Jump to content

Choosing a Gym in Chiang Mai


Recommended Posts

Hello all!

Just like other users, I am looking at Sit Thailand, Manop, and Hongthong. I’ll be in Thailand for a 4 week training camp.
 

Totally skippable background info: I learned about Muay Thai when I was a Peace Corps Thailand volunteer and now have racked up more than a dozen fights in about 2 years back stateside. I wouldn’t describe myself as highly skilled; just relentless. I plan to move to Thailand indefinitely but for now, I have a couple of opportunities coming up and may be fighting some VERY accomplished women (I fight at 118) and so I’m taking the opportunity to for a camp. Does anybody have suggestions with the following info in mind? 
•I’m female, fighting 118 

•this is a camp for a specific fight 

•I don’t have an unlimited budget (which is why I’m not going to Kem haha); I’ve just been saving for years

•I want to spar and clinch a lot 

•I like smaller more intimate training and really want to work on my technique 

•I’m not skilled enough to attribute myself with a certain style, but I would say I lean muay khao in my forwardness and love for clinch. My fight IQ is… coming along lol 

Hong Thong looks awesome, and I do like that it’s close to the center. I love their enthusiasm and there would be more sparring partners for me, I imagine, as it seems a bit larger, and I love the on site accommodation. I won’t be able to rent a bike. (I do speak Thai though so I’m not at all worried about navigating public transport and asking for help.)
 

Manop sounds like a rad teacher, and he trains probably one of the the best women in the world at my weight, but I don’t even know if I’d get to spar her 😅 

Sit… I just keep hearing good things! 
 

Thanks so much; I welcome any suggestions, and while I’m excited to be in the north (I lived in Korat so that’s why I was thinking Kem initially) I am open to other suggestions. 🙏

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I don’t see how you can go wrong at any of the gyms you mention , sit Thailand has a great gym and is technically brilliant. My son 13 was there last year and they treated him so well , we are back now and they seem to be growing with more trainers than before . They fight regularly and have Thais and farangs fighting . They seem to have a connection with Spain as both times there have been decent Spanish fighters there . They have girls training and fighting . It’s 75bht in a bolt from the old town and takes 15 mins Hongthong is a similar distance from our hotel . Ultimately people will tell you their preference but that might not suit you 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to sit Thailand for 2 weeks. The technical detail was superb. I've been training for years and he's easily the best teacher I've met. 

I've never been to manop but the teaching also sounds amazing from people I know who have been there. 

There is also Manasak which is basically in town. I don't know much about this gym but from the videos on their Instagram, everyone seems pretty high level.

All 3 gyms seem pretty active in terms of fighting opportunities. 

For me personally, doing several private sessions helped my technique loads so I'd recommend that.

You could try a day or two in each place and see how you get on? You might just bump into the exact right coach for you.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hello

I did one month at Hong Thong gym. If you want to work a lot on your technics the best could be tto take some private lessons with Joe because during the basic session you will not have a lot of corrections (but you will have some). Some time they have a lot of people so they don't have the time to focus on one specific person. 
You can fight there and it generally happen at the Loh Kroï stadium surronded by hostesses bars. 
If you don't know about it becarefull when you will move to Chiang Mai, there is a big the smog around march april and may. Moutain people do buring farming and it impact a lot the quality of the air. 
The only bad thing I can say about Hong Thong gym when I was there is that the mat were you train is not wash enough often so after two minutes of traning your feet will be black.
If you come without your fighting equipment avoid to borrow those they have in the gym. I get a staphilococcus because of that  (it's a "Newbe" mistake). You have one fairtex shop in Chiang Mai were you can buy everything you could need.
Sometime Manasak and some of his student come to train at Hong Thong, He have a Gym in Chiang Mai too and one good women fighter in his team her name is Lisa Brierley.

Enjoy your trip

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

    • ONE didn't invent giving bonuses on top of fight pay in Thailand. In fact it took a long tradition of gamblers providing injections during fights to inspire fighters. When you hear about traditional fight pay you are missing out on the "injection" bonuses which can be substantial. Here today a fighter winning 500,000 injection bonus ($15,000+ USD) and being guided into the stands to thank the gamblers (who are often portrayed in simplistic caricatured ways). It's an ecosystem out of balance, but its still an ecosystem, in which parts support parts. Instead in ONE this bonus tradition has been transferred to only ONE big boss, being handed out on the preference of a single man, who is attempting to steer the aesthetic of Muay Thai itself...away from tradition.  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=791304983340912&rdid=mUWvMklDzJ4i3xa6  
    • Watched this fight yesterday, and was really moved by Devy. Looking back at Bill's skills he's everything Entertainment Muay Thai dreams of for a fighter, mixing combinations with Thai techniques, eyes and timing. Beautiful stuff. But Devy is incredible...in such a subtle way. He's like: I'm take your pyrotechniques and just hold position and cover, then move the set, take, hold blast a lowkick to your back thigh. It's like watching a chef cook a masterpiece with 3 ingredients. It really doesn't matter who won this fight, its up over 150 lbs, its the art of this cloistered, minimalist fighting, and his shrug-offs of the aggression and attempts to intimidate. Bill probably the most skilled Western fighter in history, but something deeper and older going on here with Devy. Something that is almost painful to receive beamed across the decades to here and now, as everyone is trying to push Muay Thai into Entertainment and Westernization, Globalization.   
    • Saenchai with another KO win on Entertainment Thai Fight. He's the last magical fighter of Thailand, that last of Thailand's greatness, and we are all blessed as he continues in the ring. I don't watch it much (or any of Thai Fight), but still consider it a blessing. When he stops it will all be gone, even though this is kind of half-fighting, and surely he'll do show fights after his retirement. What I love about this photo - and the first thing is that it suddenly feels like Saenchai has aged, and this happens - but what I love about this photo is that you can see his "coal eyes", which is what I call them. There was an old trainer at Lanna named Nok, who when you trained with him his eyes, if you got any advantage or edge, would just turn black. You could see, he just went into that state. And you knew, stop fucking around. Saenchai has always had such a joyful, playful visage, and a charm of handsomeness that he carried everywhere, even into intense battles. But every great, experienced fighter, even Saenchai, has "coal eyes" inside of him, they have to or they couldn't do it the way that they have. And, in my poetic view, it feels like in this slightly aged photo you can see his coal eyes come out. And its really beautiful. 
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi all, Does anyone know of any suppliers for blanks (Plain items to design and print a logo on) that are a good quality? Or put me in the right direction? thanks all  
    • The first fight between Poot Lorlek and Posai Sittiboonlert was recently uploaded to youtube. Posai is one of the earliest great Muay Khao fighters and influential to Dieselnoi, but there's very little footage of him. Poot is one of the GOATs and one of Posai's best wins, it's really cool to see how Posai's style looked against another elite fighter.
    • Yeah, this is certainly possible. Thanks! I just like the idea of a training camp pre-fight because of focus and getting more "locked in".. Do you know of any high level gyms in europe you would recommend? 
    • You could just pick a high-level gym in a European city, just live and train there for however long you want (a month?). Lots of gyms have morning and evening classes.
    • Hi, i have a general question concerning Muay-Thai training camps, are there any serious ones in Europe at all? I know there are some for kickboxing in the Netherlands, but that's not interesting to me or what i aim for. I have found some regarding Muay-Thai in google searches, but what iv'e found seem to be only "retreats" with Muay-Thai on a level compareable to fitness-boxing, yoga or mindfullness.. So what i look for, but can't seem to find anywhere, are camps similar to those in Thailand. Grueling, high-intensity workouts with trainers who have actually fought and don't just do this as a hobby/fitness regime. A place where you can actually grow, improve technique and build strength and gas-tank with high intensity, not a vacation... No hate whatsoever to those who do fitness-boxing and attend retreats like these, i just find it VERY ODD that there ain't any training camps like those in Thailand out there, or perhaps i haven't looked good enough?..  Appericiate all responses, thank you! 
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.5k
×
×
  • Create New...