Everyone is wearing Thai trunks.

[Damian Mavis]

As a professional martial arts instructor and school owner I see the need to test and "get something" for hard work, even if here in Thailand it's unheard of (for muay thai). If you don't do this in cultures that have a relative ease of life where people work office jobs you dont make money, simple as that so anyone that crticises it is a fool and shouldn't expect school owners to NOT make money and survive, because without the acknowledgement of their persistence in training you would only have 2 or 3 hardcore students and they will NOT support a studio. That is the reality. Rent is usually extremely expensive and you must do what you can to attract more than a handful of students to stay open.

I see nothing wrong with the TBA way of testing for shorts, but from personal experience I find their students extremely foolish in their attitude that the rest of the world should follow their rules and regulations. Being in Thailand and listening to TBA members tell other people at Thai muay thai camps that they have no right to and shouldnt be wearing muay thai shorts since they didnt do a silly little test back home across the ocean was more than I could bear.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD Thailand

[Khun Kao]

Khun Kao.
Yes thats good with diffrent levels of skills. But what is the reqvirements for the shorts. If you can earn them what is the things you have to do to hae them?

Unfortunately, I'm not able to answer this question. I don't test anyone for the right to wear shorts and I don't know what the requirements are that other MuayThai gyms use when testing for shorts. In my gym, you simply need to fork over the money for them.

[WhiteTiger]

Khun Kao.
Yes thats good with diffrent levels of skills. But what is the reqvirements for the shorts. If you can earn them what is the things you have to do to hae them?

[Garland]

Personally, I have sold about 60 pairs of short pants since 1994, and I have only seen a couple since then. I don't think they are wearing them at the beach, or as pajamas. Do you think they might be hanging on the wall as souvenirs?

I have one leopard print pair signed by Saekson Janjira that are hanging on the wall in my room...
the others I wear to work out in, sometimes swim in or hit the hottub in if I forget my swimtrunks, and yes...I have slept in them, and let my girlfriends sleep in them...the color contrast is kinda cute (bright yellow trunks with red lettering, or forrest green with yellow lettering...sometimes my oversized white, blue, and red krataeng daeng (red bull) trunks.)
speaking of which, my current girlie is wearing my signed Sakasem "Punisher" Kwathawong hoodie to bed right now...

[Khun Kao]

Yes, predominantly by weight. There are weight classes just like in Boxing. If you go to http://www.wmtc.nu you can search through there to find a list of the MuayThai weight classes. Very similar to Boxing.

[47MartialMan]

NO ONE DID NOT ANSWER MY SECOND QUESTION-

Does Thailand MT square off combatants according to size and weight?

[47MartialMan]

Its not WHO makes the trunks, its HOW. There is a specific style/cut to the trunks for MuayThai, and it is NOT the same as regular boxing trunks. Heck, I think a fair amount of MuayThai trunks and gear aren't even made in Thailand anyway. A lot of it is made in Pakistan.

Well, I bet she can get the style/cut. I know some one that can put phasa thai, Lanna, Kam Mueang, or Tai Yuan

[Khun Kao]

I know a seamtress that can make a couple of custom ones. But will they still be Thai? Thai short look no diferent than pattern boxer?

Its not WHO makes the trunks, its HOW. There is a specific style/cut to the trunks for MuayThai, and it is NOT the same as regular boxing trunks. Heck, I think a fair amount of MuayThai trunks and gear aren't even made in Thailand anyway. A lot of it is made in Pakistan.

[47MartialMan]

I'm kinda surprised as well, considering how easy Thai shorts are to come by, and for a decent price. You can find them all over the place for about $20 or less. Granted, the nicer ones will cost you up to twice that, but still.....

I know a seamtress that can make a couple of custom ones. But will they still be Thai? Thai short look no diferent than pattern boxer?

[47MartialMan]

In the vein of this thread, but in a correctingly humorous manner, I think the question should be "Why aren't more people wearing Thai short pants?" Is it poor marketing on our part? Is it misguided egocentrism and elitism? Is it muay Thai itself that puts people off, or is it our manners? Jeez, I hope I am losing my hair, not that my head is growing too big for my hair. Personally, I have sold about 60 pairs of short pants since 1994, and I have only seen a couple since then. I don't think they are wearing them at the beach, or as pajamas. Do you think they might be hanging on the wall as souvenirs?

Nah, they are getting ripped and soiled

[Khun Kao]

Ok..Much text there khun Kao.. But you dident answer my question. How do you grade the students. And yes it ofcourse many ppl whant do all the Thai stuff. But that you can get by in letting beginners train with beginners and have diffrent classses. And for the advanced ppl. You have the brutal thai style aprotch to the trining.

As I've already said, at this time I don't really "grade" my students. Again, not because I'm against the idea, but its just something I never got around to doing. I've experimented with adopting a grading structure a few times in the past, but I've never felt comfortable enough with it to really "make it fly".

I kinda let things "shake out" on their own. What I mean is that I essentially think of my students in 3 different categories.

NOVICES: These are the people who have only been with me a short time and haven't learned all their basic skills yet. Most people should be part of this group for approximately 90 days. There are some people who HAVE been with me longer than the 90-day introductory period who still fall into this category simply because no matter how much we try, they simply don't "get it" yet.... The focus of this group is for them to learn/comprehend the basic skills.

*I actually have a novice program I've developed for this 90-day period called the "MuayThai F.S.S." program. F.S.S. stands for "Foundation, Structure, & Strategy". It is a blend of Bareknuckle & Sport MuayThai techniques, but taught *mostly* from the perspective of ring fighting. It's major focus is on proper stance, guard, and footwork. It is a constantly evolving program, though, as the more I learn, the more I go back and add to the program.

REGULARS: These are the people who have been with my class long enough that they pretty much know all their basics. Doesn't necessarily mean they are good, but they comprehend enough of what they are doing that they aren't slowing class up. This group covers a wide range of skill level, as you can imagine. We focus this group mostly on getting a good workout while making subtle corrections to their technique.

ADVANCED/FIGHTERS: These are the people who are being groomed to fight, are already fighters, or who have been with me long enough that they have most of the material down and are even able to assist with the less experienced students. This groups focus is on conditioning, conditioning, conditioning.... and on the "tricks" of the trade and learning ring strategy.

[Khun Kao]

In the vein of this thread, but in a correctingly humorous manner, I think the question should be "Why aren't more people wearing Thai short pants?" Is it poor marketing on our part? Is it misguided egocentrism and elitism? Is it muay Thai itself that puts people off, or is it our manners? Jeez, I hope I am losing my hair, not that my head is growing too big for my hair. Personally, I have sold about 60 pairs of short pants since 1994, and I have only seen a couple since then. I don't think they are wearing them at the beach, or as pajamas. Do you think they might be hanging on the wall as souvenirs?

I'm kinda surprised as well, considering how easy Thai shorts are to come by, and for a decent price. You can find them all over the place for about $20 or less. Granted, the nicer ones will cost you up to twice that, but still.....

[chalambok]

In the vein of this thread, but in a correctingly humorous manner, I think the question should be "Why aren't more people wearing Thai short pants?" Is it poor marketing on our part? Is it misguided egocentrism and elitism? Is it muay Thai itself that puts people off, or is it our manners? Jeez, I hope I am losing my hair, not that my head is growing too big for my hair. Personally, I have sold about 60 pairs of short pants since 1994, and I have only seen a couple since then. I don't think they are wearing them at the beach, or as pajamas. Do you think they might be hanging on the wall as souvenirs?

[GranFire]

***just can't shake the image of figleaves - nvm, carry on***

[Python]

Ok..Much text there khun Kao.. But you dident answer my question. How do you grade the students. And yes it ofcourse many ppl whant do all the Thai stuff. But that you can get by in letting beginners train with beginners and have diffrent classses. And for the advanced ppl. You have the brutal thai style aprotch to the trining.

( Exuse me for my spelling )

I dont have time right now, but I will paste our grading system up here tomorrow as an example, but this is only ours, others may and will vary.