Horizon Muay Thai Boxing Camp

Overlooking the crystal waters of Haad Tien Bay, Horizon Muay Thai Boxing Camp offers a unique learning environment. Under qualified instruction you can train alongside Thai Boxing students from around the world...
Who are you
John Cecil-Wright

The Challenge
Horizon Muay Thai Boxing Camp

How long did it take
6 days
 
What was the distance
N/A

How much did it cost
£65 plus travel to Thailand, accommodation and food

Who was the organise r
www.horizonmuaythai.com
What was it like

There are many different courses available at the Horizon boxing camp. You can turn up and do one morning or you can train morning and evening for several months. I did 6 days at the camp training from 8 – 10am and 4-6pm. It was an awesome experience. The camp itself is in a jungle setting high up on a headland between Hd’Yuan and Hd’Yao On Koh Phangan. The instructors are really nice guys, they are all ex area champions and are happy to teach any level. I had done a small amount of Muay Thai before I got there but I felt I really improved throughout the week.

There were about 8 of us on average per session, usually with about 3 instructors. Lessons would begin with a warm up including stretching and skipping. You’d always get a few one on one sessions with an instructor where they would work on a particular technique or move (punch, kick, elbow, knee etc) in the ring for a about 15 mins, you would then practice on one of the bags for another 15 mins. You were always being watched (or so it seemed) by one of the instructors, so if your technique dropped off while on the bags they would tell you where you were going wrong.

There was also a fair amount of sparing during each session (although for me this happened towards the end of my 6 days as I was less experienced than most others on my course). I would practice light sparing against some of my western co-trainees but I was also put up against some local Thai lads. Due to my lack of experience I was often put up against some fairly young (16yrs) Thai kid, but despite the fact I could almost fit my hands around his waist, he was incredibly strong, and of course his technique was way ahead of mine, taking a beating from someone nearly half your age is a fairly humbling experience but (as you’ll realise if you’ve ever seen a Thai Boxing match) respect and humility is a big part of the culture of the sport and these guys would always help you back up. You actually learn a lot from sparing with people who’s technique is far better then yours.
I was actually in Thailand for 2 weeks. I spent a few days chilling out before the course and the same after. Training for 4 hrs a day in the height of the Thai summer really worked my fitness. The mates I was with (they didn’t do the course) said I had noticeably lost weight over the 6 days and I not supprised. I used to sweat buckets just during the warm up, let alone the class itself. Although I signed up to do classes every day, I did miss a few, I missed a couple of the early morning ones if I had been out on a late one the night before. There is no problem with thie, the intructors know that different people are there for different reasons. There were some people who were there to train for a fight, they were there for extended periods and were training very hard, then there were guys like me who were on holiday but wanted a bit a of challenge while they were out there.

All in all it’s a great experience. You get the best of both worlds, training in the morning and evening with most of the day free to enjoy the beach and restaurants etc. It’s very flexible which means if you’re with a group of friends not all of you have to do it and if you’re the type of person who likes a doing a bit more than just lying on the beach it’s a great option.
How did you train

I didn’t train for this course specifically. I have a fairly good level of fitness, through running and gym sessions. I had done some ‘Freestyle Karate’ for a few months before hand, so I had a fairly good idea of the principals behind basic fighting.

Although you don’t need to be an athlete to take part in the course, but I would say you’d get more out of it if you’re a bit fitter. It’s so hot out there, if you not in reasonable shape you might find yourself sitting on a bench after half an hr trying to recover.

I would recommend working on your CV before you go. Try running and if your gym has a punch bag get on that – maybe as a personal trainer if they can give you a very quick heads up on the basics.

Flexibility will also help you, maybe try a bit of yoga, I’m not particularly flexible but some of these guys can do the splits etc which is very helpful for your kicking.


Any other useful hints / links

Take some electrolyte and drink plenty of it during a session
Here is the website for the Horizon camp ( http://www.horizonmuaythai.com/.) have a look through it, I just did the course but you’ll see there are costs that include accommodation as well.
Might be worth buying some Muay Thai boxing shorts before you go although you’ll be able to get them out there.