If you’re considering going to SuperPro Samui for Muay Thai training in Koh Samui, this post is for you. I went to two sessions here, one of the largest Muay Thai training resorts in Thailand.

Note: I’m an absolute noob at Muay Thai so if you’re a Muay Thai beginner you’ll be able to relate to my experience of Muay Thai in Thailand.

Gassed as.

Other than irking some drunks a couple times in Wellington I’ve never in a fight growing up. On those two occasions I went straight into self protection mode. Meow.

So when I found myself looking into the mirror attempting to shadow box at SuperPro Samui, I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous I looked. Seriously, it’s so awkward! My respect to air guitarists has only grown.

What on earth is a good punching technique?

That wasn’t a factor as my lack of fighting ability and silly insecurity (mentioned later) weren’t an issue during the sessions. The training was designed to be inclusive for everyone.

I wasn’t too keen on the sessions, Franzi had to talk me into going. THANKING YOU (in hindsight). My only other Muay Thai experience was in Chiang Mai where my friend and I attempted to spar. Keyword, attempted. And watching Muay in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Back to SuperPro Samui.

This is where you’ll spend most of your time

Checking in to the class was easy:

1. Pay 400 baht to reception
2. Hover around the open air gym with as everyone else in the morning heat.

Everyone (except the trainers) was a foreigner. Some had been training six days a week for months and others like myself there for shits and giggles.

Everyone gets the same training routine with the basic outline being:

• Warmup
• Stretching
• Bag work
• Pad work
• Semi Spar
• Warm down

At 8 a.m. on the dot (Thai time does not apply) 20 of us started the warm up with 10 minutes of jogging. Next some are directed to the large tires to bounce up an down on while shadow boxing. Thankfully I got to go straight to skipping (not enough tires) as the tires were in the direct sunshine (and shadow boxing nightmares). I tell you what though, skipping in bare feet with a plastic rope isn’t the most enjoyable thing ever. One fuck up and your foot gets a nice little sting.

We finished that up with THAT shadow boxing to complete our 20 minute warm up. Time to get gloved up.


The open air gym

They provide (clean) wraps for you to wear I met one of the smiley trainers, Keng, who put my wraps on. They do provide gloves, if you can call them that. In need of replacement they’re full of holes and dried sweat from dozens of others. Not that a new pair of gloves would turn me into an overnight superstar, I could have at least felt closer to one.

Next up, bag work for most of us as some people went to do their individual pad work with trainers in the ring. There’s only a few trainers so they rotate people away from the group for individual pad work.

The bags seem to be in good condition with the bag work was stuff we did on our own, though some drills requiring two on a bag. The routine was watch what combination the trainer show what he wanted us to do. Then we would perform whatever that was 20 times.

I found the punching not so bad, but the kicks were tough as I felt the height dropping on each rep. By now the mat is full of sweat, so you’re trying not to slip over either.

This was the longest part of the session, and I found it more tiring than the pad work (we did get breaks. Muay Thai at 8 in the morning is a sure fire way to get you closer to drinking 2 liters of water for the day.


Seems to be in decent condition

That insecurity I mentioned? My pinky toes. They’re weird and sit on top of the toe next to them in their natural state. It’s weird though, I love walking around in bare feet but hate jandals (flip flops) and wear sandals instead to hide them. Anyway, when people do happen to look at my feet they usually mention my pinky toe if I haven’t forced it into a normal position. So I figured my toes would get exposed during the training, ugh partner work sounded bad. Turns out it was all in my head, no one gives a fuck.

On the pads I had a different trainer each day. The first day I had a friendly trainer (not listed on their site) and the second day I had Noi. He doesn’t seem to be a happy man with a few others mentioning his negative energy to me.

As a Muay Thai noob, it would have been great to have had more of a focus on technique in this section. I was trying to get any part of my knees, elbows, hands, and feet to connect with the pads. But they’re set in their ways. For each round, the trainer will work you through a variety of moves with a 30 second break between each two minute round. This could have been more of a fun experience (when working with obvious beginners).

After everyone has had a turn working the pads, we move onto working through combos with a partner. Like the bag work, we were show what combinations to work on and then left to our own devices. One is the attacker, one is the defender. It would have been nice if the trainers came and helped us with some of the combinations. We’d spend precious minutes trying to work out the combo ourselves.

On the first day I hadn’t noticed the clock above the mirror until there was 40 minutes left. That was a bad discovery as those final 40 minutes took forever.

If you haven’t got any fitness in as of late, know it’ll be bloody hard. Everyone can complete one class with some effort. If you were to sit out for 10 minutes I can’t see the trainers giving you a hard time (out loud) for doing so.

With about 5 minutes left on the clock, the warm down begins. On the first day that involved some insane ab workouts (warm down). With a bow and a tap of the fists with the trainers we were de-wrapping (is the what it’s called?) and getting on with the rest of the day.

SURVIVAL

SuperPro Samui Review: Final Thoughts



• After the training you can’t help me proud of yourself, and yay for not being too sore the following days.
• I now know what a Muay Thai workout involves as all the websites list the same outline.
• I’d have loved to get in some more technique work during the session as I struggled with balance. There were opportunties for this too happen during the pad work (I asked on the second day, Noi didn’t want to help) and the drills with the partner to do so.
• There was no favouritism from what I could see between drop ins and longer term students.
• The rings, boxing bags, mat, and wraps (seemed like they were washed), appeared to be in good condition but the boxing gloves leave A LOT to be desired.
• Overall the quality of the sessions was decent, but I wouldn’t be loyal to SuperPro Samui based on my two sessions. I’d be willing to try out another location the next time I’m in Koh Samui.

If you’re looking for Muay Thai training for beginners on Koh Samui, I wouldn’t say not to go. If you’re 50/50 on it and there’s a more convenient Muay Thai gym in Koh Samui, try that out.

Superpro Samui Details

• Cost Of 1x Drop-in Class: 400 baht (full price list)
• What to wear: I wore rugby league shorts and a tshirt. Your general gym/fitness gear will do and socks if you want.
• Times of classes: Muay Thai is Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (full timetable)
• Location:

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