Let Me Coach!

On January 4, 2025, we had a seminar for all the Kingdom coaches and some of Elite Martial Arts'. Since I'm not a coach, I was invited to be the fly on the wall!

The coaches were expected to demonstrate their discipline by showing up on time and in uniform. Most of the coaches showed up on time and dressed in their club gear, except for a couple. PC Kru Vince showed up as the Ugly Duckling, and PC Kru Nima was an hour late, joining the circle dressed as Elmer Fudd!

During the opening, coaches shared a brief history of their Muay Thai journey. I found out that PC Kru Hamèd spent six months in Thailand looking for himself. He found himself, but it was too heavy for him to bring back, so he sent via ground shipping. Now that the Canada Post strike is over, we expect him any day now.

I had the pleasure of meeting Aanchal Vashishtha at the seminar, as she's one of the coaches at Elite Martial Arts. Aanchal has been named one of the top 10 Indian women leaders in Canada, is a five-time best-selling author, and is an honor to our Muay Thai community! You could tell how influential Aanchal is because when she came to the front of the room to demonstrate teaching, all the coaches forgot their dominant leg and became southpaws. When Aanchal said, "LET'S GO, legs-to-the-heaven pushups," PC Kru Nima packed his bag and waited by the door! Aanchal teaches the all-female classes at Elite. That's something I hope to do one day at Kingdom. I look forward to getting to know Aanchal.

The seminar was immensely informative and run by Kru Harold. I was told the seminar was meant for Muay Thai coaches only, but in my opinion, any kind of coach could have benefited from the first half of the seminar, which covered general rules and common sense for coaches.

Kru Harold explained the importance of consistency in coaches' teaching styles and terminology. He also emphasized that the safety of both students and coaches is the most important objective in any and every class.

Kru Harold said that when you want to touch students to correct their form, always ask for permission first and try to touch the bony parts as opposed to the flesh. To demonstrate inappropriate touching, Kru Harold groped Kru Arash's left quad. Kru Arash's freshly shaved and moisturized quad made the demonstration quite effective.

As I really hope to be invited to the next coaching seminar, I'll have to stop my thoughts here. I suggest coaches from other Muay Thai gyms reach out and join future seminars for some unofficial networking, if for no other reason. I promise not to pick on you (though don't count on it).

A couple of announcements on our community: Coach Mauricio from Evolucao Thai got engaged over the holidays. Congratulations to him and his lovely fiancée. Watch out in your mail for save the date cards. Kru Art from Legacy Muay Thai opened up Roots Muay Thai gym in Barrie. I hear Coach Francesca is very happy and supportive of Kru Art's new endeavors.

Looking forward to the January 25th fight event. Come talk to me. As this will be my 6th fight to blog about, I'm now considered a class "B" blogger so watch out for my elbows!