Istructor Question

[corygoose]

Yes helllo everyone, i am having trouble picking a muay thai instructor for myself. i live in minnepolis minnesota, everyone is telling me train at the minnesota martial atrs academy run by greg nelson or train at the minnesota kali group by rick faye. Both of them are great and they are 2 of the top muay thai instructors in the country, but i can't decide on one. so i was wandering if anyone else and a opinion on who i should train with and why?

[fugetsu]

who's closer?

Whose school do you live closer to? That should answer your question.
Or, if Khun Kru Greg's program is more oriented towards training fighters (and Sifu Faye's school is more oriented towards training future instructors) and you want to fight, then train at Khun Kru Greg's school. Distance and what you want in the end should help you decide.
Fugetsu

[corygoose]

i live right in between them

i live pretty much between them, and i am not sure if i want to become and instructor or a fighter, i just want to learn muay thai.

[fugetsu]

first lesson

To become good at Muay Thai, you have to learn to be decisive. That said, based on your own gut feeling, make the decision yourself!

[Python]

To be good at anything, you have to be decisive, so being decisive or not is not a determining factor when trying to decide between two instructors of their caliber. Both gentlemen are incredible in their own right.

Greg Nelson has primarily focused on competition with Muay thai and MMA. Greg's clinch work is second to none, he has made an entire "art" out of the clinch and they have awesome fighters come out of his gym, both in Muay Thai and MMA. I believe he is also the first Black Belt promoted by Pedro Sauer, who is a Rickson Gracie Black Belt.

Rick Faye is also very incredible, and I have heard many say that he is the best Kali man trained by Guro Dan Inosanto. At Rick's gym you will learn Muay Thai, MMA, Filipino Martial Arts, JKD, Silat, etc.,etc....At Rick's you will have the opportunity to train with other great instructors like Ajarn Chai (TBA), Guro Dan Inosanto, Erik Paulson, and many others.

Both schools have fighters (Rick's does too), and you cannot go wrong with either one of them. IT comes down to what you want to focus on with your training: do you want to train just Muay Thai? Do you want to fight in Muay Thai and maybe MMA? Do you want exposure to the other arts mentioned? Alot to consider, as fugetsu said, you have to decide. It is a heard decision for anyone to make given the instructor's qualifications.

Both gyms support one another as well, kind of a tight knit family.

Good Luck with it!

[Blue Wave Gym]

hey python

I heard from a buddie at m.m.a academy the Rick doesn't like fighting but if he has fighters cool, I guess I heard wrong. Once I have my 2-5 surgeries on my ankle/foot, I'm training in a gym again(training at home now) and HAVE to fight again, when I get good enough to fight again, can I be in one of your events? And what are the rules since I've only fought in american rules kb but got leg kicked alot in f.c. tkd and have nice numb shins through leg conditioning, do you guys allow kicks directly to the knee joints? What about elbows? I had a buddie that got elbowed in a fight and had to have eye surgery, (I got kicked on the inside of my right knee joint once in a fight but no perament damage) so tell me more about the m.t. rule system.
BTW how was the event you promoted?

[Python]

I don't think Rick takes his guys to fights, like a team thing, but I know of a few guys there who either have fought a couple times or are wanting to get fights, and they train there.

Blue Wave, we have put on two fight cards now, and plan 6 per year (two being for junior fighter), Our next one is November 5th in Lakeview Iowa. This one is titled: The Python Returns...i am making my comback after a 4 year lay off. It will be a Pro muay Thai bout. Going to Des Moines to get a picture with a 12 foot Python this Monday (can't wait!) for the posters.

Our last fights August 5th went great! The fights were all matched very well, awesome action! We had 9 bouts, with two exhibitions, and two "grudge matches" (these are guys out of the crowd boxing).

Yes, you can get on one of my cards, just let me know when you are good to go. As far as rules for Modified Muay Thai, amateurs: clinching is allowed of course, knees to the legs and body (head in pro only), elbows to body(head in Pro only), but no "dropping" elbows, kicks to legs both below and above the knee...only round kicks, no straight line kicks to the legs. Knee joint is not allowed, but does happen accidentally at times. If deliberate, a warning will follow. If you catch a leg kick, you must throw a strike for every step you take (no plowing across the ring). And other standard fight rules apply. Amateurs must wear headgear (no chin guard on it though), cup, and shin/instep guards.

We have International rules at our fights too, leg kicks allowed, but nothing else as far as knees, elbows, and catching and clinching.

Hope this sheds some light on it for ya.

[Miller]

Rick does have a team of guys that travels and competes.A group of them fought in Iowa for Russ O'Connell last weekend.I fought one of his guys and I won a decision but it was by far the toughest fight I've had to date.Before that day I had never heard of them but I know who they are now.I was asking one of his instructors,Diana Rathborne,if they were affiliated with Mr Nelson because they said they were from Minny and she says that Greg was her original Muay Thai instructor for whatever that's worth to you

[EGstudent]

Greg Nelson is the man to train with.

[pittbulldog]

Try both

Try a few classes at each, and you may find that one is more suited to your needs than the other. Either way, you'll get outstanding instruction.