is this a good gym?

[zerolimitii]

i popped open the yellow pages and looked under martial arts. and there was this ad:

 

MUAY THAI KICKBOXING-

 

*Self defense/Conditioning

 

*Free Introductory Class

 

*No contract required

 

*Tues, Thurs, Sat classes

 

its $40 a month which is half of which i pay for taekwondo ($80). the hours are from 5:30-7:30 pm. but when i asked if they have a boxing ring and such they said no, they have hard ground. is having a boxing ring important?

 

so give me some feedback on what u think about this. im going to probably check out the class on saturday.

[TJS]

I would suggest trying a class. hard to say itf its a good school or not unless you go in and talk to the people and instructors.

[italian_guy]

Yes trying is the best thing you can do first. The lack of a ring is not a problem also in my kickboxing class we did not have a ring, you usually start to compete, if your goal is that, after at least two years of training (I've got this time scale from a friend of mine who formerly competed in kickboxing). So don't worry about the ring.

[zerolimitii]

i checked out the gym today. and watched the class for an hour and left (was getting dark).

 

i liked it. the instructors seem to be experienced, and there were alot of hardcore guys in there (buff guys with tattoos, bandanas, etc).

 

the only problems i seem to find was the gym itself. its a bit small, very hot, and kind of old. also i find it really dissapointing that they did not do any type of warm ups or conditioning in the beginning of class, it seems they just jump rope for about 3 minutes, stretch and do a little pushups then go do drills.

 

but yet i wouldnt mind joining the gym, but i am going to look around a bit more. i am a very picky person, and expect to train hard.

[ramymensa]

Shop some more. A good warm up is very important in order to reduce the risk of injuries. And the gym should be not that warm and the air flow is important, too. As for the guys with tattoos and bandanas ... they might be "cool" and really nice partners, still I wouldn't train with some guys who look like taken from the very dark parts of the streets and bars.

[Fat Donkey]

If the entire class is fairly advanced then the students are expected to do their own warmup. However MT requires super conditioning and we usually do 1 hr of intense exercise then drills etc. Ask the instructor what the deal is. Forget about how the gym looks. The hotter the better. Some of the schools I attended couldnt afford the rent so we trained outside. And talk to the other students. If they all act like macho jerks then leave. Most good schools the students are eager to talk to u and tell u how great their school is.

[Thuggish]

sounds like anyone at that school can kick a tkd dudes *. i say go for it.

[muaythaifreak]

I think the training should matter to you more than the temperature inside the gym. In thailand they train in the heat of the day and it does not seem to make them any less adept at the art. Having a ring is no big deal. Most of the gyms I've seen in the states don't have one. NO biggie. I would however talk to the students there and see what's going on. questions you may want to ask. How are the instructors qualified to teach muay thai? Have they ever trained in thailand? Have they had any ring experience in Muay Thai or kickboxing? Have any of their students ever gone on to win any titles? Etc. etc.... Check out the head instructor/owner. A lot of them are full of * and don't know anything about the sport. I've run into guys who actually said they had won titles in thailand and come to find out that they just gone to kao sarn road in bangkok and bought a copy of a title belt from a street vendor. Guys like that will get you hurt in the ring. If your not planning on competing at all, disregard most of this post. Still, this is a guy your going to give money to every month, I'd want to make sure he wasn't a *'r.