Lamai Muay Thai on Koh Samui

[Damian Mavis]

So I' m on Koh Samui which is an Island off the main coast of Thailand. I have never seen the ocean up close so swimming in the ocean here has been a big deal to me...didn't realise salt water was so....SALTY. Anyway, I am training at the Lamai Muay Thai camp here which is actually the exact same camp My friend trained at for 6 months and had 6 professional fights out of. The head trainer is this crazy German guy, he's very intense and freaky but the training is pretty hard. The rest of the trainers are all Thai guys. The main difference between this place and the Fairtex camp is that at the Fairtex camp you train side by side with professional fighters and you have your own personal trainers. Here it's kind of like the training I do in Canada in that you partner up with people just interested in learning Muay Thai and they can be well below your own skill level. The intensity is still pretty good though. An example of a session would be warming up on the heavy bag followed by a 20 minute light sparring round followed by a drill of pushups, squats and shadowboxing, non stop with no breaks. After that it might be a 20 minute leg sparring round and then a 20 minute stand up grappling and kneeing round and the a 20 minute boxing round. No breaks in those 20 minute rounds but between rounds you can grab some water. They train at 7 AM to 9 AM and then 5 PM to 7 PM but the gym is open all day with a weight room and you can go in and do whatever you want at any time. I like to go and rest after the first session, go back early afternoon to do weights and abs and then go back and do the early evening session. It's pretty nice because you can rest on the beach or swim in the Ocean during your off time.

I'll let you all know if anything exciting happens here, otherwise I'll post again when I get to a new camp and let you know what it's like. So far Fairtex (which is more expensive) is far better than Lamai. For those interested you pay about $20 American a day at Fairtex for all the training, lodging and 2 really good meals each day. In Lamai you pay about $8 American a day for 2 sessions and access to the gym all day but you have to find your own food and lodging.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

Good luck on your training bro. One day i will do what you are doing.

[arnisador]

Getting this "local color" is great!

[Damian Mavis]

Now that I've trained here all week I have to change my opinion that Lamai Muay Thai is not as good as Fairtex. Let's just say they are different. I am learning a ton, fast here in Lamai. I might not be getting personal attention from ex pro fighters all the time but the partner training they do here is very intense. I go home every night covered in bruises. I learn alot when I'm getting hurt and these guys are doing a good share of hurting. If you are good enough he throws you in with the advanced group and he encourages heavy hitting. Did I mention the German trainer was crazy? Because he is definately cracked. I can't quote anything of what he says as it involves alot of profanity but the jist of it is we are a bunch of wussies and we kick like girls...which is funny because the girls at the camp (one is the world amateur champion) can kick my butt. I've never seen girls as impressive as these in any martial art. They are seriously tough, if I'm not hitting them hard enough he jumps in, pushes me to the side and starts kicking them all over the place. This place is nuts but it's alot of fun training this hard...just wish I wasn't limping every day from all the new bruises and injuries.

My defense has gotten so much better just for fear of getting killed. FUN!

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

Damien,

I ENVY YOU!!!!!

[Jarrod G.]

Update to this. It is now 2009...6 years later. I just arrived at the Lamai beach muay thai camp and it sounds like it hasn't changed much. There is no longer a crazy German in charge, it is run by Thai's now. The training schedule is the same, twice a day 7-9 and 5-7. They now offer lodging as well as training. I pay 12,500 baht/month for accomidation/training. (thats about $450 canadian) They offer single/double rooms with either fan/air con. 12,500 is for a single fan room. It works out to like $12-$15 but you have to find your own food. Luckily there is an open air cart market just down the street that has some of the best food i've ever had for $1-$2 per plate. A typical training session involves 20 mins of bag work/shadowboxing then 10 min. sparring sessions split up into legs/leg-body/body/boxing. After 4-5 10min sparring sessions there is sometimes a grappling(clinch) sparring session then pad work. Depending on your level of fitness you will do a different number of rounds on the pads(everyone does at least 2 5min rounds) It's alot of fun, but like damien i go back to my room with fresh bruises and such everyday. they actually have a website up @
http://www.wmcmuaythaicamp.com/home.html
there are all different levels that train with us from absolute beginners to hardened warriors, but they "tend" to split you up into appropriate sparring partners.

[arnisador]

Thanks for the inside info.! These reports are appreciated.

[David Weatherly]

Thanks for posting, it's always good to hear about these kind of experiences.

[TehEl1te]

Wow! That sounds intense!!! Day after Day, 4 hours a day, you've gotta be hurtin good... Have there been any days where you are just like "I can't train today, im too messed up" heh... I want to go to Thailand to train very much

[Jarrod G.]

there are definitely days where I consider going back to bed, after turning off my alarm at 6am, but then i think "I flew 30 hours to get here, and I'm only here for another 3 weeks, I'm going to get as much out of this as I can!" then i gather my gear and push through another morning session. I wouldn't trade it for the world. And the improvement I've seen in my technique is incredible. Every day I either refine my existing techniques, or learn new ones that i can work on during our 20 min of shadow boxing at the beginnning of each session. The longer I stay here the more I realize that I don't know squat about the real muay thai.

I would definitely recommend this camp for anyone that wants to drasticaly improve their muay thai in a short period of time. I have been here for 2 weeks now and I feel like it would have taken me 6 months to improve as much as I have if I was back home. (although I'm constantly taking anti-inflammatory and pain relievers for all the crazy bashed knees/bruised ribs/tweaked ankles)

[Muaythaiguest]

Hey Jarrod,

Thanks for all the news/info about your life at camp. I am planning to go there myself In April do you recommend I book over internet with them directly on their website? Or should I just show up? I did you do it?

I practice boxing and starting to switch to Thai boxing which I much prefer. So your stories are very inspiring and I'm all set to go but need to know how to organize that type of training trip before my first time in Thailand.

Txs

Lionel

[Jarrod G.]

I was talking to a girl named nikki by e-mail. She is the camp co-ordiantor and will make sure there is a room available for you. It is pretty quiet around here right now, and there are quite a few rooms available (I think). April is a good time to go, because it is low season so the romms are cheaper and their are fewer people in the classes (this means more 1 on 1 time with the instructors.

Their e-mail address is
muaythaitour@hotmail.com

Train hard. fight harder!

[Jarrod G.]

Just an update on the training I have been recieving from the excellent team at the Lamai Gym.

I have started doing private sessions in the afternoon with the 2nd in command trainer named Nuam. He is getting me ready for my fight. The things I have learned absolutely blow my mind. He has switched my focus from creative attacks to attempting to predict how they are going to counter my attacks so that I can counter their counter before it hits me. I guess in thailand points are a big deal and all of the fighters learn to counter as quick as possible to avoid a point spread. The counter-counter's that he has been teaching me stop them from evening up the points. He has also been focusing alot of my attention on catching kicks/knees and different attacks you can do from the same catch. These 1on1 sessions are proving invaluable to me and I think it is Nuam's training that will win the fight for me. It is well worth the 500 baht/session ($18 cdn) although it doubles my living expenses every day

I'll continue updating my experiences on this thread!!