Unless your thai trainer is a well respected ex thai fighter with a respectable and traceable reputation... dont waste your time and money
This is a bit extreme. There are a lot of "journeyman" types of fighters from Thailand who are wonderful coaches. Let's break this down... I trained under a number of different Thai's of varying experience levels. Kumron Vaitayanonta, Tong Trithara, Kaensak Sor.Pleonchit, Amnat Pooksrisuk, Bumrung Prawatsrichai....
One had 0 fights. One had 30-50 fights. One had 75 fights. One had over 200 fights. One had over 300 fights. Only two of them ever won titles of any significance, and only 1 of them you may have heard of.
The coach with the most fights under his belt was the absolute WORST trainer of them all! Sure, I learned some really cool shit from him, but all in all he was a horrible, inconsistent coach. Had it not been for my previous training in Muay Thai, I would place money on his training being more detrimental to my progress than a benefit.
The coach with zero fights was the one with the greatest depth of knowledge. He knows Muay Thai inside and out, sideways, forwards, and upside down. He can teach you stuff about Muay Thai you can't even imagine.
The fighter with 30-50 fights was a decent trainer. The fighter with 200 fights was really good. But the best trainer was the one with 75 fights. He's the one who actually TAUGHT me Muay Thai and made it possible for me to learn as much as I did in a short period of time training with these other coaches.
We can even use some very well known North American coaches as examples... Master Chai & Master Toddy.
Master Chai had 75 fights and won a title at a small stadium. While he is well-known in America, he's far from a household word in Thailand. The only reason he is remembered at all is because he has introduced so many farangs to Muay Thai that have then travelled to Thailand to train and compete.
Master Toddy had around 30 fights, the types of events referred to as "Temple Boxing", where the fights occur during local festivals out in the country. The only reason he is known/remembered in Thailand is for the same reasons as Master Chai.
Regardless of what you think of their reputations as fighters, or how "legit" you think they are as Muay Thai coaches, its undeniable that they have both trained fighters with very good Muay Thai skills who have competed successfully in Thailand.
.. oh and BTW... if ur trainer cant remember how many fights he's had... hes more legit than one who can... after 100+ fights... names and records get forgotten
Again, this is a bit extreme. Someones ring experience doesn't necessarily translate into their being a good teacher/coach.
My question is that the OP states that he has been advised against going to the gym "Daosawan" because it's more traditional. What is the reasoning for being advised against traditional Muay Thai? Is this coming from those who want to train Muay Thai for MMA? Or is the school run like a Karate dojo? What do they mean by "traditional" and why is that bad?
