Gym of the Month: SuperPro Samui
Gym of the Month: SuperPro Samui
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There are literally hundreds of Muay Thai camps in Thailand but SuperPro Samui is unique in that it is the only one which has an official affiliation to the GLORY World Series. The training center was founded by Dutch kickboxing enthusiasts and has concentrated on both fighting styles from the very beginning.
Located on the beautiful tropical island of Koh Samui, the SuperPro complex offers authentic training from veteran Thai fighters and coaches but with high-end facilities which cater to the Western traveler.
“Our main aim is to develop the sport and make it available to everyone by focusing on people who want to visit here and train at their own level. We have everything from complete beginners, tourists who are just trying it out, right up to world-class professional fighters. We can cater to every level,” explains Robbie Timmers, SuperPro Samui’s Managing Partner.
“I would say about 80% of the people who train here are what you would call recreational and about 20% are competitive fighters. Our head coach travels a lot doing seminars and things. He has been to a lot of different countries and he spent a lot of time in the Netherlands, so he has also learned the Dutch kickboxing style.
“That style is something we offer alongside Muay Thai and it makes us unique because we are the only camp in Thailand which does so. If you want to learn the GLORY style of fighting, this is the place. We are the only GLORY-affiliated gym in Thailand so people who want to work on that style of fighting can come here. Also anybody who wants to be scouted by GLORY, we can take a look at them here.
“[New GLORY signing] Sitthichai came here a while ago actually, we took him on the pads and we saw that he had potential as a GLORY kickboxer. He had a fight in the local stadium here in Chaweng and that confirmed his potential. Since then he has made so much improvement that it became impossible to ignore him. Right now he is the best Thai there is at 70kgs (155lbs).”
Sitthichai is not the only top fighting talent to have made an extended stay at SuperPro Samui. The gym‘s guest list is a Who’s Who of big names from the kickboxing and MMA worlds. Timmers lists some off them off.
“Alistair Overeem, Sergey Kharitonov, Ernesto Hoost, Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Albert Kraus, Jahfarr Wilnis, Ryan Jimmo have all trained here. The English heavyweight boxer David Haye, he did some training here, Buakaw Banchamek has been here…we get a lot of big names coming to visit.”
The facility has proven particularly attractive to Europeans, Americans, Russians, English and Australians who want good, high-level training but don’t necessarily want to completely immerse themselves in the native Thai fighter experience by sleeping in a shared room with no air-conditioning. Some camps are little more than a tin hut with a few battered heavy-bags and a ring. SuperPro is not one of them.
“SuperPro is like a resort. We have fifty hotel rooms with air-conditioning and en-suite bathrooms., plus a swimming pool. We have four boxing rings, a bag area with 25 bags, a professional-size MMA cage with a very experienced MMA coach, lots of CrossFit equipment and a big fitness area,” says Timmers.
“We also have a shop, a restaurant, on-site massage and the beach is five minutes away. We have everything anyone could need. And best of all we are on the most beautiful island in the world: Koh Samui. You can train in the morning, get a massage and then hit the beach, get a fresh coconut… it’s not a bad life.
“Some years ago I had two shops in Holland which sold boxing equipment and I also had my own boxing brand. I was friends with the owners of SuperPro Samui - Remon Daalder and Edwin van Os - and they asked me to join. I worked for them for a while to try it out and later they gave me the opportunity to become partner. This opportunity I took with both hands. Now with the three of us and our amazing team we have the perfect combination
“If you asked me seven years ago did I want to spend my life in Koh Samui I would have said no. But now? Never say never. This is the nicest island in the world.”
www.superprosamui.com
