Category: Trips

Training at Sitjaopho Muay Thai gym

To get the full Muay Thai training experience, we advise doing two sessions a day which is one in the morning (08:00) and one in the late afternoon (15:30) this is because both sessions are structured differently, and it will ensure that you get the most out of your Muay Thai training. Personally, we found the Instructors/Kru’s very welcoming and friendly, with that said it took the first three days to build up a rapport with them and along with some friendly banter.

The morning session starts with skipping, followed by shadow boxing. You will then be told to “wrap hands” by Kru Hinphet. Once hand wraps are on, one of the Kru’s at the gym will call you over to them to complete 3 to 4 high paced rounds with the feel of a one-to-one session with one of the gyms Instructors/Kru’s. This will be followed by a set of repeat kicks on each leg (max of 30 kicks each side). We found that the pad work really concentrates on elbows, knees and kicks with the occasional hands being used, this was slightly unusual as back home we are used to using punches more during pad work. Our experience of this is that the pad work feels like a personal PT session for the rounds you do on the pads with the Instructor/Kru’s, and you are really pushed to your fitness limit. The temperature and humidity along with your body climatising only adds to the whole training experience! At first, we struggled in the heat, and it was not until the end of the first week that we started to climatise. After this you will be asked to get ready for technical sparring with the other people who are attending the session, we found this a fantastic way to meet new people and to find common ground as well as forming many bonds with different Muay Thai people, from different gyms across the globe. However, some mornings they did it change it up and we completed some combination drills split into groups led by Kru F and his Kru’s, which we found insightful and engaging. Then we did technical sparring, which was playful and fairly light going compared to what we are used to. Personally, we found this to be more fun and encouraged you to be more relaxed in your sparring allowing you to gain more confidence to try new things. After completing sparring, the Kru’s then instructed you to complete 150 clinch knees on the bag followed by 5x sets of 50 sit-ups and finally 5x sets of 20 push-ups which we completed as a group creating a good atmosphere. Training then finished for the morning and off it was to recharge for the afternoon session.

The afternoon session at Sitjaopho is much more flexible and relaxed than the morning session with much less instruction. We found out it to be that you put in what you want out of the session. Usually everyone completes their own warm up, for us we did shadow boxing and rounds on the bag mostly to warm up, there will be 3-4 Kru’s which usually consist of Kru Phetmai, Kru Hinphet, Kru Kling and Kru Yokphet in the ring holding pads and one Kru on the outside of the ring as well as Kru F doing some work with people too. Once they see that people are ready, the Kru’s will then call people to them in order to complete pad work with them following a similar routine with the pads compared to the morning session with 3-4 rounds being completed with fast paced shots going in. This is also followed by x30 repeat kicks at the end! The Kru’s at the gym will ensure that everyone has had a turn on the pads before they stop holding the pads, this we found to be encouraging. Once these rounds on the pads are completed you will be told to pad up for sparring like the morning session, however the rounds you complete are more chosen by you, the individual rather than the Kru’s. Sometimes later on in the session, throughout the sparring the Kru’s will put their gear on and will spar with the students, to name a few, we had some great rounds with the head Kru, Kru F who is so knowledgeable, engaging, friendly and it totally makes you respect the levels of ability he possesses, Kru F likes to use his left sided techniques such as his switch kicks and knees which we found to be eye opening as we realised that back home it is something that we do not use enough of. Moreover, Kru F made sparring feel like so much fun giving you tips throughout the rounds and Kru Phetmai who for one thing has some amazing kicks but also is someone who we had a great laugh with, making you feel very welcomed at Sitjaopho. Occasionally, in the afternoon sessions they will do longer sparring or clinch at the end as well. Apart from lots of sweat being exchanged , these were great rounds with no ego’s present at all throughout. Then training was finished for the day with quality training being completed.

Also, Kru Phetmai oversees the Sitjaopho official gym shorts and t shirts that you can purchase. We purchased a pair of shorts and t shirt each, which we found to be of high quality and brilliant design for a reasonable price. He even gave us a hat for free as well, so we were really pleased with this!

Overall, we had an amazing experience here and loved it. For the training itself, we found training twice a day to be intense and tiring (20-minute power nap sometimes needed, especially for our OAP’S) but definitely doable! We would definitely say that we had an amazing time at Sitjaopho, learning every day and sharpening our 8 Muay Thai weapons thanks to the Kru’s at the gym. We would highly recommend the experience!!

Kru Hinphet, Name (not known) but excellent pad holder, Scott, Elliot, Kru Leigh. Isaac, Kru Paul, Kru F and Kru Phetmai.

Items that we found useful whilst training

• Electrolyte powder/tablets.
• Antiseptic/antihistamine cream for bites, Imodium and Rennie tablets came in useful.
• Compeed plasters for blisters.
• Large bottles of water can be purchased at the gym for 20 Baht (45p).