My Thoughts on few gyms

[Mpierce887]

Hey everyone I've been lurking for sometime and i decided to share my experiences with you all, why not?

 

Intro 

I have trained at quiet a few gyms all over Thailand except Northern (Chaing Mai) and the southern islands excluding Phuket.

All of the gyms I mention besides most in Phuket and Pattaya I have trained at for at least 2 months.

For some gyms my girlfriend who trains but has no intentions of fighting was with me so ill give you views from that perspective as well

I'll list gyms and give some info working down the list.

 

Gyms

• Lamanmoon Sor Sumalee (Ubon) 2 trips 3 years apart 5 months each.
• Sitmonchai (Kanchanaburi ) 2 months
• Sitjaopho (Hua Hin) 10 months
• Venum (Pattaya) few weeks
• Petchrungruang (Pattaya) 2 weeks
• Sinbi (Phuket)  
• Rattachai(Phuket) 2 trips 1 year apart 1 month and 3 months
• Phuket top team (Phuket)
• Kingka Muay Thai (Phuket)

 

 

 

Lamnamoon

Overview: Lamnamoon was the first camp i trained at in Thailand and I'm so happy for that. I think being in Ubon/Isasn set the tone and helped me understand Thailand and Thai culture a lot better than if a more popular city was my first destination.  My first trip i was lucky at having good timing at the time i was surrounded by lots of high level foreign fighters. Sean Kearney, Jordan Coe and others

 and 

How they work 

The training is very traditional. We never did drills or  practiced scenarios, repetitive bag work both sessions (LOTS of teeps knees and More Knees) .

The coaches especially Kru Yo pay very close attention to your training it may seem hands off but you many not realize hes spoken to your pad holder.

In the course of a week sometimes you will have clinched everyday sometimes both sessions and spar a few times as well. Feel free to ask any questions about technique you wont be chided, i once asked a question about skip knees in the clinch which turned in to 10 min knees on the bag both sessions supervised for two weeks.

Gym vibe

The gym is very family orientated Food is cooked by Kru Yo's  parents who live behind the gym with the thai fighters. Plenty of laughing but also very forward instruction.

No one will hold your hand and make you, run, jump rope or do bag work but they pay attention especially  for fighters.

My first fight in Thailand and all my favorite fights are through this gym Plenty of fight opportunities in temples and festivals all through Isaan occasionally Laos and Cambodia via Buriram.

It can be harder for larger fighter to find matches in festivals  sometimes.

 

Location 

There isn't much to do in Ubon holiday wise (my preference), Movies,temples, markets festivals. 

Accommodation:  If you choose to stay with the camp it will be with Kru Yo's family separate apartments on a small complex hot water laundry across the street and small shops for coffee etc down the street. The gym and rooms are different locations.

 

Temples: Many of the temples are of the forest style Including Wat Pah Nanacha the temple for foreigners , Wat Nong Pah Pong who grounds are a beautiful and forest like.

 

Last words

• I think Lamnamoon is a good gym for the disciplined even if you're a beginner.
• Small class attention to detail
• Always seem invested in my progress
• Ubon great city to avoid  distractions(but some people will find them anyway)
•  The Isaan cultrue music and food  is great.
• Temple, festival and Air Force base  fight opportunities.
• Ubon is Cheap cheapest part of Thailand i Have ever stayed
• Most people dont speak English in Ubon but great place to start learning Thai and Isaan most locals support it. 

 

 

So let me know what i can do with upcoming reviews to make them better or ask any questions. Ill try to get better at this

sorry for typos also I have got a weird setup here.

 

 

  

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Cool little review! I like it.

[Mpierce887]

3 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Cool little review! I like it.

Thanks you guys are a good source of Inspiration 

[Tyler Byers]

This is awesome, I'm looking forward to reading more. It's always great to read about people's experiences at different gyms!

[SHELL28]

This is great, thanks for sharing

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

On 5/12/2020 at 10:14 PM, Mpierce887 said:

Last words

• I think Lamnamoon is a good gym for the disciplined even if you're a beginner.
• Small class attention to detail
• Always seem invested in my progress
• Ubon great city to avoid  distractions(but some people will find them anyway)
•  The Isaan cultrue music and food  is great.
• Temple, festival and Air Force base  fight opportunities.
• Ubon is Cheap cheapest part of Thailand i Have ever stayed
• Most people dont speak English in Ubon but great place to start learning Thai and Isaan most locals support it. 

A lot of people have a kind of fantasy of the "go to a real Thai gym in the middle of nowhere, be forced to train really hard, immerse yourself in that Thai way, maybe have a fight", is it that kind of gym, would you say? Would they have a positive experience, even if it isn't exactly what they were looking for?

[Oliver]

Do they have a nice open water tank with a huge block of ice delivered every morning?

Kind of a dealbreaker.

[Mpierce887]

On 5/15/2020 at 6:48 AM, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

A lot of people have a kind of fantasy of the "go to a real Thai gym in the middle of nowhere, be forced to train really hard, immerse yourself in that Thai way, maybe have a fight", is it that kind of gym, would you say? Would they have a positive experience, even if it isn't exactly what they were looking for?

This is the " Train Like a Thai " experience people look for.  So to answer that question i think this is that gym for sure. In opposition the view some foreigners  have on being forced to train hard is jaded, many train hard and teeter off, stop running ,slack on bag work, find a girl/boy friend etc. Even immersing yourself in Thai culture. Being immersed can be different than immersing your self asking questions, exploring, attempting to learn the language, listen to the music ,helping out cooking, knowing how to eat sticky rice the right way lol. I used to ask the lady at the local coffee shop to teach me to sentences A-day As pretty proud of myself when I went to Bangkok months later and decided to use my new Thai vocabulary I found out a coffee lady had been secretly teaching me Issan the whole time. So if people step at of there comfort zone its the perfect gym in that aspect.

[Mpierce887]

8 hours ago, Oliver said:

Do they have a nice open water tank with a huge block of ice delivered every morning?

Kind of a deal breaker.

No water tank but ice delivery and those bright red plastic chairs.

[Oliver]

Excellent

[Barbara_K]

I'm pretty much looking forward on your further reviews since I had about the same experience when staying at Sitmonchai.
Countryside, small village, no distraction; proper training, but no one holding your hand.
It was a fantastic place to stay for me!