So the traditional thai style of training is great. 2 sessions a day, both with a heavy conditioning and fitness element with a singular technique focus each session allowing you to drill and then lightly spar with gym mates before taking to the pads with a trainer to work them into you're progressing fight game. For example, switch kick in the morning and then clinch trips in the afternoon before pad work or sparring with the same trainer who is preparing you for a fight.
As a farang you can expect something slightly different. Or at least this has been my experience so far. The class sizes have been absolutely massive. A gym which usually caters to 8-12 tourists seeing over 40 show up. With very few being repeat visitors. This has turned the group classes into a Muay Thai themed fitness bootcamp.
All well and good to get fit. But doesn't work for developing new techniques or being able to work repeatedly with the same trainers to address weak points or missing skills.
It now makes way more sense to me why the trainers seem so laid back. They are spending these sessions teaching beginners the same basics again and again day in day out, the faces change but this is their grind. Their 9-5, and you can forgive their slight disinterest. They will still try and correct what they can but 90% of the faring will do their best then ask to pose for photos before buying a t-shirt or shorts and leaving never to be seen again.
Its funny to think how many pairs of 'Charn Chai' Muay Thai shorts are heading home with people who still have no idea how to position their feet, wrap their hands or throw a jab.
With this in mind I have stopped attending the morning training sessions and instead have opted for a 1 on 1 personal training option with Bami. We meet at 11am and do at least an hour of pure technique on the pads, working with plenty of space simulating a fight environment. During the night it is bloody freezing. I have actually bought an electric blanket. Getting out of bed at 7am in the freezing cold to go train is damn hard. Its so nice to be able to wait for the sun to warm things up and then train at 11am.
This is a massive positive change from the group classes.
Its 'High Season' here in Pai, meaning it's their busiest period of the year for tourism. This is due to it being the winter and the Thai's travel here to see the mist and feel the cold and generally experience something different to the dry heat of the south of the country. What that means is that Pai is its busiest for short term visitors from November until February.
Only down side of the 11am start is there isn't much of a rest gap between the 1 on 1 and the afternoon group class which starts at 3. But that is a price i am very willing to pay for those extra hours in bed whilst its freezing out. The training is just better and it is helping a shit load with my morale. Being able to chill in bed and wake up slowly then go for a run on my own to warm up is really nice. By the time we train I am actually fully awake, fed and ready to concentrate.
Anyway, back to the personal training and choosing the right trainer:
Over the first month of group classes I have managed to get a feel for the different trainers, their strengths and areas of focus. Within the gym you will find excellent trainers, bored trainers, retired fighters and active fighters. Sometimes it takes a little time to figure out who is the best fit for you.
I have noticed that the retired fighters will drill lots of kicks, kick catches and trips.
The bored trainers will just make you repeat the same movement countless times (the usual 30 kicks left, now right) without offering any corrections.
Some retired fighters who were known for certain skills (boxing, clinch) will favour this.
The young fighters will tend to want to mess around and play physical humour jokes on the other trainers. They also seem to have the shortest patience when instructing, and get frustrated with the language barrier easily.
These factors make choosing the right trainer really important. At a basic level all of the trainers have so much to offer so once you can get them to invest in you I think they will all be really good value. But i felt i wanted to find a trainer I could communicate with (the language barrier is an issue) who could shape the skills i have to a more fight oriented style i.e. teach me the glue and linking movements that brings everything together and would allow me to flow when in the ring. This meant I wanted to train with an active fighter. Someone who will push the conditioning element and teach me the basics of winning a fight without mindlessly drilling pads or skipping onto clever trips and counters i am not ready for.
For me there is also the physical element to consider. A lot of the Thai trainers are just too small to hold pads for me. Don't get me wrong they are strong as shit. It's just they can't hold the pads high enough to simulate a target for me and as a result certain techniques can't be mastered. The knee being the most obvious. They want me up on my toes and throwing my hip forward. When I do that my knee comes out over head height for some of the smaller guys.
Having watched others doing 1 on 1 training sessions I have seen a couple of trainers I want to work with eventually to develop my head movement, defence and most importantly my clinch game. But as a first step i have started to be trained by Bami (you can see him fight in an earlier post). Bami is Dutch/Korean, has had about 70 fights and fights at 75kg's. So far he has been amazing, definitely the right choice.
First thing he did was chat about any injuries I had, any strengths/weaknesses I wanted to focus on and what I wanted to get from my training. This was exactly the conversation i was hoping to have. I was able to explain some of the long term injuries i carry and he has shaped the training to work around these issues so I don't feel quite so broken. Being right handed and having a busted right shoulder has killed my confidence, not being able to throw right punches or elbows made me feel like there was no hope of fighting because i was missing such a key ingredient.
By training in a way where we warm up the shoulder fully and throw combinations that don't require big right hands or elbows I have started to believe again that i could fight.
So far we have not had many sessions but they are such better value than the group classes. The learning curve is so much steeper. Training with him is exactly what I was hoping for out here. The one on one attention analysing what works for me, steadily building my confidence in sparring and giving me more tools to go to that I am actually able to employ in a free moving sparing environment.
Bami having trained in Holland also brings a slightly more Dutch style to his fighting compared to the traditional Thai. He doesn't neglect the boxing element and favours more powerful strikes and a more stable stance rather than a higher frequency of kicks approach that a lot of the Thai's use. This is just perfect for me as it's teaching me to move better and use my reach without feeling I am limited to single kick strikes and counter kicks. It is also very familiar to the Bas Rutten instructional DVD's I used to watch when i first started out oh so long ago.
Doing the 1 on 1 sessions has also lead to improved communication when working the pads which is a massive issue here. When you skip from 1 trainer to another each session you never build up the short hand and familiarity with a trainer where you are able to quickly process what he is asking of you.
All the combinations become so wooden as you need a second to translate what they have asked you and then interpret what that means from that specific pad holder.
To give you an example, when the trainer Gow says 'Left hook' what he actually expects is 'left jab, left hook'.
When he says 'Right hook' he actually wants 'Right straight, Left hook'.
And the best of all... when he says '1,2, Hook' what he holds pads for is...
'Jab, cross, left hook to the body, left hook, right straight, left hook, pause, left hook, right straight.'
Each trainer has different short hand and different amounts of English and different levels of patience when you do what they ask but not what they meant. Often you'll just see people stop and have to say 'Show me' because what they call out and what it means might not have anything in common.
This would all be fine if you could always pad with the same person as you'd figure it out pretty quickly but like i say you have to really go out of your way to ensure you get the same pad holder each session and it only takes one session with someone different to undo a lot of progress and make you feel like a novice.
However, the most important benefit of the 1 on 1 sessions I have felt is the mutual investment in progress towards a fight. Once you utter those words "i'd like to fight" (no matter how many caveats they come with) the team spirit kicks up a gear and you go from a tourist passing through to a member of the gym who may eventually represent the gym in the ring. All of a sudden you are not in it alone.
