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....

The following post on how to defeat a more experienced opponent is written by Jon from MuayThaiAnalyst.com. If you enjoy this breakdown and analysis of Kevin Ross vs. Malaipet, you’ll definitely enjoy the rest of Jon’s work on his website. But for now, check out part 1 of this 3-part series on “Why Malaipet Couldn’t Stop Crazy”.

Why Malaipet Couldn’t Stop Crazy

Kevin Ross is a pioneer in American Muay Thai and one of the most accomplished US fighters today. He was voted Muay Thai North American Fighter of the year in 2010 and has held titles from the WBC, USMF and Lion Fight.  Kevin has also fought a number former Thai champions including Saenchai, Sagetdao, Coke Chunhawat and Malaipet.

Ross and Malaipet met on Dec 5, 2010 at the Commerce Casino In Los Angeles. Malaipet Sasiprapa is a former Rajadamnern and WBC champion.  This was a tall...

Muay Thai Styles – Clinchers and Knee Specialists

An aspect of Muay Thai that is just as essential as being able to kick and punch is knowing how to clinch and knee.

Anyone who’s trained in a Muay Thai gym in Thailand will know that clinch practice is a daily part of training just like skipping rope or heavy bag work.

Two Muay Thai fighters of the past and present who dominate using the clinch are Dieselnoi and Yodwicha.

In this article I will try to give an explanation of what a clincher/knee specialist is in Muay Thai also known as Muay Kao or “knee fighter.”

What does it mean to be a “clinch” fighter?

Typically clinching and kneeing go hand and hand.

People with a boxing background tend to get confused when they’re introduced to Muay Thai clinching. In boxing, clinching tends to be a defensive position used to conserve energy rather than expend it. In Muay Thai it’s the total opposite....

The Muay Thai Guys Podcast – Episode 49

What style of training do you prefer?

Are you more about the traditional Muay Thai style where the focus is on pad work and clinching?

Or are you more about the Dutch kickboxing style that revolves around partner and sparring drills for the majority of class?

OR are you a hybrid style that includes Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, boxing and other martial arts?

It’s important to know the pros and cons of each style so that you’re able to constantly evolve and improve in all aspects of your fight game. In this weeks podcast episode, Paul and I discuss what our favorite styles of training as well as the benefits of each one.

Here’s a brief rundown of what we talk about in this episode:

Training Style #1 – Muay Thai

This style is obviously the most familiar to the audience.  It’s primarily endurance based that involves the strict, structured day to day program of running, shadowboxing, heavy...

Muay Thai Styles: A Tale of Two Technical fighters

There is a saying in boxing “styles make fights.” This holds true for Muay Thai as well.

The recent boxing match of the century between Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was one of the most predictably boring fights of the century, when it comes down to it their styles just didn’t make for an exciting fight, technical fighter vs. brawler is rarely exciting if the technical fighter has anything to say about it.

In the Golden Era of Muay Thai back in the 80’s and 90’s when there was an abundance of top-level fighters they use to match up styles to take out the best.

For example Samart Payakaroon considered one the of greatest technical Muay Thai fighters of all time was only able to be defeated by DieselNoi, the greatest Muay Kao or knee fighter of all time.

In this article I will be talking about Muay “Feemue” which is the technical fighter. Two examples of great technical...

Introduction To Principles, Analyses & Self-Education

By Sean Fagan

For many souls, the gym is our home away from home. But what if our home was our gym…wouldn’t that be nice?

This post is going to go over training in any environment, with minimal equipment, no partners and only your body.

The hope is that this post will challenge you to embrace positive constraints. That may sound like an oxymoron, but one ought to run with the understanding that there are times where it’s better to find the right box to think in than trying to think outside the box.

A proper set of constraints forces you into a position where thinking laterally is the only option.

This post encourages you to ask questions such as:

“How would I be training if I had no sparring partners available to me?”
“How would I train punching power without a heavybag or mitt work?”,
“How could I emulate the conditions of a fight with no tools?”

Time...