HOW TO HEAL BRUISED SHINS, SHIN SPLINTS & SPRAINED WRISTS

By Sean Fagan

Sorry to break it to you, but at some point in your Muay Thai career, you are going to get hurt.

This could be a common Muay Thai injury like a blister or black eye, or it could be more serious like a sprained ankle or broken bone. In any case, being mentally prepared for roadblocks and learning how to persist past these obstacles is key to any nak muay’s career and overall sanity.

Before I go into some of the most common Muay Thai injuries, I want you to understand that when you are injured and can’t train, it is not the end of the world! I have had minor injuries and serious injuries that have kept me away from the gym, but there are always other ways to improve yourself and stay productive that do not always have to relate directly to training.

Also don’t be a dumbass. If you are seriously hurt, do not try to push through more training sessions and risk getting injured...

MUAY THAI TACTICS FOR DEFEATING A TALLER OPPONENT

By Sean Fagan

Fighting someone taller than you can be very frustrating, especially when you’re not sure what to do to negate the reach advantage your opponent has on you.

Getting jabbed in the nose or front kicked in the sternum is no fun, especially when you’re not able to return fire since you’re out of range.

Fortunately, throughout the history of Muay Thai and other combat sports, there has  been a ton of fights where we can learn a lot of strategies, tactics and techniques to overcome a height disadvantage.

There are a few key fight strategies to consider whenever dealing with a taller opponent.

1) Find Your Range

Stay inside or outside your opponents range… not in the middle!

As the shorter fighter, you’re going to want to avoid the middle ground at all costs because that is the range where your opponent’s range will be most...

THROWING A MUAY THAI ROUNDHOUSE KICK - PROPERLY

By Sean Fagan

Needless to say, the Muay Thai roundhouse kick is what makes Muay Thai one of the most deadliest martial arts in the world.

However if you throw a Muay Thai kick with sloppy technique you be less efficient (which makes you more tired) and you will leave openings in your defense.

Even though the roundhouse kick is one of the most basic Muay Thai techniques you’ll first learn when you step into a gym, it takes a lifetime to perfect. I’ve been training Thai boxing over 10 years now and still know that there is plenty of room to improve my kick technique to add more power and speed to it.

 How NOT To Muay Thai Kick: 8 Common Mistakes

Basic Kick Technique Tips

• Be loose! Your leg should almost be completely dead weight that is guided by your hips, shoulders and torso.
• Push up on the balls of your post foot. This will help you generate more hip action and be more free to rotate through. If you...

MUAY THAI FIGHTER DIET, NUTRITION & WEIGHT CUTTING PLANS

By James Bee – JBFS

The following post is by James Bee who works with professional Muay Thai fighters as nutritional coach.

I get a lot of emails from people asking questions about what to eat and drink during fight week preparation. So I felt it was necessary to write some advice answering these important questions about Muay Thai diet and nutrition to help optimize performance for your big week. If you’re cutting weight, there are some essential weight cutting tips in this post to help reach that goal too, so keep reading.

Below you’ll find a breakdown of the important macronutrients like proteins, fats and carbohydrates. I’ve also added 2 different meal plan strategies, one plan is for fighters who are weight cutting and one is for maintaining weight. I’ll talk about water intake, important supplements, and sauna strategy for shedding those last couple kgs if...

SHARPEN YOUR SOUTHPAW WITH THIS SPARRING BREAKDOWN

By Sean Fagan

What’s up, guys! Pro Muay Thai fighter Sean Fagan here with a tutorial video that I put together special for my left-wing brothers, my southpaw soldiers-in-arms.

I made this video after a lot of time spent reading comments on social media that complain about the lack of video procedurals breaking down and instructing how to throw combos from southpaw stance. Sure enough, a cursory Google search is showing me a lot of stuff on how to beat southpaws, not fight as one! 

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. How many southpaw fighters do you know of? Let’s rattle off a few of the greats:

Samart Payakaroon, Manny Pacquiao, Saenchai, Anderson Silva, Orono Wor Petchpun… 

What makes them great? In part, it was the sheer rarity of southpaw fighters in sports. One source tells me that in MMA, only 17% of fighters routinely employ a southpaw stance....

SMASH THE HEAVY BAG WITH THESE MUAY THAI DRILLS

By Sean Fagan

The heavy bag is undoubtedly an important piece of training equipment.

Heavy bag drills not only build up endurance and strength but hone technique and help one develop and perfect combinations.

There are many useful exercises, but here is a selection of five to experiment with during the next training session.

WATCH: Best Beginner Heavy Bag Drills For MMA, Muay Thai & Kickboxing

#1: 100 Push Kicks/Teeps

Focus on accuracy and control.

When you kick, time each one with the backswing of the bag so that you fall into a rhythm. View the bag as an opponent: don’t let it gain the advantage and follow-up each kick with another before the bag can swing back.

Keep your kicks sharp and quick during each rep. Try to land each one in the same spot so that the bag swings back and forth rather than all over the place.

Alternate your stance after each rep. Take your time between reps if you need to, but maintain...

INTENSE AB EXERCISES & CORE CIRCUIT WORKOUTS FOR YOUR NEXT MUAY THAI SESSION

By Sean Fagan

Abs workouts and core conditioning for a fighter means much more than just developing a six-pack.  You must focus on training your abs to help you improve movement patterns, strength, and overall performance.

Obviously, your core is extremely important as a Muay Thai fighter. If you have a strong and stable core it will lead to more powerful kicks and punches, better footwork, more efficient clinching, and the ability to absorb more punishment.

You must understand that improving your abs and core region is much more than crunches. In fact, I’m not a big advocate of crunching but I do understand Muay Thai and combat fighters are different and some crunching exercises can be performed.

Today I am going to share two Core and Abs Finisher workout circuits that I use with my fighters at the end of our conditioning for fighters session. These are short, but intense Muay Thai abs...

LOSING SUCKS BUT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO GROW

By Sean Fagan

It’s fight night. You feel more ready than ever to step into the ring and you feel confident about coming away with another hard-earned win. How could you not feel that way after all the hard work and sacrifices you’ve made, right?

You’ve put rigorous hours in the gym banging the heavy bag, hitting pads, and sparring tough, experienced guys.

You’ve obsessively watched your diet for weeks making sure you were simultaneously losing weight, eating healthy and getting enough nutrients into your body to train hard.

You’ve visualized the fight over and over and over and over again replaying what felt like every possible scenario that could happen in the context of a fight.

You just finished warm-ups. You take the walk down the hallway towards the ring. You start to feel the energy of the crowd and you hear the music blasting it’s bass...

WHAT IS SAK YANT & HOW DO YOU GET ONE?

By Angela Chang

PRO FIGHTER PAUL “THE REAPER” BANASIAK GETTING BLESSED BY A BUDDHIST MONK AFTER HIS SAK YANT TATTOO.

Sak yant are traditional Thai tattoos. Literally meaning “tattoo yantra,” they are believed to be magical and give the bearer protection, strength, good fortune and more, depending on the yantra received.

Sak yant is extremely popular in the Muay Thai community, namely with those who have visited Thailand. With geometric shapes and depictions of animals and gods, sak yant is as beautiful as it is painful to receive.

Who does sak yant?

Sak yant are done by monks or arjans who have studied the art for a very long time. (They are also usually longtime ex-monks.) Monks are not allowed to make profit off doing the tattoos as part of their code, so going to a temple to get it done is always donation-based. One of the most popular temples to get sak yant done is Wat...

GREAT BRITAIN'S BEST MUAY THAI HERO

By Kyle Gilmore

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF PETER CROOKE VIA FACEBOOK

Using just a few words, how on earth can one begin to properly describe a Muay Thai champion? Luckily for one such champion, it can be done with the use of a single word — gentleman.

Given that nickname when he fought in his Super League days, Peter “The Gentleman” Crooke has left a mark on the Muay Thai and kickboxing worlds that will never be forgotten. He accomplished this all while being a full-time police officer and competing with a massive injury early in his career, leaving him with no ACL in his left leg.

Crooke amassed titles in SIMTA and WAKO Pro (being the champ in both the Super Welterweight and Light Middleweight division), as well as becoming the WMTC champion and fighting the top fighters in his division the whole time.

Crooke, born in Wombourne, England and now retired from the fighting world, entered Muay Thai much like his friend Ole Laursen...