Tell me about kickboxing (and is this expensive..?)
Discussion
Tried a few taster lessons at my local club and am keen on joining .. But got hold of the prices and was quite surprised!
It's £89/month for unlimited classes (I can probably make two a week) including grading assessments. Monthly contract. Bedfordshire area.
Is that steep? I have no point of reference but I could join a gym in Canary Wharf for that (and never go, admittedly). It's the only place I know of locally.
It didn't seem very structured to start with and the classes are run on a rolling basis but the classes were small, so there was lots of 1:1 stuff. Is that normal?
It's £89/month for unlimited classes (I can probably make two a week) including grading assessments. Monthly contract. Bedfordshire area.
Is that steep? I have no point of reference but I could join a gym in Canary Wharf for that (and never go, admittedly). It's the only place I know of locally.
It didn't seem very structured to start with and the classes are run on a rolling basis but the classes were small, so there was lots of 1:1 stuff. Is that normal?
Is it an actual contract for the month? Or just pay monthly? If it's anything you have to sign I'd give it a miss. In fact any Kick boxing clubs that have belts I'd avoid. I'm sure you can find better for cheaper.
I pay an inclusive £45 a month at a MMA gym, the individual Thai classes are £6.
I pay an inclusive £45 a month at a MMA gym, the individual Thai classes are £6.
essayer said:
Month rolling.
Out of interest why avoid clubs that have belts?
Kick boxing clubs that have a belt system & charge for gradings are only interested in money, these are usually full of kids and adults with black belts who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. It's the kind of thing where you pay £XX every 2-3 months to receive the next belt regardless of skill level thus the belt means absolutely nothing, unlike BJJ, Judo, Sambo & some of the harder Karate's systems where you generally have to compete to earn your belt. If you're only interested in a belt so that you can show off then that's fine, but if you're interested in actually learning to fight & improve yourself then you'll get better training else where. Out of interest why avoid clubs that have belts?
A black belt in the likes of Kick Boxing, Karate, Kung Fu etc doesn't mean s
t. If I had the choice to either train with a Kick Boxing Black Belt, or a guy with solid ring credentials I know which one I'd pick. D1ngd0ng said:
Not this again, what a stupid comment. Just tar us all with the same brush why don't you. Anyone who takes their martial training seriously and trains with good teachers are going to give anyone a run for their money. Doesn't matter which martial art it is.
Indeed.MMA/Thai/BJJ good. Everyone else bad.
It's so pathetic.
Given that the aforementioned are the supposed answer to every martial arts question, why does hardly anybody partake in them? (rhetorical question btw).
Haggleburyfinius said:
D1ngd0ng said:
Not this again, what a stupid comment. Just tar us all with the same brush why don't you. Anyone who takes their martial training seriously and trains with good teachers are going to give anyone a run for their money. Doesn't matter which martial art it is.
Indeed.MMA/Thai/BJJ good. Everyone else bad.
It's so pathetic.
Given that the aforementioned are the supposed answer to every martial arts question, why does hardly anybody partake in them? (rhetorical question btw).
fairy obvious he was saying that those going for a grading(i.e. black belt) rather than practising to fight in a ring are not going to be as good at fighting. he's right
Efbe said:
Haggleburyfinius said:
D1ngd0ng said:
Not this again, what a stupid comment. Just tar us all with the same brush why don't you. Anyone who takes their martial training seriously and trains with good teachers are going to give anyone a run for their money. Doesn't matter which martial art it is.
Indeed.MMA/Thai/BJJ good. Everyone else bad.
It's so pathetic.
Given that the aforementioned are the supposed answer to every martial arts question, why does hardly anybody partake in them? (rhetorical question btw).
fairy obvious he was saying that those going for a grading(i.e. black belt) rather than practising to fight in a ring are not going to be as good at fighting. he's right
Having spent my whole life in the industry (current full contact fight team coach too) I can guarantee you that less than 5% of people who do martial arts want to fight. Hence the fact that small town martial arts clubs in a sports centre will have more members than every MMA gym in the area combined.
Training for and by fighters is boring too to the average person (I used to fight myself). Let alone the type of people that go to fight gyms (myself included). Most people just don't want this environment/training.
It just gets on my nerves all this crap about everything other than MMA/Thai/BJJ. Especially given all I seem to see around here are Thai Gyms and BJJ gyms trying their best to be as commercial as possible; grading systems, "kickfit" & "cage fitness" classes, the works.
If the OP wants to do kickboxing, good for him. Kickboxing is basically the same as MT these days (since MT started borrowing Western Boxing a decade or so ago and Kickboxers now train Leg kicks and knees) but with more friendly, open classes tailoring to men women and children. Kickboxing is far more developed as an industry too and therefore far more customer focussed.
Most people on PH aren't tatoo'd peasants with anger management issues; and tbh Kickboxing/trad martial arts are a far more suitable activity for them.
I am basically looking for a fun alternative to gyms, swimming, etc etc
The taster classes had a good mix of keep-fit and learning basic blocks, punches, kicks etc. I did enjoy it! It felt like a commercialised experience for sure, but maybe that's part of what it's about.
Maybe the price is negotiable.. thanks for the input
The taster classes had a good mix of keep-fit and learning basic blocks, punches, kicks etc. I did enjoy it! It felt like a commercialised experience for sure, but maybe that's part of what it's about.
Maybe the price is negotiable.. thanks for the input
i pay £30 or £35 a month (cant remember, standing order) for two sessions a week, 60 minutes and 75 minutes long in suffolk
these are held in a sports hall and primary school gym.
£89 is just extortionate unless it is for very focussed personal training!
the martial art is kickboxing, i have been doing it for almost three years and i am on my yellow belt (so belt no.2). but i have had three fights
this infighting about which martial art is the best is just tosh. i agree with the comments earlier about some clubs being belt/money making factories but not all are like that. you will find the same ratio of good:bad practitioners in any job/hobby/whatever you care to mention.
these are held in a sports hall and primary school gym.
£89 is just extortionate unless it is for very focussed personal training!
the martial art is kickboxing, i have been doing it for almost three years and i am on my yellow belt (so belt no.2). but i have had three fights
this infighting about which martial art is the best is just tosh. i agree with the comments earlier about some clubs being belt/money making factories but not all are like that. you will find the same ratio of good:bad practitioners in any job/hobby/whatever you care to mention.
andycaca said:
this infighting about which martial art is the best is just tosh. i agree with the comments earlier about some clubs being belt/money making factories but not all are like that. you will find the same ratio of good:bad practitioners in any job/hobby/whatever you care to mention.
ah man.there was no in fighting about which martial art at all.
Haggleburyfinius said:
I can guarantee you that less than 5% of people who do martial arts want to fight.
Training for and by fighters is boring too to the average person (I used to fight myself). Let alone the type of people that go to fight gyms (myself included). Most people just don't want this environment/training
That's probably true. Despite what I initially said in my other thread, though, if I can get to a reasonable standard, I might be interested in some sort of no-gi grappling competition at some point. Probably not full-on Pro-MMA though...Training for and by fighters is boring too to the average person (I used to fight myself). Let alone the type of people that go to fight gyms (myself included). Most people just don't want this environment/training
Haggleburyfinius said:
It just gets on my nerves all this crap about everything other than MMA/Thai/BJJ.
Back in my Dad/Grandad's day it was all about boxing (in schools and the armed forces) and wrestling in some areas(prior to that it was all about kicking people whilst wearing clogs and hitting people with belts with big buckles apparently. In t'north, at least. People were hard then).When I was a teenager, locally it was all Shotokan karate, World JuJitsu Federation or (rarer)Judo or Kung Fu. There was a lot of nonsense spouted about the Japanese and Chinese martial arts and some of the 'black belts' I knew at school weren't quite Bruce Lee
When the UFC came along things appeared to change and the elements of good, old-fashioned, non-exotic wrestling and boxing (plus a few knees, elbows and kicks)were found to be fairly effective after all.
I think that there is truth in the fact that the most 'pure' styles that are closest to fighting, if taught in an intensive way, are going to be the most effective preparation for actual fighting. A combination of (running!), kicking, boxing and some sort of submission wrestling against 'resistance' seems to be a good starting point for that ( -playing in the pack in Rugby Union?).
Personally, I've enjoyed the 'resistive' elements of the wrestling and the stand-up stuff I've tried recently, even if I am being resisted a lot at the moment.
I guess that a lot of people don't really want that though, although they may like to be associated with a fighting style.
I, myself, can't see the appeal in the learning of complex katas, lots of elaborate, low-resistance set-pieces and philosophy that are present in some styles -From my experience, they don't really translate into anything outside of the art itself (other than possibly the philosophy!).
Haggleburyfinius said:
Especially given all I seem to see around here are Thai Gyms and BJJ gyms trying their best to be as commercial as possible; grading systems, "kickfit" & "cage fitness" classes, the works.
Yes, I guess that is where the money is. I'd be inclined to go to more traditional circuit training if I was purely interested in fitness though.Haggleburyfinius said:
Most people on PH aren't tatoo'd peasants with anger management issues; and tbh Kickboxing/trad martial arts are a far more suitable activity for them.
I think that much depends on the club and the attitude of the instructor. I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that the people I've met at the mixed-styles club I've started going to appear fairly well-adjusted and aren't any more tattoo'd than the (fairly well tattoo'd!) general population. They are all adult blokes though. The instructor is a good bloke and there appear to be a mix of 'fighters' and non-'fighters'. I do quite like the grassroots approach and that it's an activity that is not about having fancy, expensive kit.
Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 26th January 12:32
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