and continue to do private sessions to fill in the gaps from the group sessions? Secondly, I also wanted to try fighting in Thailand but I have never been in a fight that had the use of elbows allowed (I've only done 2 in house fights so I doubt that it counts for much) and I am wondering if these kind of basic sparring sessions at my current gym would prepare me for the use of elbows in a real fight, or would actually help me prepare for any fight at all. When you do sparring at the gym where you train, do you ever practice throwing elbows (in a controlled way) during sparring or is it something that only gets practiced on the pads? I also don't know if I should bring up the fact that I was hoping to be able to get a fight towards the end of my training at this gym or if I am expected to wait to be asked whether it is something I want to do? I feel almost embarrassed now to ask for a fight after having received so many corrections of my technique which up until now I thought was decent (I certainly didn't think that it was perfect but I didn't think that I needed so many corrections), and it actually left me feeling pretty disappointed in myself since I work hard when I train back home, but it almost now seems like it was all wasted effort and that the training that I was getting at home and thought of as being quiet good is not good enough. Do you think if I mention that I want to fight I would get better/different training or would I be laughed at for even asking? Also, do you know if you might be getting any fights in Chiang Mai? I would love to come and watch at least one of your fights Cheers

Hello everyone, I am wondering if any of you have experience training at Sitjaopho camp in Hua Hin...I am having some second thoughts about the gym that I originally thought of going to (Samart Payakaroon ' s gym in Bangkok) so I was hoping to hear some thoughts from people with recent experience at either of the two gyms...If you had to choose between the two, which one would you choose and why? As a female, I want to choose a gym where I can get quality training, so I'm find it a bit more difficult settling on a particular gym without any prior experience there. Thank you

Thanks everyone for your responses :) It's true that I do find it difficult to relax at times, even a few of my sparring partners told me on Friday that I need to relax, so it is something I will need to work on, as well as setting specific goals for each session rather than trying to apply everything at once...back to it on Monday :)

Hello everyone, not sure if any of you have ever noticed anything similar in your training, but lately I've been experiencing the following situation in my training and I'm not sure if this is simply a normal part of trying to learn something new or if perhaps I may be having issues with some mental block or whether I'm experiencing a bit of burnout from training too much/not enough rest: I'm usually training 5-6 days a week, with the sparring sessions being later at night, usually the last class of the evening at 8:30pm, and those are the only sessions that I can go to since I work during the day time (wake up at 5am, finish work at 4:30 in the afternoon, start training at 6:15 in the evening). I've been trying to force myself to stay for the sparring classes even when I'm already tired since I would like to get more practice before my trip to Thailand in 4 months, however, I find that I'm becoming slower, more hesitant, and have difficulty incorporating new techniques into my sparring, instead end up using the same techniques over and over, it's almost like I can't beat my reflex in favor of a different technique; I practice different techniques in shadowboxing but it doesn't seem to be translating into practical application...I'm not really sure if this is simply because of not enough sparring practice, or if there's some kind of mental training that I could be doing that would make it easier for me to apply what I know, or am I simply doing more harm than good by forcing myself to stay for sparring when I'm already tired. If you have ever noticed any of those things in your training and if you have any suggestions for my issue it would be much appreciated. Thank you

Thank you Karen :) I am looking forward to going there in October :)

Hello everyone, I am considering spending 1 month training at Samart Payakaroon's gym in Bangkok, however, I can't seem to find any reviews of that gym online so I am wondering if anyone here has been to that gym and what did you think of the quality of the training at that gym. Thank you