I am writing this as an outsiders view on what I have seen and heard.
I have seen the rise of Phuket Top Team steadily over the course of this year. The owner Boyd has used the right strategy and thinking when he started his gym and has kept it there. The best one I have seen is no egos only dedication. This is a good quote and thinking because then you can have anyone come into the gym and become part of the team. I have seen a lot of gyms where there are 2-3 sections, if you are not in with the top people and bow down to their ego, they won't teach you much.
1) Location
The location of Phuket Top Team aka PTT is perfect not only for the business side to keep a steady income but also for keeping the mind relaxed more than most places. Phuket is an island with many beaches within reach of anywhere. If you feel stressed out one day you can go to the beach and go relax instead of train. Most of Phuket is not built up and has a relaxing feel most places you go. Phuket is low on pollution due to it is not built up. Cities like Bangkok and Chang Mai, pollution can be bad at times. When you go for the jog you are breathing fresh air to the smog and pollution.
Phuket is full of Tourist and the all the gyms in Phuket have a healthy supply of tourist customers, people who come to the island, want to maybe train and holiday or people who want to train one day, so that is one of the base incomes for any gym in Phuket. Some people don't like Phuket due to it having a lot of bars and karoke, well the bottom line is, if you stay at the gym, don't go to those places, your trip and training will just be training! For the fighters, Phuket has a more relaxed feel, sometimes when your in the city you have to travel a couple of Kilometers to find a park or somewhere away from the busyness of Bangkok, in Phuket you walk outside and it just has that paradise feel.
2) Facility
The Muay Thai area is like any other training facility in Thailand, has the ring and bags. The biggest appeal and highest selling point of PTT is the MMA/BJJ rolling area which is inside and air-conditioned. I have trained at 13 coins, and the worst part of training BJJ or MMA is you sweat a lot quicker than you do training Muay Thai, so having something where you can train for longer and don't have to worry about getting a rash or anything associated with the tropical weather.
3) Accommodation
There are 2 types of accommodation at the gym, 1 is the room with air-con, TV, DVD, mini fridge, bed, and clothes line - if your not on a budget or you like a bit more comfort this is great, you don't have to worry about too much either with this. The other type is the Budget Bamboo hut, this is a Bamboo hut with a bed, mosquito net, I have slept in something similar to this before, and believe it or not, these are cooler than a house, think it's how the bamboo reflects the heat.
4) Internet and Marketing
On par with the MMA/BJJ area is the work that has been put into the website, facebook, photo's and videos.
Nowadays Internet is really king when it comes to marketing, nearly everyone I know uses the internet, yes, including my grandparents, so this is a killer tool to use. I first found out about PTT through my friend Will Chope who I met through Facebook and now we are good friends. He told me about his friend Boyd was opening a Gym in Phuket, so I started to look at PTT on Facebook.
Facebook is the most powerful advertising method on the internet because if you like to say it or not, you go on Facebook at least once a day and check what is going on. So with PTT Facebook page being regularly updated with news of fights, photo's video's and special people coming this really does help, it keeps people interested, because once people start following you, if you don't put something new up, they soon start to become board and look for something new.
5) Fighters Gym
Any person who is a fighter sees this as their main appeal. PTT ideology at the start was to be a fighters gym is starting to get a reputation as a gym for serious fighters which is hard to come by when surrounded by tourists. It started off by attracting some smaller name fighters which I believe will become big one day if they keep the hard work and the trainers work to high standards with them. Now PTT is attracting bigger named fighters like Vaughn Lee. Vaughn has just signed a contract with the UFC for 4 fights, I used to train with this guy back in England 4-5 years ago, and back then, his ground game was crazy, he was like a butterfly on the ground and quick in stand up too!! They also have Roger Huerta teaching at the gym in normal classes, Roger is a UFC veteran. Rob Hill who fights on Legend FC in Hong Kong. Just these names here are a few of the bigger names who train there
6) Trainers
I can't say much about the trainers due to I have never trained with them and would be wrong for me to talk about this section in too much detail. What I can say is they have a good mix for the MMA training. They have Rafael Lopez who is a BJJ brown belt, which takes years to achieve, he is Brazlian, so comes from the motherland of BJJ and from my friend Will who trains there says he is really good as a teacher and rolling. The other good mix is for the standing wrestling and take downs is the Sambo guy silviu Vulc from Russia, again this guy has vast knowledge on Sambo and is from the Motherland of Sambo. He is also an Olympic Boxing coach and is teaching Boxing, so hand skills will improve there.
The last part is the main stand-up of MMA, Muay Thai. This is taught by a team of Thai trainers who are former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadium champions, who have 1000's of fights between them and have different styles, so you can pick and choose what you want to fit into your style.
7) Media
PTT made a smart move by hiring Michael Galvin. Michael is a professional Photographer, and has his own review site.
The Photo's taken have been done Professionally, and made to look appealing to everyone that comes to the gym. The videos that have been done are great, showing little tastes of what you will receive, for example the Sambo technique's Silvui, basic Muay Thai Techniques.
Check out the website at
http://wwwphukettopteam.com/
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/MMATrainingCampPhuket
Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhuketTopTeam
Please help me for Christ sake
ReplyDelete