Training takes place twice daily six days per week. The gym is open from Monday – Saturday while Sunday is  a rest day with no training. Training times are as follows:

While these are the times when the trainers available to coach you,  there’s no need to be present promptly at the beginning of each session.  Unlike most martial arts schools in the west where the instructor takes the class through a lesson together, training here takes place on an individual level  with your trainers tailoring your  program to suit your needs. That means you can arrive a little late and get straight into your training without missing anything.

Depending on how hard you want to train you’ll find yourself spending anywhere between 1-3 hrs per training session.  Once you’ve established your routine and know how long you take to train you can figure out exactly what training times are best for you.

Training is tailored to your needs and through communicating with your trainers you’ll be provided with the encouragement you need to push beyond  your previous limits without over-exhausting yourself. How much of a particular exercise you do will ultimately depend on you. Below is simply an outline of the main activities involved in training Muay Thai at Lion.

Running (20 mins-1hr)

Running is essential when it comes to developing stamina and fitness. Running correctly increases your lung capacity and cardiovascular efficiency.  Another major benefit of running for a Thai boxer is that it conditions and strengthens the legs enabling them to absorb the pain of receiving low kicks. Traditionally, Thai boxers run twice a day at the start of each training session. This is usually a 10 km run in the morning and a 4-5 km run in the afternoon.

Skipping (10 mins)

This is the classic boxers warm up.  A lot more tiring than it looks, skipping is great not only for the legs and calf muscles in particular, but it warms up and loosens the entire body while expanding the lungs in preparation for training. Rhythm is an important part of Muay Thai and skipping helps you to develop your own rhythm.

One of the most common ailments suffered by people new to Muay Thai is sore calfs that come from skipping. It’s a great idea to practice skipping before you get to Thailand to condition yourself so you don’t get too sore when you’re training.

Stretching (10 mins)

This is an important pre-training step that increases flexibility and when performed moderately reduces the chances of pulled muscles. Stretching covers the whole body and takes about 5- 10 minutes.

Shadow Boxing (10-20 mins)

Shadow boxing is a great way to build and revise your repertoire of techniques. As you develop in Muay Thai you’ll become familiar with longer and more complicated combinations. Shadow boxing allows you to practice these techniques and correct any mistakes you may be making. What you first learn to do in shadow boxing, you will later implement on bags & pads and finally in the ring with an opponent.

Bag Work (15- 30 mins)

Hitting a bag allows you practice punches, kicks, elbows and knees. You’ll be taught combinations and given the chance to develop them on the bag adding the element  of power to the speed, accuracy and correct posture developed by shadow boxing.  Bags are solid enough to provide a realistic feel to the impact of your strikes, yet absorbent enough so as not to break anything. Kicking the bags are an effective way of toughening up the shins, elbows, knees, hands and wrists.

Pad Work (10 – 20 mins)

This is the heart of  the training session. It is where you will learn the most and is also the most physically exhausting. Your trainer will hold pads for you inside a professional spec  Muay Thai ring  and instruct you on striking combinations to perform while guiding you on how to sharpen up the delivery of your techniques. Power,  stamina, speed, reflexes, as well as technique and accuracy are all put to use on the pads. In addition to striking, foot work and ring generalship are also emphasized here.

Sparring (15-30 mins)

Sparring is the closest you can get to an actual Muay Thai match.  Wearing large gloves and protective wear, you have the opportunity to see if everything you’ve learned actually works or not! With your partner you’ll take turns at attacking and defending  using all the combinations you’ve learnt. How hard you spar depends on your level of experience, with beginners starting softly while if you’re preparing for a fight it will be a lot harder. You can also spar with trainers who will go at a pace you can keep up with.

Clenching (15-30 mins)

Clenching is a big part of  Muay Thai that requires a tremendous amount of upper body strength, especially in the neck, in addition to a well developed sense of balance. There are many techniques related to clenching that you need to learn as part of your Muay Thai development. You will be taught how grab your opponent and throw knees, how to escape clenches and also how to throw your opponent while learning how to avoid being thrown.

Conditioning (20 mins)

Training sessions usually end with body conditioning exercises. The precise exercises you do will be up to you but generally abdominal and neck strengthening are considered very important.   A favorite amongst Muay Thai fighters is to perform sit ups while a trainer punches your abdomen ( wearing a glove) after each sit up. Otherwise there are a whole host of exercises that can be done to strengthen every part of your body.