Well ive been around a few gym in my time as a boxer and now as a thai boxer, most of the gyms ive been to have been great, I mean by that, that if you wanted praise and respect from the trainers you had to work ****ing hard for it and really push yourself each time you trained and once earned you kept training hard to keep it, those gyms had good fighters and although the atmosphere might not have been all fun and games the results were good ( a boxing gym aint a ****ing social club, at least not whilst training....) in these gym the trainers were more focused on producing good fighters and caring for them rather than making money and often the treasurers and owners were ex fighters or boxing enthousiats! Anyway im at this gym now thats charging 75£ pounds a month for muay thai granted the coach is good but the admin/treasueres have no ****ing clue about anything and seem to worry about one thing only and thats MONEY to the point that you get harrassed by these ****ers trying to sell you shitt everytime you walk in and push you into signing traning contract via debt collecting agencys so that if your late for trainig you have to pay latness charges....(MOTHER****ERS ITS A FINACIAL CRISIS AND YOU DO THAT!!!!???!!!)Now im not a rich man and thats probably why i like fighting sports so much, cause i cant afford to go skiing every winter or go surfing or whatever, boxing as one guy said once "is the poor mans extreme sport" and theres a ring on truth to that, im not saying all boxers are poor, but boxing has its origins in poverty and most of the best fighters come from humble back grounds...anyway i guess im just pissed of because i feel im getting ripped off, i understand people have to make a living but there has to be a balance right ? What do you guys think? Personaly i think commercial gyms just create **** fighters and are no better than ****ing boxercise class for white collar puffs....
Our gym is both, but the prices are reasonable. Probably 90% of the people in our gym are there for exercise and little more. Some don't strap on at all, even to hit a bag. They just do the cardio and training, and when they leave...we train. Some go there for exercise and eventually decide afterworking out to give it a go. I think there are a lot of gyms like this...atleast I know there are in Canada. One important thing to remember is, those people who make up a majority of non-fighters in such gyms, don't ignore them or treat as less than. They play an important part in the gyms survival. Our coach makes it a point for us to go and spend some time with new people, to help a bit with stance...maybe have them lace up and hold the bag for them, give a few suggestions. The reason..beyong it being a nice thing to do..is that these people and their monthly fees are keeping us in business. They paid for our ring, they pay to keep the lights on, and they pay for when we travel. They also help fill the place and cheer us for our shows. They are an important ingredient to ours and many gyms lasting and becoming better.
alot of coorperatiosn use a bill agency to collect dues. I just never cared to contract outside of my club to get dues. But, my guys usually pay on time. If I have to , i'd rather just send a bill as a reminder, or verbal reminder and if there having a hard time coming up with dues, then maybe work a deal of some sort. Like cleaning the gym , or help out on a siminiar, or if they qualify on a schalorship program, maybe give a break on some of the training cost.
