Padholding is a skill in it of itself. Many actually find pad holding more difficult than doing the striking - and for good reason! Being a good pad holder is not easy. It requires you to have a good grasp of your basics and also sensitivity to your partner. Some try to avoid learning how to pad hold or .. to which I feel you SHOULD put in time to learning how to pad hold properly. Pad holding is a skill that takes years to be good at. Here are 5 reasons why I feel you should invest time in learning how to be a good pad holder. 1) Conditioning Being a good pad holder involves being able to we ..read more

Starting Muaythai = a heap of new words and terminology! Part of the fun of being a newbie is learning all these new terms. Last weekend at my Beginner Workshop, we went through many new strikes. Every strike has its name and you learn quickly that you have to remember the names for padwork and drills to make sense. So, I created the Beginner Striking Terminology for reference! These are names of strikes you will need to know and remember as you embark into your first few months of Muaythai training. I hope you find this useful as a tool to review and refresh your Muaythai learning. Related R ..read more

Congratulations, you’ve booked in to your first Muaythai class. A committed step. Maybe it’s a trial class, or a beginner specific workshop.. Now what lol After meeting a lot of first timers, it’s usually a mix of excitement, nerves and “no idea what’s going on”! This write up will help you paint a clearer picture of what to expect. Fun story (I’ll tell you at the end) - my first ever experience with Muaythai lasted a max of 5 seconds and me crying lol. So, most of you will have a way better first experience than me! What to Pack for Your First Class: Water bottle Sweat towel Gloves and ..read more

click image to download Beginner Roadmap pdf. Starting anything new can be daunting and overwhelming! I like to break things down into achievable units to simplify my training. Here is a beginner roadmap that can help you on your way! This will also help you track your Muaythai progress and to look forward to what’s ahead! Below are more details on each of the steps above! START WITH MASTERING YOUR BASICS As with all new endeavours, take the time to focus on your own fundamentals. Resist the temptation to rush through the basics into more advance techniques and combinations. Take your time in ..read more

Sitjaopho Muay Thai feels like home <3 There’s a calming welcome and comfort being at the camp.. Watching the gym dogs mingle and ask for a pat… the familiar friendly faces of the coaches, and being greeted by the OG students at Sitjaopho (Paul and Matilda to name some). You feel like you’re returning home. The gym and classes run under the watchful eye of Kru F (Pisit Kambang), one of the famous Sitjaopho twins. Kru F organises the coaches and students, guiding each session with structure and progression from the last. He keeps a close eye on each student and even when not working with the ..read more

Our monthly amateur Muaythai fight show has been building positive momentum over the past few months here in Melbourne, Victoria. It’s been a huge learning experience being a part of the founding team alongside Sy, Dom and Jason! On today’s show (21/08/22) we had 17 fights across all the age groups, from Under 10s to the Adults. On show day, we start around 7.30am with ring set up, preparations for weigh ins and ticket sales. Once the judges, doctor, timekeeper, DJ, videographer, photographer and referees are set to go, the fights usually run smoothly back to back. Our equipment managers and ..read more

Today is the eve of my dad’s passing. The first year without my pa. The void and loneliness never gets filled. But his legacy lives on. My parents will never cease to amaze me. Their life and personal achievements, I aspire to attain for myself one day. “Your direction is all that matters. That you’re headed in the right path..” Murphy’s Law; one year ago today all that could go wrong, did. It was the day of my intervention court order fell through.. I was crying about that in bed when my boss texted that we had been put into lockdown again and all memberships had to be manually suspended by ..read more

Muay Thai is an intricate ecosystem - made up of not just the fighters, coaches and gyms though they are key components. The promoters, officials, photographers, videographers, fight ushers, equipment runners.. the list goes on! Many work in the shadows. Behind the scenes, and away from the limelight. Before I got into Muaythai, I used to just see the fighters. Individuals. These larger than life humans that were to me, like real life superheroes. To be honest I never noticed the extras that made the show. After being a part of the board of Muaythai Victoria for a few years and being a part of ..read more

Most Muay Thai athletes I know have drawers full of shorts.. these colourful, fancy looking shorts we all wear to training.. which fit and stay looking good over the years? I’ve accumulated a fair collection of shorts (definitely not as many as my team mates or coaches lol) but enough to put together my years of experience with them. Which fit well? Which may draw unwanted attention when you get sweaty … as they’re quite see through (I learnt this the hard way!) .. and which brands are just your quality, reliable pair that’ll last you for years.. I’m a size 8 Aus and not as voluptuous or thicc ..read more

5 Ways to Improve your Muay Thai (that doesn’t involve training more Muay Thai… ) How my one very real and frustrating problem in Muay Thai got me started in 5 other activities.. How do I stand on one leg? This very real problem of mine inspired me to start multiple external training activities other than Muay Thai! I find Muay Thai very challenging. I have always admired people who are strong, athletic, graceful and coordinated. And that was far from my reality. At the start of my Muay Thai journey, I was made aware of many weaknesses in my physical body. Though yes, putting consistent hours ..read more