Muay Thai Gym in US - Dress code?

[bdawk]

Hey guys.

I joined a Muay Thai gym about 3-4 months ago. They are focused on Muay Thai, but have boxing, no-gi jiu jitsu, fitness kickboxing and a cross fit type program.

Anyway. I have trained with 4 instructors (one is the owner) each on multiple occasions.

I am there early yesterday as I am on most days doing some warm ups and stretches.

The owner tells me I should have Muay Thai shorts on in his very good but broken english. I was wearing MMA shorts which is what I will typically wear. Now and then I and others have worn regular mesh type shorts as well. I asked why Muay Thai shorts thinking that he was RECOMMENDING them. He tells me because it is a Muay Thai class and that the gym in not like any other gym on the street where you can just wear anything. He says that you MUST where Muay Thai shorts and one of their gym t shirts.

Has anybody ever heard of this at any Muay Thai gyms here OR in Thailand.

Sh!t. How did I mess up and put this in Weapons and Tactics?

 

[nomilkforsanta]

Hey guys.

I joined a Muay Thai gym about 3-4 months ago. They are focused on Muay Thai, but have boxing, no-gi jiu jitsu, fitness kickboxing and a cross fit type program.

Anyway. I have trained with 4 instructors (one is the owner) each on multiple occasions.

I am there early yesterday as I am on most days doing some warm ups and stretches.

The owner tells me I should have Muay Thai shorts on in his very good but broken english. I was wearing MMA shorts which is what I will typically wear. Now and then I and others have worn regular mesh type shorts as well. I asked why Muay Thai shorts thinking that he was RECOMMENDING them. He tells me because it is a Muay Thai class and that the gym in not like any other gym on the street where you can just wear anything. He says that you MUST where Muay Thai shorts and one of their gym t shirts.

Has anybody ever heard of this at any Muay Thai gyms here OR in Thailand.

Sh!t. How did I mess up and put this in Weapons and Tactics?

Any gym that requires you to wear their t-shirt and their thai shorts is milking you for money. If you had to pay an enrollment fee you also got ripped.

 

[bdawk]

That's exactly what I was thinking. The owner must have been looking at his bills right before class and started talking uniform type crap to raise some money.

BTW - I did not pay an enrollment fee.

Other opinions? Has ANYONE EVER heard of this type of thing in the US OR Thailand?

I just want to make sure this is totally unique so I can decide how to handle it if it comes up again.

 

[nomilkforsanta]

That's exactly what I was thinking. The owner must have been looking at his bills right before class and started talking uniform type crap to raise some money.

BTW - I did not pay an enrollment fee.

Other opinions? Has ANYONE EVER heard of this type of thing in the US OR Thailand?

I just want to make sure this is totally unique so I can decide how to handle it if it comes up again.

Tell them you can't afford it and/or the waist band hurts your skin. I have left a gym over the shirt issue...

This is usually a sign of a mc-dojo or a greedy gym owner.

 

[D Train]

My MMA gym just made the move to everyone wearing some piece of gym branded gear. I don't like it because their gear is pretty expensive, but whatever. We all joke about it being a money grab. We just moved into a huge new facility and I guess there are bills to be paid.

 

[nomilkforsanta]

My MMA gym just made the move to everyone wearing some piece of gym branded gear. I don't like it because their gear is pretty expensive, but whatever. We all joke about it being a money grab. We just moved into a huge new facility and I guess there are bills to be paid.

What happens if you refuse to wear it?

 

[D Train]

What happens if you refuse to wear it?

Probably nothing. There are always people who don't. It's just kind of a hassle. I have several rashies that I'm not supposed to wear now and that's frustrating.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I've had one gym in my past require students to wear their shirts. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back it was definitely a mcdojo

 

[D Train]

My gym is for sure legit. We have had a couple of guys in the UFC and another on TUF, but since we have this awesome new facility, the level of training has dropped off because now we get so many noobs. We need beginner classes for real. They are slowing everyone else down.

 

[Dolomite]

Do your current shorts stink like a baby's diaper? You turnin' your clothes inside out to get a extra day out of them?

 

[Gregster]

the dress code at any MA school is the same: "whatever they tell you."

Some places are kinda general: a plain white dobak for TKD, baggy MT shorts for Muay Thai, white or blue double-weave gi for BJJ.

Tradition may play a part...andnot just in "TMA." An affinity for tradition and uniformity are common in Asian culture not limited to MA. At my old TKD school, if you so much as rolled up the sleeves on your tunic, you got squared away.

Some places rake in the extra $ by requiring that you wear stuff they sell you. You might feel like you're getting bent over and the place is a McDojo that cares more about separating you from your cash...and you may be right.

Then again: running a quality MA school and keeping it in the black is tough. If the school is legit, and you get to train under bona fide fighters who don't just put their name on the website and relegate the training to senior students...maybe ponying up for a couple t-shirts and some shorts or sweatpants isn't so bad.

 

[Spindrift0036]

Any gym that requires you to wear their t-shirt and their thai shorts is milking you for money. If you had to pay an enrollment fee you also got ripped.

I don't agree on the t-shirt ( it costs like what ? 10$ ? less ? ) , but I agree on the MT shorts. Shit's expensive as fuck

 

[Gregster]

ALSO: think of a high school dress code, or "Casual Friday" at work. Ever see what sort of disasters can take place if you trust people to use good judgement and let them show up wearing whatever they want?

They will do the same at your gym/dojo/whatever, believe me...often with embarrassing results...for the school and you, not for the douchebag who shows up in some stupid Cobra Kai-looking getup, or baggy black "coolie" pants and kung-fu shoes like they're auditioning for a remake of "Enter the Dragon." Or like a friggin' walking billboard for "TapOut" gear.

Sure, it can help training a little...because you don't want to stop hitting and/or choking them. But there's the schools' public image to consider...

 

[nomilkforsanta]

I don't agree on the t-shirt ( it costs like what ? 10$ ? less ? ) , but I agree on the MT shorts. Shit's expensive as fuck

Usually $20-25 at the gyms I have been to. Not everybody likes wearing a cotton t-shirt when training, some like wearing jerseys, jogging tops, rash guards (no sleeve/half sleeve/3/4 sleeve/long sleeve), no shirt (fight team), sports bra's.

I buy training shirts for ~$1.00 at goodwill/salvation army/savers...

 

[Spindrift0036]

Usually $20-25 at the gyms I have been to. Not everybody likes wearing a cotton t-shirt when training, some like wearing jerseys, jogging tops, rash guards (no sleeve/half sleeve/3/4 sleeve/long sleeve), no shirt (fight team), sports bra's.

I buy training shirts for ~$1.00 at goodwill/salvation army/savers...

Yeah , what I meant actually ( sorry bud , it's almost 3am here, I'm not functioning properly... freaking caffeine failed me today :/ ) was that it's ok to tell you to buy one t-shirt. In my school ( yeah , different countries, I know ) , they just told me that I should buy a t-shirt because everyone's got one and it made us look like an organized MT school and stuff .

But damn , if they made us buy MT shorts ( TWINS ,etc shorts cost like 50 euros - about 67 dollars - here , and the school's shorts cost like 40 euros - about 55 dollars-) to wear every day. Oh boy , I'd still be running away from that school haha

 

[Ryukyu Damashi]

Wear your boxer underwear and tell them you are keeping it real... Isaan real. Seriously, that is what the kids at the grassroots gyms in the Thai countryside wear.