Travelling for Kickboxing training - Netherlands, Japan or Thailand?

[Monte Moku]

Hello, title says most of it. I have been saving up and am still saving to train abroad again, ideally will be going in January of 2023 and (depending on the country) will be training for 3 - 6 months. The last time I trained abroad, I was still training at a Muay Thai gym here in the US, but since then I have switched gyms and started competing in Kickboxing. I am not sure if it would still make sense to train in Thailand (though they do have some Kickboxing oriented camps) or if I should go to Japan or the Netherlands for training, considering that both places also produce some really high level Kickboxers. Am I overthinking this? I just want to make sure I am learning things that I will be able to apply to my game going forward, instead of picking up a bunch of Muay Thai tricks that I would not be allowed to use in a Kickboxing fight once I get back to the states.

 

[MilkManUK]

Depends on your budget I guess, how much more is one from the other? I'd probably go to the Netherlands, and perhaps enjoy a little more of what it has to offer other than just kickboxing....saying that I have been to Japan and it's awesome, would love to go back. But strictly training - Netherlands.

 

[JohnPJones]

All locations are clearly inferior. Nebraska. That’s where you want to go

 

[Noodles03]

I trained in Sinbi Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand. The trainers at gym were very friendly but the training felt more like fat camp. When I used to boxed, I’ll do a 5 minute stretch and than started training.

 

[Woldog]

Depends on if it's strictly training. Or if you wanna have a bit of fun while you're there. I've been to Thailand three times, two times for training and the third time was for training but I ended up just drinking most of the time. It's fun, but if it were my call I'd personally go to Japan strictly for the interesting things you could see. That being said Amsterdam is good all year round

 

[Calmathetic9]

Japan! Awesome food as well!!

 

[Monte Moku]

Depends on your budget I guess, how much more is one from the other? I'd probably go to the Netherlands, and perhaps enjoy a little more of what it has to offer other than just kickboxing....saying that I have been to Japan and it's awesome, would love to go back. But strictly training - Netherlands.

Currently researching whether Japan or Netherlands would be more expensive, a lot of it depends on where in those particular countries I choose to stay. Kickboxing is definitely the priority, although doing some tourist-ey things will be on the menu too haha. Japanese culture would certainly appeal to me more, but from what I have found, a lot of Dutch gyms seem to be geared to accommodate training with foreigners a bit more, where the Japanese gyms have little to no English on their websites and I doubt many trainers would have great English. I do have time to learn the basics of the language, though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Depends on if it's strictly training. Or if you wanna have a bit of fun while you're there. I've been to Thailand three times, two times for training and the third time was for training but I ended up just drinking most of the time. It's fun, but if it were my call I'd personally go to Japan strictly for the interesting things you could see. That being said Amsterdam is good all year round

It is very training-focused, but I know I will have downtime where I can see the sights and stuff. I have been looking around for camps in Thailand that are more Kickboxing oriented, but not a lot of success. There are a lot of great gyms in Amsterdam and Japan as well, but a part of me worries I will be spending more money for training that doesn't match what I could get in Thailand. Last time I went to train there I was completely sold on the Thai method, I love how technical they are. The Dutch and Japanese styles are great too, but I just want to get the best training possible if I am travelling around the world for it. I think I just need to do more research.

 

[MT5]

I can't give advice, but isn't there a massive price difference between Cost of Living in Japan/Netherlands on one hand and Thailand on the other? Or is it kind of just like Thailand prices are as much as anywhere unless you're really out in the boonies?

 

[Sweeptheleg7]

I can't give advice, but isn't there a massive price difference between Cost of Living in Japan/Netherlands on one hand and Thailand on the other? Or is it kind of just like Thailand prices are as much as anywhere unless you're really out in the boonies?

Have you thought about training in the US at Bang Muay Thai or at Duke Rufus gym? Heck, if you can, you can probably relocate and that can be your main gym

 

[Monte Moku]

I can't give advice, but isn't there a massive price difference between Cost of Living in Japan/Netherlands on one hand and Thailand on the other? Or is it kind of just like Thailand prices are as much as anywhere unless you're really out in the boonies?

Price isn't the primary concern, it's the quality of training. Thailand is significantly cheaper than Japan and the Netherlands, but I would prefer a camp that is more Kickboxing focused since that is what I am competing in (proving to be difficult to find Thai gyms with this criteria haha!). My previous visit to Thailand I fell in love with their training methods and how it fosters an environment that builds very technical fighters, and ideally a camp in Japan or the Netherlands would have a similar focus on being technical over balls-out aggression (ala Mike's Gym) or just blasting the pads all day and not getting technical advice.

 

[MT5]

Price isn't the primary concern, it's the quality of training. Thailand is significantly cheaper than Japan and the Netherlands, but I would prefer a camp that is more Kickboxing focused since that is what I am competing in (proving to be difficult to find Thai gyms with this criteria haha!). My previous visit to Thailand I fell in love with their training methods and how it fosters an environment that builds very technical fighters, and ideally a camp in Japan or the Netherlands would have a similar focus on being technical over balls-out aggression (ala Mike's Gym) or just blasting the pads all day and not getting technical advice.

Ah, I gotcha. I've thought of one day doing the same thing myself and so was just curious. I have never been to southeast asia so i don't have a good picture of how it is. I assumed its cheap, but cheap places.... don't always end up being cheap (or turn expensive like Eastern Europe has).

 

[KOcounter]

Hello, title says most of it. I have been saving up and am still saving to train abroad again, ideally will be going in January of 2023 and (depending on the country) will be training for 3 - 6 months. The last time I trained abroad, I was still training at a Muay Thai gym here in the US, but since then I have switched gyms and started competing in Kickboxing. I am not sure if it would still make sense to train in Thailand (though they do have some Kickboxing oriented camps) or if I should go to Japan or the Netherlands for training, considering that both places also produce some really high level Kickboxers. Am I overthinking this? I just want to make sure I am learning things that I will be able to apply to my game going forward, instead of picking up a bunch of Muay Thai tricks that I would not be allowed to use in a Kickboxing fight once I get back to the states.

I've trained in all three counties- kickboxing in Japan and the Netherlands and Muay thai in Thailand.

It really depends on what you're looking for tbh. Training Muay thai in Thailand will still give you stuff for kb, especially if you contextualise it properly. Japan and the Netherlands are great places for kb too tho and their training is obviously way more geared towards that ruleset.

If you want Dutch kb but also want an excuse to to to Japan TS Gym in nagoya is quite good. I trained there during my time travelling in the country and the head coach is a student of arguably the GOAT HW Kickboxer, Peter Aerts, Thomas Stanley (not only a student of aerts, he also fought ernesto hoost).

Thomas speaks English too. His gym doubles as an mma and kb gym and more so it's not a pure Dutch kb gym. They even got a thai guy after I left as a pad man but I don't know if he actually teaches MT there, instead of being there just to give tips and hold pads.

Heres the site: http://ts-gym.com/

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Japan seems really cool if you are a lighter weight class. Not sure if the language barrier would hurt a lot or not

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Why travel there when you can just watch YouTube videos and learn that way.

 

[Monte Moku]

I've trained in all three counties- kickboxing in Japan and the Netherlands and Muay thai in Thailand.

It really depends on what you're looking for tbh. Training Muay thai in Thailand will still give you stuff for kb, especially if you contextualise it properly. Japan and the Netherlands are great places for kb too tho and their training is obviously way more geared towards that ruleset.

If you want Dutch kb but also want an excuse to to to Japan TS Gym in nagoya is quite good. I trained there during my time travelling in the country and the head coach is a student of arguably the GOAT HW Kickboxer, Peter Aerts, Thomas Stanley (not only a student of aerts, he also fought ernesto hoost).

Thomas speaks English too. His gym doubles as an mma and kb gym and more so it's not a pure Dutch kb gym. They even got a thai guy after I left as a pad man but I don't know if he actually teaches MT there, instead of being there just to give tips and hold pads.

Heres the site: http://ts-gym.com/

Thank you so much for the recommendation! Did you find the language barrier to be an issue while you were in Japan? If I go there I would definitely do my part with learning the language, but there is no way I would be fluent by the time I get there haha

 

[KOcounter]

Thank you so much for the recommendation! Did you find the language barrier to be an issue while you were in Japan? If I go there I would definitely do my part with learning the language, but there is no way I would be fluent by the time I get there haha

Haha no problem, you're welcome.


I knew a tiny bit of Japanese from having learned some from a family friend who teaches it and lives there. With that said at TS gym it wasn't much of a problem as Thomas speaks English well (he's Dutch so is at least bilingual and I think he's fully fluent in Japanese too, making him trilingual).

With that said I did sometimes communicate with monolingual Japanese people and I also have experience training at places with zero English in Japan-I've been several times and when I tried judo and some other stuff over there I was working with people who knew zero English.

In these cases, and when shopping, I found a creative mix of Japanese, pointing and (in the odd case) English to work ok, and sometimes just pointing and describing visually, the former especially when shopping, worked well.

For instance when I did judo in kesenuma I'd retrace the steps of the person I was paired with and when he was explaining footwork I'd say something like "ah, sankaku whilst gesturing a triangle because I noticed it was like stepping onto the top point of a triangle (sankaku as I'm sure you've figured literally means triangle) and he'd go" ah sankaku" and start explaining it more in terms of that for me.

With that said, it's probably good to learn Japanese if you can, basic stuff for everyday use ("sumimasen" , "I'm sorry", is so useful in crowded place where it can be used to mean excuse me lol). it's probably also good to learn striking terminology, which I also used a few times.

If you are interested in the TS gym I mentioned Id definitely reccomend watching the vids (especially the first 3):


Thomas teaching a ernesto hoost like lumber Jack style low kick (he likes this sort of technique and taught me some hoost combos):

Another tech vid:


Highlights of a class:

Thomas training with Peter Aerts (arguably the HW K1 GOAT):

 

[gaukler]

You could do a training camp at Mikes Gym. I don't know how is the situation with covid and bla.., but years ago it was possible. You can also stay in the "fighters house", which is a flat with small bedrooms. Walking distance about 15 minutes to the gym, you can rent a bike. Just contact the gym and ask them. And yes, Amsterdam ist a great city
Hemmers Gym do also offer training camps. Maybe even the new Vos Gym, but don't know ...
Oh, totaly forgot! If you want some 1on1 training dutch style, visit Mousid Gym.

 

[Cole train]

Belarus or ukraine are good options as well btw

A lot cheaper than netherlands as well

 

[KOcounter]

I also should mention two other options if you do not go to Japan. One of which I've trained in and the other I've heard overwhelmingly good things about.

The first is Mejiro Gym in the Netherlands, which I trained at on holiday a few years back. Mejiro is considered to be the birth place of Dutch Kickboxing. Its a really good gym run by Andre mannaart, who has trained Andy souwer. The gym has also trained other kb legends like Aerts and Rob kaman. It's a pure Dutch kb gym, unlike TS, and is not known for the same aggression as Mikes gym, indeed despite still sparring hard like most Dutch kb and still having elements of aggression, it has been known historically for producing exceptionally technical fighters on the Dutch scene.

The gym I'd reccomend for you in Thailand isn't a kb gym but it doesn't teach traditional muay thai, hence why I've seen other thai gyms/trainers see it as not real thai style.

The gym in question is Sitmonchai gym, which from what I've seen teaches something that is somewhere between Dutch kb and Muay thai stylistically, including all the tools of Muay thai and some of its stylistic trappings whilst also being known for its greater emphasis on punching and boxing into low kick combos. Since you are looking to compete in kb this gym might suit you better in terms of lining up with your training.

 

[lakamas]

dude save up the money and pay a good kb trainer in USA