Jump to content

A Rural Gym With Fight Opportunity


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone!!!!
I am biking a flight to Thailand in late October
Myself and some training partners from New York are looking for a gym to train at. We are looking for a rural gym, not the fancy ones but clean.
Some of us fight already here in the states and would like to get a fight in if possible. One of my teammates used to train at Son Vinpor gym, but her friend who still lives in Thailand said that it's a good gym but doesn't produce any fighters or fights.
What gym would you recommend?
Rural, clean great training and possible fight opportunity???
Thank you!!
Trying to get as much info for this trip

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi everyone!!!!

I am biking a flight to Thailand in late October

Myself and some training partners from New York are looking for a gym to train at. We are looking for a rural gym, not the fancy ones but clean.

Some of us fight already here in the states and would like to get a fight in if possible. One of my teammates used to train at Son Vinpor gym, but her friend who still lives in Thailand said that it's a good gym but doesn't produce any fighters or fights.

What gym would you recommend?

Rural, clean great training and possible fight opportunity???

Thank you!!

Trying to get as much info for this trip

Howdy, late October should allow you to have festival fight opportunities (rural, out in fields) but if you want a stadium fight you'll probably have to travel from a "rural" gym.

Maybe you can clarify a bit about what you want out of a rural gym - like, what are specific attributes you're looking for? Low student to trainer ratio? Nice areas to run? Not a lot of tourists? Small town feel where you can't get real coffee?

There are degrees of difficulty when it comes to how rural your gym is and a lot of the comforts that we as westerners don't realize we miss when we are, in fact, separated from them come about from the things surrounding training and not necessarily in the gym itself. No hot water in the shower? Not a huge deal. Nescafe instant coffee for weeks... amazingly harder than it might seem - okay, you can tell I've been in Thailand a long time!

Sitmonchai Gym in Kananchanaburi province is fully equipped, comfortable enough rooms and good equipment, a variety of trainers, Thai and foreign fighters and they're accustomed to training women. It's located on a rural feeling road and your runs are along big open fields; maybe a 40 minute drive to Bangkok for weekends or a fight.  Then there are gyms in Pai (Chiang Mai province) that are mostly westerners but certainly rural; Santai is in San Kamphang (also Chiang Mai) and the area is pretty quiet, close enough to the city that you can dip in and out. They have Thai fighter and western fighters, have women fighting for them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rural, clean great training and possible fight opportunity???

 

How rural do you mean? Do you mean a gym in Isaan with a few bags hanging and maybe a ring? If so our brief time in deal with Isaan we found fights very difficult to manage. Even though Sylvie's an experienced and established fighter it was a very difficult process of getting fights at Giatbundit Gym (which now apparently is defunct). The reason for this is because in Isaan fights are bets. There would have to be an entire feeling out process by such a gym, where they figure out if you are worth putting in fights, and then there is the process of going to matchups where you literally stand next to other fighters about your same size and people haggle over the possibility of a fight. It is not easy to slide into an Isaan gym, train a bit, and start fighting. There are no tourist fights, fights are all ventures in gambling, and culturally gyms are pretty closed.

Forgive me if you did not mean as rural as this, but it's what comes to mind. Not familiar with Son Vinpor. Or did you just mean a gym that isn't in an urban area?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgive me if you did not mean as rural as this, but it's what comes to mind. Not familiar with Son Vinpor. Or did you just mean a gym that isn't in an urban area?

I think she means Sor Vorapin, I think you'll know of this, complete tourist gym now.

 

In response to OP, I'm not sure you can get a lot of fights in any province in Thailand if you're a light weight. I think it's harder for women but if you'll fight anyone and have some baht for a bet if necessary, you can find fights.

The problem with rural gyms (if you mean the tiny Thai rural gyms) is you won't be sure if they accept women or even foreigners - as there will probably be little to no information about them online.

You should specify a province/area so others can help you more in-depth. :smile:  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • Hi Warren  It was very quiet when I was there. A few local guys and 2-4 foreigners but that can change and I'm sure this gym has got more popular. You can schedule privates for whenever you want. The attention to detail here is unbelievable and I highly recommend you train at this gym. In my experience, everyone was really good training partners and I learnt loads everyday.  
    • To all the MuayThai enthusiasts who have travelled to Thailand and trained in Muay thai- I would urge you to pls fill this form to share your interests and journey insights. This will help us explore possible ways to improve muay thai gym/training program search experience for the community https://forms.gle/39pBz4wHQ2CXPWNS8 Feel free to DM me if there is any feedback or query.
    • You can look through my various articles which sometimes focuses on this: https://8limbsus.com/muay-thai-forum/forum/23-kevins-corner-muay-thai-philosophy-ethics/ especially the article on Muay Thai as a Rite. The general thought is that Thailand's traditional Muay Thai offers the world an important understanding of self-control in an era which is increasingly oriented towards abject violence for entertainment. There are also arguments which connect Muay Thai to environmental concerns.
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi, this might be out of the normal topic, but I thought you all might be interested in a book-- Children of the Neon Bamboo-- that has a really cool Martial Arts instructor character who set up an early Muy Thai gym south of Miami in the 1980s. He's a really cool character who drives the plot, and there historically accurate allusions to 1980s martial arts culture. However, the main thrust is more about nostalgia and friendships.    Can we do links? Childrenoftheneonbamboo.com Children of the Neon Bamboo: B. Glynn Kimmey: 9798988054115: Amazon.com: Movies & TV      
    • Davince Resolve is a great place to start. 
    • I see that this thread is from three years ago, and I hope your journey with Muay Thai and mental health has evolved positively during this time. It's fascinating to revisit these discussions and reflect on how our understanding of such topics can grow. The connection between training and mental health is intricate, as you've pointed out. Finding the right balance between pushing yourself and self-care is a continuous learning process. If you've been exploring various avenues for managing mood-related issues over these years, you might want to revisit the topic of mental health resources. One such resource is The UK Medical Cannabis Card, which can provide insights into alternative treatments.
    • Phetjeeja fought Anissa Meksen for a ONE FC interim atomweight kickboxing title 12/22/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu92S6-V5y0&ab_channel=ONEChampionship Fight starts at 45:08 Phetjeeja won on points. Not being able to clinch really handicapped her. I was afraid the ref was going to start deducting points for clinch fouls.   
    • Earlier this year I wrote a couple of sociology essays that dealt directly with Muay Thai, drawing on Sylvie's journalism and discussions on the podcast to do so. I thought I'd put them up here in case they were of any interest, rather than locking them away with the intention to perfectly rewrite them 'some day'. There's not really many novel insights of my own, rather it's more just pulling together existing literature with some of the von Duuglus-Ittu's work, which I think is criminally underutilised in academic discussions of MT. The first, 'Some meanings of muay' was written for an ideology/sosciology of knowledge paper, and is an overly long, somewhat grindy attempt to give a combined historical, institutional, and situated study of major cultural meanings of Muay Thai as a form of strength. The second paper, 'the fighter's heart' was written for a qualitative analysis course, and makes extensive use of interviews and podcast discussions to talk about some ways in which the gendered/sexed body is described/deployed within Muay Thai. There's plenty of issues with both, and they're not what I'd write today, and I'm learning to realise that's fine! some meanings of muay.docx The fighter's heart.docx
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.3k
    • Total Posts
      11k
×
×
  • Create New...