The Wat

Crystal and Phil are so approachable. They don't try to hurry you up when it comes to conversing or learning the skill. They don't try to shut your questions down either, they actually answer all your questions patiently - no matter how long it takes. They'll take time out to make sure you get all your questions answered. Right now they train at the park, and I would consider the training better than every Muay Thai gym that I've been to in New York city.

Literally the best Muay Thai classes I ever attended was with The Wat. Absolutely matches the hype fully. Technique lessons are vast and detailed and you are guaranteed to learn amazing tech work with Ajarn Phil Nurse and his Coaches. I cannot say enough good things about this legendary gym!

I've previously posted my review, but I see that somehow it's no longer visible — I assume management here are abusing the reporting elements of reviews to hide those they don't like, shady stuff. I was at 2/5 but shady moves like that drop them to 1/5. You can see my full old review still on Yelp. In short: - Dreadful pads and mitts. Worse than any gym I've been to, and all other gyms have been much cheaper. Damaged pads with bad velcro and rusty buckles. I even got cut badly by a damaged buckle. At the time I was here, they had almost no boxing mitts at all, embarrassing. - Coaches showing up late all the time, including the coach who would unlock the place in the morning, making us late afterwards. Poor coaching in general: very minimal technique focus.

Before I get into it, let me just say the Wat, in general is a great gym. Ajarn Phil Nurse is the man and his classes are great. I train at a few of the big gyms in the city & Brooklyn, and the Wat is easily in my top 3. I took a class recently that I didn't think was so great - I wasn't into the coach's teaching style - I made my concerns known and the gym got at me immediately and cleared everything up. Very cool place to train.

Awesome Muay Thai / boxing instruction from Ajarn Phil and the rest of the team Eric, Nick, Ruben, Susan, etc. No matter your current ability, they will tailor the teaching to you and help you reach the next level. Highly recommended!

Excellent muay thai gym, instructors are very good about letting you train at your own pace. Beginner classes are very fun, looking forward to eventually working up to intermediate. Classes are well priced, and they let you 'resurrect' passes that have expired so they never really go to waste.

Love the Wat! It makes you feel like you are training in an authentic Thai gym, being from part south east Asia I felt at home right away. Part of it is also because of the owner/coach who is such a genuine and friendly person, while being one if the greatest Western Muat Thai fighters of all time. I was asking him some questions after my first trial lesson and we just chatted, can’t believe how approachable and nice he is. He trained fighters like GSP, McGregor and Jon Jones and he talks to you like a friendly neighborhood guy. Loved the Master Kru, can’t wait to go back. As for the class itself I have been to a number of them in the city, this is the most legit fighting lesson for Muay Thai, so you won’t feel it if you are looking just for a group kickboxing fitness class. Master Phil teaches a lot of clinching and fascinating fighting skills. There is enough conditioning exercises to break a sweat too, so you will definitely get some work out. And I forgot to mention, the gym is Huuuuge for nyc standard.

Kru Phil Nurse and the other instructors at the Wat Susan, Stanley, Brett, and others are at the top of their class. All are excellent teachers and all have impressive skills at Thai boxing. They all share a similar theme to their instruction style, and that is to constantly "raise the bar" during the course of a session. For example, they'll have you do 10 push ups, then 20, then 30 or more. Or, they might work on a few simple combinations then have you string them all together. They all know how to keep a workout interesting and each class incorporates new workouts and drills to prevent the workouts from becoming stale. The gym is small physically they're moving to a new space, but the smallness lends itself to building a strong community. People are friendly and you begin to recognize faces of the people you train with. All different levels of commitment and experience are welcomed and accommodated. There is no formal ranking system of students, as far as I know, but students are generally watched and given permission to take advanced level classes by the instructors based on their experience. Clinch is very well done here, as are pad training. There is no push to fight, but members committed to fighting have competed locally, nationally, and internationally. Several of the instructors compete or have competed regularly and have been successful. The biggest downside to this gym, which has forced me to leave, was the limited schedule. Each class is only offered at certain times on certain days of the week. For instance, 3 times a week there is a morning class. Clinch classes are only offered in the evenings a couple days each week. Sparring is only one or two days per week once at intermediate level and once at advanced level. Each class is marvelously done, but your schedule must fit around the classes you want to take.

I haven't trained at any other Muay Thai gyms, so I can't tell you how this gym compares to their training programs, but, what I can tell you is that I have took trial classes beginner at other gyms like 5 points. I like the feel to The Wat much more because of the lighting. Random, I know. But the classes at The Wat isn't just talk. If you want to work out, you get worked out. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape as an athlete in general, but when I stepped into the total beginner class at The Wat, I felt drained afterwards. The class destroyed me. After a couple more visits, I felt that my body was getting more and more conditioned. As you move up the difficulty in classes, they get harder obviously and there is a really high emphasis on Cardio. I don't think I have had more than 2 minutes of rest in the 20 minute warm up at the total beginner course. The facilities are very clean too. I'm a huge clean freak and I do not place myself anywhere where it could be dirty. The showers are nice and the people are friendly. I think one of the best parts to the gym is their apples. The gym's amenities include "complimentary apples" and they are some of the best apples I have ever had. Overall I can't stop coming back every few days.

Best Muay Thai gym in NYC and this is a fact! The energy here is what always gets me it’s some serious feng shui going on here. It’s super communal guarantee to adopt a new family here. Staff is consistently delivering. The owners are really kind and very involved. Instructors are all extremely skillful and knowledgeable. You will really learn each technical aspect in Muay Thai Training here you’ll look elite anywhere you train lol I went to neighboring gyms and was looking like the female Saenchai lol. They also hold holiday parties for staff and other cool events/ seminars.