We love living in a country that boasts a low crime rate and feeling safe walking down the street any time of day or night. So we signed up for self-defence lessons more out of curiosity than necessity
The Muay Thai and Capoeira Sports Club is located in a dingy, rundown building off Al Najda Street. However don’t let first appearances put you off – what it lacks in décor it certainly makes up for in quality of lessons.
Our instructor Yasser introduced the combat sport Muay Thai to Abu Dhabi in 2007, and he claims to be the only Muay Thai teacher in the capital.
He explains that people practice this mixed martial art for many reasons: fitness, weight loss, self-defence or to become a professional fighter.
We watch and then imitate Yasser’s movements, starting with warm-up stretches followed by a cardio workout. We do a combination of skipping, press-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks.
Next Yasser demonstrates how we can use our hands, elbows, knees and feet to deliver a blow to our opponent. We learn the correct stance and how to move around and punch, while shielding our face and stomach.
We clench our fists and hold them in front of our face with our head lowered and chin tucked in. Apparently one of the most painful places to strike an opponent is their chin because the pain will radiate throughout their jaw.
Wearing pink, padded boxing-gloves we practice throwing punches at Yasser’s chin using our left fist while holding our right fist in front of our face.
“Now your face is protected but your stomach is not so I could easily kick you in the stomach,” Yasser tell us. Oh dear! We definitely don’t like the sound of that. To avoid kicks to the stomach we are taught to move our body to the side while we punch. It takes a little practice but we get there in the end.
After that it’s time for some footwork. We learn to step forwards, backwards and to the side using precise, controlled movements. The aim is to tire out and confuse our opponent.
We learned a lot from out first Muay Thai lesson and while we don’t intend to start picking fights with strangers, we have learnt a few useful tricks should we ever be forced to defend ourself.
Catriona Doherty
What? Muay Thai
Where? Muay Thai and Capoeira Sports Club, National Cinema building, Al Najda Street
Cost: AED 50 (the first lesson is free) or AED 500 per month - with three lessons per week
We say: A great way to get fighting fit
Contact: 02 676 9658 or 050 901 7528
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