My Time at F.A. Group Muay Thai Gym in Bangkok

[gconley]

Hey there everyone, just thought I would stop by and finally share my 2 week experience at FA group in November of 2019.  I know, I'm a procrastinator lol.  First off I will say it was the greatest experience of my life to say the least.  I was so nervous about going, never travelled anywhere close to being that far away, I am from Chicago, IL.  I had never been away from my wife and my dog for that long, had pretty much zero clinch experience.  I am also 35years old so was a bit nervous about hanging with the young guys.  Also wanted to challenge myself with the running every morning, which I did at my own pace, but i still did it lol.

My main purpose for picking this gym was clinching, the little bit of clinching that is done at my gym is with people that have little experience and don't know what they are doing.  most people just want to get two hands behind the head and pull down lol.  I have always loved watching thais clinch and how beautiful it looks, and brutal of course lol.

I will say my biggest surprise about the gym, which was a big shock to me, was there was no drilling.  I have been doing muay thai for a few years now here in Chicago and did mma on and off for over 10 years and there has never been a class in which an instructor didn't go over drills to work on with a partner.  With that being said, I couldn't have been happier with not having drills to work on.  The way the gym operated was perfect for me.  I didn't know that going in, but loved it immediately.

We ran at 6am in Chatuchak park, came back to the gym around 7am, jumped rope for about 15min.  I will also say i was shocked that all the jump ropes were weighted ones.  I had never used a weighted one so needless to say, my shoulders and arms burnt out very quickly.  After jumping rope, everybody walked into the ring.  Kru Diesel was waiting there already and matches everyone up to clinch.  We clinched for 30-45min.  

After clinching, we would do some thai pushups in the ring and then everyone would wrap up their hands and get ready for some pad work with the trainers.  Everyone gets 2x 5min rounds.  if your not picked first out of the 3-4 trainers then you just shadow box, stretch out, hit the bag, etc.. until your called upon.  After your pad rounds are done, you start doing your 300 knees on the bag.

After this first day I went back to my room and had no idea how i was going to continue because my neck was shredded from the first clinching session.  I was matched up with a guy from Sweden who was taking full advantage of my lack of experience and just cranking on my neck.  I was seriously worried about being able to continue for the afternoon session.  

3pm came around and its the same routine except no running.  Some guys would run a bit at the end though.  Kru Diesel saw me struggling with getting my neck pushed down with the same Swedish guy again and he showed me a couple counters which helped big time.  I learned very quickly how to defend that.

I will say that by the last few days of training my shins were pretty much done.  I think it was mainly from the running, I have never ran that much in my life.  

I can't say enough great things about this gym.  Everybody was so friendly and generous.  I truly was humbled by the generosity and friendliness of the people i met, as well as the instructors and fighters.  I made some friends, hung out some nights to go see some fights, get some beers, eat some food, etc...

I will say that my 2 week experience had helped my clinch game immensely at my gym back home.  Its night and day compared to before I came to FA Group.  I wasn't sure how much I had actually learned from being thrown into the fire immediately without drilling some clinching techniques.  I am now the clinching guy at my gym lol.  

I have just made my reservations for returning in September.  I will be 36 in July and plan to go back once a year as long as my body can handle it.  It was a mental and physical struggle to train  2x a day in that heat, with only Sundays being an off day.  I have never pushed my body to those limits.  

By the way, that picture of me with bruises was just one side of my body, and this was only after a couple days lol.

Lastly I want to thank Silvie for having this platform to share my experience with you guys.  Watching her videos on youtube also gave me a lot of motivation to pull the trigger and challenge myself like I never had before.  

Thanks Silvie.

[Snack Payback]

I remember you posting questions about your upcoming trip last year. Glad to hear it went well 

[Brendan Reilly]

Best place in the world, was good meeting you out there since we got there the same day Won’t be able to go back this year because of my work but will 100% be back next year. Keep well man 

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Awesome little review. We had a great time filming with Kru Dieselnoi. One day I'd love to have Sylvie spend a few weeks working with him. He really seemed to get her strengths, and take to amplifying them in a beautiful way.

 

[Joseph Arthur De Gonzo]

I went there in 2019 and I would clinch everyday with that guy holding the pads for you on the second picture and also with you ont he fourth picture. 

He was brutal. Jesus. I am twice his size but he did whatever he wanted with me. 

[gconley]

thats khun pluk pluk holding pads in the second picture.  he's not in the fourth picture though.  

he is absolutely brutal though, got to see him fight my 3rd or 4th day there too.  he is a killer.  very unassuming power in the clinch.  he beat the crap out of me in the clinch.