Why you should travel to Thailand to study, and not play

Muay Chaiya Class in Chiang Mai

Why you should Study in Thailand

Thailand is an amazing place to visit, even if you are like me and don’t drink or enjoy the nightlife. The Thai people are extremely fun, happy, respectful and share their culture at every chance they get. You’ll find many learning opportunities in the land of smiles, ranging from cooking classes, the conventional Muay Thai gyms, and the reason I went to Thailand Muay Chaiya if you search hard enough. I had the opportunity to take a few lessons with Kru Yhinn, a student of Kru Praeng in Chiang Mai Thailand during my visit and despite the heat and humidity had some of the best training of my life.

The lessons are extremely structured, and generally has practitioners ascending through the ranks from a black belt (Yes! You start at a black belt) through gold. Kru Yhinn is an amazing instructor, and I was instantly able to see his ability in both instruction and fighting. If you aren’t familiar with Muay Chaiya, it is the southern style of Muay Boran or ancient Thai boxing which the ring sport of Muay Thai has been based on. Similar to how Judo stemmed from Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai has experienced the implementation of rules and regulations to become the worldwide sport that it has become, while Muay Chaiya and Muay Boran have always maintained a combat and war based techniques. During my time with Kru Yhinn, our lessons covered the basic stance, movements, attacks, and blocks while still leaving some time to learn some very basic Krabi Krabong the ancient sword style of Thailand. Muay Chaiya and Wing Chun share a lot of similar philosophies, mainly the centerline and simultaneous attack and defense theories. Muay Chaiya practitioners utilize a very low and centered stance, while their hands and forearms maintain a position blocking their center line and allowing them to quickly transition to the defensive shell which Thai fighters are well known for.

In addition to the Martial Arts in Thailand, other aspects of their culture are offered as classes such as cooking. The Thai people eat a very well balanced diet and I believe everyone can find a dish that they would enjoy being able to cook at home. The dishes are generally quick and easy to make provided you carry the necessary ingredients or prepare the sauces/pastes in advance. In my time in Thailand, I elected to take a one-day cooking class, which taught us to make a few dishes (and eat them) and provided us a recipe booklet to take home. In particular, I learned a couple dishes which I have been making at every opportunity which are the Banana Sticky rice dessert and Khao Soi a northern specialty made from yellow curry, egg noodles and garnished with vegetables and crispy egg noodles. Being able to cook is a fundamental skill necessary to any individual whether you are feeding yourself, entertaining guests or trying to impress someone you should always have one or two recipes up your sleeve.

Lastly but definitely not least, I recommend checking out a Thai Massage school during your visit. While a lot of Thai Massage schools in Thailand offer an expedited certification course that lack in actual instruction there are a few with a primary focus on developing technique. My girlfriend and I both took a 3-day course to learn the basics of Thai Massage which contained basic acupressure point massage and a few of the assisted stretch massage that Thai masseurs are known for. I always encourage everyone to learn basics of some form of massage not only for the benefit of anyone they might work on but their own. Learning massage is an excellent opportunity to become more knowledgeable about the human body, specific points which may be utilized in self-defense and finally to center oneself and learn to let go of any ego. A good massage can only come from a place of compassion, and selflessness while a person full of ego will be unconcerned with the feelings and their performance onto the recipient a selfless person will utilize their entire being to ensure their uke leaves feeling the best they’ve ever felt. Massage is about giving, and I believe we all must learn to give with no intention of receiving, performing mitzvahs.