WMC at Lamai Beach Koh Samui
So my first day on Koh Samui I decided to check out the WMC camp. The actual name of the place is Lamai Muay Thai though, they are just affiliated with the WMC. This place has been on my mind since it is affiliated with the World Muay Thai Council (WMC) which quite frankly is the only Muay Thai council that matters. For more information on Muay Thai “Federations” check out this post here which sheds a bit of light on the matter.
WMC is also popular with a lot of star fighters. A few of the guys from the show “Contender Asia” train or regularly make stops at WMC to train. One of the finalists, Zidov trains here regularly and I actually got to meet him.
However, if you go to train there, don’t go there thinking that you will be training side by side with some of the worlds best Muay Thai fighters. I showed up to the 5 pm regular training session and honestly for the first half hour of it I was quite discombobulated. It quite honestly seemed like I was doing an aerobics class. There was a huge Thai Guy, and I mean huge (by Thai standards) this dude looked like a proper body builder and he was going through the PACKED class (at least 25-30 people in an area the size of one ring and a half) shouting out combinations and making people do push ups, apparently no rounds, just constant calls for this combo and that combo then some squats. It was bizarre and not what I was expecting at all.
However, after a while I did notice that for a big class of beginners the system they had going was actually pretty good. It wasn’t totally random and it followed a certain guideline, starting from punches to elbows, blocks, knees and kicks. After that they had you pair up with a partner and do some BASIC reactions to attacks – block a kick, grab a kick, parry the punch and elbow etc… After that there is kick sparring, boxing sparring then Muay Thai. At the end of all this everyone gets 2 rounds on the pads with a trainer who is just waiting to go home. Jab, Cross, Kick. It’s become an inside joke for the guys who have trained in Thailand a while, the trainers who’s pad holding system contains “Jab, Cros Kick” anyway, you get a lot of that at the end of your training session.
Now, during this training session there is a parallel session going on on the other side of the gym with some very good fighters. Pretty much what I am telling you is they have a side for the tourists and the people who are training for a short time (me) and guys who are committed and are gonna stay for a while and fight for the gym. And you can tell the other side is getting the proper attention of the gyms instructors and that they really know what there doing.
I only trained here one time, and the price was a reasonable 250 baht per session. However, I think you if you want to get the most out of WMC, you need to have plans to stay here at least one month. If you do end up doing something like that please comment and let us know what your experience was like. If you were to come all the way out to Thailand and get the training that I did on that day, I would say you trip would end up being a waste. However, if you do put int he effort and commit to fight and get the proper treatment, I see no reason why this camp wold not meet and exceed all expectations.