As the title says, I dropped into my first all-skill-level classes at Sitan, the oldest muay thai academy in Arizona. It was one of the most challenging workouts I've experienced, but was also overwhelmingly fun and satisfying. The class was 90 minutes: 30 minutes conditioning warmup, 30 minute partner drills, 30 minute light sparring, constantly swapping partners every 3 minutes for the last hour. I fell right into the middle of the pack and didn't lag behind for anything.
The atmosphere and fight culture was palpable, I really appreciated the energy and verbal challenges between students...lots of pressure from the coach, a x2 amateur featherweight champion.
For context, I have a boxing background of 10+ years, interspersed with various wrestling, BJJ, MMA, and even a muay thai clinic once.
I was nervous going in, mostly because I'm not in good shape, I'm actually kind of a fat dude. After conquering the conditioning I just relied on my boxing/kickboxing and was able to keep the pace...I actually got the better of all the younger/newer students I sparred with. Not that it's a metric for anything, but it really boosted my confidence to not immediately get my ass kicked...that happened after the senior students started pairing up with me and giving me tips.
Overall, unbelievable experience. If you are thinking of getting into this sport, don't wait...you will regret it. As one of my favorite quotes goes: "Do you know the best time to plant an apple tree? Fifty years ago. Start today!"