For Muay Thai enthusiasts, training in a Kai Muay (boxing camp) in Thailand is the ultimate training experience. Having heard the stories about the intensity of the training, and the great trainers and fighters, this is something I’ve wanted to do ever since my introduction to Muay Thai in 1985. I finally got the opportunity to do so during our recent trip to Thailand. It was one of the best experiences of my martial arts career.

I wanted to make sure that I went to a good camp so I talked to Ajarn Chai Srirsute (my Muay Thai instructor) about the best places to go. Ajarn Chai suggested that while in Thailand that I visit his Mother at her home and bring her flowers. He also introduced me to his sister Toy and her husband Khun Pone and said they would direct me to the best places to train. Upon arrival in Bangkok I was eager to train so I called Toy right away. She invited us to her mother’s home so I bought a nice bouquet of flowers and took a taxi there.

Toy, Khun Pone and Ajarn Chai’s mother greeted us with the warmest welcome, invited us in and made us feel just like part of the family. They took us out to lunch at a local Thai restaurant and insisted on paying. Then Khun Pone drove us all the way to the SaSiPraPa boxing camp (about an hour and a half drive) and introduced me to Ajarn Thakoon Pongsupha the manager at SaSiPraPa Gym who welcomed us in.

We arrived at approximately 3:00 but afternoon training doesn’t normally begin until 4:00. Even so, Ajarn Thakoon had me get dressed and start training right away. It was like a private lesson as Ajarn Thakoon worked with me on the finer points of shadow boxing for two or three rounds while all the other trainers watched. Then one of the trainers put some boxing gloves on me and had me get into the ring with another trainer who was ready to go with Thai pads, shin guards and a belly pad on. The trainer held Thai pads for me for three grueling rounds and focus mitts for two rounds.

Then Ajarn Thakoon directed me to a heavy bag. By this time all of the fighters and students had begun to show up for the 4:00 training session. Ajarn Thakoon gave me some tips and combinations to work on the heavy bag. I did a lot of rounds on the heavy bag as I watched the fighters work with different trainers. I picked up a couple of new techniques by watching the trainers. Some of the fighters had fights coming up at Lumpini Stadium. Finally, Ajarn Thakoon came over and held the mitts for me as he had me work on my western boxing skills for a couple of rounds. By that time, I was drenched with sweat and the training session was complete. Afterward, Ajarn Thakoon gave me a lot of compliments on my technique, my conditioning and my power and collected his 400 Thai Baht (about $12 US) for the days training.

The next night was Saturday night and we went to Lumpini Stadium (the most famous Muay Thai stadium in Thailand) to see one of Ajarn Thakoon’s student’s (a twelve year old boy) fight. The only problem was that there were two shows going on that night, an early show and a late show. We didn’t know whether Ajarn Thakoon’s student would be fighting in the early or late show so we went to the early show and ended up getting front row ringside seats. There were some great fights but the show ended and the fight we wanted to see didn’t happen. Then we ran into Ajarn Thakoon and the whole crew and found out the boy’s fight would be the first one during the late show. We didn’t want to have to pay again, so we missed the fight unfortunately. It would have been great to see that fight but even though we missed it, the whole Muay Thai experience in Thailand was amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t have more days to train. I’m planning to go back soon and will make sure I have more time to train the next time.

For more information visit: SaSiPraPa Muay Thai Gym

Winners

12/13/2008… OC Kickboxing & MMA’s Muay Thai Fight Team took three fighters to Master Toddy’s Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend and kicked ass with two knockouts and one unanimous decision.

Fabian Teyssedre’s Win

• Fabian Teyssedre of Santa Ana scored a second round technical knockout.
• Darren Smith of Chino Hills also defeated his opponent by T.K.O. in the second round.
• Yoko Hamamura of Costa Mesa went the full 3 rounds with his much larger opponent and won a unanimous decision from all three judges.

Fabian, Darren and Yoko are all stoked to bring their medals home to Orange County, CA for Christmas !

The term "Mixed Martial Arts" or MMA refers to a martial art that is derived from a mixture of several different martial art disciplines usually with the goal of creating a more effective and more complete hybrid art. The late Bruce Lee is often credited as being the father of modern Mixed Martial Arts. Bruce Lee drew from several different martial arts including Kung Fu, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Jiu Jitsu and Judo to create Jeet Kune Do. However, by no means was Bruce Lee the first to cross train in several different martial arts in order to become a more well-rounded fighter.

In November 1993, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) helped to popularize MMA with it’s first "no rules" event on Pay Per View television. However, modern MMA competitions (like in the UFC, Pride, WEC etc.) are not the first martial arts competitions to allow striking, wrestling, throwing and submissions in a competitive arena. This has been going on all over the world for hundreds or even thousands of years. The main difference is that modern MMA is enjoying media attention and the prize money and sponsorship dollars have grown to the point where it’s more lucrative to be a professional fighter. Greek Pancration, Brazilian Vale Tudo and Japanese Shooto are just a few examples of combat sports allowing striking and submissions that predate the UFC.

Muay Thai also predates the UFC by thousands of years. In the old days, Muay Thai had very few rules just like MMA. More rules were introduced in 1929 including the use of boxing gloves instead of hands bound with rope. Ancient Muay Thai illustrations show the use of grappling moves used in Muay Thai before boxing gloves were mandated.

Modern Muay Thai includes striking with punches, elbows, knees and kicks as well as grappling from the standing position and throws. However, grappling on the ground is not allowed. The lack of grappling, striking and submissions on the ground is the main difference between modern Muay Thai and MMA. In fact, Muay Thai is generally considered the best striking art for MMA competitions. Most MMA fighters today train in Muay Thai as well as boxing, wrestling and Jiu Jitsu. Another difference between Muay Thai and MMA is the open-fingered glove used in MMA. MMA gloves make it possible to grab and are better for grappling and submission fighting than a boxing glove.

Mental training is the last training method but definitely not the least. Mental preparation is absolutely essential to success but often ignored.

It is the psychology of fighting and winning. Mental toughness is partly god given and partly derived from within. It can be trained and taught but requires a lot of discipline as does the physical part of fighting.

Mental training includes visualization and positive thinking. To be a great athlete, you must be great at visualization. You need to be able to visualize every detail of winning like a movie playing in your head. You must eat, sleep and breathe success. Winning and succeeding is the first thing you think about when you wake in the morning and the last thing you think about before going to sleep.

You must mentally practice every aspect of your game over and over in detail in your mind. Also you must think positively and try not to allow negative thoughts to enter your mind. When a negative thought does enter your mind neutralize it by thinking the exact opposite positive thought. According to Napolean Hill and many other great thinkers throughout history, “We become what we think about.” Our thoughts are one of the only things we can actually control; therefore we must keep them positive and consistent with our goals. This type of training will not only benefit your martial arts skill but should cross over into every aspect of your life.

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Partner drills, the fourth training method, are the best way to develop accuracy and targeting, however. This is the most realistic training method besides free sparring.

For this type of drilling you normally put on the boxing gloves, a mouthpiece and perhaps the shin guards and work back and forth with a partner. This allows you to practice your offense and defense in the most accurate method. This is the most effective way for both partners to develop timing, precision and sensitivity both offensively and defensively.

The most important part about partner training is actually aiming right for the target. Aim for the chin, target the liver, kidney or spleen and kick the thigh just above the knee and force your partner to defend shots that are aimed right for the target.

There’s a tendency during this type of training to try and be nice and not aim at your partner’s most vulnerable spots. You don’t have to go full power but you must aim for the target otherwise you are practicing “not hitting” and your partner’s practicing defending something that was never going to hit in the first place.

You should practice all the offensive and defensive combinations you know in this way and make them up on the fly.

This is the time to work on and develop the technical aspects of every element of your game including stance, footwork, body mechanics, strikes and even defense. Guro Dan Inosanto once told me something like this: “Martial arts is the process of becoming familiar with your body and how it moves.” Shadow boxing is the best way to do this.

  

When you refine your technique during shadow boxing, you’ll see improvement in your pad work, bag work, sparring etc. There is no time during a three minute round of sparring or pad work for example to try to improve every detail and calibration of your left hook delivery. During shadow boxing, you have plenty of time to perfect each movement and make it your own.

  

Many of the best Muay Thai fighters in Thailand will spend as much as two hours per day on shadow boxing alone. One great thing about shadow boxing is that you don’t need a partner to do it and you don’t even need to be in the gym. It is helpful if you have a mirror so you can critique your own movement but it’s not necessary. The reason why they call it shadow boxing is because in the old days fighters would watch their own shadows during training. Visualizing an imaginary opponent in front of you makes it more realistic. Shadow boxing is a great way to warm up before getting into more intense training like pad work.

Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is an ancient martial that originated in Thailand. It is a form of full contact kickboxing that utilizes kicks and punches as well as elbow and knee strikes.

Because of the eight points of contact (two feet, two fists, two knees and two elbows), Muay Thai is often called “The science of the Eight Limbs“. To this day, Muay Thai is the official national sport of Thailand. The goal in Muay Thai competition is to defeat the opponent by knockout or in the absence of a knockout by a decision of the judges.

Neighboring Southeast Asian countries have their own similar kickboxing based martial arts. For example, Lethwei from Burma, Kun Khmer from Cambodia, Tomoi from Malaysia and Muay Lao from Laos are all martial arts that resemble Muay Thai. Before Burma (Myanmar) became Socialist, there existed a great rivalry between Burmese Boxers and Siamese (Thai) Boxers who would compete against one another.

Modern Muay Thai is derived from Muay Boran and Krabi Krabong both older forms of martial arts and military weaponry training from Thailand. Kicks, punches, elbows and knees eventually replaced weapons to simulate the devasting strikes of the hand held weapons used in warfare.

The term Muay Thai became prevalent in the 1920’s as did the adoption of some of the equipment and rules from Western boxing including the use of boxing gloves, boxing rings, dividing bouts into rounds, time keeping in minutes and the introduction of new rules to regulate the fights. For example, head butts and ground fighting were eliminated from the contests. Prior to the introduction of boxing gloves, Thai Boxers would wrap their hands in hemp rope or leather strips instead of gloves. Pieces of broken sea shells or glass were sometimes grinded into the hand wraps to make the punches even more dangerous.

Muay Thai Level 1 Test Requirements

• 1 Year of Training
• Boxing Stance
• Muay Thai Stance
• Muay Thai Wai Kru (Ceremonial Dance)
• Muay Thai Strikes (Shadow Box and on Thai Pads)
• Jab
• Cross
• Low Jab
• Low Cross
• Lead Hook
• Rear Hook
• Lead Body Hook
• Rear Body Hook
• Lead Uppercut
• Rear Uppercut
• Lead Overhand
• Rear Overhand
• Lead Down Elbow
• Rear Down Elbow
• Lead Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Horizontal Elbow
• Lead Diagonal Up Elbow
• Rear Diagonal Up Elbow
• Lead Vertical Elbow
• Rear Vertical Elbow
• Lead Spinning Diagonal Down Elbow
• Rear Spinning Diagonal Down Elbow
• Lead Spinning Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Spinning Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Straight Knee #1
• Lead Straight Knee #1
• Rear Straight Knee #2
• Lead Straight Knee #2
• Rear Straight Knee #3
• Rear Straight Knee #3
• Rear Skip Knee #1
• Lead Skip Knee #1
• Rear Skip Knee #2
• Lead Skip Knee #2
• Rear Curve Knee
• Lead Curve Knee
• Step & Rear Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Step & Lead Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Hop & Rear Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Hop & Lead Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Lead Foot Jab (2 Hands Up)
• Rear Foot Jab (2 Hands Up)
• Lead Foot Jab (Dropping Lead Hand)
• Rear Foot Jab (Dropping Rear Hand)
• Muay Thai Cross Counters
• Shoulder Stop, C-H, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Scoop, C-H, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Inside Elbow Deflection, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Straight Knee #2, L Elbow, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Muay Thai Kick Counters & Return Leg Kick & 4 Count
• Counter Lead Low Round Kick
• Counter Rear Low Round Kick
• Counter Lead Middle Round Kick
• Counter Rear Middle Round Kick
• Counter Lead High Round Kick
• Counter Rear High Round Kick
• Counter Lead Foot Jab
• Counter Rear Foot Jab
• TBA Boxing Drill
• Jab
• Cross
• Jab, Cross
• Jab, Cross, Hook, Cross
• Bob and Weave on L Hook & Cross, Hook
• Bob and Weave on R Hook & Hook, Cross
• Ride on L Body Hook & L Uppercut, Cross
• Ride on R Body Hook & R Uppercut, Hook, Cross
• Muay Thai 4 Counts
• Jab, Cross, R Kick, L Kick
• Jab, Cross, L Kick, R Kick
• Jab, Cross, R Kick, R Kick
• Jab, Cross, L Kick, L Kick
• L Kick, Cross, Hook, R Kick
• L Kick, Cross, Hook, L Kick
• L Kick, Cross, Hook, Cross
• R Kick, Hook, Cross, L Kick
• R Kick, Hook, Cross, R Kick
• R Kick, Hook, Cross, Hook
• R Kick, L Kick, Cross, Hook
• L Kick, R Kick, Hook, Cross
• Muay Thai 15 Count
1. Counter Rt Cross w/ Parry Outside
2. Counter Lt Hook w/ Cover
3. Lt Elbow
4. Rt Elbow
5. Rt Knee
6. Lt Round Kick
7. Rt Cross
8. Lt Hook
9. Rt Knee
10. Rt Round Kick
11. Counter Cross W/ Lt Foot Jab
12. Counter Cross W/ Slip to Left
13. Lt Hook
14. Rt Cross
15. Rt Round Kick
• 60 Kicks & 40 Knees Drill (2 Rounds)

Muay Thai Level 2 Test Requirements

• 2 Years of Training
• Boxing Stance
• Muay Thai Stance
• Muay Thai Wai Kru (Ceremonial Dance)
• TBA Boxing Drill
• Muay Thai Strikes (Shadow Box and on Thai Pads)
• Jab
• Cross
• Low Jab
• Low Cross
• Lead Hook
• Rear Hook
• Lead Body Hook
• Rear Body Hook
• Lead Uppercut
• Rear Uppercut
• Lead Overhand
• Rear Overhand
• Lead Down Elbow
• Rear Down Elbow
• Lead Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Horizontal Elbow
• Lead Diagonal Up Elbow
• Rear Diagonal Up Elbow
• Lead Vertical Elbow
• Rear Vertical Elbow
• Lead Spinning Diagonal Down Elbow
• Rear Spinning Diagonal Down Elbow
• Lead Spinning Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Spinning Horizontal Elbow
• Rear Straight Knee #1
• Lead Straight Knee #1
• Rear Straight Knee #2
• Lead Straight Knee #2
• Rear Straight Knee #3
• Rear Straight Knee #3
• Rear Skip Knee #1
• Lead Skip Knee #1
• Rear Skip Knee #2
• Lead Skip Knee #2
• Rear Curve Knee
• Lead Curve Knee
• Step & Rear Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Step & Lead Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Hop & Rear Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Hop & Lead Round Kick (Low, Middle, High)
• Lead Foot Jab (2 Hands Up)
• Rear Foot Jab (2 Hands Up)
• Lead Foot Jab (Dropping Lead Hand)
• Rear Foot Jab (Dropping Rear Hand)
• Muay Thai Cross Counters
• Shoulder Stop, CH, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Scoop, CH, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Inside Elbow Deflection, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Straight Knee #2, L Elbow, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Straight Knee #1, L Elbow, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Straight Knee #3, L Elbow, R Elbow, R Knee, R Kick
• Foot Jab, CH, R Kick
• Slip Outside, Hook-Cross, R Kick
• R Cut Kick & 4 Count
• L Cut Kick & 4 Count
• Muay Thai 17 Count
1. Lt Foot Jab Counters Cross or Rt Round
2. Lt Round Kick
3. Rt Cross
4. Lt Hook
5. Counter Cross W/ #2 Straight Knee
6. Lt Elbow
7. Rt Elbow
8. Counter Cross W/ #2 Straight Knee
9. Rt Round Kick
10. Lt Hook
11. Rt Cross
12. Lt Round Kick
13. Rt Knee
14. Rt Round Kick
15. Lt Hook
16. Rt Cross
17. 6 Skip Knees, Throw & Rt Round Kick
• Muay Thai Basic Counters
• Counter Jab W/ Wedge
• Counter Jab-Cross W/ Wedge
• Counter Jab-Cross-Hook W Catch, Parry, Wedge
• Counter Lead Low Round Kick
• Counter Rear Low Round Kick
• Counter Lead Middle Round Kick
• Counter Rear Middle Round Kick
• Counter Lead High Round Kick
• Counter Rear High Round Kick
• Counter Lead Foot Jab
• Counter Rear Foot Jab
• Counter R Elbow W/ Wedge
• Counter L Elbow W/ Wedge
• Counter Rear Knee W/ Catch
• 4 Counts
• 15 Count
• 18 Counts A, B, C & D
• 60 Kicks & 40 Knees Drill W/ Light Pressure (2 Rounds)

Fighting skill in Muay Thai and other martial arts is a function of your athletic ability and how you train. Athletic ability is a god-given trait and you have no control over that. It is futile to focus on what you cannot control. However, you do have control over how you train. Therefore, as a martial artist and fighter, you need to focus on your training methods.

Training better and harder is the only way an individual without a lot of natural talent can surpass someone with more athletic ability. It is partly true that “Practice makes perfect.” It is more accurate that “Perfect practice makes perfect.” After my 23 years of training and 15 years of teaching Muay Thai and other martial arts it is still remarkable to see individuals who start with little coordination and confidence blossom into a great fighters and martial artists. It is really rewarding to see that positive change and to watch someone evolve physically and mentally through training in the martial arts. This happens as a result of years of training hard and training well. In an effort to help you improve your game, this section will focus on the following seven training methods of Muay Thai: shadow boxing, pad work, bag work, partner drills, sparring, conditioning and mental training.

1) Muay Thai Shadow Boxing The first training method, shadow boxing is one of the most important and most overlooked training methods. Shadow boxing is the best way to develop technical skill. This is the time to work on and develop the technical aspects of every element of your game including stance, footwork, body mechanics, strikes and even defense. More…

2) Muay Thai Pad Work Pad work, the second training method, includes Thai pad, focus mitt and foam pad training. Pad work is one of the best training methods because it allows you to make contact and to work on attributes like speed, power, timing, form and conditioning. More…

3) Muay Thai Bag Work The third training method is bag work. Bag work includes heavy bag, speed bag, top and bottom bag and other specialty bag workouts. The most versatile of these, the heavy bag comes in short and long lengths and in hanging and freestanding models. The long bag or “banana bag” is the best, especially for Muay Thai because… More…

4) Muay Thai Partner Drills Partner drills, the fourth training method, are the best way to develop accuracy and targeting, however. This is the most realistic training method besides free sparring. For this type of drilling you normally put on the boxing gloves, a mouthpiece and perhaps the shin guards and work back and forth with a partner. More…

5) Muay Thai Sparring Sparring is the fifth training method and an important part of any fighter’s or martial artist’s routine. This is as close to a real fight as it gets. Although every martial artist needs to experience full-contact sparring once in a while, you can get close to the same benefits from sparring lightly. Sparring lightly requires more skill… More…

6) Muay Thai Conditioning When you spar, you quickly realize how important conditioning (the sixth training method) is to your game. If you plan to fight competitively, conditioning is the most important part of your training. All of the prior training methods include some element of conditioning. Sparring, bag work and pad work… More…

7) Muay Thai Mental Training Mental training is the last training method but definitely not the least. Mental preparation is absolutely essential to success but often ignored. It is the psychology of fighting and winning. Mental toughness is partly god given and partly derived from within. It can be trained and taught … More…

To become a great fighter and martial artist in Muay Thai or other arts you must train hard and train well. To become a champion, you must train like a champion. Your practice in Muay Thai should include each of the seven training methods outlined here, shadow boxing, pad work, bag work, partner drills, sparring, conditioning and mental training. Whether you’re a natural athlete or not so athletic, if you train each of these methods every week, your skills and ability will improve exponentially!

The third training method is bag work. Bag work includes heavy bag, speed bag, top and bottom bag and other specialty bag workouts. The most versatile of these, the heavy bag comes in short and long lengths and in hanging and freestanding models.

  

The long bag or “banana bag” is the best, especially for Muay Thai because it allows you to low kick along with all of the other strikes.

The hanging bags are better for the gym environment because they are sturdier but the freestanding bags can be a good alternative for at home because they’re easy to set up.

The heavy bag is perfect for working on attributes like form, technique, power and conditioning.

If you use your imagination, you can come up with some great drills and combinations to do on the bag. Try to use footwork as well as head movement etc. as if you’re in a real fight.

Even though the bag can’t hit back, pretend that it can. This is the most realistic workout you can get without a partner. The fact that you don’t need a partner to get a great workout is the best thing about a heavy bag. Although not as versatile, the speed bag, top and bottom bag and other specialty bags are great for working on certain attributes.

The speed bag is for timing and rhythm. The top and bottom bag brings out timing, rhythm and accuracy. Uppercut bags are obviously for drilling uppercuts and human body shaped bags can help you with accuracy and targeting.