ﾂ静ｧ窶杯, tell me `bout it! (窶堋ｨ窶堙銀?堋ｪ窶堋｢窶堋ｵ窶堙懌?堋ｷ) :D

I will shortly find myself living in Chiba, near Chiba city. I was wondering if there are any good Muay Thai and/or MMA style gyms in the area. I'm sure there are, but do any come highly recommended or does anyone here currently train at one? I know they just opened a Fairfax in Chiba but it looks a little pricey and commercial.

Muay thai, jujitsu, judo, kickboxing, boxing, etc., any of those would be great.

Also, if I work in Chiba city whats a good area away from the city to look for an apartment and consider living in? I'll be landing at a gaijin house first but will want to get my own place ASAP; are there any areas which are especially nice/quiet/inexpensive within 30mins commuting distance? For example I used to live in Kanagawa and took a 20mins train ride to Tokyo to work a year ago. That was pretty comfortable and agreeable.

To that end, does anyone know of any cheap gaijin houses that I may enjoy living at for a year or more? All I saw online was Sakura house and I wasn't impressed. If the place was nice I would consider paying for a private living space, vs. a room or dorm, but just not at Sakura house.

Any other tips on life in Chiba would be greatly appreciated.

There's a Weerasakreck-Fairtex Muay Thai gym that recently opened in the Chiba area:

ﾆ脱ﾆ達ﾆ停?ｰﾆ探ﾆ誰ﾆ椎槌鍛ﾆ誰ﾂ・ﾆ稚ﾆ巽ﾆ但ﾆ弾ﾆ鍛ﾆ誰ﾆ湛ﾆ停ぎﾆ竪ﾆ耽ﾆ辰ﾆ淡ﾆ停ぎ
muaythai.jp/

With regards to housing accommodations, you can check around at these sites.

Guest Houses
hiraganatimes.com/hp/acomo/list/list-chiba-e.html

Rentals
e489d.com/komikomi/english/index.html

You might also find listing on CraigList - Tokyo:
tokyo.craigslist.jp/

Here's general info on the Chiba area:

pref.chiba.jp/english/index.html

chibabeat.com/

Definitely envy your trip and wish I could trade places with you.

Hope this information helps.

Thanks for that JTM, I will check those sites out!

Has anyone else ever lived in Chiba? Or, anyone here currently living there??

If my memory serves me right, there was a JREF Japanese member who lives in Chiba, but she hasn't been here in a while...

So, just my two cents on my general impression of Chiba, especially Chiba City.

Chiba City is very close to Tokyo proper and is in effect a Tokyo suburb, with many of its residents commuting to Tokyo for work and school. So, I don't think you'll find the city any different from the outskirts of Tokyo you lived before. The only difference would be that you will be living closer to the beach (Inage Kaigan) and to Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea (Maihama). There is also the Chiba Lotte Marines to root for if you have any interest in baseball, since many Chiba residents are ardent Marines fans, thanks to its manager Bobby Valentine (former NY Mets manager).

As mentioned earlier, Chiba City has excellent access to Tokyo, so you'll find it easy to get there for entertainment and shopping. If you head eastward across the prefecture, you'll get to the Pacific Ocean side of Chiba, where the sea is more beautiful, seafood is outstanding and swimming is great in summer. The southern tip of the prefecture (Boso Peninsula) is known for its warmer climate and greenery, as well as fresh seafood.

In apartment housing, I found that the rates for apartments for single persons range from 30 to 50 thousand yen in Chiba City proper, so if you are willing to be within 30-minute commute distance from the city, I think you'll find very cheap apartments there.
http://www.apamanguide.jp/kensaku/p14_CT1404_TN_SK_MD2.html

I also found a kickboxing/fitness gym located in Chiba City:
http://1duro.com/x/

HTH!

ﾆ竪ﾆ痴ﾆ淡ﾂーﾆ停?懌?堋ｳ窶堙ｱﾂ、窶堙??堙?窶堋?窶堙ｨ窶堋ｪ窶堙??堋､窶堋ｲ窶堋ｴ窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｵ窶堋ｽﾂ。
窶堋ｱ窶堙姑脱ﾆ竪ﾆ置ﾆ探ﾆ辰ﾆ暖窶堙哉但ﾆ恥ﾆ暖窶堙?淡ﾆ停ぎ窶堙ｰ窶儺窶堋ｷ窶堋ｱ窶堙??堙娯?禿ｰ窶堙俄?板ｧ窶堋ｿ窶堋ｻ窶堋､窶堙??堋ｷ窶堙ｦﾂ。ﾅｽg窶堋､ﾂ！
ﾂ