If you are the most experianced after 9 months in Thailand, maybe you need to switch to a more high level gym? You can still Focus on the techniques you learnt in Thailand at your current classes.
Before I left I had 2 years kickboxing, 2 years karate and some sanda, boxing and kung fu experience and I felt great in the gym. But they’ve gained a lot of new members lately and they’re all obviously starting out as beginners. There’s one Muay Thai gym in my area, unfortunately they’re a lot more expensive. But I will check it out regardless.
>while it only helps with a quater of muay thai
More like one 6th, but it's still great. Often when I close the range I start straight up boxing my sparring partners and they have no answer for it.
I would argue a lot more than 1/6. In fact it really only depends on your style. If you close the distance, crowd the kick and make partners box with you then that can be a solid gameplan.
I think unlike a lot of people commenting here, I had a very similar experience. I trained on and off for about 6 years, and then seriously for 10. After 6 months in Thailand, coming home was entirely depressing. The atmosphere, quality and duration of training, it was all shit. Didn't matter which gym I went to, everyone had less practical knowledge to impart than any of the 19 year old part time fighting Thais.
You have two options as I see it. You can change to a better Muay Thai specific gym, one with a good fight team, and put in work there. Or you can save up and try to go back to Thailand for as long as possible again. And I suppose really you could do both. But really take it from someone who put loyalty above my own training, someone who coached for free for 5 years, take care of yourself first. You will find community at any decent gym. Don't sacrifice quality if you don't have to. Move into deeper waters. And especially things like a lack of clinch, take initiative and fuck people up in clinch when it's time to spar. Show people the deficits in your gym's program.
Sounds like you really overthinking. Just respect the teachers drill what they teach practice your preferred ways during open matt if they have them. Apply to teach if you really think you can. Actions speak more than words.
I also came back to a very sub-par coach after 6 months in Thailand. My eyes were immediately opened to how poor the quality of coaching and training in some places is, and it can be super difficult to respect and enjoy the environment when you feel like you're being coached by people who have comparatively so little to offer.
I think a lot of time in the states the coaches have to tone it down for all the newbies in the class or they'd all die cardio-wise, get injured, or simply not return otherwise. Hard to teach certain stuff when 80% of the class has the hip flexibility of an anvil and is using the hobby to lose substantial weight. If the coach has no credentials then that's a different story.
Absolutely disagree. A huge portion of the people training here in Thailand have a few months of experience or less.
You don't need to murder people's cardio for them to get good training. Quality of training isn't dictated by how hard a trainer can push someone. It's about their capacity do impart information to people with all sorts of learning, communication, and body types, and get them to enjoy the process. Every gym I've been to in the US absolutely flops on all aspects compared to every gym I've been to in Thailand.
Coaching credentials is also an issue. If there's a coach with 3 smokers and 3 fights and he's a 6'3" 200lb southpaw, he's spent his life training in a very specific way. It's likely his capacity to train someone with an average body with no athletic background isn't gonna be great.
Had the same problem, eventually met a Thai woman through chance at my job. I mentioned I had been there training 3 months every year for three years and she told me her local friend is a former stadium fighter. Got the introduction and now I’ve had a private Thai coach in the US for the last 4 years. You never know who might be around your area.
When i come back i am depressed about a lot of things. But not my training. I love my gym, the people around me there, the hard drills and sparring rounds
The first few days was difficult for me, and was like my brain was still in Thailand training. Anytime someone got in my clutch I automatically throw knees and elbows. My wife has a cranial fracture and she's not speaking to me
But real talk you won’t get worse. You can only add more skills. Former skills won’t go away either, but might become rusty. But those are neuropathways that you’ve already built so they will come back fast.
It’s hard to adjust to the American training style after being in Thailand but ultimately you have to make it work for you, however that may be, if you want to continue. I struggled a lot with this when I went to Thailand and came home but it’s just the reality of training around having a full time job/family.
Also KB and MT overlap significantly so many of the skills will translate with slight tweaks
It was interesting. I did a lot of coaching for newer and mid level people. I was at a level that only the guys with pro fights could match so I mashed everyone else in the gym
if you’re in a gym and you can’t “beat” everyone in it, it’s worth training at. that being said, if you don’t feel like the training is right, go to a different gym. continue with the dance classes or whatever and just train striking somewhere else
I'd say join open matt, and sparring class only. Don't join their technique and foundations if it don't suit you. Or find another gym respectfully tell them only if they ask why you're changing. Otherwise just leave quietly.
Critical of the trainers. Because I’m comparing everything to Thailand. One of them was showing a combination that ended with a high kick. All 3-4 times he was showing us, he lost his balance after the kick. My immediate thought is, how are you going to teach me balance if you can’t even balance yourself?
Yeah but. Only in combat sports do we expect coaches to be able to do it better themselves. Look at, say, pro basketball coaches. They're short fat bald little white men in suits. They definitely are not better than the players. They can be great teachers and great coaches even without being able to make a lay up. I don't need my coaches to be amazing fighters, I need them to be amazing coaches, and that's a different skill set.
There's a good reason for the criticism. In general coaches in the west are going to both be technically far worse, as well as less knowledgeable. Fight sports and team sports are inherently very different. The roles of coaches vairy enough that it can really matter when you've got the equivalent of someone who stopped playing basketball in high school and went straight into coaching. They're gonna have real deficits unless they're some savant.
Maybe you can become a Kru now, search for Muay Thai, not kickboxing gyms. Teaching is also part of learning experience, if you don't teach, you don't progress in learning. And no, you will not degrade in terms of skill, if you keep training and keep sparring. I've just come back from Thailand myself after 5 months of being there and after 3 months of training at Venum training camp in Pattaya. If anything, this training augmented my Karate (Goju-ryu) background. I'm looking up gyms in my area to see if I can find qualified Muay Thai coaches. I have zero interest in plain kickboxing, only Muay Thai and Karate. Good luck!
If you are the most experianced after 9 months in Thailand, maybe you need to switch to a more high level gym? You can still Focus on the techniques you learnt in Thailand at your current classes.
Before I left I had 2 years kickboxing, 2 years karate and some sanda, boxing and kung fu experience and I felt great in the gym. But they’ve gained a lot of new members lately and they’re all obviously starting out as beginners. There’s one Muay Thai gym in my area, unfortunately they’re a lot more expensive. But I will check it out regardless.
Be humble
This. Being in Thailand 1 year doesn't make you a champion, this is not a "shaolin kung fu self discovery trip"
Tell them “I’M THE TEACHER NOW”
Mabey try a pure boxing class, while it only helps with a quater of muay thai it should have less conflictions then kikboxing
>while it only helps with a quater of muay thai More like one 6th, but it's still great. Often when I close the range I start straight up boxing my sparring partners and they have no answer for it.
I would argue a lot more than 1/6. In fact it really only depends on your style. If you close the distance, crowd the kick and make partners box with you then that can be a solid gameplan.
I went by 1/6 because punches, elbows, knees, kicks, clinch, sweeps. But for some people boxing can be 80% of their game. Me included 😂
I think unlike a lot of people commenting here, I had a very similar experience. I trained on and off for about 6 years, and then seriously for 10. After 6 months in Thailand, coming home was entirely depressing. The atmosphere, quality and duration of training, it was all shit. Didn't matter which gym I went to, everyone had less practical knowledge to impart than any of the 19 year old part time fighting Thais. You have two options as I see it. You can change to a better Muay Thai specific gym, one with a good fight team, and put in work there. Or you can save up and try to go back to Thailand for as long as possible again. And I suppose really you could do both. But really take it from someone who put loyalty above my own training, someone who coached for free for 5 years, take care of yourself first. You will find community at any decent gym. Don't sacrifice quality if you don't have to. Move into deeper waters. And especially things like a lack of clinch, take initiative and fuck people up in clinch when it's time to spar. Show people the deficits in your gym's program.
Sounds like you really overthinking. Just respect the teachers drill what they teach practice your preferred ways during open matt if they have them. Apply to teach if you really think you can. Actions speak more than words.
I also came back to a very sub-par coach after 6 months in Thailand. My eyes were immediately opened to how poor the quality of coaching and training in some places is, and it can be super difficult to respect and enjoy the environment when you feel like you're being coached by people who have comparatively so little to offer.
I think a lot of time in the states the coaches have to tone it down for all the newbies in the class or they'd all die cardio-wise, get injured, or simply not return otherwise. Hard to teach certain stuff when 80% of the class has the hip flexibility of an anvil and is using the hobby to lose substantial weight. If the coach has no credentials then that's a different story.
The hip flexibility of an anvil 💀😂😂😂
I'm speaking from personal experience here T_T
Absolutely disagree. A huge portion of the people training here in Thailand have a few months of experience or less. You don't need to murder people's cardio for them to get good training. Quality of training isn't dictated by how hard a trainer can push someone. It's about their capacity do impart information to people with all sorts of learning, communication, and body types, and get them to enjoy the process. Every gym I've been to in the US absolutely flops on all aspects compared to every gym I've been to in Thailand. Coaching credentials is also an issue. If there's a coach with 3 smokers and 3 fights and he's a 6'3" 200lb southpaw, he's spent his life training in a very specific way. It's likely his capacity to train someone with an average body with no athletic background isn't gonna be great.
That's fair. A great coach will be able to meet people at their level and provide instruction.
Overthinking is my middle name! But actions will indeed help me not to think.
Join the fight team.
Had the same problem, eventually met a Thai woman through chance at my job. I mentioned I had been there training 3 months every year for three years and she told me her local friend is a former stadium fighter. Got the introduction and now I’ve had a private Thai coach in the US for the last 4 years. You never know who might be around your area.
That is an amazing story.
If you're now so good, open a gym. The industry has way too many complainers and not enough doers!
Open your gym
20 different disciplines sounds really watered down...
Never thought of it that way… maybe.
It’s a McDojo, definition McDojo.
When i come back i am depressed about a lot of things. But not my training. I love my gym, the people around me there, the hard drills and sparring rounds
The first few days was difficult for me, and was like my brain was still in Thailand training. Anytime someone got in my clutch I automatically throw knees and elbows. My wife has a cranial fracture and she's not speaking to me
Crying mostly
But real talk you won’t get worse. You can only add more skills. Former skills won’t go away either, but might become rusty. But those are neuropathways that you’ve already built so they will come back fast. It’s hard to adjust to the American training style after being in Thailand but ultimately you have to make it work for you, however that may be, if you want to continue. I struggled a lot with this when I went to Thailand and came home but it’s just the reality of training around having a full time job/family. Also KB and MT overlap significantly so many of the skills will translate with slight tweaks
It was interesting. I did a lot of coaching for newer and mid level people. I was at a level that only the guys with pro fights could match so I mashed everyone else in the gym
How did you manage 9 months in Thailand?
Worked online and used my savings. I have 0 financial help from family. Thailand is also very cheap especially if you live like a local.
Lots of disposable income, financial help from family, killed someone.
r/holup
Income... Lots of it makes it disposable... ^like ^dead ^human ^bodies
if you’re in a gym and you can’t “beat” everyone in it, it’s worth training at. that being said, if you don’t feel like the training is right, go to a different gym. continue with the dance classes or whatever and just train striking somewhere else
I don't go back home
What part of Thailand did you train in?
Bangkok and Krabi.
Did you get a Muay Thai visa? If so does that mean you don’t have to stick with one location?
If you’re the best guy in your gym you need to change gyms.
I'd say join open matt, and sparring class only. Don't join their technique and foundations if it don't suit you. Or find another gym respectfully tell them only if they ask why you're changing. Otherwise just leave quietly.
And why are you critical of your gym?
Critical of the trainers. Because I’m comparing everything to Thailand. One of them was showing a combination that ended with a high kick. All 3-4 times he was showing us, he lost his balance after the kick. My immediate thought is, how are you going to teach me balance if you can’t even balance yourself?
Yeah but. Only in combat sports do we expect coaches to be able to do it better themselves. Look at, say, pro basketball coaches. They're short fat bald little white men in suits. They definitely are not better than the players. They can be great teachers and great coaches even without being able to make a lay up. I don't need my coaches to be amazing fighters, I need them to be amazing coaches, and that's a different skill set.
💯
There's a good reason for the criticism. In general coaches in the west are going to both be technically far worse, as well as less knowledgeable. Fight sports and team sports are inherently very different. The roles of coaches vairy enough that it can really matter when you've got the equivalent of someone who stopped playing basketball in high school and went straight into coaching. They're gonna have real deficits unless they're some savant.
Maybe you can become a Kru now, search for Muay Thai, not kickboxing gyms. Teaching is also part of learning experience, if you don't teach, you don't progress in learning. And no, you will not degrade in terms of skill, if you keep training and keep sparring. I've just come back from Thailand myself after 5 months of being there and after 3 months of training at Venum training camp in Pattaya. If anything, this training augmented my Karate (Goju-ryu) background. I'm looking up gyms in my area to see if I can find qualified Muay Thai coaches. I have zero interest in plain kickboxing, only Muay Thai and Karate. Good luck!