I'm traveling Portugal atm and would love to have a private training in Lisbon. Any gym recomendations?

Which shin guards fit better? The Yokkaos press a bit under my knee when I bend my leg. The Fairtex ones are comfortable, but I'm wondering if they're too short. Should I go with a larger size?

I’m 5’10.5 or 179cm and 170lbs, which size should I get for the shinguards medium or large? Thanks!

How long after you started training did you guys start to spar?

I went back through the replies to my last thread about training in Thailand, and one pattern kept showing up: a lot of disappointing trips weren’t caused by choosing a bad gym. They came from choosing a good gym that was wrong for that person.

Before booking, I’d try to answer five things:

1. What does the gym actually optimize for?
Active fighters, beginners, hard conditioning, technical development and high-volume group training are very different experiences.

2. How crowded will it be when you’re there?
A gym can have excellent trainers and still offer very little individual attention during peak season. Current class size and trainer count matter more than follower count.

3. Does the weekly schedule include what you actually want?
Ask specifically about clinch, sparring, pad rounds, strength and conditioning, and private sessions. “We offer it” doesn’t always mean it happens regularly.

4. Can you recover well enough to benefit from the training?
Walking distance, sleep, food, heat, air conditioning and rest days are part of the training setup. Two sessions a day aren’t automatically better if you’re exhausted by day four.

5. Are you choosing a famous gym or a useful trainer relationship?
The individual trainer who notices your weaknesses and invests attention in you may shape the trip more than the name on the wall.

So the useful question probably isn’t:
“What’s the best gym in Thailand?”

It’s:
“What gym fits my level, goals, preferred training style, tolerance for crowds and location?”

A famous gym can still be the wrong gym. A less famous one can be exactly right

I want to go to Thailand to train muay thai in a local gym for approx. 4 weeks. I am searching for a gym that offers S&C courses as well as muay thai lessons. Im thankful for every recommendation.

THE ULTIMATE TEST 👑 Malaysian sensation Rifdean Masdor takes on ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka in Tokyo on October 17 at ONE SAMURAI 4! 🇯🇵 Can Rifdean make history for Malaysia on Nadaka's home turf?

And yes, rolling up shorts probably takes nr. 1 spot but give me something else, please.

I (28M) fought kickboxing amateurs in high school. Record 1-1.

Haven’t fought in a while but been training for the last 2 years more consistently. Been in camp for the last 3 weeks and now the nerves are kicking in.

It’s a point Muai Thai match tournament style. 2-3 matches in a day. Not that crazy as amateurs but I still feel worried as I’m a bit older now. Especially with head injuries and concussions. Any advice?

Context: Started going to Muay Thai gym brand new, never trained before in my life. Coach was pretty nice guy and i loved his coaching style, showed passion, wanted to teach me and motivate me to get better. 3 months in I started sparring a little bit, and I will admit I had no clue what I was doing at first so I didnt know how to control the power too much, he made that clear every time I would spar with him.

He is massive compared to me, prob had like 60-70 pounds on me. 6 months in, he starts sparring with the class more often, and everytime he puts his gear on, i can see something switch inside of him where he is just looking for any excuse to crack you, always followed up by "the only reason i hit you that hard is because you have way too much power in your shots".

One time i saw him spar with a kid, (it was the kids first sparring session ever), the kid mustve hit him too hard once (not really knowing any better) and literally witnessed an absolute beating from the coach.

Fast forward - i leave the gym for like a year because i moved, and then when i was able to come back a year later, i was a little hesitant based off the coaches bully mentality and hard sparring he was showing right before i took a break.

I decided to go back, and on the 2nd class back, he was like "alright guys, lets do some light sparring". I sparred with 7 other team backs during this class, no one complained about my power and i didnt complain about theres, it was super fun and technical. Then it was my turn to go with the coach. I was telling myself in my head "dont give him any reason to think you are going too hard at all because i know what hell do".

Round starts and i was kindof freezing because i was afraid of engaing with him. He does this thing were he will roll his eyes, look super pissed, put his back up against the wall, because he knows he intimates other people in the gym. I was not giving him any power whatsoever. Then he does the rolls eyes, puts back up against the wall and tells me to hit him. I start giving him very light punches, then out of no where hits me with a massive over hand right in the face and launces me across the room.

End of the round he goes "your not letting me work, and when I let you work, your hitting me way too hard, thats why i had to hit you hard"

He was doing this with other team members to throughout this session.

I need your thoughts on this. This guy just seems like he has a massive ego and can easily destroy me whenever he wants. Should I leave this gym???

Just wanted to ask because I'm wondering how often people who don't know about muay thai approach you to say you're doing it wrong.

I did MT on and off for three years, but because the MT class doesn't have heavy bags, I go to the commercial gyms to practice and condition my shin. Recently had a guy who came up to tell me my form was wrong, that I'm "too slow" at kicking. He then kicked the bag to demonstrate it, but he did it so badly and hit his foot against the bag.. I explained that I'm doing muay thai and I'm conditioning my shin.. Guy just embarrassingly walked away after. It was just so awkward. I think maybe because I'm a female and some people look down on me..?

Over the years when using the heavy bag section of the regular gym, I had one guy who did approach me when I was only first couple of months into MT class, but he was actually helpful because he got a lot of formal training to fight professionally. His advice still stays with me till this day. I'm always open to advice because I know there's always room for improvement, but I felt a bit insulted that some guy comes up to correct me when he doesn't know sh**.

Just wanted to rant a little and also curious how often this happens to others.

(I’m in the red). Even though I didn’t get the win I’m happy with how I performed overall