Oliver

Badass.

Yeah, heard about this one too. Never went there but told by friends who were former students - another gym in my hometown, every trainer had to be addressed as Kru. Fucking hilarious, 'Kru Mike', 'Kru Steve', 'Kru Jimmy' (Using different names here for their anonymity....not that they deserve it) They also had a rule that you had to buy their shorts and t-shirts and wear them every training session, or you had to leave. Not being funny but personally, best most comfortable are football shorts. (Soccer).

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/visa-amnesty-announced-awaiting-pms-signature More good news

Dude you joke, but starting out in home town? Tried 1 gym for 1 day where trainer had a black belt. For real. People think we're exaggerating but it's actually true.

Oh of course, there are examples for sure at the super successful level, Mike Tyson like you say. And more recently Fury would be the obvious one. Am Eastern European myself, where culturally it's something that's just not spoken about. It's drilled into us early on that complaining must be avoided - it's even shameful. Don't mean complaining about money and bills etc - that's normal. But on personal issues.

Wanna know something? You all have to just take my word for it, but a conversation like this has never - could never - come up in *any* guy's locker room in *any* gym, in *any* country so far, in my training memory of doing the sport. Never. Would be unthinkable. Even though half the locker room or more probably has dudes with stories just like you all describe. Maybe Corona's making people more open now. Like, so much more messaging between family and friends these days. Don't ya find?

Most ppl in the West probably know their thing they're doing isn't 'authentic' authentic, but still fun to do and cool for the exercise. Plus, make some good friends too, which is always a plus. For that, it's all good. It's not really the average people with the realness paranoia, just the Western gym owners and trainers. And from a business point of view, they might think they got no choice.

Excellent

Cheers for this Also have a multiple entry type visa, gotta do border run and back every 2 months. Done 1 already to Cambodia, but assume that's not an option anymore? Wondering if I'll still have to. Will check out extension options with the office like you say.

Hello people, hope alls well. Question to anybody else who's in Thailand at the moment - you guys heard anything or got any links with info about our Visa situation? Mines a 6 month tourist visa, runs out late June. But this bullshit won't be over by then, no way. Don't wanna go back to Poland or UK as Corona is way way way worse there and will continue. Will the Thai Gov allow us to overstay the visa without fines and jail etc, given the exceptional circumstances? Appreciate any info ppl got, and if anyone out there is in the same situation as me hit up my DMs no prob. Take care everybody

Not mine, but I'm in the countryside, middle of nowhere. Bangkok yeah, all closed in think.

Your gym in Pattaya closed too?

Get this one in your house bro. Number 1

Are there any links to this you got? For the linguistic history of the m/f versions of the same words? Loads of other languages have this. Places in Eastern Europe, even your name. Like, if your surname was Kevin it would be 'Kevinski', but if you were a chick it would be 'Kevinska'. Pretty cool.

That's awful, sorry to hear that. Good luck to you too

Ok this has gone beyond gyms closing now. Krakow is a ghost town, European friends texting me saying they're too terrified to order Domino's and touch the same cardboard as the delivery boy etc. How much of all this fear is legit ya think?

Heard from friends in the UK that gyms are closing now, both Thai and BJJ. Poland getting locked down too. Am in Thailand right now and can't believe how the numbers show that it's safer to stay here than go back.

So no super soaker water fights this year in april either? Tbh the not using shared gloves thing, might be an idea, gonna do that now for sure. Always borrowed gym's big gloves for sparring before. But then you gotta wonder...how much will that protect us considering we also clinch up and get covered with eachother's sweaty ape juice.

...yeah that would be fucked up. So like, people hearing the Black Keys or White Stripes and saying they listen to the blues.

Can't think of a perfect analogy world sport that's the other way around, where its decline in the west could be saved by an uptake in the East. Skateboarding might be the closest to mind, over 50% of the market from the US and an originally a US thing. But the stable participation rates and rises now are in Asia, and possible growth areas look like Japan. Where would skating rate on your graph relative to the Krav Maga and Thai for popularity? Like the UFC boom that carried Thai up in its tide along with BJJ and stuff, skaters had Tony Hawk video games in... damn...late 90s? Early 2000s or something? Caused a spike in popularity, first major events, TV, and inspired tonnes of kids to take it up. Even funnier, it might be the only sports video game in history to actually get young people *off* a couch. But like your Thai popularity, it flattened off over time - heard some say that the key demographic of 9-18 year olds is down to half of what it was 15 years ago. But it will never really die. The fact that stuff like jazz music, stamp collecting, theology etc.. even still exist should convince us that pretty much anything should survive with effort. Even though skating is down, they're making it to the Olympics for the first time now.

Heard that.

Yeah this actually happened, 2nd gym ever back home. Big gym, loads and loads of good quality heavy bags - been there for years and still look brand new, never used. Trainer never said to use them in class, and if we came outside of class on our own time, the gym owner said no. Even if the whole room was empty. If you say you need to because you have a fight soon and you need to do your bag rounds? They still said no. Crazy. But like, you also not allowed to leave your equipment there over night. So you had to carry your 2 pairs of gloves, shinguards and headgear with you every day on the train. Pain in the ass. Probably the gym doesn't want to be liable if our stuff gets lost or stolen. All business

The heavy bags, tremendous. We had them and real good for improving stuff. But often not allowed to even use them - we even got in trouble for it. All these years later and it still makes no sense.

That right there is one of the number one problems for us and the training we get in West. Right there. We should not being holding pads for each other, end of story. But businesswise for most gyms, it's the only way they think it makes sense,