My experiences at “OC Muay Thai” have been absolutely positive. Two years ago, I met the head trainer / owner David Jansson who immediately greeted me when I walked into his gym. David’s easy going personality allowed me to feel comfortable in an often intimating environment. I was quickly introduced to other students / fighters who went out of their way to help me.

The class began with an hour of cardio training which including flipping tires, jumping rope, a 1 mile run, shadow boxing, and line drills for proper foot work. After the cardio portion was over, we did kicking & punching drills on pads with a partner. During the training secession, David constantly monitored each student’s progress, providing lots of one on one training to the newer students.

After a series of countless kicks and punches on the pads, I was told we were going to spar. I was provided a pair of boxing gloves and entered the ring. I was matched up with a student who stood 5’07” tall and weighed 150 pounds. I felt pretty confident standing at 6’01” tall weighing 225 pounds but would soon realize that my physical frame did little to help me with my lack of cardio training and poor technique. Within the first three minutes, I was knocked down to the canvas twice by someone who was only sparring at fifty percent. I was quickly humbled and came to the realization that I was in desperate need of proper training. My sparring partner took it upon himself to explain to me how to parry punches and to check leg kicks. Once I caught my breath...

I came to OC Muay Thai in the fall of 2006, already haven trained in Japan, Thailand, and the US. I had fought once in the ring in Japan (1996) and as a member of the Thaiboxing Association of the USA, I held an associate instructor's rank. In short, I had about 11 years of Muay Thai experience under my belt.

I was immediately at home at OC Muay Thai. It was a Thaiboxing gym, period. No frills, but none were necessary. Khun Kru David Jansson's personal charm made the place all the more appealing. Also, the morning and evening class schedule fit well within my work-related and family-related obligations.

I must say that physically, the training at OC Muay Thai is some of the most challenging I have participated in to date. Conditioning and stamina are stressed and make up the foundation for technique.

Technically, everyone, from beginner to advanced, has something to learn from Khun Kru David. I know my boxing and clinch-work has improved under his tutelage.

The curriculum, containing a strong focus on timing, boxing, sparring and clinch-work, and the diverse cliental at OC Muay Thai to train with (from pro-fighters to heavy metal vocalists), have allowed me to sharpen various skill sets that needed attention.
In short, I am completely satisfied with my training at OC Muay Thai, and look forward to, and expect, more personal growth working with Khun Kru David.

So after my SNAFU at OC Kickboxing & Mixed Martial Arts, my friend tells me about this gym and he did not sugar coat it. He says " the conditioning is hard work. We run for 2 miles and then we flip tires for a good 20-30 mins before we jump rope. But each day various.

The main trainer/teacher Dave will push you past your limit. He'll say shit to make you push it hard like 'punch like you're punching the F**ker who's sleeping with your girl' and he's an OG. My friend who went with me for 3 months got in super good fighting shape."

After hearing him tell me his experience with this gym, I decided to go check it out. I met up with him one morning and that was when the addiction began. Dave told him to take me on "the run". So we jogged around the entire block, equivalent of one mile. Since it was my first time working out at this gym, I only did one mile, my friend was hesitant about going back so early because he didn't want Dave to call him a little bitch so he took off to run his second mile leaving me to my own devices. Dave rolls out a huge truck tire and shows me the proper technique to flipping tire so I don't strain my back. I crouch down and flip the tire thinking to myself this isn't hard at all! 30 mins later and my quads are shaking from pain, begging for me to stop.

 

I'm an American living in Helsinki, Finland and have been training in Muay Thai for over a year at the Helsinki Thaiboxing Club ( www.htbc.fi) under the supervision of Petri Martinez.

Although training is wonderful at HTBC, explanation of techniques are done in Finnish and my understanding of the language is very minimal.

There are many kind people at the club whom I train with who explain to me things in English and I also learn visually...

My husband and I went on holiday back home to California for a month and decided to check out OC Muay Thai after scouring the internet for a Muay Thai gym.

After going to the first training session I enjoyed the fast pace (quite different to what I'm used to) and decided to go for a private training session with David Jansson.

David was very informative and off the bat knew what I was doing wrong with my technique - plus, he answered all my questions very throughly! I had a lot of questions to ask - mind you, I bet any other instructor would be annoyed. :)

An email correspondence:

Since you are probably very knowledgeable about people in the Muay Thai world.

I'm looking for a top notch MT instructor for our school and was wondering if you may know anyone in the Lake Forest or Orange County area who may be interested.

We have hired a great Jiu-Jitsu instructor in Rani Yahya, he's the light-weight ADCC Champion and is a great instructor and I'm looking for something along those lines for a MT instructor as well.

So if you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate any insight!

I have one small request concerning a Muay Thai Instructor in CA. You mentioned that your friend runs a Muay Thai school in Costa Mesa.

Do you think he might have any qualified students who would like to teach Muay Thai classes at our gym a few nights a week? Could I get his contact information, or is contacting him a more personal dealing that you should handle and then give him my contact information?