Does anyone know much about the muay thai grading system?? i've been doin thai a lil over a year now and there hasn't been much mention in the class about doing a grading, apparently waiting until there is enough people interested in doing the grading and the majority appear to be there for fitness or to fight. Does it take long to get to the red band? how many years roughly and how many gradings are in between? ... I believe it begins yellow.. through to red.. and theres a grading above red which you must learn in thailand? Do you learn more of the traditional muay thai as you get higher up the grades? does weaponry come into it at all or is that just lim lon/krabbi krabbong (or whatever its called)??
I think that's up to your school on how they grade you. I think to get the first color armband you should know the basics like stance, footwork, basic elbows, knees, kicks, some minor clinching, countering kicks and other techniques. And so on and so forth. The first part alone may take some time before you'll earn your first prachiat (usually yellow or white?). It's really relative to your personal speed and development and how often the instructor decides to promote rankings. I believe the "normal" color rankings go from yellow, green, blue, red and perhaps black at the highest (instructor) level and yellow at the lowest but it could vary from gym to gym. My gym uses white for the beginning levels for example. Naturally, the higher the level, the longer it may take. However you know what they say: the belt is in the ring. You should be accumulating knowledge as you progress higher and higher. Strategies, tips tricks etc. They probably would include some ling lom techniques (you'll recognize them by the climbing techniques). As far as krabi krabong weaponry, that's up to your instructor. I don't think it's a normal requirement to learn krabi krabong unless your school teaches it. If you choose, you could take the initiative some day and learn that on your own. Generally, when you say muay Thai you are referring to the unarmed combat aspect which is simply - muay.
like nicolo said depends on the the camp my camp (Phraya Pichai) has grading every 3 months with 1st grade being basic stance and basic use of the 8 limbs gradually progessing in the required expertise in each with ram muay being required at around 5th grade (my next target). the highest grade is 10th which is red but there are then different colours for instructers etc i.e my instructor is senior and if memory serves me right his band is green and yellow but dont quote me. oh yeah nearly forgot the only weapon stuff required by our camp according to the camp website (which is so far out of date i think Phraya Pichai himself may have written it ) is that we have to use a stick to disarm a knife attacker.
belfast? Where do you do Muay Thai in Belfast? Just of of curiousity as I was interested in taking it up.
Ah I don't do it in belfast.. i'm livin in england temporarily.. Apparently theres a guy called Frank McConville who takes a Muay Thai class in Frames in Belfast.. not sure who you could contact though for more info.. Try the martial arts shop out the back of castle court in belfast.. Theres another Muay Thai class in the Fitness First gym on boucher road on a thursday night but its not long opened and i'm sure its more of a fitness workout as opposed to training for the ring style! (i could be wrong) Or you could try Billy Murrays Prokick gyms (www.prokick.com).. they're all over n.ireland including a few in belfast.. it may be more kickboxing orientated though! oh and cheers for the info above nicolo, shipto...
Aye I knew about prokick, might check it out, but was more interested in MuayThai - thanks for the info!
