When it comes to Muay Thai training, sparring is an essential element. This may be the most important part of your training because it is when you get to put all of your practice and techniques to good use. Most people love the sparring process because it actually allows them to get into the ring with somebody else. It is fun to train, but it does not get much better than sparring.
Through sparring you can decide what is working for you, which techniques need more polishing, and much more. You never really know what type of fighter you are going to be and what will work best until you step into the ring and try out your techniques on a sparring partner.
As a fighter, it is important to use all of the moves you practice when sparring. Remember, this is not a real right. You are more or less practicing with somebody who is trying to help you become a better fighter. For this reason, you should feel comfortable using all of your moves so you can determine where you are excelling and what needs more work when you get back to training.
Of course, Muay Thai sparring can also help you build confidence. By sparring on a regular basis you will feel much more confident and comfortable with yourself when you finally step into the ring with a true competitor.
Finally, Muay Thai sparring is a controlled activity in which you are not trying to hurt your partner. Instead, you should be using light contact to ensure your sparring partner’s safety. Your goal is to learn more about yourself as a fighter so you can develop your Muay Thai skills in the best way possible.
As one of the most important aspects of Muay Thai training, you should not take sparring lightly.
Muay Thai kick boxing is a form of martial arts that is practiced in many parts of the world. Although Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand, there are many other countries that practice this activity including several in Southeast Asia as well as the United States.
Muay Thai is often times confused with other sports including Lao Boxing, tomoi, pradal serey, and lethwei. It is important to note that while these sports are similar to Muay Thai that there are also many differences to be aware of.
When practicing Muay Thai you will need to become familiar with different techniques that use many parts of the body including fists, elbows, knees and feet. As you begin to learn more and more about Muay Thai kick boxing, you will realize that this variation of the sport uses the feet for both striking and defense purposes. For instance, there are five types of kicks categorized as: Tae Tad, Tae Pub Nai, Tae Pub Nok, Tae Chiang, and Tae Kod
The development of kickboxing in many countries, including the United States and Japan, was influenced greatly by Muay Thai. There are many different types of kickboxing, and the rules are based mainly on the country in which the competition is taking place. For example, kickboxing in the United States does not allow elbow strikes. Additionally, the American version strictly prohibits kicks below the waist.
Over the past few years, Muay Thai kick boxing has become more and more common all over the world thanks to mixed martial arts fighters using these techniques. Many of the most popular mixed martial artists use some form of Muay Thai. They include: Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, and Mauricio Shogun Rua among others.
As you can see, Muay Thai kick boxing has a rich history and has influenced many other sports as well as thousands of participants. Even though Muay Thai will always be most popular in Thailand, it has spread throughout the world and will continue to do so.
Understanding the basic techniques of Muay Thai is not as hard as many beginners believe. This does not mean that you will become a Muay Thai expert overnight, but the basic techniques can be learned and implemented with the proper practice and devotion.
Some of the most common Muay Thai techniques are listed and detailed below:
1. Punches. Once you learn the many Muay Thai punch techniques you will know how to effectively use your fists for both strikes and defense. There are five types of punches that fit this technique. They include: hook, jab, straight punch, swing, and uppercut.
2. Elbows. Using the elbows to defend and beat opponents is an important part of Muay Thai. There are eight types of elbow techniques including: Sok Ku, Sok Klab, Sok Sab, Sok Tong, Sok Hud, Sok Chieng, Sok Tad, and Sok Ti.
3. Knees. Just as the elbows are an important part of Muay Thai, the same holds true for the knees. The seven categories of Muay Thai knee techniques include: Kao Tone, Kao Loi, Kao Dode, Kao Lod, Kao Nui, Kao La, and Kao Kratai.
4. Kicks. There are five types of Muay Thai kicks categorized as: Tae Tad, Tae Pub Nai, Tae Pub Nok, Tae Chiang, and Tae Kod.
As you can see, there is a lot to learn if you are interested in Muay Thai. These Muay Thai techniques may appear difficult to learn on the surface, but once you are devoted to the craft you will find yourself catching on at an astonishing pace. When you have mastered these basics you can move onto move advanced movements which put together several techniques to make you a more skilled fighter.
So I was reading the Bangkok Post today and low and behold I see an article about how Muay Thai is losing its ground spirit-wise. It talks about the Muay Thai camps just doing all they can in order to gain customers for their business.
Sure that happens, there’s a lot of camps and money-oriented owners that want to see their places flourish and expand. There’s also a few that are jumping on the MMA scene. Why is it such a big problem if they want to expand their reach?
I realize there are foreign nak muay’s that aren’t very accustomed to the Thai tradition of respecting elders and teachers of various art-forms, or worse, ones that know about it, but don’t bother to show their gratitude. But who are we kidding here? Muay Thai, to me, is based solely on the person that is training. If they want to do it the ‘correct way’ and follow the ancient procedures, then that is something that they can be proud of. If on the other hand, they neglect it but the trainer doesn’t care much, then let it be. It’s mutual.
We all have to earn money to live right? We all want a comfortable life right? Why not greet opportunity when it comes a-knocking?
Oh, talking about ‘commercialization’, if you haven’t seen Fairtex release their interview of Jack Osbourne:
Better known as the National Muay Thai Day, Nai Khanom Tom Day is all about paying respect to your kru aka your trainer. The story goes: Nai Khanom Tom was captured by the Burmese sometime in the 18th century. Now, back then, it was a rather ruthless time in South East Asia, well anywhere in the world really. The Burmese King liked to watch his foreign prisoners tackle his Burmese Muay Thai masters.
To cut a long story short, he owned nine or ten of them in a row and the Burmese king let him go.
Nai Khanom Tom is now a synonymous name with Muay Thai, and considered to be one of the fathers of the sport. On a little side note, his name actually translates to “Mr. Boiled Snack”. Great isn’t it?
For those of you that have stumbled here for the site’s “soft-launch”; you’re in for a surprise!
I’m going to interview and do a little filming of Saenchai and the 13 coins muay thai training camp. So go ahead and leave questions for me to ask him and once I get a good amount I’ll head on over there and do the interview!
Obviously the interview will be in Thai as that is his language. Luckily it is also mine. I’ll try to capture it on video, and later I’ll make sure to provide a transcript for all of you that don’t want to watch or at a location where you can’t have sound. Surfing the net at work again eh?
Please make sure the questions aren’t boring, offensive or have been asked before. No one needs to know how his love life is, or stuff that like. Just keep it on topic please! And that’s Muay Thai, so fire away!
Update Mar. 28th ‘09: Questions are now closed. Thank you for contributing guys! Look out for the video in about a week. We have already started filming the camp.
