HOLA! just a few gym tidbits to get over to y’all.
re: gym remodel
phase one of the gym remodel is complete, thank you to all the members that helped out with installing the mirrors, painting the gym and fixing the ring, i would say that everything looks gorgeous!
will be continuing with phase 2 of our remodel/rebranding coming soon, but so far so good! many thanks and much love as always!
re: refer a friend
first and foremost, i would like to say thank you to everyone that has taken the time to write a review on our yelp or even our google business page, any little bit helps the gym out. As always, i am all ears when it comes to helping YOU, the members, reach your goals. Whatever it may be, your opinion matters and anything i can do to make your training experience here much better i will try my hardest to assist!
Now, some of you may not know this because i don’t talk about it much but did you know we offer a referral incentives to members who refer a friend and they sign up for a trial month?
you get a $25 dollar refer a friend credit towards your next month of membership. yes, $25 bucks! that’s like, one drink at your favorite mixology place! that is also a quarter or perhaps an 1/8 off your membership (depending on what plan you’re on).
So keep helping the school by spreading the good word out whether you are reposting stuff on social media, leaving a review on yelp or google, or even convincing a friend to try a class out. we appreciate it!
re: pre order for gym merch
aww shit. ok, here it is. so a couple of things. starting tomorrow, thursday sept 13th we will have pre-orders available on our new crew neck sweat shirt with embroidered big face ‘minimalist’ design on the front. i will be taking preorders for 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS. and will send the designs off to be made. these sweat shirts look so good, embroidered stitch lettering on a comfy bella canvas black crew neck. too avoid having extra stock on hand i’d rather just get a pre-ordered amount to save myself the headache so if you don’t get a round in of first run pre-orders than you’re gonna have to wait for the next run. i will also be taking preorders of our traditional minimalist tee’s on black shirts with a white design, on heathered white with black lettering, and gray heathered with black lettering.
$40 for crew neck.
$20 for tee’s
pre-sale ends 9/27.
cash, check, money order, CC and EBT accepted.
and on the topic of merch, it has been brought to my attention of a nearly identical design being sold on instagram of our classic ‘i heart muay thai’ logo. i don’t know how to feel about it, a part of me is flattered that someone would copy our design and although i must admit the design itself wasn’t too original to begin with but our gloved heart design was unique and the sentiment behind the shirt was true to our school. i’m thinking maybe doing one more run of the design and retiring it. let me know what y’all think. thanks!
re: PKB tourneys
what is PKB?
PKB: The IKF/PKB Is The ONLY California State Athletic Commission “APPROVED” Semi-Contact Kickboxing and or Muay Thai Competition and the ONLY “Sanctioned” Semi Contact Kickboxing / Muay Thai Rules Set In California! ANY OTHER EVENT resembling the IKF/PKB competition or even using the words “Kickboxing” and or “Muay Thai” or “Muaythai” in their advertisements and is not sanctioned by the IKF or IKF/PKB is considered an unsanctioned Illegal event. This includes ALL AGES of athletes, fighters or participants whether in a boxing ring, MMA cage or floor / matted floor competition.
what PKB isn’t: a fight.
PKB is basically glorified, controlled sparring with an opponent from a different school. There are ‘winners and losers’ but it’s semi contact and emphasizes technique. There is a ‘no knock-out, knock down rule’ but expect the unexpected.
now, a part of me as a coach is torn as to promote this. i’m a staunch believer of a first fight being full contact, BUT if this helps bridge the gap between interest and commitment than i will let it fly.
but, i am opposed to is people calling them ‘fights’. Or sort of posting on social media that you had fights, that were in fact, just hard sparring sessions with a stranger.
you’re only mission would be to just train hard and make your weight. treat it as if you were fighting; both offensively and defensively. whether you ‘win or lose’ doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, as long as you perform well and gave it your earnest effort.
i may be sounding harsh and even contradictory to what i said earlier about posting/reposting stuff online in regards to your gym experience, but the severity of understanding that these aren’t fights is important. biggest thing is i’m trying remove any sort of ego from this. any ego from the praise of social media particularly. in my experience, ego turns into attitude, which is a bit counter productive.
If you are ever interested in competing, understand that i will give every effort i can 100% to get you going and to have you reach victory. what i need from you is humility, patience and understanding. that, and our training routine equals a winning formula.
fighting is just as mental as it is physical. having the right attitude is key.
how are these any different from an actual ‘fight’.
for one, it’s ‘controlled contact’ so if things ever get too intense the action would then be moderated by a ref. In a actual fight, the ref would stop the fight declaring you the loser. (TKO ref stoppage).
rather than being in a actual ring, you compete on mats. I believe the element of stage freight is slightly removed because you are competing in a more familiar environment, an environment similar to where you would normally train.
win or lose, you get a separate ‘PKB’ record record. in fact, i think its just numerated rather than segmented wins/lose. a win or lose doesn’t affect your amateur record.
if ever, you decide to compete, in a real muay thai event with an audience, and a ring and a full contact opponent, the goal is ultimately to win. that puts a lot of pressure on people. I, as a coach, am training you to win. now, once the judges decision is made, whether you win or lose, as mentioned earlier, as long as you gave it your 100% earnest effort, that would be enough for me. being declared the ‘victor’ is just icing on the cake.
i believe this element of fear is slightly removed in these PKB events. user experience subjective of course.
Now i’m not trying to dissuade anyone, and in fact i want more people to compete. I just need people to understand what they are getting themselves into so that they may prepare properly. 🙂
And on that note, we should start thinking about the USMTO Arizona tournament 2019 in April and the organization of a fight team for 2019.
September Class Curriculum:
9/2-9/8: Kicking Combinations
9/10-9/15: Punch Defense (Leaning, Slipping and Shelling)
9/17-9/22: Punch Parry Defense and Counters
9/24-9/29: Low Kicks