THESE ARE THE UNIVERSAL SPARRING RULES

By Angela Chang

The bell rings and you touch gloves. Not much is usually exchanged during a round or even between rounds, at least not verbally. Physically, it’s a different story.

Sparring is a part of training and everyone who’s trained for at least a bit should be doing it. For those new to Muay Thai or combat sports in general, though, it’s important to know that there are some common ground rules when it comes to sparring – no matter where you are or who you’re up against.

SPARRING RULE #1: Big gloves are a must.

Perfect for sparring are gloves in the 14-18 ounce range. They have more padding in them so that even if you go hard, it softens the blow a bit. Wearing big gloves promotes a safe environment in which everyone can participate.

Lighter gloves are meant for hitting the bag or hitting pads. Do not crack a fellow teammate with those gloves. They can get seriously hurt (broken nose,...

THESE ARE THE BEST FILIPINO FIGHTERS IN MMA TODAY

By Blake Jeffries

Mixed martial arts (MMA) has truly gone global. Proof of this is how countries like Thailand and Malaysia are producing top-caliber MMA talent. But one country, in particular, is fast becoming an MMA hotbed. That country is the Philippines.

In light of that fact, here are eight of the best MMA fighters currently fighting out of the Pearl of the Orient. They are all still active, and will likely build their respective legacies even more.

#1: Brandon Vera

IMAGE CREDIT: Pinterest

Vera (16-7-1) is not only one of the best MMA fighters representing the Philippines today, he is arguably the country’s finest MMA fighter so far. "The Truth" is a veteran of 13 UFC fights and has wins over Frank Mir and Reese Andy.

Ironically, it was in a loss that Vera truly shined. In UFC 105, Vera pushed the great Randy Couture to the hilt before losing via a close decision.

A decade later, 41 year old Vera is still going strong....

To be a complete badass, you need to be performing solid workouts that will target power, strength, muscular endurance, cardio, abs and core, explosiveness, and mental toughness. Sound tough? Too bad. Time to work your ass off!

Welcome to The Funk and Flex MMA 5×5 Station Circuit – By Funk Roberts

This strength and conditioning workout is ideal for fighters, but also anyone looking for all-round fitness. If you want to be ready for anything life throws at you, this is your workout. That’s why this method of training is also ideal for those in the military.

This circuit is called the 5×5 Station Circuit because it involves making your way through five stations, in five minutes each. Pretty simple. At each station, you go through the listed exercises one after the other. You keep performing these exercises in rotation for five minutes, and then you move on to the next station.

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NEW TO MUAY THAI? START WITH THESE SIMPLE COMBINATIONS

By Evan Lee

Wait? Isn’t this quantity over quality? Well, that depends on how you look at it.

Quantity is an often overlooked component of training. The focus on quality is often at the forefront of everyone’s vision. It makes sense, because by attempting to spread yourself across you will be spreading yourself thin, thus proving the inferiority of quantity. 

In what world, then, would it be sane to suggest that quantity rule over quality?

In one where mistakes can be made.

Training can often get stale when all you do is sharpen your own tools. When one is preparing for a fight, any mistake in training can be costly and throw off the entire training camp, the margins of error are thin. No room for no lollygagging up in this.

What about when you’re not training for a fight? That’s when the fun begins.

When you’re training for fun and to develop skills, that’s when you can throw everything...

THE BEST MUAY THAI WORKOUTS, COMBOS & DRILLS FOR THE HEAVY BAG

By Sean Fagan

Doing intense, focused heavy bag workouts for Muay Thai is easily one of the most overlooked and under utilized aspects of training.

If used properly, the heavy bag is a super effective piece of training equipment for improving your cardio, power, speed, technique, focus, and movement.

All Muay Thai fighters should incorporate heavy bag training into their overall strength and conditioning workouts on a regular basis in order to improve overall fitness as well as striking skills.

Routinely using the heavy bag is something that I find most fighters don’t do enough of. And for the fighters that do use the heavy bag, they are usually making these common mistakes and end up not using it to it’s fullest potential and getting maximum results.

These are 5 of the most common mistakes that most Muay Thai fighters make while hitting the heavy bag. Fortunately there are ways to fix and...

HOW TO HEAL BRUISED SHINS, SHIN SPLINTS & SPRAINED WRISTS

By Sean Fagan

Sorry to break it to you, but at some point in your Muay Thai career, you are going to get hurt.

This could be a common Muay Thai injury like a blister or black eye, or it could be more serious like a sprained ankle or broken bone. In any case, being mentally prepared for roadblocks and learning how to persist past these obstacles is key to any nak muay’s career and overall sanity.

Before I go into some of the most common Muay Thai injuries, I want you to understand that when you are injured and can’t train, it is not the end of the world! I have had minor injuries and serious injuries that have kept me away from the gym, but there are always other ways to improve yourself and stay productive that do not always have to relate directly to training.

Also don’t be a dumbass. If you are seriously hurt, do not try to push through more training sessions and risk getting injured...

MUAY THAI TACTICS FOR DEFEATING A TALLER OPPONENT

By Sean Fagan

Fighting someone taller than you can be very frustrating, especially when you’re not sure what to do to negate the reach advantage your opponent has on you.

Getting jabbed in the nose or front kicked in the sternum is no fun, especially when you’re not able to return fire since you’re out of range.

Fortunately, throughout the history of Muay Thai and other combat sports, there has  been a ton of fights where we can learn a lot of strategies, tactics and techniques to overcome a height disadvantage.

There are a few key fight strategies to consider whenever dealing with a taller opponent.

1) Find Your Range

Stay inside or outside your opponents range… not in the middle!

As the shorter fighter, you’re going to want to avoid the middle ground at all costs because that is the range where your opponent’s range will be most...

THROWING A MUAY THAI ROUNDHOUSE KICK - PROPERLY

By Sean Fagan

Needless to say, the Muay Thai roundhouse kick is what makes Muay Thai one of the most deadliest martial arts in the world.

However if you throw a Muay Thai kick with sloppy technique you be less efficient (which makes you more tired) and you will leave openings in your defense.

Even though the roundhouse kick is one of the most basic Muay Thai techniques you’ll first learn when you step into a gym, it takes a lifetime to perfect. I’ve been training Thai boxing over 10 years now and still know that there is plenty of room to improve my kick technique to add more power and speed to it.

 How NOT To Muay Thai Kick: 8 Common Mistakes

Basic Kick Technique Tips

• Be loose! Your leg should almost be completely dead weight that is guided by your hips, shoulders and torso.
• Push up on the balls of your post foot. This will help you generate more hip action and be more free to rotate through. If you...

MUAY THAI FIGHTER DIET, NUTRITION & WEIGHT CUTTING PLANS

By James Bee – JBFS

The following post is by James Bee who works with professional Muay Thai fighters as nutritional coach.

I get a lot of emails from people asking questions about what to eat and drink during fight week preparation. So I felt it was necessary to write some advice answering these important questions about Muay Thai diet and nutrition to help optimize performance for your big week. If you’re cutting weight, there are some essential weight cutting tips in this post to help reach that goal too, so keep reading.

Below you’ll find a breakdown of the important macronutrients like proteins, fats and carbohydrates. I’ve also added 2 different meal plan strategies, one plan is for fighters who are weight cutting and one is for maintaining weight. I’ll talk about water intake, important supplements, and sauna strategy for shedding those last couple kgs if...

SHARPEN YOUR SOUTHPAW WITH THIS SPARRING BREAKDOWN

By Sean Fagan

What’s up, guys! Pro Muay Thai fighter Sean Fagan here with a tutorial video that I put together special for my left-wing brothers, my southpaw soldiers-in-arms.

I made this video after a lot of time spent reading comments on social media that complain about the lack of video procedurals breaking down and instructing how to throw combos from southpaw stance. Sure enough, a cursory Google search is showing me a lot of stuff on how to beat southpaws, not fight as one! 

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. How many southpaw fighters do you know of? Let’s rattle off a few of the greats:

Samart Payakaroon, Manny Pacquiao, Saenchai, Anderson Silva, Orono Wor Petchpun… 

What makes them great? In part, it was the sheer rarity of southpaw fighters in sports. One source tells me that in MMA, only 17% of fighters routinely employ a southpaw stance....