Lex Muay Thai Review
May 20, 2010 by admin · 3 Comments
So, me and my buddy were driving around on a motorbike looking for the Chay Yai gym. Having just arrived here a few days ago (and not knowing my way around), getting lost was inevitable as we were searching for an area that isn’t even listed on the maps that are passed out at most of the tourism booths throughout the city. We took a wrong turn somewhere (or several) and ended up at a cool temple (in the picture to the left).
From there, we asked some locals for directions and due to the language barrier, they couldn’t really get their point across so rather than giving us verbal directions to follow, one Thai guy jumped on his motorbike and guided us to a camp that was a couple blocks away. It wasn’t Chay Yai, but at this point, we didn’t care anymore as we just wanted to train.
When we walked in, we were told to warm up and that the head trainer would be there shortly. Apparently there was some sort of fight in town and he went to try to mediate things. At this point, the gym was really quiet and following our warm up, my buddy started his pad rounds. While he was doing that, I was just waiting for my turn as they only had the 1 pad holder.
At about the midway point of my friends pad-work session, Lex got back and so did about 8 of his students. Lex (the owner of the camp), then strapped up and hopped in the ring to finish off the rounds for my friend. Once he was worked to complete exhaustion, I got called in. Here’s a brief clip of me training with Lex (note the sick graffiti in the background)..
He was a good trainer and we both got as many rounds as we could handle. As for the actual students/fighters that were training there, the skill level seemed pretty low to be honest. For the most part, it was backpacker-types that were likely passed a brochure somewhere along the moat. That being said, I was only there for the one afternoon so that’s certainly not enough time to judge the quality of the students that roll through the gym on a more regular basis.
As I mentioned, me and my friend both got more than enough pad time from Lex himself and the atmosphere within the gym (with the graffiti and whatnot) was pretty cool. Another plus is that you can jog past the temples to start your training and in addition to the scenery, Chiang Mai has really clean air (unlike Bangkok).
I didn’t stay there long enough to really get a feel for what the training would be like for someone training there on a semi-permanent basis. From my initial perspective, it had its positives (nice running path with temples, cool atmosphere, good trainer) and its negatives (very few trainers, low skill level amongst the students). I didn’t see any on-site accommodation but in Chiang Mai, you can find a room to rent for about 100 usd per month and there’s plenty of rooms available so finding a place to chill and sleep shouldn’t be a problem.
It’s certainly worth checking out if you’re in Chiang Mai but if the purpose of your trip is purely about training, then there are much better gyms (throughout Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya) that you should base yourself out of. It was a good overall experience though.
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
Siam No 1 Review
May 12, 2010 by admin · 5 Comments
While in Chiang Mai, I checked out a couple of the gyms – Siam No 1 being one of them. Prior to arriving, I had high expectations for this gym because most of the trainers at my favorite camp (even my own trainer) were brought up at Siam. Not only that, but one of my buddies had been training there for a few months at the start of his trip (as he’s a student at the branch in Toronto) and he had nothing but good things to say about the place.
The gym is located in Sankampaeng – which I guess is an outskirt of Chiang Mai – and it takes about half an hour via motorbike to get there from the center of the city. I imagine it would have been tough to find had we not been with someone who had previously trained there.
When we arrived at the gym, I was surprised at how empty the place was. Siam No 1 is a pretty historical gym and I was under the impression that a lot champions have been brought up there (as indicated by the stack of trophies). But on this day, however, there was a couple trainers sitting ringside and a few little girls shadowboxing – and even they were just sort of playing around rather than undergoing a serious training session.
I wrapped my hands and did some skipping/shadowboxing to start things off and by the time I finished my warm up, a couple other people (guy from Holland and a girl from Germany) had returned from their afternoon run. So, in addition to myself and my two friends, there was only two other foreigners training there.
Before I go any further, when my friend was describing his experience here, he said everything was great (he even fought for the gym), but he said that during one of his pre-fight workouts, some random old guy just showed up and trained him. He saw him that one time and never again.
Well, apparently that “random old guy” was there again that day and he was the one who was training us. He told me he has been doing Muay Thai for 35 years, that he was a champion of the North and a Lumpinee champion as well. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure. You just never know in Thailand. I’ve had taxi drivers claim to be Lumpinee champions before (I’ve even had one guy prove it by showing me photos of himself in the ring with the belt via his cell phone).
Anyway, Lumpinee champion or not, this guy had a strange method of teaching. Sometimes you vibe with a trainer; sometimes you don’t. This time I didn’t. Actually, none of us did. He trained all 3 of us and we all had the same “is this guy serious?” expression on our faces. He would tell us to bob our heads up and down and throw knees without putting any sort of guard up – basically welcoming a counter-strike to the face.
That’s the downside to only spending a limited time at some of these gyms. I can hardly judge Siam No 1 as a whole based on a single pad-work session with a wacky trainer. Sure, I wasn’t impressed with the training I got that day, but apparently that trainer isn’t there on a regular basis. My friend Ian swears by Kru Pon and Kru Doe’s training (as does the guy who was training there from Germany).
This is one of those instances where I can’t recommend a gym (based on my personal experience) but I wouldn’t discourage you from going ether (based on recommendations by people that I trust). If you happen to be in Chiang Mai, then check it out and form your own opinion. Maybe YOU can let ME know how it went for you there – just don’t train with that old dude. Here’s a video tour that I took of the place..
THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?
I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!
