About the instructor of Portsmouth Thai Boxing, Muay Thai Kick Boxing in Portsmouth
Hi my name is Matt Scott and I am the instructor here at the Portsmouth Sitnarong Thai boxing club.
The Portsmouth club was originally set up by Kru Jatin Burniston whilst he was at university, having been a student of Master Sken in Manchester. Once Kru Jatin moved back north the running of the club moved to Kru Anthony Wellington, who was instructor when I joined the classes in 2000. Kru Anthony had to leave the club some time later due to work commitments and the class was then ran by Kru Matt Rimmer who continued the strong traditions laid out by Kru Jatin until he too left, but not before asking if I wanted to take over the mantle.
I want my students to be fit and strong, so I should be too!!
This was a major decision, not least because I had only been training for about a year and a half! However always one for a challenge I duly agreed, bolstered by Master Sken having given his blessing and I have remained instructor since.
I am the first, and still only, student trained in Portsmouth to have attained the Red (Instructor level) arm band (Kruang Ruang) which is the equivalent of a black belt. Whilst I originally had plans to fight for the club and camp, these were never realised, in part due to my role as instructor. But none the less, I have done many interclubs and lost many tons of blood, sweat and tears throughout my years of training.
Master Sken insists his instructors maintain their standards so as to be role models to the students and I adhere to this vigorously, still sparring with the students and devoting as much time as possible to training. I am not about to think, ‘Right that’s it now, I’m hanging up the gloves and taking it easy…’ I want my students to be fit and strong, so I should be too!! Besides, I love training (even sprint work and roundhouse drills!) and it is this passion I have for training which I hope to pass on to all my students.
Prior to Muay Thai I had trained in Jeet Kune Do with Mike Gray from Southampton for several years and I really enjoyed this art and Mike’s classes, we had some real hard sessions as well and I have still got the bruises to prove it! I actually taught classes in Portsmouth for Mike which was a very good education in the correct way to both teach a class and conduct myself as an instructor.
... it is this passion I have for training which I hope to pass on to all my students.
Going back even further I did a little boxing; 1 fight - 1 defeat! Hah. A bad case of the ‘red mist descending’ led to my throwing out the window what little knowledge I had at that time. My boxing coach decided I was either going to get knocked out or disqualified, so he threw in the towel.
This experience taught me a great deal; not least always stay in control but also if you are going to do something - then do it properly! I had not trained properly for the fight, and whilst that may not be the factor in why I lost, it taught me that “you get what you deserve”, so in my eyes now I did not deserve the victory regardless.
Finally, delving deeper into my past I did a couple of years Karate as a teenager (I think they had discovered the light bulb then!) and progressed to a purple belt.
So there you have it, a brief run down of my experiences; some good - some not so good. But I believe we are molded by our experiences and are defined by how we adapt to them. This mantra is played out in all our lives and in all we do… as is written on the wall in Master Sken’s gym in Manchester:-
Muay Thai is not about survival in the ring; it’s about survival in life.