What to expect on your first day at The Clinic
It’s no secret that the hardest part of starting your Muay Thai journey is showing up for your first day. It can be daunting. At first you may be excited. For some, though, it’s quite possible that as the time creeps closer to class time, doubts and fears creep in. You start wondering if your fitness is good enough, if you are going to get hurt, if you need to know what certain terms mean, what is the parking like, what should you wear, and on and on and on. So this blog is going to answer those questions and then some so you can be confident and ready for your first day at The Clinic.
First thing’s first—you are ready to start your Muay Thai journey. All you need is the desire to learn, and you have that. Don’t let your brain convince you that you need to be in the best physical shape or know all the lingo before starting. Muay Thai is for everyone, so believe me when I say you are ready. If you have goals to lose weight, PR your squat, bench like a pro bodybuilder, that’s great. Start Muay Thai to help you reach those goals. Don’t try to reach them before you start.
Now let’s start walking through what your first day at The Clinic Muay Thai Gym will be like.
The first thing we encourage new students to do is book a free 30 minute private lesson on our website. Go to www.theclinicmuaythaigym.com then click on “book your free 30-minute intro lesson” on the top right. This isn’t required, but it’s a great way to be introduced to Muay Thai. This private lesson is for those with no Muay Thai experience. During the lesson, you’ll work 1-on-1 with Kru Dustin to learn the basic stance, movements, and strikes before class starts. We find this to be a great tool to alleviate the anxiety of joining a class with other students who have been training for a while.
When you arrive at our location in the Hempfield Shopping Center, you’ll find ample parking in the lot. Our doors are located just to the left of the CVS. As soon as you enter the lobby, you will take the stairs to your right. The first thing you’ll see when you get to the top of the stairs is the Rehab Ward (our weight room). Turn left and look left and you’ll see the staff in the reception area. Come on in and introduce yourself.
From there we’ll have you fill out some quick waivers and then give you a quick tour of the facility. We have two bathrooms and a changing room on site, so there’s plenty of space to change into any workout gear required. As for attire, we recommend any clothing you feel comfortable doing workouts in but recommend avoiding clothing that is baggy, has excessive and/or large pockets, hoods, or anything that could have someone’s foot or hand get caught while kicking or clinching. Lastly, we recommend wearing or bringing some sort of footwear that is quick to remove and put back on (sandals, crocs, etc). Shoes are not allowed on the martial arts mats but bare feet are not allowed in the bathrooms or other open spaces.
After your tour you will be able to either start class or your free private intro lesson. If you are doing an intro lesson, Kru Dustin will teach you the Muay Thai stance and how to move/walk in that stance. Then he’ll teach you a few punches, a teep (teep means foot jab so think front kick), and then how to throw a roundhouse kick. It won’t be too physically tough other than learning new movements.
As for classes, they always vary a little bit, but here are some things you should expect:
Some sort of warm up that could include either running around a bit, shadowboxing (don’t worry we’ll help you out if it’s your first day), line drills, or something more unique and fun.
A clinch technique
In more advanced classes there may be a larger focus on clinch, but, in the fundamentals class, it is just a technique to get you acquainted with the concept of clinch fighting.
Pad drills or partner drills with shin guards and gloves.
We do things in rounds with push ups and squats usually mixed in between each round.
After that main portion of class, you can either be lucky and learn another technique to cool down with or you can be unlucky and get some sort of cardio drill to get the heart pumping and the sweat really going (if it wasn’t already). If Kru Dustin manages his time well, you’ll do a quick ab workout and then we’ll line up and bow out of class.
At this point, you survived your first class. Often there is another class right after one finishes so you would be more than welcome to do another class. You’re also free to use the unused portions of the gym as you see fit instead. So you could hit a heavy bag, run on the treadmill, lift some weights, or maybe cool down in the reception area and watch another class while talking to others. It’s really up to you.
If you had a blast, either Meg or Kru Dustin will help you join at the front desk. We definitely hope that’s the case!
