Russell Lamb
October 18, 2017 10:49
Kru Phil Nurse and the other instructors at the Wat (Susan, Stanley, Brett, and others) are at the top of their class. All are excellent teachers and all have impressive skills at Thai boxing. They all share a similar theme to their instruction style, and that is to constantly "raise the bar" during the course of a session. For example, they'll have you do 10 push ups, then 20, then 30 or more. Or, they might work on a few simple combinations then have you string them all together. They all know how to keep a workout interesting and each class incorporates new workouts and drills to prevent the workouts from becoming stale.
The gym is small physically (they're moving to a new space), but the smallness lends itself to building a strong community. People are friendly and you begin to recognize faces of the people you train with. All different levels of commitment and experience are welcomed and accommodated. There is no formal ranking system of students, as far as I know, but students are generally watched and given permission to take advanced level classes by the instructors based on their experience.
Clinch is very well done here, as are pad training. There is no push to fight, but members committed to fighting have competed locally, nationally, and internationally. Several of the instructors compete or have competed regularly and have been successful.
The biggest downside to this gym, which has forced me to leave, was the limited schedule. Each class is only offered at certain times on certain days of the week. For instance, 3 times a week there is a morning class. Clinch classes are only offered in the evenings a couple days each week. Sparring is only one or two days per week (once at intermediate level and once at advanced level). Each class is marvelously done, but your schedule must fit around the classes you want to take.