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 [...]
One thing’s for sure, delayed onset muscle soreness is part of a fighter’s training – especially when you head out to Thailand to train! But… Is delayed onset muscle soreness the sign of a good training session? How can you avoid being too sore? Should you train if you’re really sore? How can you [...]
Riddle me this... What becomes more difficult the better you get? ...Have you got it? I'll tell you where I'm going with this, my answer is... Improvement But this is much more than just a riddle... If you want to become the best you can be, we must unpack this [...]
One of the kings of bodyweight exercise, the push up, is often practiced with poor form. Form that translates into your straight punches, particularly as you get tired. Fighters know that rotating the fist too early results in chicken winging, the elbow prematurely flaring out. And that this not only [...]
I’ve been asked why I thought Jonathan Haggerty, at only 22 years old and 16 professional fights to his name, managed to defeat Thai legend Sam-A (with 336 wins and only 46 losses) to claim the ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai world title. So here are my thoughts... I’ll begin by putting fight [...]
Sure, you could try to improve your Muay Thai balance by simply practising your technique over and over until it gets better. But there are some shortcuts you may be missing, because you've glossed over the personal limitations you may have, but are unaware of. In this podcast, I explore this a little deeper, [...]
What is the most effective way to increase punch speed? There are lots of training methods out there that supposedly increase your punching speed, ranging from using weighted gloves to punching with resistance bands or dumbbells. But when it comes down to punch speed and power, these methods are not going to help, and [...]
Left to its own devices, your body will cheat a movement pattern... and you're unlikely to know until an injury happens as a result (bad times)! And this "cheating" not only eventually leads to injury, but also wasted performance. By using strength and conditioning sessions properly, you can clean up poor movement habits as [...]
If you want to know how to get good at Muay Thai fast... Here I share my Muay Thai performance coaching principles – that'll not only reduce how long it takes to get good at Muay Thai, but also sustain consistent improvement year on year too. In every session, the objective is to [...]
Here’s the thing… You might not admit it, but I guarantee there’s something in your life that you’re powerless over… …And it’s become unmanageable. That’s an addiction, and denial is one of the characteristics! If you’ve read my blogs before, you’ll know I’m no stranger to drawing inspiration and expertise from diverse fields. And [...]
It’s hard enough preparing for a single fight, but what if you’re involved in a tournament and are expected to fight on consecutive days? Or even multiple times in one day? Do you need to change your conditioning training to suit this? This article has been prompted by Sean, who asked this great question: [...]
Over the Bank Holiday weekend I was privileged to spend 2-days with Joel Jamieson of 8weeksout.com, widely recognised as one of the foremost experts on strength and conditioning for combat sports, and someone that has heavily influenced my personal approach to athletic training and energy systems conditioning in particular. This was his first time [...]
Every element within your being constantly swings between two opposite extreme states like a pendulum. This fluctuation is normal as your body strives to maintain balance. But, if the pendulum swings too far, balance is lost, problems arise and breakdown is inevitable. This principle is true at every level of existence, from the solar [...]
We're all different. You can't expect everyone to respond to training in same way. In truth, everything is probability, an outcome is either more or less likely depending on many different factors. Structuring training to achieve a desired result is relatively easy for the majority, but there are always outliers, those high-responders and non-responders that [...]
During our Interclub event this weekend at Unit 1 Gym, I had a chat with KO fighter Greg 'The Prodigy' Wootton about strength and conditioning for Thai boxers. The topic of resistance training came up, and the opportunities this presents for fighters to further develop skilled movement. I thought I'd expand on our brief [...]
Following last weeks post, this article shares more in-fight relaxation tips inspired by my private session with Yodsanklai Fairtex in Pattaya. Every move Yod makes comes from a relaxed, shuffling fighting stance – which is a focus in his coaching. Muay Thai is rhythmical movement, with an escalating tempo from the first to the [...]
I've come across an interesting periodisation model while reviewing a classic article from the NSCA Strength and Conditioning Journal, "A Theoretical Model of Strength Training" by Stone, Bryant et al. And I thought I'd share it with you as it helps Thai boxers picture how their training should be structured approaching a fight. The [...]
It's commonly known that a fighter must be focused. An unfocused, mentally distracted fighter doesn't perform well. But, what isn't commonly known is there are two types of focus. One that can help a little (or potentially overload and paralyse you), and one that taps into your flow state, unleashing your full potential. This [...]
Last weeks post served as an introduction to this one, if you missed it please click here. I'm sure you've all heard before that a fight is 90% mental and only 10% physical. With this blog, I'm keen to share with you my thoughts on all aspects of Muay Thai performance, not just the physical. [...]
In this post I'm not comparing the modern-day MuayThai ringsport with it's origins in the battlefields of ancient Siam. I'm going to explain my thoughts on how any sports person can transcend beyond a biomechanical system of levers and physiological power plant. When does physical action become an art? What are the benefits and [...]
