HOW TO NAVIGATE THE CLINCH AS A BEGINNER NAK MUAY

From Muay Thai Guy

Something that sets Muay Thai apart from most other types of striking is the clinch. Unfortunately, the clinch is also something many people (especially beginners) struggle with because of any number of the following problems:

• poor technique
• fear of getting swept
• lack of clinch training at their gym
• some/all of the above

Clinching is one of those things where when you have better technique doing it, it makes you stronger! This is because you know how to use your strength efficiently and know exactly where to position yourself and your limbs. Technique can only come with time and consistent training, but everyone has to start somewhere. Here are some pointers to get you started in improving your clinch game.

#1 – The position of your hips and legs is crucial.

Your hips should be squared, unlike being in fighting stance. Your legs should be open and your knees...

BASICS: SHORT COMBOS ARE DEADLY

By Daniel Nguyen

Long, successful combos can be aesthetically pleasing to watch, whether devastating or defended.

They do indeed show technical prowess, however, long and complex will not always be equivalent to successful.

What makes a combination truly lethal is the ability for it to be practical, effective, and efficient. This is why we see many of the pro fighters opt to use shorter combos to set up the bigger kill shots. Sometimes just keeping it simple is the best way to approach a fight.

Let’s take a look at some of the short combinations that are often emphasized in beginner classes, plus the pros who have utilized them due to their high probability of success.

Jab -> Rear Power Kick

Most fighters have used this basic combination at some point in the ring.

The quick delivery, finish and recovery of the sequence makes this an extremely high-landing combo. The two-hit combination has two distinct functions:

• to ...

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE FIRST GOVERNMENT CERTIFIED FEMALE MUAY THAI TRAINER IN THAILAND

From Muay Thai Guy

Nai Khanom Tom stepped into the ring. The Siamese prisoner knew what was on the line.

The Burmese King Mangra and all his subjects cast their eyes on the man. It had been seven years since the invasion in the Ayutthaya Kingdom and he was seized captive as one of many in the aftermath. There are few, if any, moments in prison for a man to feel honored or make an impact, but for Nai Khanom Tom, his time had come.

As a highly skilled and trained boxer, Nai Khanom Tom was selected to compete against the Burmese boxing champion, in a test to satisfy the king’s curiosity of how Muay Boran would stand against Burmese boxing. The pride of his people, of his master, of Siam, surged through his veins.

Nai Khanom Tom began with the ritual of the Wai Khru pre-fight dance, roughly translated as "war-dance saluting the teacher". Dancing around his opponent, the Burmese thought he...

TECHNICAL STYLES & STYLINGS OF THE FEROCIOUS FIST

From Muay Thai Guy

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time watching Youtube videos of old Roberto Duran fights.

I was quite surprised to see the similarities between Mr. Duran’s style and a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style. Duran was described as an inside fighter as well as a technical brawler which I feel is the perfect way to describe a Muay Thai fighter’s boxing style.

Even though I’ve put the boxer and the puncher together, by no means are the puncher and boxer one in the same. This is something that I feel is up for interpretation.

Some fighters are not the most technically sound boxers, but they were born with the gift of natural punching power or hands made of stone. There are also those fighters who are technically sound or precise and use that to their advantage.

The Evolution Of Muay Thai

Like any other sport, Muay Thai has gone through it’s own evolution. Evolution is...

TREAT YOUR MIND & BODY TO REFRESHMENT

By Sarah Morris

It’s widely known that yoga produces wonders for your physical and mental well-being. The practice promotes harmony between your mind and body through a combination of breathing exercises, meditations, and poses.

Enhance the effects of this method by coupling it with a restful vacation to get away from all the stress and toxicity in your personal and professional life. Enjoy breathtaking views as you equip yourself on how to manage stressors more productively.

You can find holiday packages that provide you with a new environment to meditate in. Bali, one of Indonesia’s islands, is a scenic tourist spot and an ideal place for yoga retreats. Learn more about the incredible Thailand & Bali retreats at Blooming Lotus Yoga.

Here are the reasons why you should try Bali yoga retreats during one of your wanderlust adventures:

Engage with Nature

Bali is the ultimate tropical paradise with its picturesque...

 AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPETITION WEIGHT CUTTING

From Muay Thai Guy

Enter: cutting weight. For pretty much as long as fighters have been weighing in, cutting weight has been a practice done by almost everyone.

There are a lot of misconceptions of what cutting weight is, and these misconceptions can prove to be costly, hindering performance during competition or, worse, even causing death.

(Title image courtesy of Andrew Miller, The Star Ledger.)

WHAT WEIGHT CUTTING IS

Cutting weight is a process that involves manipulating hydration levels in the body over the course of just a few days. Fighters will often sweat out as much as they can in order to lose weight temporarily. They will weigh in at the agreed upon weight, then rehydrate and eat to get their weight back up to...

WRAP YOUR HANDS & PROTECT YOUR WEAPONS

By Ben Stark

Ben Stark is longtime familiar face in the relatively small MMA community, which was many times smaller when he made his pro debut back in 2004, amassing a 5-2 record. Sharp-minded UFC fans will remember him from season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. He has been around the world, fighting, training, and coaching MMA, BJJ, and Muay Thai.

When it comes to hand wrapping, Ben’s prowess is equally impressive as his depth of experience in the fight game. He has wrapped hands in four different countries, each with its own detailed rule sets.

In the video below, Ben will cover how to properly wrap hands following (most) Western commissions’ rules. Wrapping rules do change from place to place, though the one consistent rule across all US states is that fighters are never allowed to have tape over the knuckles.

Watch this mesmerizing hand wrapping tutorial by none other than American Top Team coach...

MAKING THE BEST OUT OF OPEN MAT & SOLO SESSIONS

By Emily Moore

Have you ever shown up at the gym only to find out that you’re the only one there?

Maybe your coach had an emergency and needed to step away, or your training partner bailed on you. You still want to get a good workout in but do you know how to structure your own training when no one is there to guide you?

If you’ve always had a coach there to tell you what to do and how to flow from one drill or exercise to the next, approaching an open mat or solo training session can be a little confusing. You can enter the training session with good intentions and strong motivation, but without some forethought and planning you might end up halfheartedly hitting the heavy bag for two and a half rounds before deciding to go home.

Training on your own is great; fighting, after all, is something that you ultimately have to do alone. Just like you can’t go into a fight without preparation, you can’t go...

DEBUNKING HARD SPARRING’S MISCONCEPTIONS

From Muay Thai Guy

When it comes to fighting, there is no argument that it’s one hell of a tough sport. But how is toughness really built into fighters? Is must be all the long hours in the gym rotating through countless sessions of hard sparring, right? How many UFC and boxing highlights have we seen featuring fighters battering their sparring partner in the days leading up to a fight?

“Pain is the best way to learn,” they say. “Iron sharpens iron… Spar hard, easy fight.”

These adages are as old as time and exist across disciplines and sports. If you’ve ever trained to fight, you know these push-through-the-pain maxims by heart, mostly because your coach has shouted them at you in the middle of hard sparring sessions. Encouragement like this has been shown to help fighters move past their limits, mentally condition themselves to eat hard shots, and alleviate the fear of contact.

That said,...

WOULD YOU TAKE A CHANCE TO LEARN FROM THE GREATEST?

By Sean Fagan

When is the last time you got to shoot practice shots with Michael Jordan?

Can you recall the last time you swapped opening move strategies with Bobby Fischer? Or played a friendly round of 18 holes with Tiger Woods?

Have you ever been granted the amazing opportunity to learn from and practice with a real, live legend of sports?

Well, recently, my friends, I got to do just that. Let me tell you all about my Muay Thai private with the one, the only, the king of the cartwheel kick...

SAENCHAI!!!

This wasn't my first time meeting Saenchai, but it was the longest private I've ever had with the man. And let me tell you: he is EXACTLY what you think he's like.

"Playful" doesn't begin to describe him. Where do I even begin?? When we sparred, every time he landed clean, he started counting me out... LOL. He's so loose no matter what he's doing or showing you. The constant "oooweee!" coming out of his mouth had me grinning...