Knowles got brutally knocked out, Kryklia got to spend a year and a half on the bench for not even a round of competition, and unless this was the final fight on his contract, that'll likely be what happens again.

Please don't laugh at me for this. I've really been thinking about this nonstop for the past week.

I started 2months ago at a gym. Felt happy, it's like a big family there, people have fun there. But ... (things I realized over the past week).

• there's the owner, his girlfriend and a trainer. no idea whether they're certified trainers. Doesn't say anywhere.

• owner apparently won two fights in Thailand. That's it. Trainer and girlfriend never fought professionally.

• girlfriend does girls classes but only started herself three years ago.

• the owner never does beginner classes. According to the girlfriend he doesn't want to because he doesn't have the patience and feels bored by beginners? He's also become very overweight because (girlfriend quote) "he doesn't care anymore and just wants to chill".

• training doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. There's no pattern or consistency, she rarely corrects anyone. Trainer too.

• they have two amateur fighters as of this year but both lost their first fight about a month ago. Before they had no competing fighters.

I found another gym that seems more consistent and "professional". The owners and trainers are all certified, have won titles and have many competing fighters in "serious" (non-amateur) fights. But is it wrong to be unhappy with my gym? Am I being ungrateful or obnoxious, is my "i'm unhappy" gut feeling wrong? Please give me advice because I feel torn ...

I’m the shorter one. I come from a bjj background and will fight mma when I return home.

I plan to get a few Muay Thai fights in while im in Thailand. Please give me feedback/ mistakes I need to correct/ general advice.

Hey guys, I’m almost 4 months into Muay Thai. Today we had a “light sparring session, don’t hurt anyone” — coach’s words. Before sparring, we drilled some counterattacks, so that was the focus.

First round was chill. Light, flowy, working those counters. Then we switched partners.

Everyone was wearing gloves, shin guards, and mouthguards… except this one guy. Wearing headgear, pro fighter, and sometimes class-coach. (We have a main coach, but advanced fighters usually run the classes.)

He nodded at me and I thought, “Welp, I’m getting cooked.” But it’s light sparring, right?

Wrong.

Bell rings, dude goes full power — left hook to the head, knee to the body. I’d never been hit that hard before. I was still going light, scared to go hard back in case he got angry (he’s got a Chevrolet logo tattooed on his back — nothing could go well if you’re fighting a bald dude with a Chevrolet logo in his back).

At some point I thought, “He’s gonna knock me out or break something.” So I snapped and went all in — jab-cross-lead hook-liver shot. Landed clean. Threw leg kicks, punches, teeps, started feeling confident.

Then I threw a body kick, he caught it, I escaped, ended up with my back to him and instinctively threw a spinning backfist — it landed. Not sure if it’s even legal but hey, spinning elbows are.

He got pissed and blasted me with a full-power knee to the ribs. Didn’t hurt somehow, but when I looked at the clock, there were still 3 mins left. I was like “Oh hell no.”

Coaches were laughing and yelling “go light, mate, he’s a newbie hahaha.” I was mad, but couldn’t back down. I stood and banged. Landed some, blocked some, and with like 30 seconds left, I managed to clinch and somehow swept him. No idea how, pure instinct.

After the round I asked, “Why so hard? Wasn’t it light sparring?” He just looked at me and shrugged.

After class, a guy told me, “That bald dude hit me like I owed him money.” Honestly, it felt like the coaches told him to go hard. He even went full power on a woman weighing maybe 50kg.

What should I do in those situations? Pulling out’s not an option, but maybe just clinch and stall? The mismatch was wild — felt like Real Madrid vs Brexit FC.

I wouldn’t be mad if they didn’t told us to go light. I’ve learned that I can take those punches and don’t hurt at all.

Edit: Came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going full power, I just felt like it because I’m new, and he’s probably used to other intensity. Maybe he thought that was “light”. That’s probably why I was able to connect some punches and block others.

I have to mention that in my country, the sport it’s not professionalized, he fights in some promotional companies, but it’s super underground.

Also, as I only mentioned my highlights, maybe it seems like I’m one of a kind, but he beat the tf outta me. I only had like 3 memorable moments and that’s what I wrote lol.

A collection of pics of friends/fighters from Pak Chong, Dan Khun thot and Korat festival and local circuits. Enjoy

Hands only sparring I feel totally fine in trading and moving the pocket. Once we start adding kicks I start "foot fencing" where I'm basically staying at super long range just flicking (honestly pretty crap) leg kicks and body kicks. Goodbye hands because I don't get in range for them. How do I stop doing this and mix up punches and kicks?

That knockout was scary. Knowles is a great fighter.

Also the belts still looking huge on a 6”7 heavyweight is hilarious 😂.

Thank you all who watch my fights and enjoy them. I love beautiful Muay Thai and do my best 🙏🏻.

I'm the one in black and I feel like I have the potential to improve my boxing, but I'd like to know how I can improve my heading, my footwork, and those simple things that are always seen in boxing. I don't have the resources to have a boxing coach, and I want to implement all of that into my Muay Thai...

I want to start training Muay Thai and looked up a few gyms in my area. Saw one not to far from me called Primal Jym but I can’t really find any info on the gym. They seem like they have a lot of classes like MT, BJJ, boxing etc but there basically inactive on all social media. Any one have any experience with them?

I’ve got tight hips, and have been getting sharp pains after doing Muay Thai for a few weeks. I stretch dynamically before going to Muay Thai, and I also stretch throughout the week, specifically stretches for hips but also for everything else in my legs.

The sharp pains in my hip region have been annoying when kicking, but also when lifting, as I can feel them more when I back squat. In particular the hip abductor machines (both inward and outward) are now too painful to do, so I’ve stopped. However, I had thought that building stronger hips would also help me with flexibility gains, so I wasn’t sure if should stop.

How do I continue to train without giving myself this hip pain? Even if I stop the hip abductors and go down to stretching 2-3 times a week and Muay Thai 2-3 times a week it’s still an issue.

At the time I was hitting legs once a week, and hitting the hip abductors with my leg day.

Basically the title - just finished sparring for the first time. This is my first year training. No boxing/martial arts experience. I was gassed after the first round - couldn’t even keep my gloves up. What’s the best way to build stamina for fights? More sparring? HIIT? I work out regularly but want to adjust my workout so I can last longer in the ring. I’m also wondering how I can use the heavy bag to prepare when I’m solo (most of the time - training once a week at the moment). Thanks.

Been training 5-6 days a week majority 2 sessions per day for almost a year consistently. Still, no matter what gym I go to I always seem to have the worst cardio there.

I am 25, 6'0' weight about 71.5 kgs or 159 lbs, always eat good amount of carbs before training, sleep at least 7-8 hours before training, eat relatively clean.

My max HR is around 195 and my resting is around 55 but whenever I do any basic things that should only get me up to zone 2 (shadow boxing, skipping, slow running) I find myself at 80-90% my max.

The image I included is from a short 3.5km run (where I started walking around 10 minutes in). My hr seems to rise fast and decline slowly. Here is another image of my HR for 30 mins of sparring.

Has anyone experienced this or have any advice for me.

So a bunch of higher class students are telling me that i have to go harder to the body in sparring (since im mostly passive and spar super light). I have regonzied that i can be quite passive, which they are telling me is bad and im also too nice, having problems hitting with any actual power. I think its cause i want to control but i either go too hard or light. I also do a lot of single strikes and spamming jabs. Any drills/tips to help alievate this? Im a beginner btw (about 6 months in) if that makes a difference.

Thanks 🙏

This question is geared towards someone experienced in Thai culture as well as westerner culture.

In Thailand there is a saying “Jai Yen” meaning cool heart. It means a fighter who’s relaxed, composed, void of unnecessary tension, maybe a smirk on his face. I believe this style does help a fighter see openings they otherwise wouldn’t, remain composed, tactical, and methodical.

When I first started training in Thailand I remember the thing my coaches kept telling me “relax, relax, sabai, sabai” and kept telling me to ease the tension I didn’t know I kept in my traps and shoulders whenever I sparred.

Westerner style (esp at lower levels) I’ll just call “seeing red” for now for lack of a better term (not meaning it’s classical meaning of a guy who just sees red, but the mindset of tension). It’s full of tension, “destructive intent”, “toughness”. I was the same because I thought fighting is about toughness through tension especially coming from weightlifting background. I would call Ramon Dekkers the master of actually seeing red, though I think with most beginners-intermediates, it’s to their detriment to be that tense.

I’m wondering how to reconcile these two modes of fighting as they both have benefits. When I keep a cool heart in sparring, I see openings I otherwise wouldn’t, remain technical, I stay away from guys that I see want to punch hard and counterstrike and frustrate them. Before Thailand I would just brawl with them. I still got that dawg in me it’s not that I’m scared of brawling but I’m working on my weaknesses.

Basically, if you were a cool hearted technical fighter who had to fight an overtly tense Westerner pressuring forward for a knockout, I can see how you could use his own tension against him and be super technical, “flow”, deliver precise strikes when needed, stay out of range, and win.

I can also see the tense guy just walking forward and knocking out the other guy with pure overpowering tense fighting if the other guy wasn’t skilled enough to out-technique that or too relaxed.

So overall thoughts and insights on the balance between these two philosophies, if one is actually better than the other, and how to implement both effectively. Finding the right time to go in with full tension and destructive intent vs the right time to be flowing, at ease, frustrating, technical. Balance a cool heart with a heart on fire, gaining the benefit of both with as little of the downside of both.

I am a 5’4(160cm) male 54kg(119lbs) first time training muay thai. Should I get 10oz gloves or 12oz? I saw posts they recommend 16oz for beginners so that it will be lighter when I switch to lower oz gloves. Should I follow the gloves size chart or I would go for 16oz right away?