They came for a women only fitness class. They left with a belt.

They came for a women only fitness class. They left with a belt.

Ask the women in our classes how they ended up doing Muay Thai and most give the same answer: by accident.

They were looking for women only fitness classes in Milton Keynes. A friend recommended us, or they saw the words “women only” and assumed it would be something like boxercise. Some cardio, a pair of gloves, a bit of fun. None of them were looking for a martial art.

More than 90% never planned to be here

At a recent grading we asked the women in the room one question. How many of you knew, when you first walked in, that you would one day be grading for a belt in Muay Thai?

More than 90% raised their hands to say they had no idea. They never imagined they would try Muay Thai, let alone stick at it.

Not boxercise. The real thing.

What they found was real Muay Thai. Proper technique, taught step by step by a female coach. Pad work. A syllabus to work through and gradings to earn.

Somewhere along the way, the reason for coming changes. They stop turning up to burn calories and start turning up to get better. They learn how to fight properly, and they earn belts they never knew they wanted.

Nobody is thrown in at the deep end. Every woman starts as a beginner, at her own level, and beginners are never expected to spar. The skill builds one class at a time, until one day she realises she can do things she would not have believed a few months earlier.

For the women who were told sport was not for them

Many of the women who train with us grew up being told that sport was not for girls. Some had to give it up when they reached their teens. A fighting sport would have been unthinkable.

So when one of them stands in front of her coaches, is tested on what she has learned and is handed her belt, it means more than a grade. It is something she was once told she could never do.

Why women only fitness classes make this possible

Most of these women would never have walked into a mixed gym. They walked into ours because of how the classes are run.

Our women only Muay Thai classes in Bletchley have a female instructor and female members only. No men are present, the sessions are private and there is no CCTV, so you can train in whatever you feel comfortable wearing.

That privacy is what lets a woman who has never trained before, or has not been allowed to, take the first step.

You do not have to know where it leads

None of the women who graded arrived fit, experienced or sure of themselves. Most did not even know what Muay Thai was. They came to try a class.

You do not need to want a belt. You do not need to be fit. You just need to start, and see where it takes you. Your first week with us in Milton Keynes is free.