Hi all, won't bore you with the details but in a nutshell, I've done Muay Thai on and off for quite a while now although only seriously from Sep 2012 to March 2013 until I got a job with shift work where my time to train was reduced to a minimum. That was when I was living in Portsmouth, UK.
However one month ago I moved to France and now have all the time in the world. The first thing for me was to find a new Thai club, but I couldn't find one closer than an hour away. What I did find though was a club called "Boxing Club De L'Ouest". This a kickboxing club which incorporates aspects of K1, Kickboxing, Boxe Anglaise (?) and Muay Thai. I could tell straight away the instructor knows what he's doing and that goes for Thai as well.
The training is a bit different from what I've done before, it's mostly light contact/sparring and the only pad work you do is with the instructor himself. Also, most people there are inclined towards the normal kickboxing side of things. However, I told the instructor I only wanted to fight Thai and he's cool with that.
My concerns with the place are the warm ups which don't seem to be as strenuous (I tend to arrive a bit earlier and start my own), lesser pad work for the chance to go all out with power and the couple of people there who think I'm doing things wrong. For example: pulling back my arm to throw a simple roundhouse which they won't do, and blocking body kicks by raising my knee high which again, they won't do. Obviously, I'll do those things regardless of what they think. And clinching was never my strong point, and bar 1 or 2 people who have done Thai properly like me, I'm not gonna get any better at it training there.
All that said, it's a friendly club with various locations and it only cost €190 for a years membership which is seriously good value and there's a couple of fighters there who really keep my on my toes. I'm training 3 times a week and looking for a gym on the side to do strength/conditioning. Also learned a couple of handy tricks which I wouldn't have back home (one I particularly like is blocking a push kick with a flick of the elbow).
My question to you lot is, should I persist fighting Thai like I do at this club? Should I forget what I know and go along with what they do? Or should I scrap this club full stop and make the long journeys to the nearest Muay Thai club? If you think I should stay at this club, what do I do about my clinching? Any advice would be much appreciated.
However one month ago I moved to France and now have all the time in the world. The first thing for me was to find a new Thai club, but I couldn't find one closer than an hour away. What I did find though was a club called "Boxing Club De L'Ouest". This a kickboxing club which incorporates aspects of K1, Kickboxing, Boxe Anglaise (?) and Muay Thai. I could tell straight away the instructor knows what he's doing and that goes for Thai as well.
The training is a bit different from what I've done before, it's mostly light contact/sparring and the only pad work you do is with the instructor himself. Also, most people there are inclined towards the normal kickboxing side of things. However, I told the instructor I only wanted to fight Thai and he's cool with that.
My concerns with the place are the warm ups which don't seem to be as strenuous (I tend to arrive a bit earlier and start my own), lesser pad work for the chance to go all out with power and the couple of people there who think I'm doing things wrong. For example: pulling back my arm to throw a simple roundhouse which they won't do, and blocking body kicks by raising my knee high which again, they won't do. Obviously, I'll do those things regardless of what they think. And clinching was never my strong point, and bar 1 or 2 people who have done Thai properly like me, I'm not gonna get any better at it training there.
All that said, it's a friendly club with various locations and it only cost €190 for a years membership which is seriously good value and there's a couple of fighters there who really keep my on my toes. I'm training 3 times a week and looking for a gym on the side to do strength/conditioning. Also learned a couple of handy tricks which I wouldn't have back home (one I particularly like is blocking a push kick with a flick of the elbow).
My question to you lot is, should I persist fighting Thai like I do at this club? Should I forget what I know and go along with what they do? Or should I scrap this club full stop and make the long journeys to the nearest Muay Thai club? If you think I should stay at this club, what do I do about my clinching? Any advice would be much appreciated.
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