SKN MUAY THAI DEVELOPMENT & COMPETITION TEAM

“Long term consistency trumps short term intensity” - Bruce Lee

Before considering competition, I think it’s important to consider ‘why?’. Why do you want to compete?

When you find your why, think about ‘how’ it will get done.

Although competition is done alone in the ring it takes a team to get you there.

We are a team of dedicated coaches and community members that strive for the very best of our athletes and are looking for reciprocity in the form of performance.

Through the last 5 years of competition, we have developed and continue to refine our process for developing athletes.

Our vision is to continuously produce athletes that compete and represent SKN at the regional, national and International levels.

Do you want to be a part of it?


When Do I Know If/When I Am Ready?

Sample Journey if member has ZERO Muay Thai experience. Think of Mike Hull.

Day 1:  Member joins gym

60-Day: Member is taking regular classes 3x / week, tests for blue armband, joins intermediate classes

90-Day: Member is consistently training, taking intermediate, sparring, and clinching classes 

6-Mo: Member discusses an interest in competing with Coach or Coach recommends competition, Joins development team.

9-Mo: Member ups their training to 4-5 days a week, possibly has a smoker or mock fight.

1-Yr: Member signs up for C-Class Tournament or debuts in local bouts, transitions to Active competition team

Beyond Your First Bout

Our vision is to continuously produce athletes that compete and represent SKN at the regional, national and International levels.

One of our ethos here at SKN Muay Thai is ‘Sustainability’.

While it’s ok to just try it once and we will 100% support you and your decision, ideally we want you competing for a long time.

Our vision for our athletes is to stay active throughout the year (4-5 bouts per year) and to slowly climb through the ranks in a safe and healthy manner. Furthermore we envision many of our athletes to be competing internationally and perhaps finally professionally.

Match making is generally done by skill level and weight. Every 5-7 pounds there is a new weight class.

Generally, the standard across the US for Muay Thai skill level for competition goes:

C-Class: 0-3 Bouts

B-Class: 4-9 Bouts

A-Class: 10+ fights

Local vs. Regional/National Tournaments

“Local” bouts would be PA, OH, NY, DE, or VA based single night bouts where you are matched up with a predetermined opponent. Generally matchmaking works with similar experience level, give or take 1 bout (meaning they can have one less fight than you, or one more fight than you) and weight.

Tournaments involve more than one bout over the course of a weekend as you ascend your bracket. Opponent number varies but on average can be 3-4  bouts per weekend.

There are pros and cons to each. I think tournaments are the way to go since you stand to gain much more with the same amount of work involved versus a single night bout.


Finally: All international tournaments tend to be A-class and depending on the tournament, A-class can be a mix of professional and amateur opponents.

The Benefits of Joining the 2024 competition team.

What benefits come with being a part of the 2024 Competition Team/Dev Team?

  • Camaraderie

  • Personalized strength and conditioning programs

  • One on one pad-work with coaches

  • Quicker advancement in skill and technique,

  • Exclusive merch (comp team shorts/shirts etc)

  • Past fight assessments

  • Video study and opponent study

  • Weight cut guidance

  • Fight camp programming.

  • New 2024 Fight Team Fundraiser fund to help pay registration and licensing fees

2024 COMPETITION TEAM

STRUCTURE CHANGES

“Iron sharpens Iron”

There will now be two different teams:

Development Team

The development team is set-up to help those interested in competition to ramp up technically and to assess whether fighting is something they can commit to at that level. In theory, one can perpetually be involved in the ‘Development Team’ and just train and help out the team without ever competing. With that in mind, the development team should be the key partners for those in camp on the Competition Team.

Requirements:

  1. A willingness to help out and work hard.

  2. Training 3-4x a week.

  3. There are no dues required to be on the development team.

If you have zero (0) competition experience and want to eventually join the cometition team:

You will need to do a mock fight/smoker so we can gauge skill and coach-ability. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. Consider it as a litmus test to the next level (Competition Team)

Competition Team

This set of athletes is competing at official sanctioned amateur bouts whether its local events or out-of-state regional and national tournaments.

Requirements:

  1. Full time membership

  2. Minimum of 3 months of continuous membership at SKN

  3. Training 4-5x a week (10-15 hours a week)

  4. To gain access to the competition team you will need to compete in 1 sanctioned event or tournament/have competed in the past.

    Once the above criteria as been met:

  • Competition Team Dues: $180 yearly due (can be paid in monthly increments of $15 a month or paid all at once)

  • Competition Class/Sparring Attendance 2x month (Wednesdays at 7 or Sat at 12pm).

  • Clinch Class Attendance 2x month (Tuesday at 7pm or Thursday at 6pm)

  • Be able to fulfill our ‘Standards and Commitments’ (see below). Think an average 10-15 hours worth of training per week in off season and 20 hours a week in fight camp.

Competition team requirements are all non-negotiable and non-refundable regardless of injury, illness, etc.

Competitions:

There are two different styles of competition within our sport.

First option: Smokers or MDL’s (Development Team)

  1. Smokers/MDL’s - Smokers are less serious unsanctioned competition for those that want to pursue competition casually/test the waters. Basically hard sparring an opponent from a different gym. There are no winners or losers in a smoker or MDL. Intensity varies. They’re usually pretty good about moderation but nothing is guaranteed.

  2. PMT’s - PMT’s are point muay thai events that are held at different gyms across the US. PMT’s are glorified “Medium Sparring tournaments”. Think of point fighting karate but muay thai. Unfortunately the closest IKF PMT events tend to be in North Carolina. So not really a good option for us.

Preparation for these would be to attend training consistently 3-4 times a week + running and S & C. While this is an option they are often hard to find in PA and may have to travel.

These types of events don’t require a fight camp as the bouts are usually ‘2×2 min’ rounds. You may do more with another opponent, you may not. All subject to availability.

Also, you may have a coach present or may not. Coaching assistance may be provided by senior members or teammates if we think they are qualified.

These events are a great way to gain experience. Our objective for these isn’t necessarily to ‘win’ but rather to build experience.

Furthermore, this is a great way to see if you can handle the pressures of competition.

Second option: Sanctioned Events & Tournaments. (Competition Team/Dev Team)

Sanctioned, pre-matched events and tournaments are much more serious and require a fight camp. There is a huge level of commitment required from our athletes, coaches and team.

STANDARDS & COMMITMENTS:

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.” - Bobby Knight

In order to remain on our competition teams and stay active you must fall in line with the criteria below.

What we are NOT looking for:

  1. Training by yourself on a heavy bag. While it is great to do bag work, if that is all you’re doing and not taking classes or training with others you’re not contributing to the team. Training alone will only reinforce bad habits and bad technique.

  2. Don’t be an ‘opportunist’. Don’t just show up when you decide you want to have a fight/have fight camp. You must be in class as often as possible to keep learning the sport.

  3. Disappearing after your fight. Unless seriously injured you should be back in the gym a couple of days after competing. Take a few days to rest,relax, spend time with family, and then get back to training. Show up not only for yourself but for your training partners that are also getting ready to compete.

With that in mind, ask yourself whether you can commit to our criteria: Off-Season Training & In-Camp training.

What is ‘Off-season’? ‘Off-season’ generally means when you are not in a fight camp.

Development Team

Off-season:

  • Still training ~3-4x / week (8-10 hours a week)

  • Sparring & clinching regularly

  • Volunteering as designated padholders / training partners for Competition Team

  • Assisting newer members

“In-camp”:

Prep for un-official competition is less intensive considering the scope of the competition.

That being said, athletes should still be conditioning & training regularly.

  • Training ~3-4x / week (Attendance must be recorded with our check in system)

  • Sparring & Clinching 2 – 3x / week

  • Running 2 – 3x / week

Competition Team:

Off-season:

  • Still training ~4-5x / week (attendance must be recorded with our check in system)

  • Sparring & clinching regularly (2-4x a month)

  • Helping to hold for / train Development Team

  • Assisting newer members

  • Conditioning & strength-training

    Failure to adhere to our ‘Standards and Commitments’ will be cause for removal and dismissal from the competition team and most likely will be asked to not return.

Keep in mind that in order to reach the next level as an athlete, you’ll need your team to level up as well. So when not in camp, you should be investing your time back into the Development Team and the rest of the members.

“In Camp”

Here is a sample of our training requirements for the Competition Team. There is where the ’20 hours of commitment per week’ stems from:

Conditioning:

Running (3-5x a week)

  • 3-5 miles

    Strength & Conditioning (2x a week)

  • 30-40 minute session

    Calisthenics (every other day) :

  • 50-100 Sit-Ups/Crunches

  • 50-100 Push-ups

  • 50-100 Bodyweight Squats

  • 3 x 5 Pull-ups or Alternative Pull exercise

Bag work - 5x a week

  • 100-200 Power Kicks

  • 100-200 skip knees

  • 100-200 marching teeps

Optional

  • Balance exercises

Classes:

  • Monday 5pm-6:30pm (intermediate & Open Pads)

  • Tuesday 6pm-8pm (novice & clinch)

  • Wednesday 6-8pm (hiit bag, intro to sparring, intermediate/comp team sparring)

  • Thursday 6-8pm (clinch & boxing)

  • Friday 5:30-7pm (Hiit bag & Open pads

  • Saturday 11-1/2pm (Intermediate & comp team sparring)

Padwork or Technical work w/ Coach (depending on how large of a group we have competing at once, it may be a few times a week or 4- 5 days a week):

  • Monday 5:45pm

  • Tuesday 5pm

  • Wednesday 5pm

  • Thursday 5pm

  • Friday 6pm

Open Clinch Sparring (In the ring)

  • Monday 6:30pm

  • Friday 5pm

Final notes:

“Discipline is doing what you hate to do like you love it” - Mike Tyson.

Talk to a Coach:

We are here to help, always come to us if you have any questions. Sometimes you might not like the answer we have for you but trust that whatever we say has your best interest at heart.

if you have any concerns mentally or physically, if you don’t understand what any of the expectations are, if you have any changes in plans, whatever. Talk to Coach Marissa, Chris, Matt, or JoJo.

Check-in regularly, make sure you’re on the same page through camp.

Don’t be a diva:

As an athlete, you are asking for a significant amount of time and effort from both the rest of your teammates and the coaching team. Be gracious and grateful for the support everyone gives you and do your best to give back what you can in and out of camp. Help tidy up the gym, keep your shit clean, be supportive of the rest of the athletes and community. LISTEN. Take feedback mindfully and be patient with your partners. Competing doesn’t make you the star of the gym, it doesn't give you special treatment, it makes you a resource hog. So make sure you are giving back to your teammates, especially the ones that were there to help you in your camp.