Going to Thailand to learn Muay Thai as a beginner

[kmack618]

I'm thinking about going to Thailand this summer to learn Muay Thai. I don't have any experience in martial arts but I'm in good shape. I go to the gym a few times a week and I was a decent cross country runner. I want to learn Muay Thai because I want to get into martial arts and i heard that Muay Thai's moves are pretty basic and the most effective in street fights.

I'm looking at 2 schools: Lanna in Chiang Mai and Rawaii Beach Muay Thai in Phuket. Lanna is cheaper but it's in the middle of the jungle. I don't like the idea of dengue fever, malaria, etc... Phuket seems like it would be a better city for me because it has a beach and more night life. It seems more for tourists than Lanna, which is good because I don't want the trainers to get frustrated with me, since I have no experience at all and they might be used to training people that are a lot more serious about it than I am.

If I went for 1 1/2- 2 months, what should my skill level be? How would I be able to match up against someone on the street with no martial arts experience?

If anyone can give me advice based on what I just said, I'd appreciate it. If anyone can recommend other schools, I'd appreciate that too.

[OctaviousBP]

Learning Muay Thai in Thailand may not be the best idea. The way they teach and learn is quite different. Camps traditionally are not used to teaching adults, for starters. Secondly they adopt a more of a "I'm not going to tell you rather I'm going to show you" approach which many Westerners aren't used to. I think Westerners in general are accustomed to engaging instructors in a question answer format. During my experience in Thailand, I never once heard the words "keep you hands up". I was shown to keep my hands up. This being considered, you may find it a little bit frustrating, especially if the camp you choose is busy. You may feel neglected.

That being said, not all trainers in Thailand employ this method. Many speak English, and can carry a fluent conversation. You also may be the type of person who responds quite well to an emulating type of learning. I think you can learn a lot about the grittyness of Muay Thai and about the heart it takes simply to do the training in Thailand, however learning from scratch may prove difficult.

I know Pedro Villalobos speciallizes in teaching new comers to muay thai. He can also speak to a lot of the forgotten spiritual aspects of the art.

Anyways, my heart is with Lanna for many reasons, but I was not a beginner and had a lot of time to spend there. I think it is definately worth checking out. I have not been to the camp you mentioned in the South, so I don't have any input there. I don't want to deter you from learning muay thai in Thailand, I just want to give you a little headsup in terms of some of the difficulties you may encounter. Good luck!

[kmack618]

ok thanks for the input.

[WMTI]

Feel free to join one of the Sanctioned schools to compete in Ontario. You will find having a solid base prior to going to Thailand will accelerate your learning curve while there, as well as make the time you are there more available for training and less for injury, recovery and such.
For more info:

cam_taovp@hotmail.com

[RayD550]

kmak618 traveling to Thailand to train is a good idea but of all do not go there to train in the summer it will be hot very hot. The best time to go is November and December not so hot. I used to live there and believe me it gets very hot.

There is a school in Pattaya that may be good for you. They work with all levels of training. The school is run by both Thais and Farangs. I am not sure about the name but I will do a little research and see what I can come up with. I was just looking at there site yesterday I should know the name.

Pattaya is a great place to train, near the beach and great hotels. You can always stay at the school but after 6pm you are stuck there with nothing to do.

I will try to remember what the site was called and forward it to you.

[WMTI]

I disagree entirely! First, Dont go to Thailand until you are well versed in Muay Thai here. 2, be sure you are in good shape - your idea of Lean is not the same as theirs. 3. I like the heat and Always am there March thru May. Pattaya is a crappy place to stay IMO. Its a dirty Redlight district with fake muay thai in the bars. The schools there cater to those that dont really wanna break a sweat, if you know what im saying. There is 1 exception, In Chonburi, outside Pattaya is a decent Ajarn named Ajarn Yodtong. He is one of the VERY TOP trainers in Thaialnd and caters to international students. The idea though of just heading over to the 7/11 or the phone or the beach, well forget that though - hes on so very out of the way area country roads. However, He ahas turned out top champions like Samad and his brother. I cant spell the last name sorry. But they are 5 times champs.

Now, I would recomend you go to a Bangkok school. Or outside bangkok even. Like Rangsit! You will have a better time in BKK and there are better gyms thre IMO. I am leaving March 13 for BKK as normal. I love the heat and it really rips the weight down. Like I said, you may think your lean, but they will call you fat and thats a fact jack! hehe! Good luck, but if you dont have a STRONG background in Muay Thai, I think you are wasting your money. You are better off staying here, pay less and train. If you go there, the method they use to teach will be something very very different to you, and without a good background, you will only be learning the basics anyways! Learn them here, so you can learn the good stuff when you are there.

Try Muay Thai Institute, in Rangsit, outside BKK ( there is no Farang in the area, so get used to being 1 of the few in the school. This is a ALL THAI town pretty much, unlike Bangkok. Or, go to Ubon Ratacathani or Chonburi.
See yas later, hope it helped

[RayD550]

Not here to start a war of words but do your own research and see for your self. The web site is http://www.fe-fi.com/ research the trainers and former students and see if this is the right school for you.

Now for the beach in Pattaya this is a great location to train and learn about the Thai culture. Do your own research.

[kmack618]

ok thanks for the advice

[thailand]

New Website

Suwit Muay Thai camp in Phuket ,Thailand .
more information : http://www.BestMuayThai.com

[tweaker]

Hey all, I know this is an old thread, but this one got me to sign up and reply. This is for anybody perusing the archives, looking for answers.
I just got back from 6 weeks of training at Phuket Muay Thai, about 4 kilometers from Rawai. I was a beginner also with only about 2 months of kickboxing and a couple years of Karate.

By all means, if you have the time, money and desire, it would be a severe mistake to think that you would just be wasting your time as a beginner. They don't care that youre a beginner, and you don't really know that you'll be getting proper training at home. I found out that I wasn't. If you have the desire, just do it, it will be the trip of a lifetime, and there is never, ever a good enough reason to postpone that. Procrastination will get you nowhere, literally.

[aseepish]

I'm looking at 2 schools: Lanna in Chiang Mai and Rawaii Beach Muay Thai in Phuket. Lanna is cheaper but it's in the middle of the jungle. I don't like the idea of dengue fever, malaria, etc...

This is an old thread but Lanna is NOT in the middle of the jungle. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand. Malaria is not a risk there. Dengue on the other hand... that will be a risk wherever you go in south-east Asia.

[matt_hickman]

Hi

Sounds like you really want to go, and it can't be a bad thing to experience, and see how it is to train over there. But I think your expectations will leave you dissapointed, I think you'll come back only knowing the basics, and maybe dissapointed. And i wouldn't say thai moves are easy, if they were, why don't you just study them here?? Going to thailand to train for six months does not make you good, or ready for a fight, or hard, or profficient in thai at all. I know of a lot of stories of people going for years, but they have never had a fight in the ring here, or there, and never will, they are good, and very fit, but it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I've only known of one guy, to talk to, who went to thialand to train via a master in the north of england and his contacts. Traditional camp, no english speakers ect. He was a very seasoned fighter here in the uk with 6 wins and 4 Ko's of those wins. He went out and in his first week had knocked out two thais whilst sparring, he stayed for a further six months.

I asked him what he thought about it all as I was planning on going. He said the running, and time spent training is great, but being a very discaplined fighter anyway, and fairly handy he didn't learn anything new.......other than clinche work (he said 45% of his time was trained on clinche techniques), and he was the bomb in the clinche after he returned.

after 3 weeks he was teaching them!! on boxing techniques.

I think they train very hard, and every day, to a high standard but I don't think western styles of thai up to a level can be matched outside of a good british gym, I really don't. What people forget is the poverty and tough life the thai people have. It's like when you smack a pikey, they are just born into hardship and whats a punch to someone like that?? or a kick in the head to a thai??

I think if your already at a level in your country where you have started your fighting career (full contact pro fights) it can be the bomb to go out there and step your training up, and learn a knew technique or two, but many many english 5 night a week training fighters are a lot better than lads who chip off for 6 months to thailand.