FEED THE BEAST: PRE- & POST-WORKOUT NUTRITION

By Andrew Bryan

It’s a simple fact of life but it never gets any less true: food is your body’s fuel. If the fight is won in the gym, then it’s also won in the kitchen. Your athletic performance will never reach its peak if you don’t have a healthy diet to back it up.

When you’re a Muay Thai fighter, or any kind of explosive athlete, your body is constantly working those fast twitch fibers. It’s great fun but it can also be grueling on your body and unfortunately, sports will wreck your joints over time. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you’re eating the right kind of foods to keep your body in top condition.

You need carbohydrates and protein. While they both do different things, you can’t have great fitness without both. Carbohydrates give you the energy to get through hard workouts, to be able to push more and work out harder. The...

THE MUAY THAI GUYS PODCAST: EPISODE #39

By Sean Fagan

Most of the time us nak muay have the patience to explain what “Moo Thai” or “Mai Tai” is and how it’s different from UFC fighting.

However, on fight week it is a completely different story. Fortunately, the Muay Thai guys are here to show you the proper etiquette for talking to your Muay Thai friends when they have a fight coming up.

First and foremost, understand that the week of a fight is a mental power struggle and can be very stressful at times. Your teammate or friend is getting ready for a fight and is focused on the fight itself; this primarily includes finishing up his or her’s lovely weight cut process and getting their mind right for fight night.

As a fan and supporter we are sure you mean well, but just keep in mind that what you say and do affects his/her focus and mentality for the fight..

Here are just a few of the things you should avoid...

WHAT’S IN A NAME? EVERYTHING.

By Jillian Bosserdet

Marcel the Shell: Guess what I want but I’m not gonna beg for it?

Guy: Uh… what?

Marcel the Shell: A nickname. Because you can’t—you can’t make it for yourself, like you can make yourself a new hairstyle, but you can’t say, “well, now I go by the name of ‘The General’ or whatever…

Guy: If you could have a nickname, what would it be?

Marcel the Shell: Ace.

(If you haven’t seen Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, go watch it. Now.)

Anyway, the little crustacean makes a valid point. You can’t just go out and give yourself a nickname.

I was asked to make a list of my top ten favorite Muay Thai fighter nicknames. Funny thing, is I have been trying to figure out mine for a while now. While friends of mine have had plenty of suggestions (Killer Kale, Violence, Watch Out, Ninja Turtle – they just kept...

LEARNING TO COUNTER THE AGGRESSIVE BULL IN YOUR GYM

By Angela Chang

Behold! The original list of ten sparring partners that you will encounter continually throughout your career. Today we break down one of the most challenging opponents to overcome in the gym: aggressive sparring partners. We called this fighter “the God Mode partner,” but they are better known as “blitzers.”

Imagine this, if you will: The bell goes off and you settle your eyes on your sparring partner for the round. As soon as you touch gloves, he or she goes in. I mean really goes in on you. We’re talking about non-stop combinations, punches and kicks, barely giving you any space to breathe. You’re trying to defend and hit back but you’re also worried about what might be coming next, which is coming at you in a matter of nanoseconds.

While they’re not necessarily hitting with ill intent, the aggression from this opponent is there and it...

THE BEGINNER'S EXPERIENCE: 3 COMMON DISCOMFORTS

By Sean Fagan

Starting from square one is always a hard thing to do.

It can also become downright discouraging when the first couple of Muay Thai sessions are impeded by physical discomforts that seem to reoccur every time.

Just know that this is a common experience and there are others who have worked through the same thing.

So before we start unflinchingly kicking down banana trees, here are the three common discomforts that beginners experience and how to help reduce the chances of them occurring:

 #1: Muscle Cramps

Muay Thai is extremely dynamic and involves different muscle groups that are not commonly activated during daily routine, especially not for a beginner with a regular nine-to-five.

After all, nobody goes around doing 25-50 left and right leg kicks in public for fun on a daily basis.

Add high intensity training into the mix and the chance of cramps skyrocket.

That sharp pain in the sides…...

THESE 'CAN'T-PUT-IT-DOWN' READS ARE MUST-HAVES IN YOUR MUAY THAI LIBRARY

By Aimee Laurence

You may be a recent convert to Muay Thai or have been a connoisseur for rather longer. But as well as enjoying watching the "Art of Eight Limbs" on the television, or training and competing in it, you may want to seek out some good reading material to help round out your appreciation of this unique sport.

No matter what your level of interest in Muay Thai (that’s "Thai boxing" to the layman), here are the eight best books on the sport for you to enjoy.

Muay Thai Basics: Introductory Thai Boxing Techniques by Christopher Delp

As the title suggests, this is a beginner’s guide to the sport of Muay Thai, and a comprehensive one at that. As you would imagine, there are many efforts aimed at enticing people into the sport, but this is definitely one of the best, covering everything from the basic techniques in which to train, but also detailing more around the culture of the sport...

THE MUAY THAI GUYS PODCAST: EPISODE #42

By Sean Fagan

Training in Thailand can be a daunting task. Everyone who has done it has made a number of mistakes (including Paul and I) and are constantly learning new things about training in the motherland of Muay Thai.

Our goal for this podcast episode is to get you as prepared as possible for the intense training that comes with Muay Thai in Thailand. Follow these 10 survival tips for training in Thailand and you’ll be happy you did 

Click To Listen ===> 10 Survival Tips For Training In Thailand

Here’s a brief summary of the things we cover in this weeks podcast:

#1. Proper Cooldown – It’s critical to minimize delayed onset muscle soreness and keep the body from locking up in future sessions.

#2. Thai Liniment – This stuff is awesome! It will help warm up stiff joints, minimize pain and help keep you from being unbelievable sore.

#3. Electrolytes and Hydration –...

THE MUAY THAI GUYS PODCAST: EPISODE #009

By Sean Fagan

Some people get into Muay Thai for the specific reason to test themselves in the ring, while others start training because they want to get in better shape and learn an effective method for self defense. Regardless of why you began training, chances are that you have at least contemplated the idea of stepping into the ring and fighting…. haven’t you?

In this podcast, fighters Sean (19-6) and Paul (12-2-1) breakdown a complete guide so you can be 100% prepared for your first (or next) fight.

With a combined 40+ fights, The Muay Thai Guys share their best tips, strategies and training tools that have helped them be prepared mentally, physically and spiritually before entering the ring. Here’s a brief rundown of what the cover:

Complete Guide To Fighting For The First Time

1. Figure Out Your “WHY” – Knowing why you want to fight is the first step to...

THE REASON 'PITBULL' IS SUCH A POPULAR NICKNAME

By Lindsay Bohonik

This summer, Chael Sonnen gave a unique definition as to what makes a fighter during his You’re Welcome podcast. He said:

Fighting is when it’s hard. Fighting is when that person is coming back at you with equal or greater resistance. That’s what a fighter is, and when it doesn’t go your way and you want to stay in bed in the morning, when that alarm goes off you get your ass up, put your boots on and you go face the world. That’s what a fighter does.

When Sonnen made this statement, he was discussing former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey as being an aggressorversus a fighter. However, as this quote also illustrates, that the word “fighting” can be diversely applied to many facets of life. There is, of course, the literal definition of fighting: to physically engage with another person in a violence, combat or aggression.  Tied to that...

IT'S SMART TO TRAIN MUAY THAI (WITHOUT TAKING A FIGHT)

By Angela Chang

Wherever people are engaging in serious sporting competition, you can guarantee there are also countless others practicing the same sport for recreation only.

For every Tiger Woods, there are a thousand average joes on driving ranges; for every Buakaw, Sitsongpeenong or Samart Payakaroon, there are droves of regular men and women practicing Muay Thai in gyms across the world with no intent of ever having a real fight.

It’s been said before and it will be said again: Muay Thai has something for everyone. This is one of the unique qualities about Muay Thai, that it invites onto the mats people from all sorts of jobs and backgrounds.

Let’s break down some of the benefits of training Muay Thai without any real intention of taking an opponent:

The Physical: “I Want To Get Jacked/Healthy!”

Muay Thai is a great way to get in shape. It burns tons of calories while giving...