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  • Training at rossboasia training center?

    Hi guys, im new here and i sent doc a e-mail recently about the training center, but i think it might be a good idea to send it here for you guys who have trained there before and you could answer some of the questions. I have looked at the forums and the website and dont see a clear answers to my questions, so here is the e-mail:

    Hi

    We are 3 guys from iceland who want to learn ,,Traditional and competitive Muay Thai. Shaolin Gong Fu." (General fitness) and first (like many) we saw the siping city school but after reading some posts on the forum here we want to check out russboasia training center.

    Ive surfed the website some what, and i wanted to know if we want to come to thailand and train gong fu and muay thai how does it all work? We plan to stay for 3 months sept-dec 2009

    1. training-food-housing is this all connected and we pay some x number for all that? or could we pay for the hotel room and show up for training whenever we want and eat by your selfs?.
    Is training, food and housing all individual parts or is it a combo like in the siping city acedemy?

    2. Are there always gong fu and muay thai teachers present by the training center when trainigs are (saw somwhere that gong fu is tought when you get a shaolin monk to teach but he shows up randomly and leavs too. Are there steady teachers?

    3. How is the training set-up how long are the teachers there on daily basis? (except thursdays of course) and could we show up anywhere from 8 a.m to 8 p.m and use the gym and what not?

    What im trying to understand is the linkage between all i said above and how the training is set up.

    Hoping to hear from you although you may not have alot of time.

    Tomas

  • #2
    1. training-food-housing is this all connected and we pay some x number for all that? or could we pay for the hotel room and show up for training whenever we want and eat by your selfs?.
    Is training, food and housing all individual parts or is it a combo like in the siping city acedemy?

    im not expecting doc or "russboasia" to feed me, but i wouldnt know if food and housing are included..i think NOT at the moment, but im gonna try and arrange for a thai room

    2. Are there always gong fu and muay thai teachers present by the training center when trainigs are (saw somwhere that gong fu is tought when you get a shaolin monk to teach but he shows up randomly and leavs too. Are there steady teachers?

    i dont think they have a gung fu teacher

    3. How is the training set-up how long are the teachers there on daily basis? (except thursdays of course) and could we show up anywhere from 8 a.m to 8 p.m and use the gym and what not?

    i wouldnt know! lol im not much help huh?!?

    i just felt like answering your questions cause im going the same time as you! hopefully u will still go because it would be fun to beat you up! hahaha jk

    icelanders are probably pretty big...
    "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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    • #3
      Hi and thanks alot for your answer!, Have you booked your flight or what?

      ,,im not expecting doc or "russboasia" to feed me, but i wouldnt know if food and housing are included..i think NOT at the moment, but im gonna try and arrange for a thai room"

      what do you mean when you say ,,a thai room"

      ,,i dont think they have a gung fu teacher"

      Then who teaches the gung fu?

      And im just wondering like in the training no-one is gonna tell you to go out and run some miles or something like that? You just do it yourself because you know its important....

      But yeah feel free to speak up peeps

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      • #4
        a thai room is what i assume is just a little room with a shower like doc told me, just someplace to sleep really. apparently they go for about 100 bucks a month, the reason im going with this is i plan on staying a long time, but doc has posted stuff about this before

        check the ITC russboasia thread and the site, im not sure who teaches the gung fu. i know if your there when im there i can exchange info with you but i practice hung kuen and ill be doing both that and muy thai
        "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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        • #5
          ,,a thai room is what i assume is just a little room with a shower like doc told me, just someplace to sleep really. apparently they go for about 100 bucks a month"

          Do you have any pics of these rooms or some more info?


          ,,check the ITC russboasia thread and the site, im not sure who teaches the gung fu. i know if your there when im there i can exchange info with you but i practice hung kuen and ill be doing both that and muy thai"

          I´ve checked out the russboasia.com site and read some threads in the ITC russboasia forum

          But it would be sweet to find a schedule of training times and more info of how things work in the training center it self, so you have a idea what the training is like and built up.........

          Because this all sounds so well, really want to go out there to have fun and train!!

          TB

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          • #6
            i dont have pics of the rooms, i dont expect much, itd be nice if it wasnt cockroach infected. aslong as i get a bed and a shower im good ive lived in shitholes before lolo

            i dont intend on bringing anything valuable with me so ill be out and about most of the time, rather then at the room

            and i dunno the schedule, i read somewhere doc said they workout in the morning and at night i believe the rest of the day i assume is hot as hell but im not sure, either way im just excited to rub docs head lolo
            "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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            • #7
              im just excited to rub docs head
              you sure doc's into that? lol...
              ZhongwenMovies.com

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              • #8
                lol...uhh i cant think of anything clever to say, so..yeh
                "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

                Comment


                • #9
                  Doc sent me a e-mail and told me he would reply this thread, just so you know, stay tuned!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Truly sorry about the delay in my answer. There are many reasons for this, some of which will soon be apparent.

                    First of all, I'd like to discourage all of you from coming.

                    September and October are absolutely hideous months to be here. The monsoon that hits is truly nasty in this region during that time period. If you have never seen horizontal rain, well, then this is the time to be here. The ocean is unsafe, boating in Phang Nga bay is unmanageable, and just driving on the roads is dangerous. Those two months are not the months to be here. November tends to settle down and become absolutely lovely again; the winds return to their northeasterly origins, and the ocean again becomes like glass. Occasional rains bring cooler air, but generally, the weather is fantastic. It only gets better into December, January, and February, with some occasional showers in March. April can be good or bad; this year it's not the best, as the winds started originating from the southwest early. Usually the change occurs in May, bringing the usual daily rain shower. June can be nice or horrible; I've seen nice weather with the nightly thunderstorm; I've seen constant rain for three solid weeks. Basically, don't come in September and October. Period. The Shaolin area in China is actually very lovely during those two months; with few tourists and trainees, cooler weather, it's a great time to be working out in the hills of Dengfeng. But don't even think of coming to Thailand.

                    Besides, I won't be here. I plan on returning to the US sometime in August, for a few months. Training in Thailand is always more fun when doc is here. Besides, being available here ensures a better quality experience. Leaving my staff to their own devices is fine, but, well, they're Thai. Say no more.


                    A few points to clarify things:

                    Food:

                    I was never a big fan of those packages where food was provided in the training costs. I've always thought that was done for one of three reasons: Keep the market captured and isolated so that the organization makes as much money as possible from the detainees, the organization is isolated so much that there are no other options, or the organization genuinely wants to provide an easy all encompassing experience. Regardless, the food is usually shit in those "everything is provided" situations. We won't do it. We have no desire to milk our visitors for every dime that they have. And besides, we're interested in not only providing a good educational experience for our people, we want to ensure that they get a good taste of the culture too. With countless affordable local opportunities available for food, ranging from the ultra cheap restaurant on motorbike wheels, to the nearby six star hotel restaurants, and everything in between, there's lots of choices. And generally, the food is all damn good. In our area, one of the most expensive on the island, there are good foreign, French, Indian, Thai, Thai, and Italian places. Seafood is readily available directly on the beach. With some travel, the nearby malls have great inexpensive sushi, etc, places, including some major brand names like KFC, Au Bon Pain, Baskin Robbins, Swensons, BK and Mickey D's. With some discovery and searching, you'll find some incredible hole in the wall genuine Italian restaurants, complete with the chain smoking lung cancer ridden Italian husband and his morbidly obese foul mouthed wife with hairy arms. But you won't find any better Italian food, except for in Italy. Some of the best food in the world is in Thailand, and it's dirt cheap.

                    Training:

                    At present, we have two excellent MT coaches on staff; they are available from 8 AM to generally 9PM, which is when the facility is open. We have options for other staff too. We do not have any gong fu teachers from Shaolin at this time. But, that's another topic... We take a simpler, kinder approach to training here. We are not interested in the overly tatooed steroid ridden monster that wants to get in the ring and beat the shit out of little Thai kids. There are other MT camps on the island where you can find that. We're solely interested in providing good technical MT instruction, in a small private environment, with excellent quality fitness equipment. There are MT camps here which are very good; they've been in business for a long time, they have the appropriate stadiums (MT rings to fight in), they range from inexpensive to expensive, they sometimes provide food and housing, and they sometimes get involved in the fight system in the local arena. They also have rigid times for training, and a rigid traing system.

                    We don't. We're highly flexible in our approach, and though we do not have a stadium at this time, we have something that the other places don't: a fully featured gym with professional level weight lifting equipment. You don't find this stuff in the other training camps; you usually find this level of stuff in the occasional five star hotels. Using those gyms usually costs about one thousand baht per visit. Also, the local MT gym near us that has an outdoor stadium, charges one thousand baht per hour or visit, for MT training, at certain times. Our staff is available for individualized training when you want. The gym and the facility are available at any time, when it is open.

                    Aerobics training is up to you. The gym has aerobics machines; there's plenty of nearby roads and beach for you to run or walk on. Swimming is an option depending upon the time of year at the beach; it's also an option depending on where you stay. Personally, I'm not a big fan of running anymore; I've seen too many long term injuries from it. I prefer a good fast hike in the morning, the time all dependent upon when I get up and how I feel. We have a treadmill, an elliptical, recumbent and upright exercise bikes. And of course, heavy bags.

                    Our training costs are flexible also. It all depends upon what you want. Many people like to come here and not train every day, twice a day. Once you find the beaches, the food, and the women, it's hard to focus on pure training. But, whatever. People's desires change over time, and we don't want to lock anyone in to a monthly or weekly fee. Figure, in our current facility, two lessons a day, five days a week, with six days a week all day access to the gym, about 2000 THB per week. That pays my coaches. When we move to a larger, more expensive facility, the price will have to reflect that. We can set up a daily rate, and a per training session rate, also.

                    Housing:

                    Housing is also very flexible. From a typical one room Thai standard (but very clean) apartment, which might cost three to four thousand THB per month, to a six star hotel which costs over a thousand dollars a night, it's all within range. Directly behind our current facility is a brand new, Thai "motel", which has one room apartments,and single bedroom apartments, the difference being, the larger of the two has an outdoor Thai kitchen, and a living room. Both types have television, refrigerator, air conditioning, western bathroom, hot shower. There's even a small quiet swimming pool in the complex for you to fill up with scantily clad young Thai women. At 15K and 18K THB respectively per month, it's not that expensive. A nearby Thai house with two or three bedrooms can be rented for 15 to 20 THB per month. Nearby condos and hotels can rent a room/condo for 60 to 100K THB per month. There are a lot of options; the best way to handle this is to let us know your desires and budget, and we'll show you what's available. Again, the housing price is not put into our price; we have no desire to make money off of your food or your lodging. But we will help provide you with both.

                    There is a possibility that the new facility will have housing within. Granted, clean rooms, hot water, and usually AC is the norm for us, so whatever we put together will be comfortable, but should be considered an inexpensive option, and therefore, not the Hilton. The standard is, if I can sleep in it, you can. Again, we're working on this; it's a possibility in the future.

                    Transportation:

                    Everything you need is within five minutes of the gym. Shopping, restaurants, internet cafe's, massage places, and of course, one of the best beaches in Thailand. A motorbike, which can be rented at about 100 THB per day (or maybe 3 to 4K THB per month) is easily found. Car rentals, Suzuki Samurai for example, can be rented for about 12 - 15K per month. A bicycle is enough to get around locally; more distant visits, such as Patong or the big malls, need a car or taxi to get to. At the current time, we do not have motorbikes for rent, but we have access to them. Cars also. At our rates, not yours, so we can save you money.


                    Our disadvantages:

                    Now, let me be totally open with you, we do have some problems at this time, and I am trying hard to rectify it, though the current economic climate is making this difficult. Our biggest problem is, we're in a facility that is too small for what we're trying to do. Yes, we do not have an outdoor MT ring, or stadium. It currently costs over 400,000 THB to build one, not including the cost of the land which is horribly expensive in this part of the island, and we're not in a position to invest in one. We're not sure we even want one, as a ring, though necessary for providing an "experience" for those who want to compete locally or professionally, is not important for teaching MT techniques. I learned in someone's house, and I learned on a concrete floor in a small tiny shop house. I spent time in a ring, but found it no more educational than a hard concrete floor. I'm not quite sure it's necessary to have that sort of paraphernalia, though, when people come to train, they sort of expect those amenities. We've been focusing on providing training indoors, in air conditioned climate with padded flooring; the problem currently being, we have too much gym equipment, so we've lost indoor training space. We're currently looking for a new facility to move to. I have found one, but, we're waiting for something better. Most MT camps are on a piece of ground with a tent overhead; we have to be indoors to keep our gym equipment from rusting to hell.

                    We're also not that interested in competitions, or providing access to them. It was never my inclination to provide training so that people can go out and hurt themselves. My interests have always been more towards learning the art as opposed to showing it off; our school reflects that. That's not to say that there will not be opportunities for competition; if that's what you're interested in, we can make sure it's provided. But it's not our focus. We're interested in teaching MT as an art, as a form of self defense, and as a means of fitness. We're not interested in the hard core ring competitors.

                    So, right now, our biggest problem is our facility. We're working on it; maybe the issue will be resolved in the next few months. The other problem is gong fu. But that might not be a problem for long...

                    Gong Fu:

                    We have access to some damn good Shaolin instructors, but we have not brought them back until we have a larger facility put together. Doing gong fu training in the Thailand environment is not the easiest; the heat can easily reach 40 in the afternoon. Indoor training, away from the mosquitoes, in the mornings and late afternoons is best. We'll bring them back once we get the facility thing squared away.

                    Also, and this is still really up in the air, Shi De Cheng just visited me. I won't get into all the details, as I've yet to write a Shaolin Journal on the event, but let's just say that he's more than interested in returning here. At present, he's planning on being here for two weeks in August, which is going to be a problem as I was planning on returning to the US at that time. But, I also sensed that he was very interested in opening a school here. He wanted me to teach it. I made it clear to him that that was not an option, one reason being my visa status here. My involvement with the school is purely a voluntary, unpaid, directional one, and that is not going to change in the future. It was apparent however, that his returning here on a more full time basis to teach, and to live, was definitely an option for next year. It's something that I have to explore with him in the near future. Needless to say, if that happens, we will have a few coaches for gong fu and MT, and the school will be busy...

                    Yoga:

                    Believe it or not, we have access to three different Yoga studios all within a few minutes of us. I personally don't get into that sort of stuff, but it's available. I have no idea what the prices are. If there is enough interest, I can even provide it at the gym, as I am close friends with one of the instructors.

                    Conclusion:

                    So, at this time, I'm going to have to discourage you guys. The time of year that you're planning is horrible. Period. And though our beloved little facility, which really is not that little for Thailand, is very well equipped and more than capable of providing good training, it's not what I ultimately want for people. Hopefully soon, we'll have access to a bigger place, but because we are on the upper west side of Phuket, in the so called "Millionaire's Zone", finding a new large and affordable facility may be difficult.

                    The next few months will dictate what happens next year. A lot can change before next November. I will keep everyone posted as progress is made.
                    Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                    "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                    (more comments in my User Profile)
                    russbo.com


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                    • #11
                      good luck to you, doc...
                      ZhongwenMovies.com

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                      • #12
                        Thanks for your answer doc! very detailed!

                        Alright, because of the weather and such i think i wont be there this year. I dont know about next winter because of snowboarding!

                        So its maybe next spring, its a long time but i can use it to save up money and get into shape, strech too.

                        Hopefully you will have a good, big training place, and cheng to teach gong fu before that, good luck!

                        where do you write updates on the training center and trainers? in this forum or some other one?

                        TB

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                        • #13
                          hey sorry to hear that u wont be there in the fall. i should be there in november if everything goes smoothly.. regardless if youll be coming in the spring ill see u
                          "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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                          • #14
                            Punch maestro in the face for me a few times, i will be eternally grateful.
                            "Life is a run. In attack we run, in defense we run. When you can no longer run, time to die" - Shichiroji "Seven samurai"

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                            • #15
                              Updates will be found on the russboasia site, and here in the forum. I'll keep you posted as we make progress out here.

                              Snowboarding. That sounds like fun. Haven't spent much time in the snow these past few years.
                              Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                              "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                              (more comments in my User Profile)
                              russbo.com


                              Comment

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