Customer Reviews

Muay Thai: Knockout One [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are interested in learning one of the most punishing martial arts available, then this set of videos is an excellent introduction for you. Master K (the instructor) is a 62 year old veteran of more than 70 Muay Thai fights and a retired champion from Thailand. He has a very high standard which he brings to his teaching and this is evident from the videos.

I have trained with Master K for two years and have learned a lot from him. While you will not learn Muay Thai from these videos alone, they carry a lot of useful information which can be used to help improve your technique.

I'm surprised by some of the reviews here. I was really impressed by Master K and his teaching. The students on the tape are a pretty typical class - a few beginners, a few average guys and a couple of really tough looking guys I would not want to meet in the ring. The instruction is solid, especially if you have some experience. I really liked the little tips and tricks that Master K tossed out throughout the two videos. A few times I had to rewind and listen again because his accent is a bit hard to understand, but that wasn't a problem most of the time.

The reviewer who wrote that the filming was random and shot with a camcorder must have some kind of axe to grind because the filming is excellent quality for a martial arts vidoes. I've seen some amaturishly filmed tapes and this isn't one of them. If you're into Muay Thai or looking for some supplemental full contact training, check out this tape.

Though I have 36 bone-jarring years studying and teaching the martial arts, I am still learning. After viewing this double tape set on Muay Thai, I found ways to improve my elbow strikes (Master K has knocked out many people with his), ways to increase the penetrative power of my knee strikes and ways to increase the whip and sting of my roundhouse kick.

Master K is a wonder to watch and, more importantly, he is an expert at passing on his knowledge to the viewer.

I highly recommend these tapes.

This review is partly a response to Msmitty's review. In defense of MasterK. The tape was developed by a third party who appeared one day at the gym and pretty much dictated the content of the tape. Quite simply, they attempted to make money using MasterK on the tape.

For a true example of MasterK's ability, I recommend that a serious Muay Thai student check out Master K's website http://www.masterkelbowko.com/ and order his other videos. They are much better and provide better instruction. Also there are video clips on the website demostrating MasterK working through some drills.. While watching the drills keep in mind MasterK is now in his 60s. I don't know too many 60+ grandfathers who has the fitness and ability of MasterK as well as breadth of knowledge.

As for the other review questiong MasterK's ability. If you think the video speaks volumes of this ability, I question the type of "muay thai" instruction you receive. True in some gyms you see students who look like they belong in the K1 and that other reviewer complained that the students in MasterK's video looked amateurish, well for one.. Some of MasterK's students are amateur. MasterK isn't looking to hit it big and retire from his Muay Thai videos. This is a man who enjoys teaching Muay Thai. I trained with MasterK for a couple of years and I can definitely say he knows his stuff. MasterK believes in teaching the art of real Muay Thai and not just trying to make a quick buck advertising in black belt magazine (MasterK did have a center article on Muay Thai in the March 2004 BlackBelt Magazine).

By the way..students of the martial arts shouldn't assume that a "video" is the end all of an instructors abilities. Get off your lazy ass and attend a class or research the instructor. Just because they weren't on the K1, UFC, Pride, or their name wasn't Alex Gong (God rest his soul) doesn't mean the instructor is horrible. Many great instructors dont have videos but have a huge underground/city/neighborhood following.

As for this video. It's not a bad video, but you would be better served by going to MasterK's website and ordering his other 4 videos which are a better representation of his ab ilities. They are well worth the money.

www.masterkelbowko.com

I bought this video after seeing a taping of some fights of Master K's students. Now I can see why they fight so well! This training tape is a little random, but still amazing. I just ordered his book and hope it is as good as this video.

I just started taking kickboxing (Muy Thai) and thought this would be a nice supplement to my in-person training, but I was disappointed to see that there was very little instruction, and lots of random shots. I was expecting an explanation of each move, and some sequences that you could follow, but this video was not made like that. Although the instructor is a true master of the art, the video people that made this are true amateurs.

I had the privilege of training with Master K about one and one half years ago in Lorton, VA. I am a longtime trainer in the martial arts and went to Master K with 15 years of Japanese karate under my belt...He taught me plenty.I regret that I had to leave so soon. Although I was only able to train for a little over a year before moving away I thoroughly enjoyed my time learning from Master K. He is an excellent instructor and an accomplished fighter and backs his teachings with many years of experience.These videos take you directly into the class of master K. They are a must have for any serious student of Muay Thai.Highly recomended.

I have trained at a real Muay Thai camp and have to say that Master K is not exactly what I would call a household name in Thailand. In fact, he is pretty much unknown. That does not make him a bad teacher, though. What I was not impressed by was the athletic ability and the shape his students that he used to demonstrate the different techniques. Most of them were slow, sloppy, and looked incredibly amateurish. To me, that speaks volumes about the quality of the instructor. The video quality as well was very poor. It looked like someone took video from their Camcorder and then ran it through their VHS and voila! I would recommend going to a camp in Thailand or Fairtex here in the U.S. if you are really serious about Muay Thai.