What should I be looking for in muay thai / kick boxing school?

What is the best way to evaluate it?|||There should be at least 2 different classes, beginners and advanced.





On the beginners there should be lots of drills, pad work, mitts, bag work and conditioning.





On the advanced class there should be all of the above, plus alot of sparring, look at the quality of the fighters and how they perform during tournaments.|||The same thing you would look for in any school. Here is a link with a large article, I will go on somethings short here and you can read the article and see what I mean.





http://www.bullshido.com/articles/findin...





Here are a few questions, especially for this type of school.





1. Do they have anyone actively competing in pro or amateur Muay Thai or kickboxing and what is their record?





This is important, as you will have an idea of your training partners. Obviously someone who has a winning pro record is doing something right, and you get a lot of benefit just having these individuals to work with. It also gives you an example of the quality of coaching, and their contacts towards getting you fights (if you wish to go that route). More importantly, even for your own enjoyment, you want to train something with a place that is truly representative of the art, and has proven success at it.





2. The records they boast should be easily verifiable. If a coach says he has won 2 world titles, he should be able to tell you the organization, and you should be able to easily verify it online.





3. How successful are the students.





This kind of goes with number one, but it does matter. There is a saying great fighters don%26#039;t always make great teachers, and great teachers don%26#039;t always make great fighters. Just because a guy has won a bunch of events doesn%26#039;t mean he can teach you to be as successful as him. His students success can be attributed to him, especially if there is more than one who is doing well.





4. Ensure that the records they boast actual mean something to the art you are taking. If a guy is a Silver Medalist Tae Kwon Do champ, that doesn%26#039;t mean he has success kickboxing, or doing Muay Thai. Stick to the things that pertain to his current art, his other 12 black belts are really of little use (warning, if he has 12 black belts and is not 80 or 100 years old, walk away)





5. They offer kickboxing or Muay Thai as an add on to their current art. Meaning they advertise %26quot;Kickboxing, Muay Thai, MMA%26quot; and they are a Kempo school, that teaches some kickboxing or Muay Thai classes. You will find most of these placed do not have anyone actively competing in kickboxing or Muay Thai, and the instructors have no professional experience in either. They just think they know the techniques.





6. Avoid any place that makes any of the following statements.





%26#039;We do Muay Thai for the streets, not the ring%26quot;





%26quot;We practice a deadly form of Muay Thai, we can%26#039;t spar it because it would injure or maim%26quot;





Anything regarding an excuse for not sparring, to kickbox or do Muay Thai, you HAVE to spar, and you have to spar often and hard.





7. %26quot;Well you can learn Muay Thai, and Kickboxing, but not until brown belt or higher, then you can start sparring%26quot; this is normally done at an add on dojo, which may be all that is available, but if they are having you wait a year or two before you are actually able to spar, it really is of no worth to you. It doesn%26#039;t take a year to learn how to punch, kick, or defend properly. A couple of months is understandable, or wanting you to spar only light contact for a while, that is all understandable. But NO sparring for a year, (about time to renew your contract) is a pretty big warning sign for a McDojo.





Anyway, that is just some ideas. If I can help at all please feel free to message me. Again, read the link above and it elaborates on most of the stuff I just said, I am going to cut this short so I don%26#039;t write a whole book.





Good luck to you!|||Check out your teacher make sure he is real,and not a facsimile|||You should be looking for a banana tree. Seriously.|||I think Judomofo had a near perfect answer.





I would probably add talk to the people training there. Are they positive and somewhat friendly? I personally like to train with people who have good attitudes in a respectful personable environment.