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April 21, 2024

Winner Muay Thai is a newer gym in Pattaya. It is run by Luktum (Tum) Sityodtong (now Winner Muay Thai) and Kru Noi Sityodtong. It's located not too far from Sityodtong Camp, about a 5-10 motorbike ride away in the outskirts of Pattaya city. I first heard of Tum when he began fighting in the American promotions such as Lion Fight (vs Gaston Bolanos) and Triumph Kombat (vs Onjen Topic). Apparently he is/was pretty active in promotions around the Southeast Asian/Oceanic region. The gym is an extension of Kru Tum's and Noi's home. It's a family atmosphere, and you'll see Tum's wife and kid occasionally roaming around the mats. Everything is relatively new and clean. The gym seems more or less unknown at the moment; only one other student from Australia was there when I showed up. I opted to do morning sessions at Winner then afternoon sessions at Petchrungruang or Sityodtong. The morning training starts at around 8am. I would get some km in a park nearby before showing up for training. Tum would sometimes be running with the other student as I arrived. Training began with a warmup of either tire jumps or rope skipping. Then shadowboxing would commence. Tum was observant and gave pointers/things to focus on for each session. Next would be a couple rounds of bagwork (mainly alternating kicks, skip knees, and teeps). After bagwork came 5 rounds of pads with either Tum or Kru Noi. Padwork was always fun with Tum. He is high energy and has some tricky techniques in his arsenal. A lot of fakes and defensive maneuvers. Similar to Sityodtong gym, the first three rounds usually included all techniques while the last two rounds focused on clinching/knees or boxing/low kicks. Afterwards Tum would show us some techniques to drill on and sometimes spar/clinch with us. He is a beast in the clinch. Overall, I enjoyed training at Winner Muay Thai. It was like getting a private with Tum every session. He has a wealth of knowledge and a cool style. His style seems to incorporate more footwork and boxing than traditional muay thai. I recommend this gym for people looking for more individual training sessions, and if you want to train with Tum. Since it is relatively unknown at the moment, you won't get much sparring/clinching partners. Kru Tum and Kru Noi sometimes stagger the training sessions because they are the only trainers and can handle only 2-4 students at a time. The gym also seems to cater to the local community. If you're looking for an "traditional" muay thai camp or a "fighters" gym, this gym likely isn't for you, but if you prefer more individualized attention and want train with a great fighter like Tum, it's worth a visit.