I've been doing BJJ for the last year and a half, Muay Thai for the last several months. Both at the same gym. The Muay Thai coach is one of the black belts in BJJ. I absolutely love BJJ. I am 100% planning on continuing BJJ. But I'm not entirely enjoying my Muay Thai experience. I really dislike the sparring. I don't like getting punched in the face, which is pretty much a given. Yesterday, I took a bad groin shot. A little bit of drama between me and my coach about protective... Read more ..read more

Hey whats going on everyone? I have recently been training in Chiang Mai, Thailand and I decided to make a video explaining everything I was being taught from an active competitive fighter and trainer. Day 1 of training went over all the basic strikes: jab, punch, elbows, up elbows, knees, kicks and teeps. I got a lot of info from that class and used the clips from the class, with some voiceover to explain exactly what was being taught to me. The video also is a good representation on what... Read more ..read more

My current gym is full of these types of guys. As someone who started with boxing, I find myself frustrated a lot. Sparring rounds with them typically go thusly: Round starts, usually it's me who opens up with some punches, they throw a kick, I defend.. maybe throw a kick back, then they run. I then proceed to stalk them down a little bit (the fact that I'm still getting used to the MT stance makes this a pain but that's neither here nor there), another kicking exchange happens when I get... Read more ..read more

I do Muay Thai and obviously this involves boxing. If I want to be really good at boxing within Muay Thai, is it enough for me to just practice what I am learning about boxing in Muay Thai on a regular basis? Would doing boxing by itself result in my learning new skills? I guess another way of asking the question is, are boxers better at boxing because they practice punching more than a Muay Thai fighter or do they also learn a wider variety of boxing skills than a Muay Thai fighter? If... Read more ..read more

Is Muay-Thai safe for me ? As stated in another thread. Had my knee dislocated and elbow dislocated as well as my radial head fractured years ago. I never did MT but really love what I hear and see about it. However, all the low kicks do look pretty dangerous for someone who had their knee cap kicked out before. I don't worry so much about my elbow since I can easily hit the heavy back using it and have no actual problems. What is your take on that ? Wouldn't knee injuries be very common... Read more ..read more

What are mistakes people make when holding Muay Thai pads? Or what are some things people can do to improve holding pads ..read more

Some counter intuitive and counter cultural things about Muay Thai make me scratch my head. First of a feet ?. Feet are offensive in Thailand, you NEVER wear shoes in doors, you don't step over people and you don't even point your foot casually at other people. This is all offensive. YET in Muay Thai (the national sport) you literally kick each other. You put your foot on someone else's face. It's offense to even touch someone's face, but in Muay Thai you smash their face with your foot... Read more ..read more

I'm going to begin to catalog some lessons I learn in Muay Thai. It seems like every week I learn something. If the thread is popular, I will continue posting lessons I learn. Last week I learned how to prevent someone from kneeing me in the clinch, while still protecting my upper body from elbow strikes. Regardless what clinch grip, the trick is to pull down and sink their weight on their standing leg. I can maintain my collar tie, forearm lock down grip or inside bicep control. When they... Read more ..read more

When most westerners think of Buddhism, they may think of different things like a flower, or meditation. However Thailand is by far the most Buddhist country on the planet, the vast majority of ethnic thai's are Buddhist. Often when they think of Buddhism, or rather a Buddhistic activity, they think of practicing Muay Thai. Why? Buddhism is based around the idea that life is suffering, and you need to mentally detach from that. What better way to do that than practicing Muay Thai? The... Read more ..read more

I'm pretty short (5'5"), and half my muscle mass is in my calves. I can't buy small shin guards because the straps won't fit. I can't buy large shin guards because they don't fit my shins. I had ordered a pair of large RDX shin guards. If I stretch the middle strap, it barely reaches around my calf. But the ankle joint is pressing into my ankle and the top strap is digging into my knee, and the foot protector is so far past my toes it's touching the ground. Either that or some... Read more ..read more