TRAINING IN MYANMAR

This page deliberately leaves out visa rules, prices, flight routes and safety assessments. Myanmar's entry rules, costs and conditions change, and we have no dated source for any of them, so we would rather give you no figure than one that costs you money. What follows is the part that does not go stale: where to get current advice, the seasons, etiquette, insurance, and how to approach a gym.

Before you book

Myanmar's military took power in a coup that began on 1 February 2021. We do not describe present conditions in any part of the country on this page: conditions can change, and we have no dated source. Before you book anything, read your own government's current travel advice for Myanmar, and read it again before you fly.

For the same reason we publish no visa types, fees, validity periods, processing times, entry points, flight routes, prices or payment advice. Check the entry rules with the Myanmar embassy or consulate that serves your country, and ask which visa fits your plans. Ask the gym what it charges and what is included, and budget separately for flights, visa, insurance, accommodation, food and local transport. Keep every answer in writing.

When to come

Wikipedia describes Yangon as having a tropical monsoon climate, with a wet season from May through October and a dry season from November through April. In its 1991–2020 climate normals for Yangon (Kaba-Aye), April has the highest average daily high, 37.7°C. Plan your training around the weather, and ask your gym how it handles the wet season and the heat.

Cultural etiquette

• Mind your feet and your head. Do not point your feet at people, at Buddha images, or at a trainer. Do not touch anyone's head without permission.
• Take your shoes off when entering a home or a temple, and follow the gym's own rule for its training floor.
• Cover your shoulders and knees at religious sites.
• Greet your trainer respectfully at the start and end of a session, and copy what the other students do.
• Use your right hand, or both hands together, to give or receive something.
• Leave politics to local people. Do not raise political topics with people you have just met; let them decide whether to talk about it.

Language

Learn a few basic phrases before you arrive. Romanised examples:

• Hello — mingalaba
• Thank you — kyay-zu-tin-ba-de
• Yes — hote-kai
• No — ma-hote-bu
• How much? — be-lau-le
• Water — ye
• Too expensive — zay-kyee-de
• Hand — let / foot — chay
• Pain — na-de

Insurance and health

Check in writing that your travel insurance covers combat-sports training and medical evacuation, and do not assume it does. Carry the policy details on your phone and a printed copy.

Before you commit to a gym, ask how it handles injuries and where it would send you for treatment. We do not recommend or rank hospitals. Ask a doctor or travel-health clinic about vaccinations and food and water precautions for your trip.

Approaching a gym

Do not show up expecting a retreat. Treat any gym as a working environment rather than a service: you are a guest in someone else's training room. Be ready to be a beginner, to spar below your usual standard and to drill for hours.

Do not treat the trip as something to brag about. Bow, listen, train, repeat.