THE TOP TEN MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGHTERS ACROSS COMBAT SPORTS

By Charlie Hustle

We often see top X lists revolving around some sort of variation of “Who is the P4P greatest (insert combat sport) fighter of all time?” This tends to open up the subjective conjecture floodgates instantly. Soon your favorite fighter is being derided, you’re comparing someone to Hitler and the topic ultimately peters out with nothing of substance having been said or realized.

It’s just the nature of the conversation and it’s all in good fun most of the times. Who doesn’t love it when the “Keyboard Warrior Memes” start flying around?

I often think, “Why do these topics, which should simply be fun and lighthearted, so quickly devolve into online verbal death matches?”

I think the answer is because perhaps our identification with certain fighters and certain types of fighters tends to resonate with us more so on an emotional or personal...

Why you need to be kind of crazy to be a successful fighter

Wait. There’s an art to being crazy?

Fuck yea there is!

If you are a Muay Thai fighter, you have to admit. You are kinda insane.

You have a little section in your brain that most normal people don’t have. Most normal people wouldn’t want to push themselves to the physical and mental extremes that you do. Normal people wouldn’t make it through one of your training camps. Normal people definitely would not be able to fight a 5 round war in front of hundreds of blood thirsty fans.

In order to truly be successful, you need a healthy dose of ‘crazy’ as a part of your every day diet. Think about it, most successful painters and musicians were/are crazy, so why not you?

You are an artist too. You dedicate your life to a physical martial art that pushes you past your normal limitations and fears. Just like any painter, you start with a blank canvas when you enter the ring and it’s your job...

THE MUAY THAI LEGENDS OF THE GOLDEN ERA

By Anton Kooshnir

Almost every sport has its “historians” that can pull out great moments and personalities concerning their sport (or favorite team) from literally any era out of their mind.

But in most sports, fans and “historians” usually agree on a time period that pretty much serves as the sport’s “business card” from a certain point. Maybe it’s because people like to romanticize about the past so much…

In Muay Thai, that time period is usually believed to be between the mid-late 80’s and the early 90’s of the 20th century.

Most Muay Thai fans (and by fans I mean people that spend at least a little time educating themselves about the basic history of Muay Thai) know of, or at least heard of, legends like Samart, Sakmongkol or Jongsanan. These fighters made the biggest waves in the...

No Running, No Muay Thai?

Muay Thai and combat sports are known for their three to five minute rounds of fighting, with one minute’s worth of rest in between each round.

During these rounds several things can happen to you. One major thing: fatigue, obviously. A few more things: your body can give out, your mind can be ravaged from the pressure or fear. And you can even die.

So how can you prevent these dreadful things from happening in the ring?

The answer is simple, commitment to your training. The best form of training for a fight is to try and simulate the fight the best way you can, in my opinion. What I mean by that is maybe you can do pad work in the ring for whatever the time frame your fight is based on (2 minutes or 3 minute rounds) and rest in the corner in between rounds and maybe have a teammate give you water and coach you a bit.

That form of fight camp training is the most traditional. Other forms of training: ...