AVOID GETTING SMASHED IN YOUR FIRST FIGHT WITH THESE POINTERS!

By Sean Fagan

You’re nervous as hell.

You feel like throwing up.

You start doubting why you decided to step into the ring against someone who is trying to kill you.

You can’t get your mind off the fight.

I get it. I’ve been there. We all have! Every Muay Thai fighter goes through relatively the same process when they first step into the ring.

Doubt. Fear. Anxiety. Excitement. Adrenaline.

It’s all a part of the process. Learning how to control these emotions is key to winning your first Muay Thai fight. The first step is knowing what to expect and how to deal with the inevitable emotions and situations that are going to pop up. Follow these tips for your first  fight to be as prepared as possible once you step into that ring!

Best 5 Tips For Your First Muay Thai Fight

#1. Understand Your Opponent Is Human Too

Very rarely during my first few fights did I ever consider how my...

NEW TO MUAY THAI? START THIS WAY

By Kurt Walker

Tayeb Salih, one of the great authors of the 20th century, once said that “everyone starts at the beginning of the road." Helen Hayes famous American actress and one of only 15 "EGOT" winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), said, “The expert at anything was once a beginner.”

If you are a Muay Thai newbie, you have to start with the basics before you become an expert in the sport… and in this article, we are going to share with you beginner tips for Muay Thai newbies.

So, if you’ve taken the first step to join Muay Thai, congratulations! As usual, the initial stage is always thrilling and perplexing. You will make mistakes and sometimes feel like quitting, but when you start noticing improvements, you will gain courage.

Many people make the mistake of failing to prepare for Muay Thai training until they get injured, then start searching for help on Google or popular forums.

We don’t want you...

THE TOP HABITS OF PROFESSIONAL THAI BOXERS

By James Bee

Good habits are what separate the pro athletes from the amateurs, it’s that simple. They help fighters to train harder, longer, recover faster, feel good, and perform better.

If you have bad habits you will never reach your greatest potential.Not even close. Bad habits such as missing sleep and eating junk food will hold you back in the long run.

How do I know this? Because I work with professional Muay Thai fighters on a daily basis, and trust me, bad habits and greatness just can’t co-exist.

In this post, I’ll teach you 5 of the best habits that separate the champs from the chumps.

Habit #1: Rest

If you want to be any kind of successful athlete, you need focus on rest and recovery plan as much as you’re training.

Professional fighters usually train AM and PM 6 days per week. With that amount of training, missing sleep is going to affect your weight, performance and...

HOW TO DEVELOP ENDURANCE, STAMINA & CONFIDENCE

By Cormac Sheehan

Scenario 1:

You gasp for air, your throat on fire as each breath scorches your chest like napalm. Your hands feel like 10-ton breezeblocks and your shoulders ache like you’ve just done one hundred pull-ups.

You can barely lift your leg to check the kick you see telegraphed a mile away. You see openings – a low guard, an easy sweep – but when you tell your body to move, it ignores you.

“I can’t…I can’t…I can’t…”.

A sense of panic pervades. Your opponent, technically inferior, steps into the clinch and throws you to the ground. The final bell goes and it’s called as a split decision. You think you’ve done enough. But when the referee raises your opponent’s hand, you wish you’d done more.

Earlier: the alarm goes off and you slap it down, turning over and going back to sleep…you tell yourself ”I’ll run...

JUST STARTING OUT IN MUAY THAI? MEMORIZE THESE 10 TIPS!

By Michael Dehoyos

Muay Thai is an extremely physical activity that is becoming increasingly popular. Whether you want to become a professional Muay Thai boxer or are just interested in doing it for exercise, there are some tips you should know before jumping into the ring. 

#1: Be Technical

When you build something, you need to begin with a foundation. You may have the physical strength and power to perform well, but if you have poor technique, then you run the risk of being injured. If you build your Muay Thai practice with a firm foundation and learn all the movements with correct form and technique, then you maximize your full potential and decrease the risk of injury.

#2: Build Your Cardio

Muay Thai is an activity that requires a lot of energy because of all the rapid movements you do such as shuffling, punching, and kicking. It’s a full body workout, and if you don’t take the time to build your...

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...

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...

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 –...

OVERTRAINING & TRAINING SMARTER TO AVOID FATIGUE

By Angela Chang

Every athlete and fitness enthusiast has heard of the term “overtraining.”

People often confuse this term with feeling fatigued, but take note: overtraining is not as simple as that. Its consequences are quite sobering, especially for those who are serious about their progress.

Let’s take a closer look at overtraining and how you can best avoid its worst effects.

What Isn’t Overtraining?

It is not soreness. It is not being out of breath. It is not getting tired as you train.

These things are all normal and are signs of you stressing your body… which is a good thing! Stress is the only way your body can learn how to adapt and get better at whatever you’re doing. “Without struggle, there is no progress” – this rings just as true when it comes to training.

Overtraining is also not a bad session...

COMMON MISTAKES IN MUAY THAI STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

By Sean Fagan

The combination of Muay Thai and strength and conditioning is now not only accepted, but actively sought by many competitive fighters and recreational Thai boxers alike.

This is great news. When I first started my website over five years ago, my emphasis was on why Thai boxers should be using strength and conditioning.

Now I enjoy explaining how you do this rather than justifying why – and that’s where things get exciting.

The enthusiasm the Muay Thai community now has for supplemental training has also led to some misconceptions. And in this article, I’ll highlight some of these so you can either steer-clear, or confirm you’re on the right track!

Making resistance sessions look like Thai boxing sessions

I get it. You love Muay Thai – I do too. But that doesn’t mean that allyour training sessions need to look like Muay Thai. In fact, you’ll run...