Before I started Muay Thai, I didn’t have a clue what it was – let alone how to pronounce it – so I went along anyway because I understood the Kickboxing bit and that for me means kicking things resourcefully –
Totally in alignment for the frustrations I was experiencing at the time.
So this ones for the ladies in the house that are doing just that.
hanging round the house.
Interestingly, the empowered’ness of knowing I can defend myself if I had to: gave me an even stronger ‘power stance’ than I had before!
Fight pose!
If you’ve been putting off exercise – muay thai kickboxing is a great way to get into fitness – and get empowered along the way.
Good thing to know is you don’t have to do this training with the intention of getting in the ring to fight. That’s totally not my style. Even after 6 sessions I don’t see myself getting in the ring to fight but I’m so glad about doing the training because it’s really given me the confidence I didn’t have before. If only I had have done this training at high school for the bullying I was experiencing there – just knowing I could do a few moves and defend myself would have been gold for me back then. I recommend this training to all the ladies – and the little ladies too.
Best advice if you’re keen to start Muay Thai –
- Get your own gear! sounds like a big commitment but you’ll love it and you will go back. It’s worth not wearing other peoples sweaty gear.GLOVES: Get the muay thai fight glove, not a training glove, get a fully enclosed padded glove in your size. Don’t use a glove that is too big for you like I did.TIES: I had ties the first 2 classes. I like them because they absorb sweat and hold the hand in position, I was glad to use them because they came between my hand and gloves so it felt cleaner. They’re time consuming to put on so it’s best off having your own and they come with gloves on ebay for cheap. I used the wrong size glove for my hand and I hurt my 2 little knuckles on my pencil holding hand … sad face. This happened within the first 2 sessions and is still uncomfortable a couple of months later – so use gloves your size. There’s no other way to say it. This is a sweaty sport. Get your own because what ever gloves you use in a class or with a trainer – if they are not yours – they would definitely have been sweated into … unless they are new. which they won’t be if you didn’t buy them yourself.PADS: Pads on the shins and feet – my trainer had the velcro at the back kind and they just slid all around on me when I’m tryna kick and it totally distracted me. I pretty much immediately ordered the pull on sock ones, toeless with padding up the shin and on top of the foot. Way easier to wash than sweating into those velcro things – I live in one of the most humid places on the planet and the velcro ones would never dry. Also after a few sessions I noticed I could ‘smell’ that kind of velcro shin pad so I was pretty happy I had bought my own elasticated sock vibe shin pads. . wo0t. cheap off ebay like $10
- Get a personal trainer. I couldn’t imagine it another way. Good trainers share their moves and get you using them straight away. They know where to hold the pad for you, nice and steady – and they are ready for you to unleash on them. Besides building on technique – a trainer is focused directly on you for the entire session so it’s personalized and gets easier, faster.
- Get your own gloves. I’ll say it again. My hand is so sore I’ve started exercising it today with a few different magic moves because it hurts! My hand is sore because of the gloves I used to start with – they were not my size – they were too big – and not the fully covered padded style either – I recommend you get your own Muay Thai padded enclosed gloves.
- Book a few sessions in advance. Sure you will get a lot out of just one session – I totally recommend bookign a few – asking for a cheaper price for booking and paying in advance for a trainer –
- Stretch before your session. Don’t do it when you get there – it wastes your valuable training time. Don’t not do it or you will feel tight the next day, which is quite fine anyway because it gets you wanting to move your body more and more.
So the point of this post is get the gear that fits you – I’m a petite person so it was valuable for me to have my own gear – still is.
Enjoy the training! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below and I look forward to hearing about how you enjoy Muay Thai Training.
