THERE IS NO AGE LIMIT TO CHALLENGING YOURSELF

By Evan Lee

Think it’s too late to start training in your 30s? 40s? 50s? It’s not. No matter what age you are, whether you’re eight or 80, it’s never too late to begin training.

Hang on – how’s that old saying go? “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks“? No. The new saying goes, “The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks.”

Martial arts is not simply a new way for you to view the world, it can lead to a completely new you.

Check out this Evolve MMA video outlining seven ways martial arts will change you and your world:

Never Too Late To Start

Let me address the most common worry about starting martial arts post-20’s: “But I’m not in good enough shape to start training!”

Hear this: Few people actually begin martial arts in good shape. They begin martial arts, then they get in good...

REST & RECOVERY TIPS FOR THE MUAY THAI ENTHUSIAST

By Jillian Bosserdet

I struggle with rest. I like routine. Regardless of how I feel, my fight camps read like a schedule. My training sessions and meals are planned out perfectly.

During fight camp, every moment of my life revolves around my fight. If I get an injury, that’s just too bad. If I am exhausted, oh well.

I struggle to understand you need to give your body and your mind time to recover – that recovery is just as important as training. I equate unscheduled rest with personal inadequacy. I think:

I’m not good enough.

I’m too weak.

My opponent, she’s not resting.

Why would I?

Because we are different people – different fighters. We have different bodies, and different means of training. Needing a break should not equal failure.

We train in a sport that is tremendously stressful on the body and the mind. During fight camps, we train two – three times a day, and six...

LET'S REVIEW THE FOUNDATIONAL STRIKES IN A BEGINNER'S ARSENAL

By Angela Chang

Sometimes, a Muay Thai class can make you feel like the coaches are speaking another language. Jab? Cross? Roundhouse? What do all of these things mean??

Whether you’ve just started out or you are just beginning to think of going to your first class, here are some terms you can expect to hear. Muay Thai veterans! If I miss anything important, please be sure to comment below with your addition to the list!

TERMINOLOGY: Jab

PAKKALEK (RED) DISTRACTING RODTANG (BLUE) WITH SOME JABS.

The jab is one of the first things anyone will learn. It’s a straight punch from your front hand (so a left straight if you’re orthodox, right straight if you’re southpaw) to the face. It’s often used to set up other strikes and to create distance.

TERMINOLOGY: Cross

The cross a straight punch from your rear hand (right if orthodox, left if...

IT'S NOT WHERE YOU FIGHT, IT'S HOW 

By Angela Chang

In some places, there is a kind of fluidity between being an amateur Muay Thai fighter and a professional one.

The main difference is the presence (or absence) of shin guards, head gear and/or elbow pads in the fight. Many fighters move regularly between pro and amateur just to keep active.

However, in most other countries, such as the US, once you go pro, you can’t go back to being amateur. In these countries, the difference between being amateur and pro is not so much about the gear, but whether or not they get paid.

One’s pro debut is often made a big deal; once a fighter is pro, a certain level of skill and discipline is expected. Most fighters obtain at least 20 amateur fights before making their pro debut, making sure their amateur career gives them a solid foundation before jumping up to the next level.

Both the fighter and trainer realize this base is very important, as the fighter cannot afford to make the...

HOW TIME OFF TURNS YOUR RHYTHM RUSTY

By Angela Chang

You fought and are now taking some time off. Weeks turn into months, and months into years. Finally, the time has come when you tell your coach you’re ready to get back in the ring.

You train hard, make weight, and now it’s time to fight. The first round starts and you feel incrediblyslow. This surely isn’t your first fight, but you feel very slow to react and have trouble finding your distance and timing. This goes on for another round or two before you begin to feel your familiar rhythm flow back into you.

Even if during your time off from fighting you were still training, you may experience something called ring rust when you start competing again. Ring rust is a phenomenon experienced by many when they take a (long) period of time off from fighting and they’re not feeling as sharp as they did when they last competed. They can feel physically slow; feel more nervous than normal; be less...

KINESIO TAPE: DOES IT REALLY WORK FOR ATHLETES?

By Jessica Smith

 If the colorful tape used at the Olympics caught your interest, then I am sure you must know about Kinesiotape. The vibrantly colored tape placed near the shoulder and legs by various athletes during their events is a form of therapeutic taping.

While an adhesive tape stuck to your skin hardly seems like an efficient remedy for aches and pains, many people claim that Kinesio tapes work miracles for athletes.

First, what is Kinesio tape?

Therapeutic taping has been in practice for many years now. Recent brands such as Kinesio popularized the culture with clever marketing strategies, which is the reason behind why we get to see athletes sporting these various colorful tapes.

Kinesio tape, made from light, thin and stretchy fabrics are often used by athletes to ease pain and enhance performance. The makers claims the tape reduces the risk of an injury by amplifying proprioception (which means...

THE CONFUSING RULES OF MUAY THAI IN THAILAND

By Saks

This article is an attempt to try to explain the rules to watching a Muay Thai match. Now this is a feat that is quite more complicated than you would expect due to the evolution of rules which may, or may not be dictated by the current state of gambling in Thailand.

The Basic Rule Set

• A Muay Thai match consists of 5×3 min rounds with a 2 min rest in between rounds
• Each round is scored with a total of 10 points, which is accumulated for the total of 5 rounds to equal 50 points, unlike boxing where it’s scored in individual rounds.
• Points are scored according to clean strikes; punches, kicks, elbows, knees and sweeps.  Kicks, elbows, knees, sweeps, and a dominant clinch score more points than a clean punch, unless the punch results in a knockdown or does visible damage.
• When locked up in the clinch both fighters will battle for the dominant position.  When knees are executed in the clinch they must be...

TIPS & TRAINING STRATEGIES FOR YOUR FIRST MUAY THAI FIGHT

By Sean Fagan

So what do you do now?

How do you prepare yourself to step into a ring with somebody who has trained for months, if not years, with the specific goal of kicking your ass?

The answer is really quite simple:

DO WHAT YOUR COACH TELLS YOU!

If you train at a decent gym, chances are your coach has trained dozens if not hundreds of fighters for competition. All you have to do is listen to what he (or she) says. Every coach has his or her own way of doing things, but most of us follow a pretty standard formula. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

A general rule of thumb is at least 20 hours training per week, or in other words 3.5 –...

THE MUAY THAI LEGENDS OF THE GOLDEN ERA

By Anton Kooshnir

Just one "Forgotten Legends" article was never going to even begin to be a tip (or should I say, Teep - Oee?) of the iceberg concerning the whole story about the Thai stadium scene in the beginning of the 90's. So after introducing the general topic of the series in the first article, we'll get straight to business this time.

1. Pongsiri Por Ruamrudee ("Rambo")

Every once in a while in Thailand, comes along a fan friendly slugger that puts butts in seats. In the early 90's, that man went under the nickname "Rambo", like the Stallone movie character.

Easily recognized by the "skull & bones" image on his shorts, Rambo was not quite the most successful fighter in terms of belts or the way in which a fighter is revered for his finesse and tactical mind, but nevertheless managed to become one of the most popular fighters in Thailand and one of the favorite fighters of the famous promoter Songchai Rattanasuban!

Rambo...

MAKING A CASE FOR 'MO AMATA' SOMLUCK KAMSING AS STRIKING GREAT

By Isaac Crichlow

Somluck Kamsing is one of the greatest strikers of all time.

His style is flamboyant, slick and effective, and as a result it has influenced many subsequent Muay Thai, Kickboxing and MMA champions.

He is probably best known in the West for winning a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the same year Flyod Mayweather won a bronze. This indicates his high caliber as a striker, as he competed with boxers of the same pedigree as Mayweather, arguably the greatest of all time. Something tells me Floyd would not do as well in a Thai fight as Somluck did at boxing!

The reason for Somluck’s switch from Muay Thai to boxing was that he defeated most of the Thai boxing champions but was still denied a title shot by promoters. Fortunately for us, his fusion of boxing and Muay Thai created one of the most entertaining fighting styles ever. To best understand the combination of the two martial arts, it is...