Hey guys,
Just wanted some info on Master K. I know his website and have been training with him weekly, and love it. I am just curious what others in the Muay Thai circle think of him, his accomplishments, and teaching.
I have a very biased opinion, as Master K has been my instructor since 1992.
My understanding of the Muay Thai communities view of him is that he is widely respected. That is not to say that everyone loves him, but everyone that I know of or have heard of RESPECTS him.
His accomplishments speak for themselves, IMHO. He is a veteran of 75 professional Muay Thai fights in Thailand. He has trained countless students and fielded successful Muay Thai teams over the last 10 years.
His teaching method is very strict, more so than most, but the results also speak for themselves. He is a stickler for detail where most are not. (I am, admittedly, not as big of a stickler for details as he is) He is satisfied with nothing short of perfection. I can tell you from personal experience just how frustrating training under him can be. Just when you are starting to really feel that you are getting it right, he'll come along with a few more corrections and improvements that you need to make.
The biggest upside to training under Master K is the sense of REAL accomplishment you will get. Master K has that special "something" (charisma?) that makes you want to give that extra effort to perform well. The funny thing that I remember is that I was not putting in all the extra effort for myself. I was doing it for him. I trained harder and practiced longer and harder not just for myself, but because I wanted to please him.
If you are training with him now, you understand what I'm saying. You are on top of the world when he says "THAT'S IT! YOU GOT IT!" and feel like TOTAL SHIT when he looks at what you're doing and has that disappointed look on his face and says, "No, that's not it."
I have not trained with Master K on a regular basis since about 2000, when I took over teaching for him in the Washington, D.C. area and he moved back to NJ permanently. But I can tell you that I still am very conscious of his teaching and his feelings. Out of sight is not out of mind. I often still find myself asking myself what Master K would do or how would he feel regarding my own teaching methods.
Sorry, I know I started off on a tangent, but I guess I'm just trying to illustrate my point on how special and rewarding of an experience it has been to train, fight, and teach for Master K. I hope that you stick with it and train under him for many years to come. Trust me, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. If you give him your all, he will give you his.
I have had a number of Martial Arts and Boxing coaches. Heck, I've even trained with some other Thai coaches occassionally to learn other approaches to improve my techniques and teaching method, but NONE OF THEM even begin to compare to Master K.
(maybe we should rename this thread, "Why Khun Kao Loves Master K" LOL)
Brooks (Khun Kao)
Thanks. Definitely biased...LOL...but that is cool.
I enjoy training with him very much. I wish I could train more, but he is about an hour away from me. That coupled with my BJJ classes and the fact that I own my own MA school makes it tough to get to him more.
If anyone else has any input, please share. Thanks
Where is his school located in NJ?
He doesn't have a school Instead he teaches out of other gyms. Not sure if he has that info on the site but here it is anyway. www.elbowko.com.
If not, then just email him.
Is he still at Chau's in the city?
I'm one of his students out of his South Hackensack location. Taking a break for 2 months (job related). he also teaches in Elmwood Park (Monday or Wednesday) and Allendale NJ (thursday). He is not at Chau's. If i understand correctly, Chau's closed down or is under new management and no longer offers muay thai. several of their students were training on sunday with us.