Thailand Holiday and Training

Killme00

Ok, so i know a few people who post here have done the Thailand thing so i am hoping you could tell me your recommendations/experiences. I am in the process of booking off the whole month of June and want to spend at least two weeks of that time training in Thailand. I've settled on Phuket (Tiger MT) or Koh Sumui (WMC).

Has anyone any experience of either of these two camps?
What's the training/food/hygiene/accommodation like? (basically what should i expect?) Is there plenty to do when not training? How much experience of MT do you need before contemplating something like this?

Is there anything similar for BJJ? I have nearly 40 business days off this year and doing some BJJ in Brazil or the States would be cool (awesome )

Thanks in advance for any help.

Roper

Killme00 wrote: »

Ok, so i know a few people who post here have done the Thailand thing so i am hoping you could tell me your recommendations/experiences. I am in the process of booking off the whole month of June and want to spend at least two weeks of that time training in Thailand. I've settled on Phuket (Tiger MT) or Koh Sumui (WMC).

Has anyone any experience of either of these two camps?
What's the training/food/hygiene/accommodation like? (basically what should i expect?) Is there plenty to do when not training? How much experience of MT do you need before contemplating something like this?

Is there anything similar for BJJ? I have nearly 40 business days off this year and doing some BJJ in Brazil or the States would be cool (awesome )

Thanks in advance for any help.

I didn't like Phuket, too many sex tourists, but Samui I thought was deadly- super chilled out, lots of good food and you only had to drive a couple of miles to get out of the tourist zone. I trained in a really good camp there for a few days. I actually couldn't tell you the name but I can tell you that it was near enough to Chaweng Beach, about a 5 minute walk up the hill. Mine wasn't a training holiday though so I only did 4 or 5 days there but I didn't tell them that as I thought I might have been stuck in the corner hitting a bag all the time. I needn't have worried though because there wasn't that many guys there when I was there. Lots of Aussies, couple of English lads and one Paddy who was pretty slick. Accomodation wise you can get a really nice hotel for really cheap. We had booked into a hotel in Samui and when we arrived the guy at the desk offerred us an upgrade to a beachside bungalow for something like €40 extra for the week which we took. But then other guys in the camp were using the camp's hostel with was for next to nothing and you got your food and board but didn't have the luxury obviously. They said it was clean though.

If I have another chance I'll go to Brazil next time out because I've never been for one but also just to go to BTT. Clive who posts here was over there I'm sure he'll give you the lowdown if you ask nicely.

soretoe

Howdy
I trained for 4 weeks in Tiger in Phuket mostly for a laugh and a holiday but it was deadly - dead cheap - great accom - clean - really sound people. Corey in reception basicly is your dude for everything - nicest bloke. Training is good - as far as I think anyway - they will train you at whatever level you like - from total absolute beginner learning the basics the Thai way with excellent progressively taught pad work all the way up to full on hard sparring with competing MT thai guys. They run in the mornings and evenings and training can be from 2 to 4 hours in length at a go (twice a day or whatever ya like). You'll lose about 10 pounds in the first two weeks no problem and you'll learn how to hit hard and how to push on through near death tiredness and the trainers (bout 10 of them there) will fill your head with the coolest stories and history of MT and the other related arts. There's no sex tourism nearby as such - you'd have to travel 40 mins from the camp and be looking for it! Beaches are incredible if you find the small quiet ones that are hidden around. The mopeds are great and cheap and you get them at the camp. You'll see pro mma and pro mt fighters training their nuts off there all day. You can do weights, grappling, mma, MT, Muay Boran which rocks (I think spelled that way) and basicly just have an amazing time getting fit - like you've never conceived, eating healthy ****, visiting temples, beaches, havin little thai trainers fookin screaming at you to push it harder - actually taking a personal interest in your progress- eventually you'll miss the fookers, you can do one on one training for dead cheap, go see some of the tiger lads fight and generally win in the local stadium (national arena it is not and that's about bloody it - its basicly is a well run no bull**** great value MMA/MT holiday camp. Tips: Get your cash togethor - pay for accom + training in MMA and MT and your moped as you arrive at front desk - get a price in advance and ask for the luxury chalet (luxury may be a slight over statement but they're good and wihtin yards of the mat/rings). Start training in the mornings only - for first 3 or 4 days and maybe a run in the evening too (bring good running shoes) - settle into it and then go the whole hog and try and do both sessions each day for a week (with say one day off collapsed in a heap on your beach lounger) drink your body weight literally in water form the moment you arrive - buy a crate of bottled water at reception - get them to do you a deal where you promise to buy like a crate every two days - much cheaper that way (they get like a truck a week of the stuff) - don't drink hard more than once a week or it will catch up on you and eat into your training and fitness (obviously, but seriously) - get a deadly real thai massage down the road bout 300 meters - two hours of pleasure/pain - great for the muscles which will hurt after a few days, start in the beginners class even if you know a bit to get to know the trainers and the others there and see how you measure up, then they'll decide you should be in the intermediate which means some limited sparring in the ring and heavier fitness stuff and eventually ya should be going at it 80% by the end of your trip. Enjoy the island - its great - there's loads to do and there is a thriving sex industry obviously in the town but don't waste half your trip finding out that the training is why you came - the camp is where it's at and that's where you should be - not falling out of a bar on mainstreet half cut in the process of being conned by one of the girls and getting into a fight with one of the million textbook drunken aussie lads you'll see. See the sites and train balls to the wall and hang with the others there who are in some cases also well capable of leading you astray : ).....they also do cheap healthy food in the camp and a spanking good choc protein milkshake for straight after training for a euro or something. Go do it - train till ya drop literally - say hi to Corey from Phil and Aoife from Dublin and when ya come back - do what I'm doin here and shout it out to someone else coz it's a great business they run and they disserve every success. Now there'll be others who will say that it's for tourists and that the real camps are x and y - and on one hand they are right - so if you think you are badass and want to fight pro and do nothin but nothin but train pure MT in the best camps in Thailand then by all means but for a whole experience and some really good MMA sessions also Tiger is the place. jaysus I forgot how much fun I had there....hence all the waffle....hope this helps - oh yeah and they do good gear in their shop - come with cash for that - good value shtuff

MartyMcFly84

Hi Soretoe,

Ive been potting around with the same idea, hoping to go for it when i finally get done with collage this year. I was just wondering how much roughly you would need to cover everything, I was thinking of going for a 3month haul I read about, n possibly doing a fight out there towards the end. Yours or anyone one elses advise would be appreciated.

r_obric

what way did you fly there, whats the best airline/route/website to be looking at?

soretoe

About 23,000 baht covered me for luxury chalet thingy for a month and as much training as you like morning and evening sessions in MT or MMA or both or whatever you like = bout €475 - best bet is to make them an offer for accom and training for a month - as if ya dont know the prices exactly and they'll prob agree - they're not too strict on all that - don't tell them I said that though : ).
Getting there:
Got there with Etihad via London and then Abudabi (about €750 return - check around a bit) and then ya gotta get a quick flight down from that sh1thole Bangkok to Phuket which is cheap like 30 quid one way - buy at the airport - and then 30 min taxi form Phuket airport to the camp (bout 10 euro) and that's it ! Then there's renting the bike at the camp which is somethin like maybe €80 euro for a month and fook all to fill up ! You'll have to get a bike coz it's the only way to get around - and it's deadly fun - especially during rush hour and torrential rainfall when snakes are swimming in the puddles at your feet (slight exaggeration of one experience!).
Food is insanely cheap - noodles, chicken, various forms of same - but lovely! Stick to normal pad thai dishes like at the cafe on the camp or in town and you'll save loads and inhale gallons of bottled water every day. There's kinda harboury jetti sorta places dotted around with fish restaurants that do fresh fish/shellfish meals for so cheap and will be the best food you've ever had in your life. Try and do the protein shake thing to help your muscles recover and they're good and cold straight after training. Get enough sleep, get up dead early and get in your run before it gets too hot before your morning session. Make sure you wrap hands well - they'll do it for you mostly. Eh...anything else....nah...that's bout it.......apart form money for food and say a few beers on Sat nights - no training sundays - then you'll actually need very little spending - unless you wanna do snorkelling on one of the islands (reef island is good - off a harbour not far from the camp - have to charter a little boat - still cheap), scuba, jet skiing or all that sorta stuff but mostly Phuket is just a beautiful place - great beaches if you put some effort into finding the gobsmackingly amazing almost untouched ones that are secreted around the island. There's no way of doing both a full holiday Phuket Island experience as well as a full on training holiday if ya know what I mean - best thing to do is decide what you want before ya go coz if ya don't when you get there you'll be so excited about the place - you'll want to see every temple, animal sanctuary, beach, view, activity, restaurant and pub and nightclub there is and before ya know it you'll be skipping training sessions and taking days off and all that. I'm only tryin to give advice - and I'm barely an armchair martial artist! Bottom line is if you factor in return ticket, short hall tickets, moped rental, accom, training, food and some craic (but not too much) - you could do the whole thing for a month easily for between 2k and 2500 depending on some choices about restaurants, activities, drinking and days out on days off etc.. and if you think about it that's unbelievable value for an amazing experience and a hairy sh1tload of training. Oh yeah and if you stayed longer it wouldn't be anything like a multiplication of that - and I'd say they'd do you a deadly deal for more than one month if you paid up front and then just add more spending - bare in mind you could easily sleep well, eat and live and train a lot and have a gassed up moped for <€200 a week.
Consider the amount of training also: If you're badass here and you're committed and have the time - you train 3-4 evenings per week absolute max !! ? Now consider training 10 to 12 times a week for a month or 3 months on a nutrition plan plus running plus some weights plus massages plus being generally chilled out beyond comprehension in the most beautiful place with the coolest like minded people etc. etc.. you could easily do 110 classes (or >6 months training worth here) and go from novice to hardened intermediate sparring at 80% within 3 months of arrival...... right....That's it. once I blow off some crimbo fat and get back into some sort of regular training I'm gonna seriously consider a 3 week stint back there towards the end of the year.. hope all this (honest) waffle helped. I'm not posting their site link - you mentioned Tiger as a place you were considering so I'm sure you'll check it out yourself and wherever ya go enjoy it and train hard - like scary hard - like pass out a die on the mat hard - coz you may not get to do it again for a long time!!!

Roper

Jesus man paragraphs!!!!

Good info though.

Bidanged

Howdy Doo I was at Tiger twice this year the first time for 5 weeks and the 2nd time for 5 months I just got home about 2 weeks ago. I had the time of my life but if you decide to go then read the below bit (check out the paragraphs Roper!)

Do not book your accomodation through the camp. Both times I went I emailed the owner Will and he promised me he had a room and gave me a price and both times when I arrived I was told that they had to move me and it was more expensive than I was told. The camp is on a long road through a coconut plantation and there are alot of places to stay for alot cheaper than the camp will charge you the camp will book you in to these spots aswell but they add on a fee so your better off doing it yourself.

I suck at martial arts I had done a little bit of MMA before I went over and wanted to do more of it in Tiger but I cant stand the guy that gives the classes so I just stuck to the muay thai and I loved it.When I was there Jon Fitch from the ufc was over training and Mike Swick is there at the minute too they have 5 rings now and a cage and they are building a whole new weights area.I dont have a clue about weightlifting but they have a weightlifting coach who speaks brilliant english and hes always on hand to help you out if you need it. As I said Im kack at it I was only training for fun but if you want to fight and they think you are good enough they will get you fights if you ask them.I think the lads that fought got about 100 euros each time.Anyways hope that helps if you want to know anymore about it like where to stay or whatever just giz a shout!