Brona Zemberova
Since Tiger Muay Thai & MMA Training Camp is one of the most marketed places to train Muay Thai and MMA in Phuket, (Yes, you do your marketing very well), it was not difficult for me to spot you out.
I come from Bratislava, Slovakia, and I try to train in Muay Thai as often as I can but I have a full-time job always standing in my way. To give my passion in Martial Arts more time, I looked for a place in Thailand to take a break from work and focus purely on the training. And so I found TMT. Then, I simply planned my whole stay so I could train at your camp. I booked my flight ticket in advance, started to search for accommodation, saucing my boss to let me go for 3 weeks in the middle of the greatest workload, etc. Everything went slowly, but well, according to my plans.
And then, 3 months before my departure I was browsing your facebook page and stumbled upon the Roger Huerta Fantasy Camp Competition. I read the details and decided to take part in it and I won fortunately! It took only getting likes for the shared poster. I tried to do my very best to get the most likes, but deep down I never believed I could really win because I have never won anything before. When Roger Huerta called me and told me I won this thing, Ha! I could not believe it so I started to Google and search a little more information about Roger because I had no idea who he was (Sorry Roger, Now I know! and surely, if I was an MMA person I would have heard of you before).
Knowing I won this thing motivated me to train Muay Thai before my departure even more because it was already a sure thing that I would get to train at TMT but due to so much workload I had before heading to Thailand, I arrived at TMT in not the very best physical condition, so I was kind of hoping not to pass out in my very first Muay Thai training.
I was thankful though that I was able to manage attending the group Muay Thai sessions twice a day during the first 2 weeks, and then when Roger got back from the USA (because he cornered Fiona Muxlow for her fight in the USA), I got to experience my very first Mixed Martial Arts class.
I did know something about MMA, it is getting more and more popular in Bratislava, but I never trained in MMA before and thanks to these sessions I won with Roger and couple of his group trainings that I got the chance to participate in, I realized that there is more to it. In order to get the best from the MMA class, you need to train in many other areas so you can actually understand and perform each specific technique, you have to be flexible, strong, quick and good in different forms of Martial Arts . Muay Thai gives you something but it is totally not sufficient for MMA as a whole so I didn’t really do well on these sessions, but I tried to concentrate and get from them as much as I could.
Roger is a great person and I am glad that I met him, but more importantly, he is a great teacher. He really does his job well, like really well. Even though I just had a very short time train in MMA and I was clearly a beginner, I must say I learned a lot. I realized many things as I partially mentioned earlier. Now I know what to focus on back in Slovakia.
I did wish I had more background in MMA before the coming, so I could make more out of the sessions and learn extras to compliment the knowledge, but on the other hand, I could not have wished for a better introduction into this amazing sport. And I am so glad for it.
Thank you Tiger Muay Thai and OneFC for carrying out this competition. The place is simply amazing and filled with so many amazing people. I had the chance to meet several of them, starting from your superb Muay Thai trainers from the Beginners ring through the Intermediate and Advanced as I trained under their supervision. I am also happy to have met all the people in group trainings from all over the world and create friendships among them, MMA trainers, Roger and your helpful staff in the office.
No wonder why I spent my stay only between my apartment and TMT and barely saw the rest of Phuket. You got all my attention and did not get enough of it. I really do hope to get back soon, don´t know when yet but hopefully December or January. It is unfortunate that it is not easy for me to get back but I will be back. Once again, Thankyou Tiger Muay Thai.