I had my first private, 1-2-1 Muay Thai lesson today which was really awesome. Tiger Muay Thai charge 5500 THB for a bundle of 10 private lessons, which works out to 550 THB a lesson, or roughly £10.50, which is great value as it costs that much to join a class back in the UK!
The lesson consisted of pad work, interspaced with sit-ups and massages and lasted an hour. Obviously when you’ve got a personal trainer the format of the class will be based on your own individual needs, I’m starting at the beginning so it’s mostly about technique and cardio for me.
After learning to stand up straight, yet also to have my chin down, the class became a lot easier, as I was able to breath! By the end of it I was able to actually duck and dodge strikes, rather than take them in the face. I was still exhausted though!
Thai Massage
Yesterday I was reading Sylvie’s latest blog post on 8 Limbs about the benefits of a sauna and a massage after training. (I thoroughly recommend her blog by the way, as it covers her training up in Chiang Mai and is very detailed!) After what I went through today, and having spent the last 3 weeks walking past dozens of massage parlours each day I decided to get one.
For 400 THB, roughly £8, I got a Thai sports massage at Bamboo Massage, that lasted 90 minutes and would have cost £80 back home. I’d smelled it whilst walking around the camp a lot, and put it down to people getting injured, but it seems that the main difference between a Thai Massage and a Thai Sports Massage is the liberal application of Deep Heat, everywhere.
Due to all the squats and deadlifts I’ve done in the past my legs hold a lot of tension and the muscles are very right, so I spent most of the time screaming as my IT band and calves were massaged, but it was well worth it. I don’t know about going every week but at that price I can definitely see monthly visits in my future!