Crack the code to an impenetrable guard! In this episode, we break down a powerful progression of standing shoulder stretch exercises designed to enhance your shoulder mobility and solidify your guard. If you've been struggling with mobility... Dive into dynamic warm-up stretches and end your sessions with static holds to ensure a rock-solid guard [...]
Elevate your Muay Thai jumping game with the secrets to jumping higher for fighters, and striking with devastating force. This in-depth guide breaks down the biomechanics of explosive jumping, inspired by the incredible technique seen in the analysis of a top-tier Muay Thai jump knee (hat tip to Bao Muay Thai)! In this video, [...]
Uncover the science behind a more powerful Muay Thai kick with Prof. Tony Myers! From ongoing research, get exclusive insights into elevating your kick's power and mastering the art and science of Muay Thai. Dive into the nuance of speed, technique, and impactful strikes, exploring everything from relaxed effort to cultural differences in power [...]
Muay Thai greatness sucks? Step into the vibrant world of Muay Thai with Don and the Muay Thai aficionado, Matt Lucas. With a decade under his belt in Thailand, Matt offers unparalleled insights into the fighting world and what it truly means to train, fight, and evolve... Highlights: [...]
Technical tips to prevent injuring your foot throwing your low kick! The Muay Thai round kick is one most powerful kicks in martial arts. To avoid smashing your foot to smithereens when throwing your low kick, you must master range, kicking foot position, and tactical set up. Check out the full video for in-depth [...]
Muay Thai strength and conditioning is gaining popularity, but can go off the rails. Damien Trainor cautions that it's important to correctly balance strength and conditioning with Muay Thai training! Done well, strength and conditioning will enhance fight performance, however... Strength and conditioning should supplement Muay Thai training, not replace it. Too many fighters [...]
As fighters become more experienced, we must understand how to coach them so they don't become stale. Experts in any field are ruthlessly good at the basics. What marks the best apart from the rest, is their ability to revisit and resharpen their foundational practice. It's vital that those at the top of their [...]
Thoracic spine, or mid back rotation mobility is lacking in 90% of the fighters I’ve tested, from novices to world class pros. In the last episode, I demonstrated how I test and score this. If you scored between 1 to 3, you’re limiting your striking power and have an increased risk of lower back [...]
How do you score on this thoracic spine rotation test? 9 out of 10 fighters can’t adequately twist their torso! They don’t have enough t-spine rotation, especially on the dominant side of their body. This means they’re limiting the amount of power they can produce in strikes (especially the close-range weapons like elbows and knees), and have an [...]
To become a faster, more explosive fighter you must first become stronger – produce more force. If you can create more force, you can accelerate quicker, hit at higher velocity and do more damage. That’s the mechanics, but we’re biological machines not purely mechanical ones. If we want our strength to transfer into the [...]
Understanding exactly why a big fighter isn’t always stronger is crucial for fight performance. It explains why some fighters perform well in their weight class and others don’t, and informs how you can best train to dominate your weight class too. As we’ve seen in the previous two videos, it’s speed that kills! However, [...]
Continuing our look at who hits harder, now we consider fighters in different weight classes and the effect this has on the physics of striking! The last episode, “Fat Loss: Who Hits Harder, Big Or Fast?” created some fantastic points of discussion. And shone a light on some areas of confusion too. In this [...]
When it comes to fat loss, ever wondered who hits harder, BIG or FAST? Toni did when he asked… "I have a question regarding weight loss and punching power. Let's imagine we have 2 genetically identical fighters... Muay thai fighter 1 weighs 90 kg but is physically less muscular and fat. Muay Thai fighter 2 [...]
Even many pro fighters don’t understand the real secret of how to punch using the hips to maximum effect – because it can seem counter intuitive. But grasp this and your punch power will sky rocket. Once you understand how the correct hip mechanics can transfer maximum force to your punch, you’ll win by [...]
Why a lower body activation exercise for fighter's strength and conditioning? Activating the right muscles to efficiently create movement patterns in both strength and conditioning, and a fighter’s technical skill training makes a huge difference to your movement economy and ultimate strength and power levels. And many fighters struggle to “feel” the difference between [...]
There are a ton of different reaction time training methods and an ever-increasing crop of reaction training devices… And for fighters, they’re NOT all created equal. Some methods really only function as warm-up or movement activities, whereas others can develop Saenchai-like reflexes in the ring! [...]
Tune-up your Muay Thai Superman punch or elbow with this Med Ball Jump Slam exercise! Not only is this a great explosive hip extension and core anti-extension exercise, but it’s a fantastic way to teach timing and awareness of body position during jumping strikes. Seriously great for amping up your flying Superman elbow! This [...]
A complete fighters switch step tutorial, including technical drill breakdowns to optimise power through timing and foot placement. Some fighters struggle to find the correct movement pattern for an effective switch step, and coaches can struggle to teach this to students that 'don't get it'. This fighters switch step tutorial video looks at building [...]
Fighters push ups aren't typically considered to enhance the clinch! Most fighters view push ups only as a punch-specific exercise, but programmed in your training correctly, it can make a serious difference to your Muay Thai clinch escape too. And being a bodyweight exercise, specific [...]
I'm not going to opt for the more obvious reaction or hand eye coordination drills, catching, avoiding, throwing or punching tennis balls. Instead, I’m going to share two strength and conditioning exercises for fighters using a tennis ball... Both of which directly contribute to two key factors that heavily influence [...]
