5 Mistakes To Avoid Training Muay Thai In Thailand

AVOID THESE TRAPS WHEN TRAINING IN THAILAND

By Sean Fagan

Are you thinking about training Muay Thai in Thailand?

Do yourself this one favor. Before you head over to train at a Muay Thai training camp in Thailand, get an of idea of what to expect for the training and living conditions.

Training in Thailand is no joke and you have to do your research and be prepared!

Muay Thai training camps in Thailand provide Nak Muay (muay thai students) like yourself with the perfect venue to take your skills to the next level. By traveling to the home of this awesome martial art you will have access to the best teachers, great training partners and the most effective training routines.

Chances are it will mean training at an intensity that your mind and body are not used to. The initial adjustment period can be a bit of a challenge, but the potential payoff makes the hardships along the way worthwhile.

If you want to make training Muay Thai in Thailand a positive life changing...

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Essential Items for Every Home Gym

Home gyms are becoming more and more popular with fitness freaks and exercise enthusiasts. Here’s a solid list of essential equipment for your home gym. . .

BUILDING A HOME GYM? DON’T FORGET THESE ESSENTIALS

You don’t have to be a workout junkie to understand the benefits of a home gym. Having a dedicated fitness regimen has a huge positive effect on mental and physical health, so it’s no wonder that more and more people are building a home gym for their daily workouts or as a complement to their standard gym membership.

If you’re thinking about taking the leap and carving out a fitness-specific space in your home, here are some recommendations for essential items that you’ll need:

ESSENTIAL #1: Kettlebells

The kettlebell is a unique piece of workout equipment that allows you to build incredible strength and cardiovascular endurance. You can do any exercise that calls for a dumbbell with a kettlebell and more...

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5 Essential Clinching Tips

Unlike most other combat sports, the clinch is unique to Muay Thai. Learn to navigate this tricky position – or drown in your opponent’s grip. . .

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE CLINCH AS A BEGINNER NAK MUAY

Something that sets Muay Thai apart from most other types of striking is the clinch. Unfortunately, the clinch is also something many people (especially beginners) struggle with because of any number of the following problems:

  • poor technique
  • fear of getting swept
  • lack of clinch training at their gym
  • some/all of the above

Clinching is one of those things where when you have better technique doing it, it makes you stronger! This is because you know how to use your strength efficiently and know exactly where to position yourself and your limbs. Technique can only come with time and consistent training, but everyone has to start somewhere. Here are some pointers to get you started in improving your clinch game.

#1 – The position of your hips and...

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Three High Percentage Setups For Beginners

BASICS: SHORT COMBOS ARE DEADLY

By Daniel Nguyen

Long, successful combos can be aesthetically pleasing to watch, whether devastating or defended.

They do indeed show technical prowess, however, long and complex will not always be equivalent to successful.

What makes a combination truly lethal is the ability for it to be practical, effective, and efficient. This is why we see many of the pro fighters opt to use shorter combos to set up the bigger kill shots. Sometimes just keeping it simple is the best way to approach a fight.

Let’s take a look at some of the short combinations that are often emphasized in beginner classes, plus the pros who have utilized them due to their high probability of success.


Jab -> Rear Power Kick

Most fighters have used this basic combination at some point in the ring.

The quick delivery, finish and recovery of the sequence makes this an extremely high-landing combo. The two-hit combination has two distinct functions:

  • to ...
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Muay Thai & Women: On the Brink of Change

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE FIRST GOVERNMENT CERTIFIED FEMALE MUAY THAI TRAINER IN THAILAND

Nai Khanom Tom stepped into the ring. The Siamese prisoner knew what was on the line.

The Burmese King Mangra and all his subjects cast their eyes on the man. It had been seven years since the invasion in the Ayutthaya Kingdom and he was seized captive as one of many in the aftermath. There are few, if any, moments in prison for a man to feel honored or make an impact, but for Nai Khanom Tom, his time had come.

As a highly skilled and trained boxer, Nai Khanom Tom was selected to compete against the Burmese boxing champion, in a test to satisfy the king’s curiosity of how Muay Boran would stand against Burmese boxing. The pride of his people, of his master, of Siam, surged through his veins.

Nai Khanom Tom began with the ritual of the Wai Khru pre-fight dance, roughly translated as "war-dance saluting the teacher". Dancing around his opponent, the Burmese thought he was performing some...

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Muay Thai Styles: The Boxer & The Puncher

TECHNICAL STYLES & STYLINGS OF THE FEROCIOUS FIST

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time watching Youtube videos of old Roberto Duran fights.

I was quite surprised to see the similarities between Mr. Duran’s style and a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style. Duran was described as an inside fighter as well as a technical brawler which I feel is the perfect way to describe a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style.

Even though I’ve put the boxer and the puncher together, by no means are the puncher and boxer one in the same. This is something that I feel is up for interpretation.

Some fighters are not the most technically sound boxers, but they were born with the gift of natural punching power or hands made of stone. There are also those fighters who are technically sound or precise and use that to their advantage.

The Evolution Of Muay Thai

Like any other sport, Muay Thai has gone through it’s own evolution. Evolution is often a cause of...

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Why Bali Yoga Retreats Should Be At The Top Of Your Bucket List

TREAT YOUR MIND & BODY TO REFRESHMENT

 By Sarah Morris

It’s widely known that yoga produces wonders for your physical and mental well-being. The practice promotes harmony between your mind and body through a combination of breathing exercises, meditations, and poses.

Enhance the effects of this method by coupling it with a restful vacation to get away from all the stress and toxicity in your personal and professional life. Enjoy breathtaking views as you equip yourself on how to manage stressors more productively.

You can find holiday packages that provide you with a new environment to meditate in. Bali, one of Indonesia’s islands, is a scenic tourist spot and an ideal place for yoga retreats. Learn more about the incredible Thailand & Bali retreats at Blooming Lotus Yoga.

Here are the reasons why you should try Bali yoga retreats during one of your wanderlust adventures:

Engage with Nature

 

Bali is the ultimate tropical paradise with its...

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The Short & Skinny on Weight Cutting

Weight cutting has long been a part of combat sports. When done safely, it allows for fair fights. When done recklessly, it can ruin fights – and lives. . .

AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPETITION WEIGHT CUTTING

COURTESY OF @OCHA (TWITTER).

It’s true that over the course of the history of competition, people will find ways to have gain any advantage possible. Fighting is no different.

Enter: cutting weight. For pretty much as long as fighters have been weighing in, cutting weight has been a practice done by almost everyone.

There are a lot of misconceptions of what cutting weight is, and these misconceptions can prove to be costly, hindering performance during competition or, worse, even causing death.

(Title image courtesy of Andrew Miller, The Star Ledger.)

WHAT WEIGHT CUTTING IS

Cutting weight is a process that involves manipulating hydration levels in the body over the course of just a few days. Fighters will often sweat...

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Hand Wrapping Done Right

WRAP YOUR HANDS & PROTECT YOUR WEAPONS

By Ben Stark
PHOTO CREDIT: BEN STARK

Ben Stark is longtime familiar face in the relatively small MMA community, which was many times smaller when he made his pro debut back in 2004, amassing a 5-2 record. Sharp-minded UFC fans will remember him from season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. He has been around the world, fighting, training, and coaching MMA, BJJ, and Muay Thai.

When it comes to hand wrapping, Ben’s prowess is equally impressive as his depth of experience in the fight game. He has wrapped hands in four different countries, each with its own detailed rule sets.

In the video below, Ben will cover how to properly wrap hands following (most) Western commissions’ rules. Wrapping rules do change from place to place, though the one consistent rule across all US states is that fighters are never allowed to have tape over the knuckles.

Watch this mesmerizing hand wrapping tutorial by none other than American...

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Coachless: Solo Sessions & You

MAKING THE BEST OUT OF OPEN MAT & SOLO SESSIONS

By Emily Moore
KHRU DAVE GOMEZ OF WOLFPACK BOXING CLUB, MIAMI, FL. (CREDIT: MAGNIFICENT MOORE PHOTOGRAPHY)

Have you ever shown up at the gym only to find out that you’re the only one there?

Maybe your coach had an emergency and needed to step away, or your training partner bailed on you. You still want to get a good workout in but do you know how to structure your own training when no one is there to guide you?

If you’ve always had a coach there to tell you what to do and how to flow from one drill or exercise to the next, approaching an open mat or solo training session can be a little confusing. You can enter the training session with good intentions and strong motivation, but without some forethought and planning you might end up halfheartedly hitting the heavy bag for two and a half rounds before deciding to go home.

Training on your own is great; fighting, after all, is something that you ultimately have to do...

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