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- Dec 27, 2017
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Guys this will be my first post . I have been reading Sheerdog for over a year and have enjoyed / benefited a lot from lots of the posts . I am a Muay Thai Practitioner , Cant say I'm an expert not even close but my experience goes to about 200Hrs of Group Training and about 65hrs of one one one Training . 50 of the under Melchor Menor here in San Diego and 15 Split Under Tony Palafox and Coach Steven Frye
Well last November I decided to fly to Thailand and improve my skills , my first options were : yokkao , Benchamek Gym and Fairtex all in Bangkok but at the end I decided to go to the island of Phuket and thought Sitsongpeenong would be the perfect place . Why?? Well they are a small operation , more run like a family business , they offered good accommodations next door ( owner owns a small hotel that was turned into the camp accommodations and housing for the fight team ) which is clean and nice but most important close to the Gym , I would be walking most of the time ( didn't wanted to take the risk to kill myself riding a scooter in a place that drives on the opposite side) so after a 3 hr training session the least you want is to walk far to get to your hotel or room . I must address that the onsite accommodations has private room with bath/shower and a small kitchen or it can be a shared room . The price will lower if shared . Both have nice hot water , AC and Cable TV with a bunch of fight channels so its cool . Another thing I considered is been part of the group by staying there which would make the experience better.
Well now to the Training . The morning session starts about 6:30AM so if you need to eat something small you better get up early , there's a 7 Eleven down the street so you can find most stuff there . Then you start with the morning run , usually the fight team will gather and run from Surin Beach to Kamala Beach through the highway . Its very motivating to see how much pride people have on their Boxers so lot of people with thumb you up and smile while running , the down side is that the public buses exhausts are not fun when passing next to them but oh well ... Running is not an obligation and nothing else on training but if you want to be taken serious and get respect from the Trainers / guys then you better run no questions about it . Plus its not bad at all , the pace is not fast but more to build endurance . Once back its when the fun begins , you have around 7 Trainers on Site and they will start with stretching , bag work ( about 5 rounds ) until its your turn to hit pads inside the ring with one of them . We were anywhere between 12 to 20 people during my stay so the trainer / student ratio is very good . They wont let you slack not a single session is easy and keep correcting you if they see any miss form on technique . Most important for them is to have good mechanics on every strike and keep that Thai Style which is a little different than what we learn in America which is very influenced by western boxing . Once in the Ring you'll do about 4 rounds with a trainer holding Thai Pads and one last round with just strikes / boxing mitts . Then back to the bag work for another 5 Rounds , Also every end of round you will do 20 pushups for the entire session . After every one has hit pads you will still do another 4 rounds between Jumping / skipping knees , Push kick , small combos etc. Then either circuit training ( squats , lounges , kettle bells , ropes , etc... ) or Abs , once completed we all thank the trainers and your free to go get Breakfast . About 100 Yards from the camp there is a small restaurant called butterfly , the owner is amazing his food is great and will remember your name every single time . Everyone goes there and prices are very good - A full meal was less than $4 US.
I almost forgot to mention you will be consuming about 3 quarts of water (from 7 eleven ha ha *no drinking tap water by any means*) per training session , the humidity and hot weather make you sweat like crazy . The afternoon session is pretty much like the morning but it alternates lots of bag work for either clinching or sparring . The running starts at 3:30 and session ends at 6PM
Pretty Much you sleep , train , eat and repeat. Yes Sunday is the only day off and most of the guys will go out Saturday for a crazy night in town . Bangla road is a 30 Min Cab ride , Its not far at all its just that The roads are small and limited to get to places so driving from point A to B takes a long time and even little traffic makes it way worst . Plus Phuket is a big ass island . The other MMA oriented gyms like Tiger , Phuket Top Team , AKA and so are in a remote location of the island so for them was even farther so Pretty much people stay and train where they are . There are fights at the stadiums multiple times per week , and if someone from the Camp / Gym fights that card then a group will get together and probably one of the trainers will drive you there and even get you discounted tickets for the stadium . Trainers are very involved with their students so they make sure all is nice and safe at all times.
The fight team is very Active so they fight about every other week (about 7 to 10 Guys from the camp are in the team which is almost half of the camp population) , If they got no damage they will be back in the ring very soon , The higher Level guys fight on MX Muay Extreme which is Muay Thai Full rules with MMA Gloves out of Pattaya so the Owner Tim and a Trainer will take them to Bangkok . If not the local stadiums also put some good shows mostly between the Camps / Gyms and some Thai guys too . If you are interested in fighting just tell the trainers and you will be there if you are at the required level
I read a lot about Phuket been a tourist trap but that was not the case here , Sitsonpeenong trainers are all Lumpini champions , champions of Thailand , channel 7 champions so they all have a lot to give in regards of training . Their English is good enough to explain technique and work with you . My trainer had over 400 Fights and is still active so if you think your skills are better than that , God Bless you.
Over all the experience is incredible so if your thinking about it just go ahead and do it ! my flight from Los Angeles was like $600 bucks round and you wont spend a lot there . Training is 500 bht for both sessions which is about $13 bucks and if you stay in the accommodations then its included in the rate . There are monthly rates and long term prices which are lower. I am now planning to go back in April for a little longer term and keep improving.
In December Sitsonpeenong opened a new facility close by which is larger and has much better equipment , I did not got to check it out but I'm sure its top notch , Heard is open space too which is nice with the weather but you better take some bug spray or your legs will be eaten alive by mosquitos . ha ha
Hope this helps someone who's planning to take the trip down there .
Well last November I decided to fly to Thailand and improve my skills , my first options were : yokkao , Benchamek Gym and Fairtex all in Bangkok but at the end I decided to go to the island of Phuket and thought Sitsongpeenong would be the perfect place . Why?? Well they are a small operation , more run like a family business , they offered good accommodations next door ( owner owns a small hotel that was turned into the camp accommodations and housing for the fight team ) which is clean and nice but most important close to the Gym , I would be walking most of the time ( didn't wanted to take the risk to kill myself riding a scooter in a place that drives on the opposite side) so after a 3 hr training session the least you want is to walk far to get to your hotel or room . I must address that the onsite accommodations has private room with bath/shower and a small kitchen or it can be a shared room . The price will lower if shared . Both have nice hot water , AC and Cable TV with a bunch of fight channels so its cool . Another thing I considered is been part of the group by staying there which would make the experience better.
Well now to the Training . The morning session starts about 6:30AM so if you need to eat something small you better get up early , there's a 7 Eleven down the street so you can find most stuff there . Then you start with the morning run , usually the fight team will gather and run from Surin Beach to Kamala Beach through the highway . Its very motivating to see how much pride people have on their Boxers so lot of people with thumb you up and smile while running , the down side is that the public buses exhausts are not fun when passing next to them but oh well ... Running is not an obligation and nothing else on training but if you want to be taken serious and get respect from the Trainers / guys then you better run no questions about it . Plus its not bad at all , the pace is not fast but more to build endurance . Once back its when the fun begins , you have around 7 Trainers on Site and they will start with stretching , bag work ( about 5 rounds ) until its your turn to hit pads inside the ring with one of them . We were anywhere between 12 to 20 people during my stay so the trainer / student ratio is very good . They wont let you slack not a single session is easy and keep correcting you if they see any miss form on technique . Most important for them is to have good mechanics on every strike and keep that Thai Style which is a little different than what we learn in America which is very influenced by western boxing . Once in the Ring you'll do about 4 rounds with a trainer holding Thai Pads and one last round with just strikes / boxing mitts . Then back to the bag work for another 5 Rounds , Also every end of round you will do 20 pushups for the entire session . After every one has hit pads you will still do another 4 rounds between Jumping / skipping knees , Push kick , small combos etc. Then either circuit training ( squats , lounges , kettle bells , ropes , etc... ) or Abs , once completed we all thank the trainers and your free to go get Breakfast . About 100 Yards from the camp there is a small restaurant called butterfly , the owner is amazing his food is great and will remember your name every single time . Everyone goes there and prices are very good - A full meal was less than $4 US.
I almost forgot to mention you will be consuming about 3 quarts of water (from 7 eleven ha ha *no drinking tap water by any means*) per training session , the humidity and hot weather make you sweat like crazy . The afternoon session is pretty much like the morning but it alternates lots of bag work for either clinching or sparring . The running starts at 3:30 and session ends at 6PM
Pretty Much you sleep , train , eat and repeat. Yes Sunday is the only day off and most of the guys will go out Saturday for a crazy night in town . Bangla road is a 30 Min Cab ride , Its not far at all its just that The roads are small and limited to get to places so driving from point A to B takes a long time and even little traffic makes it way worst . Plus Phuket is a big ass island . The other MMA oriented gyms like Tiger , Phuket Top Team , AKA and so are in a remote location of the island so for them was even farther so Pretty much people stay and train where they are . There are fights at the stadiums multiple times per week , and if someone from the Camp / Gym fights that card then a group will get together and probably one of the trainers will drive you there and even get you discounted tickets for the stadium . Trainers are very involved with their students so they make sure all is nice and safe at all times.
The fight team is very Active so they fight about every other week (about 7 to 10 Guys from the camp are in the team which is almost half of the camp population) , If they got no damage they will be back in the ring very soon , The higher Level guys fight on MX Muay Extreme which is Muay Thai Full rules with MMA Gloves out of Pattaya so the Owner Tim and a Trainer will take them to Bangkok . If not the local stadiums also put some good shows mostly between the Camps / Gyms and some Thai guys too . If you are interested in fighting just tell the trainers and you will be there if you are at the required level
I read a lot about Phuket been a tourist trap but that was not the case here , Sitsonpeenong trainers are all Lumpini champions , champions of Thailand , channel 7 champions so they all have a lot to give in regards of training . Their English is good enough to explain technique and work with you . My trainer had over 400 Fights and is still active so if you think your skills are better than that , God Bless you.
Over all the experience is incredible so if your thinking about it just go ahead and do it ! my flight from Los Angeles was like $600 bucks round and you wont spend a lot there . Training is 500 bht for both sessions which is about $13 bucks and if you stay in the accommodations then its included in the rate . There are monthly rates and long term prices which are lower. I am now planning to go back in April for a little longer term and keep improving.
In December Sitsonpeenong opened a new facility close by which is larger and has much better equipment , I did not got to check it out but I'm sure its top notch , Heard is open space too which is nice with the weather but you better take some bug spray or your legs will be eaten alive by mosquitos . ha ha
Hope this helps someone who's planning to take the trip down there .
