Day 1 ISKA course @ Borneo Combat Gym with The Red Dragon.

Nazim, Ronny & I got to KKIA airport as early as 6:30am today. Our flight to Labuan was a short 30 minutes & Master Alvin Chong; owner of Borneo Combat Gym was already waiting for us by the gates of the airport. We decided to go straight to the seminar and check in to the hotel later.

(Mr. Alvin Chong of Borneo Combat Gym - picture from his FB profile)

It was my 1st time being inside the Borneo Combat Gym.

The gym is actually much smaller to where I train in Wisma Intiutama but the amount of bags, an area for weights & a DIY ring is a real envy. Mr. Alvin runs a Muay Thai / MMA & fitness gym. He is a well recognized coach in the Malaysian kickboxing & Muay Thai circuit, a fighter himself with a good record & is also known for coaching Sunny "The Silencer"; a mute & deaf Muay Thai fighter that represents Labuan & won in the Kedah Open Muay Thai Tournament!

(Sunny "The Silencer" on the left with Mr. Alvin Chong - picture from Mr. Alvin's FB photo)

Today Borneo Combat Gym is working hand in hand with Master Khoo Meng Yang of TNT Kickboxing who will be coaching us the ISKA Level 1 Instructor Course.

There were a total of 10 people who registered for the course, there's the 3 of us representing KK & there were other soon to be "coaches" from Labuan, Miri & a fitness instructor from Kuching's Level Up gym (yes it's the gym owned by once Malaysian blog god: Kenny Sia).

On the 1st day we were given a list of ISKA Level 1 commands & I was a little taken a back as I noticed a lot of different commands in ISKA standards compare to the Muay Thai training that I have been receiving; example some might call the "Jab Kick" the "Tip" or "Deep" but in ISKA call, it's either a "Front Push"; meaning you kick forward with your lead leg or a "Front Kick"; which means you are doing the same but with the rear leg. These were just some of the new terminology we had to get used to.

The 1st thing you need to understand is that an ISKA cert is not a "Muay Thai" cert, this is a kickboxing course that allows you to run kickboxing classes which means you are require to be familiar with other kickboxing techniques like from Boxing / Sanda / Taekwando & learn new foot work patterns.

The course was very educational & Master Khoo was a very good instructor. He is strict, very blunt, direct but always very clear with his command and made us all understand the expectation he wants from us. Besides... if you are going to be an ISKA Level 1 "INSTRUCTOR"... you had better know your stuff & he made us understand this clearly.

The 1st day course went from 9am till 7:30pm. I felt that the course was really good as not only did I get to learn new footwork, new techniques from other disciplines but most importantly a new "structure" to training & coaching. One can also consider this course a "Leadership" camp as it stress alot about "Taking Charge" but MORE IMPORTANTLY, how to give clear command & order to your future 1:1 client OR if you end up with a class of 40 people. Anybody can learn to punch & kick, but how to CONTROL a class is a difference between a fighter and a coach.

Anyway I had better get some sleep now, I actually have some "homework" I need to do (we are asked to think up "combo structures" for class tomorrow). Anyway tomorrow is a 2 hour exam & I hope I do well. Good night. :)