Having just come back from Phromthep Muay Thai Camp, I have to say that I had a great time! I'm still amazed that I managed to lose 17 and a half kilo's in just 5 weeks!

I've been trying to do that for years, and in just over a month of training and living at Phromthep Muay Thai gym - I achieved my goal!

By the way, if you want to jump ahead and check out the site, you can do so here: http://thailandmuaycamp.com/

My Phromthep Muay Thai Review:

Okay, so I arrived on the camp (after having been picked up from the airport) and was escorted to my bungalow. I was delighted at the appearance of the room and was pleased to see that it also had air conditioning, refrigerator, tv, and more.

That night I ate at the resteraunt on camp. I came to love this resteraunt because not only is there a wide range of healthy foods and smoothies, but also because it is cheap and convinient.

The next day I got up nice and early and took a BodyFit class. This is a great type of circuit training which helps you get back into shape, fitter and more flexible. I also took a yoga class and was really preparing myself for the muay thai training (which I new would be intense).

When I finally did begin my muay thai training, I felt ready. It was a lot of fun and the trainers were great at getting the intensity just right and building up my strength and fitness at a good rate.

After having spent 5 weeks training most days, eating only from the Phromthep muay thai resteraunt and staying on camp, I lose a massive 17+kg! I was and am thrilled by the whole experience and will soon return with family and friends.

Yet another oversimplification and useful rule of thumb: if two boxers are equal in all of the above respects; perhaps because they are very equally matched or are not skilful enough to score with appropriate techniques, judges should award the fight to the boxer who attacks more or who tries to make a fight of it.

An oversimplification but still a useful rule of thumb: The boxer who lands more clean kicks and knees on their opponent’s body wins the round. If you move your opponent with your kick or can unbalance your opponent first and follow with a technique, that is better still. It is important to note these can be delivered while moving forwards, backwards or sideward. Balance after delivery is important (Punches, elbows and leg kicks do score but as detailed earlier you have to really show effect with these weapons).

Other than when fights are too close to call, elite Thai fighters in Thailand clearly know ‘the game’ of MuayThai well enough to gauge how clearly they are winning or losing the fight and what they have to do to maintain their lead or reverse the situation and take over the lead. Knowing this, I thought it might be informative to ask a top Thai fighter how they went about doing this. While I knew this wouldn’t reflect exactly what judges were looking for at ringside, I thought it would be useful for my own fighters when competing and also may provide an insight for others. I asked a good friend of mine Duwao Kongudom, a former champion who had beaten a number of top fighters including the famous Anuwat Kaewsamrit on two occasions what system he used. Duwao said he gave points in his head to particular strikes and used that as a basis for determining how far ahead or behind he was. In the system he uses, he gives 1 point for a punch and leg kick, 2 points for a round knee to the body, 3 points for a round kick or straight knee to the body and 4 points for a neck kick. He doesn’t actually add the points up in his head but uses it as a guide. For example, if he gets hit with a round kick he knows to equal the score, he either has to score back with a round kick or straight knee to the body, or hit with two round knees or three clean punches or strong leg kicks.  It is important to note that this is not how scores are actually recorded and it also presumes that all techniques are delivered with power and on balance

In MuayThai judges are looking to award the fight to the stronger boxer (in MuayThai terms) over the course of a fight. To do this they are looking for a boxer to show this mentally (in terms of composure), physically and technically (balance and position being essential).  Judges are looking for which boxer’s MuayThai is more effective.  There are a number of things that determine what effective means in practical terms in MuayThai. Effectiveness in MuayThai is determined by the physical effect a technique has on a fighter; this often equates to a boxer losing position (being moved or losing balance). To put it another way when a boxer is moved by a technique rather than them moving under their own control; they could be hit with real force or they could just be off balance when they are hit. Effectiveness doesn’t mean a kick or knee has to hurt an opponent to score (although a boxer who shows they are hurt will be at a serious disadvantage in scoring and may lose the fight as a result in some circumstances).

Professional fights in a number of other countries across the world are classified as “A”, “B” and “C” class. “A” class referring to open class fighters, “B” class referring  to experienced fighters who have had reasonable fight experience and are technically and physically capable of competing over five, two minute rounds. “C” class fighters are less experienced fighters, relative novices, who are capable of fighting three rounds of two minutes or five rounds of one and a half minutes.

Most of the rules that apply to “A” class fights apply to “B” and “C” class fights with a few exceptions. In most associations in the west, “C” class “professional rules” fights are fought either over three rounds of two minutes in duration with a minute break in between rounds or five one and a half minute rounds. In” C” class fights, elbows or knees delivered to the head or faces are not allowed. “B” class fights are usually fought over five two minute rounds, again with one minute rest intervals. In most associations knees to head are allowed, but in some they are not. Generally elbows to the head are not allowed in “B” class fights, although, on occasion, they are used with agreement of both boxers. “A” class fights are held over five three minute rounds with two minutes rest between rounds (this is sometimes reduced to one and a half minutes in some associations).

After talking to other western fans of the sport, I soon realised I was not on my own; a number of non-Thai spectators didn’t fully understanding how the MuayThai fights were judged. Since that time I have been lucky enough to have had my own fighters fight at Lumpinee and Radjadamnern stadiums, and have had the chance to referee and judge fights in Bangkok. Now that I understand the rules and how fights are scored my fighters fair better in international competition and my enjoyment of the fights has actually improved dramatically. So if you are a fighter or coach, I hope the article will contribute something towards your training, making it more focused on what scores and how not to get scored upon. If you are a fan or a recreational participant, I hope your enjoyment of fights will be enhanced a little by this article.

MuayThai is increasing in popularity with an estimated one million participants worldwide. Like in every other sport is essential for the competitors and coaches, and very useful for fans to understand the rules and scoring of the sport they participate in or watch. It would be unthinkable for football players and spectators not to have at least a rudimentary and very often a detailed understanding of the rules of football, or know where and how players score but it does happen in MuayThai.