Hey guys! I've been doing Muay Thai about a month now and though my fitness and other areas have come on a huge amount, I feel like technique wise I have no real base. I know what a jab, hook, cross, elbow, knee and kick is in theory but putting it into practice is messy. I am guessing part of doing these properly is also having the fitness to not fall apart technically half way through the lesson. I'm not quite there yet! The instructors at my gym are great but the classes tend to be fairly large so you don't get a huge amount of time with the instructor to work on technique. I am considering paying for private lessons once a month, and was wondering if anyone else has done anything similar? It would be great to just spend an hour a month practising the basics one on one with an instructor I think. Has anyone else done this? And do you guys think it's worthwhile for a beginner, or more useful for people more advanced? The only reason I ask is because they're quite expensive so I don't want to take them now if I won't get much out of them. I am guessing they'll be really useful, but wanted some opinions Thanks
I used to have weekly eskrima lessons. I couldn't make the class times, suffered from anxiety at the time (didn't like the idea of a class) and also had to wait for the next course to start (they do a lot of beginners courses here). The privates worked out pretty cheap if I went weekly, so went with that option. I guess the instructor should tailor the lesson for your needs. We just went through the usual stuff, but it was a lot more in depth and we worked at my speed. I have done a fair few martial arts before I started and dabbled in eskrima before so that was a definite plus. After some months I joined the regular classes when I could (I was working late some evenings) and still did the privates but it became a lot more freer, my instructor would ask me what I wanted to work on and we'd go from there. I'd suggest you take them. I think the best way to learn an MA is a mix of group classes and privates, there's advantages and disadvantages of both. Speak to your instructor and ask him what you can do and explain what you would like to cover or focus on. Remember you are a customer, so the instructor should provide the service you want (to some degree).
When I teach a private lesson I focus on the development of the individual, rather than just teaching the techniques everyone else is doing in class. Private lessons aren't cheap, so you need to make sure you are actually developing physically, mentally and also in the understanding of and application of techniques. My own view is that the coach should develop the person to enable them to perform the techniques, rather than just teaching the techniques.
but what if you had a student who didn't know the techniques, like myself when I was having privates?
I don't think that would be a problem. It would just be the coaches job to break down the technique so you had a greater understanding, had some tips on balance, distance, flow and the like. I've taken private lessons and just done the 12 angles of attack from Doce Pares eskrima for example. As it's a private lesson I put posters on the wall showing the angles, maybe provided a few pages of information for the student to take away as homework and I've even done videos. Little touches that you can't always do in a class full of students.
This bit is key, talk with the Instructor about what your short term goals are, and agree what to cover, but remember they'll know more about teaching then you so listen to their advice.
I'm friends with my MT Coach, we would privately hit pads maybe every couple of months as I have been doing it for a while. As Simon said though, maybe once in a while would be good for you and it'll be down to the Coach to go over stuff. How many people are in your class?
I think you'd want to be there, fitness-wize. A reasonable degree of conditioning to be able to concentrate on your form and nuances of timing and so forth as he points them out to you during drills. Its perfectly okay to "fall apart technically" due to being confused about what to do next or having a dodgy grasp of hand placement during clinching drills, for example . However, if you are like I was, barely able to get your foot off the floor for a right low kick three minutes into the progressive combos drill, lol, you canna really justify paying a premium for what will essentially have to be a basic kick-boxercise class until you've built up to that. I'd keep going to the regular class, in that instance, and save up your extra money until your physically ready for it. Saving your money in anticipation of that day will also help motivate you to put in the extra road work and so forth that you need. It doesn't sound like ill-conditioning is the problem in your case, though which leads into Mushroom's question regarding how many are in your class. If you aren't learning the proper techniques in class because the class is over capacity and/or under staffed...one has to ask if they are paying twice for services not customarily delivered the first time around.
Hello guys, Thank you all for the replies! Numbers wise I'd say there's usually about 12- 14 in a class - is that pretty reasonable?
My school has weekly private lessons included as part of the way it is set up. The Sifu of the school teaches the instructors (and some group classes) and each student has a personal instructor. It is the only system I have ever known, only going to the one school. I can't even imagine going to a school without private lessons. So, yes, I recommend doing so. Having one on one time with instruction dealing with the specifics of what you need is a great thing. However, don't do so if the only reason you are doing so is because you feel you don't have a base yet. You just started a month ago. The base can come with regular practice. A month is barely any time at all. So do it because you love doing the art so much you want to learn faster, not because you are feeling like you aren't catching on fast enough. That feeling is very common for most people starting out in any art.
12-14 isn't a lot of people in the class. kickboxing here varies between 10-30 people. BJJ has 40+ sometimes! I think that you should remember not to be afraid to raise your hand in class and ask questions. Any good instructor will have no problem answering them
A lot of classes I go to average out at 15-20. I honestly think that too many and you get a bit lost in the crowd. Not the instructor's fault mind.
