Learn muay thai at home? Yeah, right.

I receive many emails from a lot of people from around the world who have the same problem - either they don't live anywhere near a gym, or local martial arts schools don't offer muay thai. In the face of this challenge, many turn to the Internet to learn from home.

I certainly sympathize with those of you who've reached out to me asking for advice on how you can train from home, however, I have a hard time subscribing to the theory that one can learn a martial art from a book or a video. It's pretty hard to find a video online that really breaks down the muay thai techniques for the purpose of actual instruction. I myself am guilty of throwing up videos in which I speak fast, I throw fast, and I don't lay out the mechanics of a given technique.

But recently, a YouTube subscriber of mine sent me a video of himself throwing shadow kicks that he had learned by watching my videos. And I was impressed. Maybe there is something to this whole idea of learning through video. Sure you don't get the feedback, and there is no way to tell what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, but by allowing me to watch his technique, I was able to provide him with detailed critiques and tips to help him improve.

So with that in mind, let's try an experiment, shall we? I posted a video that covers the basic mechanics in the old style muay thai round kick. It lacks the cool sound effects, and bag bashing, and the graphics, but it has the meat and potatoes that go into successfully knowing this technique.

If you choose to try it out, here's a few other tips to consider:

1. Open up your hips by turning your heel inward.
2. The pivot is the most important part of the kick.
3. Go slowly, it's harder that way, but you'll build the muscle and you'll develop better habits than rushing.
4. Spin all the way through. Go with the momentum.
5. It's alright if you feel off balance, you're actually supposed to be off your center.

Ballerina Fighting

Why Fighting on Your Toes is Not Combat Effective

The Art of Movement
Whatever style of stand-up fighting you train in, you have been taught footwork; the art of how to move. The majority of time you’re taught to stay on your toes or the balls of your feet. The reason being it makes you quicker and lighter on your feet. Watch any boxer or mma fighter with great footwork do his thing and he’ll make his opponent look like he’s standing still or moving in slow motion.

The Crutch
But the thing you need to pay close attention to is the surface on which he’s moving on. More than likely that surface will tend to be flat, firm and tight, whether on canvas or vinyl. This is the best type of surface when it comes to fighting for sport competition. While it does have its advantages it can become a crutch and liability when it comes to street-fighting on surfaces that aren’t so smooth and flat.

My Story
Many years ago I use to train in an alley behind my home and sparred and fought with many different styles of martial artists, boxers and street-fighters. I was fortunate to be able to train on different surfaces in that alley, as spartan as it was. You see one area was very gravely, while another side was grassy, still another area was thick asphalt that was sticky.

Then there was an area that was missing chunks of asphalt and it had gravel and dirt in the holes and cracks. There was also a cement slab that was flat and smooth but had a lot of dust on it which made it very slippery. And finally there was an area that was uneven and sandy. I would go out to that alley and train my footwork on all those different surfaces.

I would shadow fight, pivot, and kick figuring out what worked and what didn’t work on those surfaces. I got so good that when I would spar with someone I would watch how he moved and based on that I would guide him to the area that would nullify his footwork and style. For instance if he was a kicker I would fight him on the gravel or the dusty cement floor. If he was a shuffler I would fight him on the sticky asphalt or gravel. And if he fought on his toes or the balls of his feet, I would fight him on the uneven sandy surface or the area with the missing chunks of asphalt. Opponents with wider stances, I would fight on the smooth flat dusty cement slab. Opponents with a more narrow stance I would fight on the sand or uneven area.

Wow! I just gave you a lot of information on fighting on different surfaces.

Go back and re-read this last section, there is so much to learn from my alley fighting days.
By the way the best footwork pattern I used on all these surfaces was…

Change Up
Before I spill the beans, I just want to make sure that you understand that if you are accustomed to fighting on smooth flat surfaces, you'd better change up.

Fighting on the street or fighting for your life is a lot different than fighting to win a round or trophy. So is the surface you'll find yourself fighting on. I suggest that you start training seriously on different surfaces and find out what works and doesn’t because the worse time to figure it out is in the middle of a fight. Experience is the worst teacher, because it gives you the test before you learn the lesson.

Get Outside

So go outside your gym, pick a surface and start working on your footwork and fighting style.
Then find a different surface you haven’t trained on and practice on it. Learn to get comfortable on uncomfortable surfaces with your fighting skills.

Partner Training

Find a workout partner and have him slowly attack you like as if it were a real fight and see how you adapt to your environment. Once you get use to it have him go harder and faster, look for the flaws in your fighting and fix it. Throw your punches, knees, elbows, and kicks, try everything you would do in a real fight on these surfaces.

Learn what it is that will keep you alive, if and when the need arises.

What Worked for Me
Now, the footwork pattern that worked best for me was a more flat footed, stomping type of movement. Also a slightly raised heel footwork pattern worked. These two types of footwork worked for me based on how I fought.

I encourage you to stop dancing like a ballerina and train your footwork for combat, and learn what works best for you.

Now step to it.


Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

Train how you fight

How you train is how you fight - I've heard that adage from a number of instructors in my past and, as it goes, I now attempt to pass on that same knowledge to my students. In my experience as a muay thai instructor, approximately 50% of students have studied another form of martial arts, mostly sport muay thai, taekwondo, or jujitsu.

I train and teach lerd rit, muay boran, and muay chao cherk for the purposes of street defense, not for cultural demonstrations. A high percentage of our training is focused on multiple opponents, and I teach that when you strike, you strike to demolish, not to score points. My school (I teach there, I'm not the owner), Muay Thai Academy International does not participate in competition mainly because we don't we don't believe in watering down technique for ring or cage application.

I've seen that most western martial artists are trained to strike targets in the hopes of scoring points, or applying a form because its the "proper technique", not because it generates maximum force.

If you're training a martial art, specifically muay thai, and you find that you throw round kicks to the head more often than not, your switch kick is all but useless, and you believe that the purpose for an elbow is to cut your opponent's eye I have some bad news for you. All that training at your camps or gyms may be for naught in a real fight in the streets. You're training to win a competition, not to survive an attack in a situation where there is no referee, no bell, no one to throw in the towel if things go south. Are you really going to go to the ground against 2 or 3 guys? Just remember that the habits you form in the gym are the same habits you'll take with you into a confrontation. Now I know I'll probably get some unsavory responses for this post, and that's fine. Agree to disagree, right?

If you're still reading this and you're considering augmenting your training to apply your existing skill set for street defense, here are a few things to think about:

1. Aim for big targets: Forget about trying to hit someone in the jaw for a knockout. The head is a small target that's difficult to hit. Imagine an invisible triangle starting at the jaw and expanding down to right above the pectorals. You have a much better chance of hitting that area which contains the throat, clavicals and large nerve masses. Think center body mass.

2. Don't hit, smash: When you strike, strike through your opponent, don't just hit. For example, when doing thai pad drills, visualize your kick / elbow / knee going right through the pad holder, knocking him back.

3. Your attacker is one big target: Take the human out of the equation. You could be fighting for your life and your attacker won't certainly be treating you like a sparring partner. You need not care about his/her feelings. No more, "oops, I threw that one a little too hard."

3. No more rules: Eye gouging, biting, groin shots, head butts, and weapons are now allowed. Train accordingly. Here's a great source for info on unorthodox street defense.

4. Train in your street clothes in different environments, on different terrain. I've said before, it's important that you're as comfortable fighting in slacks as you are in shorts. Set up staged situations such as an office, a living room, a dance floor complete with strobe lights and loud music. You'll soon learn how difficult it is to defend and attack with multiple distractions and obstacles.

5. Improvise: Learn how to fight with what what you have around you. Almost anything can be used as either a weapon or as a defense tool, and then a weapon.

6. Multiple baddies: Start to put it into your head that you may be facing more than one opponent. In reality, more often than not you'll end up against 2-5 attackers.


Those are a few basics to think about and when integrated into your regular training regimen, you'll find that you're getting a lot more out of your martial arts experience.

Using drive to add power your strikes

Stationary strikes can become fairly strong with a tweaking of body mechanics. But in my opinion, stationary strikes carry two inherent problems. They limit the amount of torque and thrust you can generate, and they also inhibit body movement - arguably the most important aspect of a fight. If you aren't moving in a fight/combat situation, you're a target that's going to get hit.

Incorporating drive (forward motion) into your strikes will increase your hitting power not only because you're adding momentum to the force mix, but also consider this:

Knee Strikes - you'll be able thrust your hips farther forward, allowing you to drive deeper into your target

Elbows and Kicks - increased range of pivot rotation and hip drive

Punches & Headbutts - Additional force behind the strike and more ability to hit through the target.

In the video below I used the basic muay thai up elbow strike to demonstrate this concept. Modern ring style muay thai teaches the up elbow as a stationary attack. Lerdrit and muay chao churd integrates drive into almost all of its offensive and defensive techniques.

So when when you're moving while you strike you're killing a number of birds with one stone while conserving movement and keeping yourself a difficult target to hit.

Ancient Gladiator Exercises

Here is an interesting article on the exercises the ancient gladiators used to get conditioned, add them to your training, who knows they just might bring out your inner warrior...

A List of Ancient Exercises from Galen's De Sanitate Tuenda Galen (130 - 200 A.D.)

Hailed from Pergamon, an ancient center of civilization, containing, among other cultural institutions, a library second in importance only to Alexandria itself. Galen's training was eclectic and although his chief work was in biology and medicine, he was also known as a philosopher and philologist.

Training in philosophy is, in Galen's view, not merely a pleasant addition to, but an essential part of the training of a doctor. His treatise entitled That the best Doctor is also a Philosopher gives to us a rather surprising ethical reason for the doctor to study philosophy.

The profit motive, says Galen, is incompatible with a serious devotion to the art. The doctor must learn to despise money. Galen frequently accuses his colleagues of avarice and it is to defend the profession against this charge that he plays down the motive of financial gain in becoming a doctor.

Galen's first professional appointment was as surgeon to the gladiators in Pergamon. In his tenure as surgeon he undoubtedly gained much experience and practical knowledge in anatomy from the combat wounds he was compelled to treat. After four years he immigrated to Rome where he attained a brilliant reputation as a practitioner and a public demonstrator of anatomy. Among his patients were the Emperors Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, Commodus and Septimius Severus.

Galen divides his exercises into three categories, which we may term "strong", "rapid and "violent", which is a combination of the preceding two. Galen's listing of the exercises gives us a fascinating glimpse into the everyday activities of the Paleastrae, Gymnasia and other more leisurely-areas of the ancient world.

The affinities they have with the various sporting events can be made out: kicking of the legs for Pankration, rope-climbing for wrestling, holding the arms up for boxing.

STRONG:

1) Digging

2) Picking up something heavy

3) Picking up something heavy and walking with it

4) Walking uphill

5) Climbing a rope using the hands and feet: commonly done to train boys in the wrestling schools

6) Hanging onto a rope or beam for as long as possible

7) Holding the arms straight out in front with fists closed

8) Holding the arms straight out to sides with fists closed

9) Holding out the arms while a partner pulls them down

10) The preceding three exercises but while holding something heavy such as jumping-weights

11) Breaking loose from a wrestling waist-lock

12) Holding onto a person trying to escape from a waist-lock

13) Picking up a man who is bending over at the hips and lifting him up and swinging him around
14) Doing the same but bending oneself at the hips also when picking him up
15) Pushing chest to chest trying to force the opponent backwards
16) Hanging from another's neck, attempting to drag him down

Exercises requiring a wrestling pit:
a) Entwine your partner with both your legs around one of his and try to apply a choke or force his head backwardsb) The same but using only one leg to entwine the opponents leg closest to yours
c) The same but using both legs to entwine both of the opponents legs.

Rapid:

1) Running
2) Shadow-boxing
3) Boxing
4) Hitting punching bags
5) Throwing and catching a small ball while running
6) Running back and forth, reducing the length each time until finished
7) Stand on the balls of the feet, put the arms up in the air and rapidly and alternatly bringing them forward and back; stand near a wall if afraid of losing ones's balance
8) Rolling on the wrestling-ground rapidly by oneself or with others9) Rapidly changing places with people next to one in a tightly packed group
10) Jumping up and kicking both legs together backwards
11) Kicking the legs forward alternatly
12) Move the arms up and down rapidly with open or closed fist, increasing in speed

VIOLENT:

1) Digging rapidly
2) Casting the discus
3) Jumping repeatedly with no rest
4) Throwing heavy spears and moving fast while wearing heavy armour
5) Any of the 'strong' exercises executed rapidly: presumably running uphill, swinging jumping weights forward and back, and lifting them up and down, chin-ups and so on.

Other Exercises:

1) Walking
2) bending up and down repeatedly at the hips
3) Lifting a weight up from the ground
4) Holding up an object for a long time
5) Full and loud breathing
6) Placing two weights on the ground approximately six feet from each other, picking up the one on the left with the right hand and then the one on the right with the left hand, then in turn placing them back where they came from on the ground and doing this many times with the feet stationary

The translation of this Galen text come's from an article at Judoinfo.com Submission Fighting and the Rules of Ancient Greek Wrestling By Christopher Miller

I hope you enjoyed the article as much as I did, now get out there and start training like a gladiator.

Daniel Sambrano

"Keep It Simple and Savage"

http://www.superherosystems.com/

Dressing for success in realistic training / scenario combat training

by Don Baker

A hot trend in the world of self defense is to re-create attack scenarios in order to make the training experience as authentic as possible. Great idea, its important to do that from time to time. However, I've found that one aspect in scenario training is almost always overlooked: your clothes.

We train in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones in the off chance that a predatory individual tries to rob, abduct, murder us. But odds are high that you won't be wearing muay thai shorts or a gi when/if an attack occurs. Most likely you'll be in a parking garage after work, or in a night club and it's vital that you re comfortable fighting in office and/or semi-formal attire (even jeans). I require that all of my students train in street clothing at least one week a month.

Just go to Goodwill and buy slacks, dress pants, even a blazer if its not too pricey, and keep those old wingtips you have in the back of your closet. Take one week a month out of your regular regimen to train in street clothes, it will benefit your skill set and your overall confidence in your abilities.