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.

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!

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 for example are excellent for conditioning especially when done at a high level of intensity and are an important part of your conditioning regiment because they are sport-specific. It is still crucial to do other cardio, strength and core training if you’re a fighter and even if you are a recreational martial artist.

As a fighter, cardiovascular conditioning is the most important part of your conditioning regiment. In a fight, cardio is the first thing to go and it doesn’t matter how skilled you are. When you’re “out of gas” all your skills go out the window. Skipping rope and roadwork are two essential parts of cardio training for a fighter. Jogging is not good enough. Your roadwork should consist of intervals of sprinting and jogging as well as uphill runs and stair climbs.

Strength training is very important too as is core training. Free weights, cable machines and resistance bands are the best and most functional way to train your strength. Doing your training in an unstable environment like on a ball instead of a bench helps to incorporate core training at the same time.

You still need to isolate your core and do exercises like crunches, planks and back extensions because you’re only as strong as your core. Intervals of cardio, strength and core exercises without rest are an effective way to train for a fight. Diet is important too but that’s a whole another subject.

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 and control and allows you to spar every time you train without getting hurt. If you get hurt during sparring then you are not able to train for days or weeks and this obviously sets you back. It’s helpful to work sparring drills as well as free sparring.

 

During sparring drills you can isolate a certain tool or tools and or certain defenses to hone that particular skill set. For example, you can spar the jab only or just boxing, just kicks, kickboxing, clinching or all Muay Thai. Or both individuals can work different aspects of the game like southpaw vs. orthodox or boxing vs. kicking.

You can also isolate certain defenses like slipping and bobbing and weaving, covering and riding, parrying and scooping, evading, counter punching or counter kicking. There’s a tendency for beginners to throw all there training out the window when free sparring and to start to throw wild swings with little or no technique. This is something to try to avoid. Even if you’re getting hit a little more than you’d like in the beginning, try to maintain the fundamentals like keeping the hands up, chin down, elbows in, head moving and footwork going.