10 Things I Wish I Knew About a Muay Thai Gym as a Beginner | WEST LA MUAY THAI

[@isaacjlw]

I just started Muay Thai and I frickin LOVE it only been doing it for 2 weeks. I want to order some cool Muay Thai shorts but I don’t if it’s disrespectful in anyway.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

buy the shorts, im sure if you are at a proper muay thai gym it would mean a lot to the community. congrats on your journey!!!

[@h1ph0p10]

I don't think you should take these things so seriously, you can wear pink shorts if you want to. The members has nothing to say about that😎

[@Upāsaka_11]

@isaacjlw At our gym, it's not expected, but actively encouraged! You can always tell someone's having a blast when they show up with their Thai shorts and a new set of Fairtex gear lol

[@MikeDrew312]

Literally trim your nails. Guy hit my brand new pads and hit them in weird angle. A piece of his nail ( a big chunk) went flying across the gym. Nasty stuff man. Lol

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

what the hell lol 🤢🤮

[@MikeDrew312]

@@thaiboxinginstitute yes

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

@@MikeDrew312completely unacceptable lol

[@ScottieFindsFish]

literally trim them not figuratively

[@voke9778]

Lmaoo hahaha

[@thewoolycontacts]

Hey coach vic! I was hoping you could expand a little on your reasons for not allowing students to be shirtless during training. I personally always wear one. But I'd love to hear your reasons and take. And also! I would love to see a full length video of you elaborating on sparring etiquette, how beginners can use it to learn and get better. What sort of mentality and attitude they should have. Dos and don'ts etc etc. Every single possible conceivable angle, opinion, tip, anecdote that you can give would be awesome. Thank you so much.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

yo! we have a few videos coming up including sparring. We've just been busy moving gyms, traveling for competition and finally I am recovering from elbow surgery lol. it's been a crazy last couple of months. Re: Shirtless, one is hygiene and cleanliness of the gym, there is less sweat flying all over the place, second is culture: Usually our classes include about 50% women, so it's an etiquette thing as well minimizing ego and a sort of 'chest puffed out thumping' culture that some gyms tend to have when allowing shirtless training. Our approach to training is to create a pretty inclusive environment, but also very professional and sustainable. Hope that answers your questions!

[@oddursigurdsson9637]

@@thaiboxinginstitute I train at an outdoor gym in bangkok and its pretty much always 85-90°f and humid as hell. Still the thais always wear shirts and most foreigners also but the shirts get wet pretty fast hehe. There are exceptions tho and its not rare to see people without shirts which i guess is understandable in the heat.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

@@oddursigurdsson9637 All bets off in bangkok man lol. It's torture trying to train with a shirt on. But yes it is an interesting observation that most of the thai's and trainers were always wearing shirts.

[@michaelanderson4849]

​@@thaiboxinginstituteWhile keeping anyone puffing their chest in check I encourage people to train shirtless, including women. This is a full contact activity and the sooner you get used to dealing with a sweaty opponent the better. It takes time to learn to punch, knee and kick a sweaty target. Not to mention how ridiculously easy it is to catch a kick if you are wearing t-shirt and your opponent is wearing shinguards. So if this is 95% of your sparring experience you are in for a wee bit of a surprise when the shirt and shinguards comes off. Then there is the issue of clinching a sweaty body shirtless. Good luck! 😯

[@combatoutlook5184]

I call people coach so much I forget they even have names 😂😂

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

Shit man, better that then going 'What's your name again?' 💀

[@nicholasdenicola1745]

I just discovered your channel a day ago, and it’s good stuff! Just wanted to say THANKS 🙂

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

Hey- thanks for watching and appreciate the compliment. 🤘✨

[@evergreen4034]

I trim my nails but for some reason my nail beds have gotten longer as I get older, so I’ll often get told to trim them shorter but I literally can’t because my nails will bleed 😂 sorry guys

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

😂

[@dannyvoll]

Starting tomorrow, thank you🙏🏽

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

yooo- congrats on the start of your journey and good luck!

[@aneczka413]

TRIM YOUR TOENAILS! Once I leaned back when someone tried to kick me and his toenail grazed my cheek...disgusting haha

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

🤢🤢🤢🤢

[@Shsbqrtx]

I feel like the name thing is just an American thing. I totally disagree with the fact that calling you by your name is disrespectful. At the end of the day it is your name. However, ACTING respectfully is a different thing which is something everyone should do. For example, here in the Netherlands we call everyone by their first name and that does not mean that you do not respect the other person. Good videos man, keep it up!

[@gipsybulldog3286]

Same in Croatia, calling someone by name is more friendly thing.

[@mp0wa]

I'm Asian American and live in California since I'm 6 years old. I don't think it's just an American thing. In Asian cultures, it's more respectful to call your coach sifu, shifu, kru, sensei, etc. Because if you're training in a dojo and you call your coach on a first-name basis like your fellow students then it doesn't show a higher rank or more respect to your coach if that makes sense. I understand calling someone by their first name can make it more personal and friendly. But imagine yourself with years of training in a field and an expert in your domain and your students just call you "hey Matias or Gipsy". There will be cases where there is a student with the same first name as the coach too.

[@ronfreeman2092]

Code of Conduct = COMMON SENSE like you said.. and again like you said it is sorely lacking now days.. Great advice all around Coach Vok.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

common sense feels like a thing of the past! Thanks for watching Ron and hope you're trimming your nails ;)

[@ronfreeman2092]

@@thaiboxinginstitute aint that the truth!!!! Yeah i learned the hard way about that. I used to train in Kenpo with a girl that forgot to trim her nails before a class. She threw a low round house kick to my best friends thigh and her toe nail actually CUT THROUGH his Gi pants due to the length of them! lmao

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

@@ronfreeman2092 WTHHHH 🤢

[@ronfreeman2092]

@@thaiboxinginstitute yeah it was insane!

[@archerjackson690]

1. DONT CALL ME MY NAME

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

basically lmao 😂

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

AND TRIM YOUR NAILS 😤

[@tristanchapman5092]

One time I took off my shoes in one of my first classes and saw how long my nails are and i knew it was an unspoken rule and I’m never doing that again

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

lol thank you for your honesty and changes to your grooming habits- im sure your partner appreciates it too 😅

[@Upāsaka_11]

For heaven's sake, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE GLOVE STINK! 🤢

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

@@Upāsaka_11 🤮🤮🤮

[@darcysandler952]

Im starting today finally after being a chicken shit for the last week making excuses for not going because i am really nervous as shit i hope i dont work myself up today

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

Congrats on your journey! How’d it go??

[@Eidenbites]

Question on that man my son started jiu jitsu and I’ll let coach do the teaching but if I see my son isn’t like understanding what the coach is saying I’ll explain just cause I want the coach to be able to focus on other students as well as my son get the most

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

Hmm- generally I would say be careful with the structure and boundaries of the class- also if you do it then maybe it might incite the other parents to do it….

[@johnjinglehimer2900]

Thats helicopter parenting. Let your kid learn to ask for help on their own when they don't get it or they won't get anywhere on their own and just stay dumb because they're afraid to say "can you explain that again"

[@michaelanderson4849]

You sure do love titles in the U.S. But europeans aren't equally inclined getting wood when someone adresses you using a fancy title. 😉 I'm just pulling your leg a bit. So I hope you don't get offended. But seriously, we don't use titles that much in northern europe and the trend is to do so even less. Me personally I want my students to use my name as I'm using theirs. This does not influence my teaching in any way. Just as thaiboxing does not use belts or similar in a ranking system. Ranking is settled in the ring not by any "tests".

[@kenaultman7499]

Is it really that inappropriate to say something like, "hands up" to your kid who's training? Most of our family trains. The kids classes she's at are often packed with 30+ people, and 1 or 2 coaches. Yes, we come and pay because we want expert guidance with the art/sport. We also come and pay because we live in a small apartment where we don't have the space to train. I understand when a parent is like, on the mats hovering over every tiny movement. But again, is it that bad to make those small corrections? Hands up, keep your chin down, work the jab, etc. I mean, I'll stop if it is. I'm genuinely asking here because I didn't know it was considered rude, or just a pet peave for this specific gym? If it is rude all around, I had no idea.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

Unless you have the authority or permission of the coach I would recommend kicking back and letting the kids be kids and the coach to coach the kids. It's also one of those things that if one parent sees another doing it then it will cause effect. Furthemore if there are 30 kids in a class with one or maybe two coaches then that would be something you should take up with management. Teaching kids can be extremely difficult if done right and i get where the sentiment is coming from but the less distractions the child has the easier the job for the coach can be.

[@ScottieFindsFish]

if you wear shoes onto the mat at my jiu jitsu gym you will be removed

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

100%

[@ellymcilwraith8308]

This is the best video on the internet. There I said it. P.S people are gross

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

😍

[@cheeks7050]

There's nothing wrong with being shirtless. Is the concern that it's somehow sexual?? It shouldn't be.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

don't think it's a concern about being sexual but i would say the majority of women i've spoken to aren't comfortable with men being shirtless. There's also body dysmorphia issues and hygiene and cleanliness issues. Now that i think about in the 20+ years ive been involved in fitness I've never been to a public gym (LA fitness, 24 hr fitness) where someone was training shirtless.

[@joey8701]

I hope nobody comes straight from the gym for martial arts training. Talk about stinking.

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

yooooo i kno 🤢

[@steve00alt70]

I just picture intimidating ppl yelling and high testosterone and partners want to hurt you

[@thaiboxinginstitute]

I mean maybe elsewhere but never at TBI noooo wayyy🙅🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️

[@rawdogmaterial365]

I'm paying you "coach" have respect for your customers

[@ScottieFindsFish]

lol u wont last

[@rawdogmaterial365]

@@ScottieFindsFish i mean it is a business right?

[@esthetics4512]

@@ScottieFindsFish his definitely gonna be kicked out in a couple of months tops (2)

[@ScottieFindsFish]

@@esthetics4512 or get sad that people are “beating him up” and quit haha

[@cheeks7050]

Doesn't mean he has to accept all customers. Some aren't worth it.