By Isabel Speckman
Known as the "Art of Eight Limbs," there's a lot more to Muay Thai than just learning kicks, knees, punches, and elbows. In fact, like many martial arts, learning this ancient style offers a lot of rewarding health benefits.
Besides equipping you with vital skills to protect and defend yourself, you will also notice some changes in your appearance and behavior. How so? Well, the Muay Thai mindset is aimed to push you to your limit, but more on that later.
It Helps You Get Leaner and Stronger
With that, an hour of practicing Muay Thai is way better than having an hour swimming lesson which can help you burn 400 calories or lifting weights at the gym (300 calories)!
Physical benefits are one of the most rewarding benefits that Muay Thai has to offer. Since a Muay Thai class moves typically at a fast pace, students can usually burn up to 1,000 calories an hour spent...
By Evan Lee
Think it’s too late to start training in your 30s? 40s? 50s? It’s not. No matter what age you are, whether you’re eight or 80, it’s never too late to begin training.
Hang on – how’s that old saying go? “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks“? No. The new saying goes, “The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks.”
Martial arts is not simply a new way for you to view the world, it can lead to a completely new you.
Check out this Evolve MMA video outlining seven ways martial arts will change you and your world:
Never Too Late To Start
Let me address the most common worry about starting martial arts post-20’s: “But I’m not in good enough shape to start training!”
Hear this: Few people actually begin martial arts in good shape. They begin martial arts, then they get in good...
By Jillian Bosserdet
I struggle with rest. I like routine. Regardless of how I feel, my fight camps read like a schedule. My training sessions and meals are planned out perfectly.
During fight camp, every moment of my life revolves around my fight. If I get an injury, that’s just too bad. If I am exhausted, oh well.
I struggle to understand you need to give your body and your mind time to recover – that recovery is just as important as training. I equate unscheduled rest with personal inadequacy. I think:
I’m not good enough.
I’m too weak.
My opponent, she’s not resting.
Why would I?
Because we are different people – different fighters. We have different bodies, and different means of training. Needing a break should not equal failure.
We train in a sport that is tremendously stressful on the body and the mind. During fight camps, we train two – three times a day, and six...
By Angela Chang
Sometimes, a Muay Thai class can make you feel like the coaches are speaking another language. Jab? Cross? Roundhouse? What do all of these things mean??
Whether you’ve just started out or you are just beginning to think of going to your first class, here are some terms you can expect to hear. Muay Thai veterans! If I miss anything important, please be sure to comment below with your addition to the list!
TERMINOLOGY: Jab
The jab is one of the first things anyone will learn. It’s a straight punch from your front hand (so a left straight if you’re orthodox, right straight if you’re southpaw) to the face. It’s often used to set up other strikes and to create distance.
TERMINOLOGY: Cross
The cross a straight punch from your rear hand (right if orthodox, left if...
By Angela Chang
In some places, there is a kind of fluidity between being an amateur Muay Thai fighter and a professional one.
The main difference is the presence (or absence) of shin guards, head gear and/or elbow pads in the fight. Many fighters move regularly between pro and amateur just to keep active.
However, in most other countries, such as the US, once you go pro, you can’t go back to being amateur. In these countries, the difference between being amateur and pro is not so much about the gear, but whether or not they get paid.
One’s pro debut is often made a big deal; once a fighter is pro, a certain level of skill and discipline is expected. Most fighters obtain at least 20 amateur fights before making their pro debut, making sure their amateur career gives them a solid foundation before jumping up to the next level.
Both the fighter and trainer realize this base is very important, as the fighter cannot afford to make the...
By Angela Chang
You fought and are now taking some time off. Weeks turn into months, and months into years. Finally, the time has come when you tell your coach you’re ready to get back in the ring.
You train hard, make weight, and now it’s time to fight. The first round starts and you feel incrediblyslow. This surely isn’t your first fight, but you feel very slow to react and have trouble finding your distance and timing. This goes on for another round or two before you begin to feel your familiar rhythm flow back into you.
Even if during your time off from fighting you were still training, you may experience something called ring rust when you start competing again. Ring rust is a phenomenon experienced by many when they take a (long) period of time off from fighting and they’re not feeling as sharp as they did when they last competed. They can feel physically slow; feel more nervous than normal; be less...
By Jessica Smith
While an adhesive tape stuck to your skin hardly seems like an efficient remedy for aches and pains, many people claim that Kinesio tapes work miracles for athletes.
Therapeutic taping has been in practice for many years now. Recent brands such as Kinesio popularized the culture with clever marketing strategies, which is the reason behind why we get to see athletes sporting these various colorful tapes.
Kinesio tape, made from light, thin and stretchy fabrics are often used by athletes to ease pain and enhance performance. The makers claims the tape reduces the risk of an injury by amplifying proprioception (which means...
By Saks
This article is an attempt to try to explain the rules to watching a Muay Thai match. Now this is a feat that is quite more complicated than you would expect due to the evolution of rules which may, or may not be dictated by the current state of gambling in Thailand.
The Basic Rule Set
By Sean Fagan
So what do you do now?
How do you prepare yourself to step into a ring with somebody who has trained for months, if not years, with the specific goal of kicking your ass?
The answer is really quite simple:
If you train at a decent gym, chances are your coach has trained dozens if not hundreds of fighters for competition. All you have to do is listen to what he (or she) says. Every coach has his or her own way of doing things, but most of us follow a pretty standard formula. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
A general rule of thumb is at least 20 hours training per week, or in other words 3.5 –...
By Anton Kooshnir
Just one "Forgotten Legends" article was never going to even begin to be a tip (or should I say, Teep - Oee?) of the iceberg concerning the whole story about the Thai stadium scene in the beginning of the 90's. So after introducing the general topic of the series in the first article, we'll get straight to business this time.
1. Pongsiri Por Ruamrudee ("Rambo")
Every once in a while in Thailand, comes along a fan friendly slugger that puts butts in seats. In the early 90's, that man went under the nickname "Rambo", like the Stallone movie character.
Easily recognized by the "skull & bones" image on his shorts, Rambo was not quite the most successful fighter in terms of belts or the way in which a fighter is revered for his finesse and tactical mind, but nevertheless managed to become one of the most popular fighters in Thailand and one of the favorite fighters of the famous promoter Songchai Rattanasuban!
Rambo...
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