WHO ARE THE PHRAYA PICHAI MUAY THAI CAMPS INTERNATIONAL?
The Phraya Pichai Thai Boxing Camp were one of the founder members of the British ThaiBoxing Council, the largest and oldest Thai Boxing Association in the United Kingdom. Initially founded in Preston, Lancashire(1979) under the tutelage of John Barker and Bob Spour the Phraya Pichai were highly successful in competitions at one time holding 5 titles at 5 different weight categories. The most famous of our fighters being Steve Scott. Steve has had over 200 fights! With John moving to the USA to further his acting career and Bob moving to Birmingham to study at the University, the camp was nearing dissolution. Bob then took the reins and steered the camp to it's current level of success by opening a modest size club at the University of Birmingham. This was 1984 and the club soon started growing.. Some of the students at that time are still around doing there own thing. Steve Logan and Paul Sutton being just two of them. As the club grew Bob was asked by Combat magazine to write for them and was soon a guest columnist for both Combat and Traditional Karate. He then went on to write for Martial Arts Illustated,(which he still writes for). Students were travelling from as far as Australia to train and eventually qualify under Bob and the Camp became bigger and stronger . Some of the now famous students of Bob's include Geoff Thompson, Harry Cook, Eddie Quinn, Chris Parker, Rob Locke, Vinny Grewal and many more. Bob now teaches alongside great teachers like Marc McFAnn and Surachai Sirisute. Bob's recent book 'Ultimate Muay Thai' has also expanded the Camps size and it now boasts over 70 clubs worldwide!!
All Instructors are qualified directly by Bob and have to pass and understand key concepts in Muay Thai and have a grasp of the latest techniques in communication theory. Once they have passed this phase they are then fully licenced, Insured and trained in First Aid and are now ready to represent the Camp. Even though they are fully qualified Instructors they must attend the regular Instructors Sessions each year. This maintains the high standards required by the Camp. It also allows them to stay at the cutting edge of the developmets that are taking place in Thailand and contact with our sister Camp in Bangkok ensures this. All of their students are licenced and insured through the AWA (Amalgamated Warrior Arts) Association and all associate Instructors use them for their personal Insurance. The students are what make the Camp successful and this is why we use only the best in Insurance and Health care throughout the organisation. We realise too, that many students come to us for Self Protection and Bob's background allows his Instructors to train in the very best systems of Self Protection. Every Instructor must have a grounding in understanding the key issues students have around the area of personal protection and we run regular seminars and clinics for both students and Instructors on this very important subject. Some of our Instructors even specialise in the area of working with bullying and childrens self defence. For those students who wish to fight competitively we run seperate classes for this need and we run Fighters Clinics and specialist courses throughout the year. We are also running Judges and Referees courses around the UK to help students and Instructors gain a greater understanding of what Muay Thai is really about.
We are also the founder members of Thai Boxing International Board of Control formed as a subsidiary of Thai Boxing International Ltd. We are also now linked to one of Thailands major Thai Boxing equipment manufacturers ensuring that only the best equipment is available to our students and Instructors.
The Phraya Pichai camps not only offer highly trained instructors and martial artists at camps around the world, but also ensure that students are kept up to date with the latest Muay Thai techniques used in Thailand. Their associate Chief Instructor in Thailand is Chaichokchana Krutsuwan or Pimu as he is known to his students. Pimu is known worldwide for his wealth of technical knowledge and opportunities exist for the foreign student to live and train in his camp, WPT Gym, in Bangkok.
Bob Spour with his Instructor Master Pimu
Whether you wish to learn Muay Thai for self defense, self protection, sport, fitness, weight loss or even fighting in the ring the Phraya Pichai will have something for you.
We train women and men of all age groups and our self defence training is second to none.
We share links with many groups and also utilise the techniques of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) in our training. This means that the level of instruction is the best it can be! check out: www.mindworkstechnologies.com
We are also now taking advantage of teaming up with a new and exciting company that specialise in Seated Acupressure. Seated Acupressure is a massage therapy based on the Japanese system of Anma. Our fighters and students have been using it as a great way to wind down after a gruelling session in the gym. A great alternative to Thai Massage.
There are Phraya Pichai camps and Instructors around the globe, with camps in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Scotland, Wales and England.
We would like to welcome the Nuneaton Branch of the Phraya Pichai to the Camp. Check it out at : www.combatandexercise.com
