Muay Thai: Getting Your Body in Fighting Condition

As a Muay Thai or MMA fighter, it is important for you to condition your body and get it ready for a fight. You need to remember that knowing how to execute the techniques alone is not enough in order for you to win.

In Muay Thai, you will find that conditioning training can be very intense both physically and mentally. You need to remember that the fitness routine in Muay Thai is designed to promote maximum body conditioning in order for you to get the level of fitness and toughness that is required for ring competition.

Included in the training regimen would be running, shadow boxing, body weight resistance exercises, rope jumping, abdominal exercises, medicine ball exercises, and in some cases, you also need to weight train.

Most Muay Thai practitioners apply Namman Muay liberally before they start their intense body conditioning sessions. Namman Muay is also known as the Muay Thai Boxing Linament, which is basically made from herbs. The ingredients in this oil are derived from plants in the region that is known to aid in blood circulation as well as reduce inflammation. The wintergreen scent in some Namman Muay is believed to open nasal passages, which helps in improving oxygen intake and also increase alertness.

As a Muay Thai fighter, you need to train with coaches on Thai pads, heavy bag, and focus mitts. Also, you have to spar with your sparring partner. On average, the daily training will include many rounds of sparring, which last 3 to 5 minutes for each round and is only broken up by a short rest in between rounds.

In regard to Muay Thai body conditioning, the Thai pad is known to be its cornerstone. Here, you will practice your punches, knees, kicks, and elbow strikes. The trainer will be wearing thick pads that cover the forearms and hands, which are basically designed to absorb the impact of the strikes that you deliver during training. This will also allow you to react to the attacks of the pad holder.

The focus mitts are used to train the hand speed and punch combinations as well as the timing, and punching power. It is also used to train defense and counterpunching. Focus mitts may also be used for practicing elbow strikes.

The heavy bag training will simply reinforce the techniques practiced on the pads. It will help in the conditioning and it is also a power exercise.

Sparring basically means that you have to fight against a training partner and test out your technique, skills, strategy, and timing. Basically, sparring is often a light to medium contact exercise where the fighters will not really hit each other with full power.

As you can see, the conditioning or training in Muay Thai can be quite intense. In fact, the training regimen can be so rigorous that professional Muay Thai fighters have short careers in the ring.

The great thing about Muay Thai body conditioning is that you will be able to enhance your fighting skills and really get your body to become fit and ready for fights. Even if you are not a Muay Thai fighter, the training regimen in Muay Thai can surely keep your body lean and fit.

Muay Thai: The Proper Diet of a Muay Thai Fighter

As a Muay Thai fighter, you have to keep in mind that your diet plays a very important role in order for you to keep your body fit and conditioned for training as well as for fighting. Most Muay Thai boxers in Thailand really don’t need to modify their diet. If you are already eating ordinary Thai food, then you don’t have to change anything.

Keep in mind that Thai people eat large amounts of white rice with almost every meal. Also, there will be small portions from a selection of dishes. The great thing about Thai food is that it is prepared using only fresh ingredients and it is also highly nutritious.

Thai meals are also carefully balanced. It contains small amount of fat and protein along with vegetables and fresh herbs. In between meals, you can snack on fruits that are available in Thailand.

So, how do you eat properly if you are training in Muay Thai?

First of all, you may want to stop worrying about the amount of food you eat when you are just beginning to train in Muay Thai boxing. The first thing that you need to do is to give your body a chance to get used to the training schedule. In time, your appetite will find its own rhythm. If you come from a western country, you may want to give your body a chance to adjust to Thai food.

Also, keep in mind that you shouldn’t eat within a few hours before training. You have to remember that Muay Thai training is very intensive and training on a full stomach will make you sick.

You should also drink plenty of water in order to fulfill what your body needs. Try not to get yourself become dehydrated. Sugary drinks that are high in calories, such as sodas are considered a no-no in Muay Thai. Instead of drinking soda, try drinking plain water.

As mentioned before, Muay Thai training is very intensive, which means that you will sweat a lot. You have to replace the fluid you lose. However, you shouldn’t drink excessive amounts of water as this will not help you with your training. During training, take only small sips of water.

You should also keep in mind that weight loss should not exceed one pound a week. Anything faster will have a damaging effect on your body. Unless you are overweight, you shouldn’t lose more than a pound a week.

These are the things that you need to remember when you are Muay Thai training. By following these diet tips, you can be sure that you will be able to get your body ready for training as well as for fights.

So, keep in mind that being a Muay Thai fighter means that you also need to watch what you eat. Always eat nutritious food and always remember to rehydrate yourself whenever needed.

Remember these tips and you will be able to keep your body in optimum condition for training as well as for fighting.

The Basic Muay Thai Kickboxing Techniques

Unlike boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing uses eight points of contact, which is mainly the hands, elbows, knees and feet. These eight points of contact is used to deliver powerful blows to the opponents and it is also used for defense. In the past, Muay Thai kickboxing was only popular in Thailand as well as other Southeast Asian countries.

Research suggests that the Muay Thai fighting style originated in Chinese and Indian martial arts. Because this contact sport uses eight points of contact, it is also referred to as the Art of Eight Limbs. In the past, the head was allowed in Muay Thai fights. It’s only recently when Muay Thai became an international sport that the head is no longer allowed in the fights.

In Muay Thai, you will see small amount of grappling or clinching between fighters. This technique can serve as a way to defend or attack. Basically, the techniques that you need to learn are divided in to two groups, which are the Mae Mai or the major techniques and the Luk Mai or minor techniques.

You also have to remember that all the techniques used in Muay Thai uses the entire body movement and rotating the hip partially or fully with every kick, punch, and block. This is basically the reason why Muay Thai sets itself apart from other fighting styles or martial arts.

In Muay Thai, you will develop several punching techniques, such as the straight punch, swing, hook, spinning back fist, upper cut, over head punch, and cobra punch.

In Muay Thai, the judges score fewer points to fighters using the punching technique. This is mainly because they are less effective than powerful kicks and knee strikes. You will also find that body punching is used less in this contact sport as it exposes the head of the fighter to the knee or elbow of their opponents.

You also need to develop your elbow techniques, such as the elbow slash, upper cut elbow, horizontal elbow, forward elbow thrust, reverse horizontal elbow, elbow chop, spinning elbow, mid air elbow, and the double elbow chop.

The elbow does a lot of damage to the opponent. Mainly used as a finishing move or in order to cut the opponent’s eyebrow to affect his or her vision, the elbow is a very effective weapon when you are a Muay Thai fighter.

Kicking techniques are also important. In fact, most Muay Thai fighters use kicks a lot and you will need to develop several kicking techniques, such as the straight kick, nutcracker kick, roundhouse kick, half spin, half knee kick, diagonal kick, spinning hill kick, down round house kick, jump kick, axe hill kick, and step up kick.

When using the kicking technique, Muay Thai fighters are often taught to hit with his or her shin. Although the shin is very sensitive for the untrained person, you will find that after developing your shin strength, it will be a powerful and devastating weapon that you can use against your opponent.

You also have to learn Knee techniques, such as the straight knee strike, diagonal knee strike, curving knee strike, horizontal knee strike, knee bomb, knee slap, flying knee strike, and the step up knee strike.

The knees are very effective especially when you clinch your opponent. If used properly, knee strikes can finish the fight early with a KO.

There are a lot of techniques that you have to learn in Muay Thai. These are just some of the basic offensive techniques that you can use when you are a Muay Thai fighter. By developing and perfecting these techniques, you can be sure that you will be able to increase your chances of winning whenever you are inside the ring.