I feel very proud this week as two of my female clients are heading off to Thailand for a 1 week training camp to get a real feel of the experience of practicing Muay Thai in Thailand.

Josefin Betsholtz is a post graduate student from Sweden who's studying a Masters in Political Theory at the University of Oxford and has been training with me for almost 1 year now. She originally wanted to train with me to improve her strength and flexibility and was a total beginner in Muay Thai.

Over the months her confidence and ability has really grown and she has really improved her Thai Boxing skills. She has progressed into sparring and shown real enthusiasm and appreciation for the sport whilst combating her fears of striking back at an opponent.

She will be making a 1 week trip to Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket for 1 week and I wish her the best experience.

A testimonial written by Josefin can be viewed below:

"I started training Thai boxing with Richard once a week around 9 months ago and I can honestly say it is one of the best decisions I have made during my time in Oxford. Not only has my fitness level improved significantly, but I have also discovered a passion for Thai boxing. Richard’s sessions are both fun and instructive, and I always feel like I have learnt a lot while having got a great workout.

Apart from being a really good instructor, one of the best things about Richard is that he is both a Muay Thai pad specialist as well as a regular personal trainer. This has meant that, while we usually train Thai boxing, some sessions have been held in a normal gym, and he has given me an exercise routine that is specifically made to improve my Thai boxing skills. The effects of this routine were noticeable very quickly.

After training with Richard for only a few months, I have now gained the confidence to go to Thailand between terms to train Muay Thai outside Phuket! I am beyond excited for this trip, and it would not have been possible without our sessions.

It has been really great working with Richard and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get fit and/or learn Muay Thai!"

Valentina is an Italian postgraduate student at Oxford University studying for an MPhil in International Relations. She has come from a competitive background in fencing and decided to take up MMA before turning to Muay Thai and training with MTO. Her original goals were looking to build strength and improve endurance whilst picking up the basic skills of Muay Thai. I wrote Valentina a couple of sport specific programs and she applied the knowledge I shared with her with regards to her training goals which complimented her progress.

Valentina has also shown great improvement in Muay Thai ability, especially in changing her footwork from a narrow fencing stance to a Muay Thai stance. She always shows real grit and aggression when striking and sparring and her technique has come along way from when we started. She will be taking a 1 week trip to Sitmonchai Gym in mainland Thailand for 1 week and she practiced some sparring with Josefin under my supervision in preparation for the trip.

Some videos of her progress can be viewed below:

We normally train 5 x 3 minute rounds of pad work and 5 x 3 minute rounds of sparring with a 1 minute rest between rounds alongside a warm up and cool down.

The first video is us working the focus pads with some sharp punches, elbows, clinch and knees.

The next video below is us working the Thai pads bringing the kicks into the session.

The final video is the both of us working some technical sparring. At one point halfway through the round I get too relaxed and Valentina really catches me on the nose! It will teach me to keep my right hand up which you can see drop often.

Seeing this progress really makes the job I do really rewarding, especially in teaching women how to defend themselves with the art of Muay Thai.

To find out further information with regards to personal or Muay Thai training you can reach me via the contact page.

ROR