Best Kickboxing Classes in Arlington Heights, IL

Muay Thai has origins in the battle tactics of the ancient Siamese army and in the ancient Thai boxing art called Muay Boran. The earliest Muay Thai bouts pitted different companies within the Siamese army against each other. They had few rules and no weight divisions or time limits. These brutal battles became quite popular and eventually were shown in stadiums across the country. In the early 20th century time limits, boxing gloves, and a uniform set of rules were introduced. From the middle of the 20th century and onward, certain aspects of western boxing were also adopted and utilized during training and fighting.

In the 1980s and 1990s Muay Thai started to be exported to other countries and is now practiced by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. With the rise in popularity of MMA and kickboxing, Muay Thai is having an international moment of fascination as arguably the most effective standup striking combat sport.

Our classes are a combination of bag work, pad work, situational drills, calisthenics, footwork drills, technique, and voluntary sparring. Our fundamentals classes do have a lot of conditioning from time to time but we encourage everyone to attend and go at their own pace.

We do spar and we are a gym that prepares, trains, coaches and corners fighters for competition. Sparring is voluntary and commensurate with experience. Sparring also has to be approved by one of our instructors. During sparring you will need to have appropriate head gear, 16 oz. gloves a mouthpiece and shin guards. We also spar at various gyms around the Chicago area for additional experience and greater exposure of talent around the city.

Yes, we have connections with a few non-tourist Muay Thai camps, most notably with the Sangtiennoi Muay Thai Gym. We can advise, guide or arrange for you to train in Thailand. We feel that there is a difference in the quality of training between tourist gyms and non-tourist gyms and therefore your experience may vary greatly depending on where and with whom you train with. We can speak more on this topic in the gym or you can contact us.