This what we think hard spar is 🙏🏼

I am such an avid fan of British MT. Especially anyone trained by Christian Knowles, I thought I’d put this great montage together.

I should admit this is a much needed rant I needed to vent out real quick.

EDIT: even though this is about ego, I’d like to clarify that I only ever do light, technical sparring. Not trying to give or receive CTE for sure

So I just got back from the worst sparring session of my life. I’m only a few inconsistent months into training and was feeling good about my growth since I’ve started until today. (Not looking to turn this into a career, just wanted to learn how to fight)

Normally we’d spar once or twice a week, and today we got into sparring after we’d already done our warmup, bag work, etc, and I partnered up with a guy who’s around my level.

For some reason, in this sparring session specifically, I found myself constantly hesitating and overthinking every move. I’m shorter than most of the guys at the gym, so I’m the one who needs to close the distance in order to land shots. The problem today was that every time I had to move in, there was always a thought of “what if he catches me on my way in” and it made me slower, weaker, and worse overall. This was already an issue in the first round.

I was banking on tiring my partner out since he gasses out pretty easily (EDIT: I usually am more confident in moving in when they’re slower, less of a chance they’ll catch me) but after the first round our coach had everyone switch partners. This was where it went from disappointing to atrocious.

For the next six rounds of sparring, I kept getting put with guys WAY more experienced than me. And what followed was a humiliation, as I could barely land anything on them while they made me look like it was my first day.

I hated it. The fact is it made me feel like I was less of a man, like I was just a weak little bitch. I wanted to quit. I felt like the whole gym was laughing at me, even though now I doubt anyone was even watching me or judging me. For the rest of the class and the drive home, I was considering the possibility that this isn’t meant for me. It truly became personal to me, and I couldn’t identify that it was all just fear and hesitation weighing me down until it was over.

Now I guess I’m feeling a little better. I’ll still come to the next class and try my best to not hesitate in sparring. I also need to work on my movement, since I’m quick at backing up but not launching forward.

My questions are; have you ever taken a bad training session more personally than you should have? How do you manage fear/hesitation during sparring/fights? How do you convince yourself that you’re still cut out for this even after being turned into a human punching bag?

Thank you for reading

Was considering the sp7s (90ish USD where I’m at) because the detachable foot guard makes it easier to cram in my bag but the sp5s (74 USD where I’m at) is easier to find here and has a reliable reputation. Which would be the better choice?

hello guys I am trying to learn Muay Thai for self defense but I have chrons disease (it’s a autoimmune disease that affects the intestinal lining) so if I learn Muay Thai and like getting I see people getting kicked every where around the body I just want to know if I get like kicked in the stomach or anything could affect my chrons. I know This could be a dumb question to ask since most people dont know about this you don’t have to answer I am just kinda nervous and don’t want to this to affect my health. Thank you for your time.

Last week, I had my first pro rules MT fight. Good news! I won!

Bad news: I banged my left leg up real bad. Between checking hard kicks and throwing hard kicks that got checked, my leg has been hurting something fierce. I couldn't walk for about 24 hours after fighting, and then it started it getting better, and I was even going for short hikes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Wednesday night, I got food poisoning and my leg pain shot up from like a 6 to a 9. If I lie perfectly still with my leg elevated, it's not too bad; if I do anything else, I start getting shooting pain through my foot, ankle, and tibialis. It gets worse at night, making it hard to sleep.

I went to the hospital, got an X-ray, and nothing is broken. But I'm in a kind of rural area right now, so my access to specialists is limited; the doctor told me to rest and take ibuprofen. I've been RICEing it and resting. I am somewhat worried by the arc of it getting better then getting worse, though I've heard sometimes injuries just be like that. A friend of mine (who is a PT) suggested I might have a bone bruise.

For those of you who have had bad cases of lowkickitis: what was your recovery like? Are the symptoms I'm describing similar to those you experienced? Did you find any treatments that seemed to accelerate your healing?

Finally getting the courage to start Muay Thai again…100 pounds heavier.

At close to 300lbs should I invest in 18oz gloves? I am pretty heavy handed in general.

Also, I have huge calves but shorter shins at 5’9. Any suggestions on shin guards?

Honestly what the hell is that

Hey, fellow strikers.

This is about fighting across weight classes.

When asking about weight vs skill, ChatGPT said that a 75kg fighter is more likely to get ragdolled by a 90kg opponent than an 85kg fighter by a 120kg, assuming lean mass and a comparable center of gravity on both.

Proportionality-wise, it doesn't add up. So is the 85kg (~190 pounds) some sort of magical cut-off? Would you even agree with the AI's assessment?

I’m a very lanky and somewhat tall fighter who likes to pressure opponents, push them with long guard, jab a lot, counterpunch and grab clinches to knee and sweep. Are there any fighters you know of who fight like this?

Most clinch heavy fighters I’ve seen are very tall, kick on the outside and grab clinches when their opponent gets close. And I haven’t seen taller fighters who punch a lot either, buakaw is the only I can think of who will counterpunch but isn’t significantly shorter than his opponents

Let me begin by stating that I firmly oppose violence and strive to avoid conflicts at all costs. However, I am curious about a specific scenario. I have been training Muay Thai for three years now, and I am wondering at what point, if I defend myself or use my hands as “weapons”, I could potentially face legal consequences in a court of law.

Recently fought in fairly large smoker tournament in what I consider to be my most (admittedly nowhere near the level of people on this sub) serious fight. It was my first time fighting someone that was from another gym and in a competitive environment.

Having done Muay Thai for a few months now I feel like I've developed a lot both in terms of athleticism and technicality but I'm a little disheartened, despite winning my fight, as it seems that damn near everything Ive been working on and developing went out the window the minute that adrenaline hit me.

The fight ended up being one of the sloppiest and "muddiest" for lack of a better word I've ever participated in. I'm not even joking I completely forgot to breathe. After my first round I sat down and I was the most exhausted I've ever been in my entire life.

I made it through the next few rounds and won on a superior clinch and managing to continue throwing the slowest, heaviest punches and knees I've ever thrown but I can't shake the feeling of mild embarrassment.

Gone was the speed and power I developed from hitting bags and pad work, gone were the combinations and the footwork and the strategies I've tried to develop in sparring. I know I mentioned it already but I even forgot something as basic and vital as breathing! Has anyone had any similar experiences? How did you move past it or "forgive" yourself for your performance?

I'm even having trouble watching fighters I admire from the perspective of learning from them bc I keep thinking to myself what's the point if I'm just going to throw everything out the window as soon as my nerves get to me and my adrenaline spikes?

Just looking for some advice from the more experienced Nak Muays of the world. Thanks y'all.

So I have been training for 1.5 years and finally decided that I will live in Thailand for 6-12 months to train and fight. I have a list of gyms that I am considering with FA Group being at the top of my list since clinching is my favorite thing to do.

I told my coaches who have had successful careers in Thailand about my plans and they were excited but told me to be careful when selecting a gym to fight for. They said that while Muay Thai is a beautiful sport, the business is dirty.

One of the things I want to avoid is getting placed in “tourist fights” and getting treated like a tourist who just “wants a fight.” I want to train hard and get treated like a legit fighter. I was also informed that some gyms will hype you up and oversell your skills to a promoter and put you against someone above your experience level and then turn around and place money on your opponent.

Are there any gyms that are notorious for shady business like this so that I can avoid them? Are there any red flags to look for when looking for a gym that may indicate that they do shady business like this? Have any of you guys witnessed or been in the receiving end of this?

Do you guys have a recommendations for quality I've been looking at yokkao and fairtex not for the name But because their alleged quality. Thought I saw a post the other day that some fairtex gloves where cheaply made if you guys could recommend some Models or brand with the models I'd greatly appreciate it I like Buying things once

I’m not talking about weight cuts, I’m just talking about weight loss during camp.

When you’re in camp bringing your weight down, how much kg do you try and lose per week? 1kg per week, 0.8kg per week, 0.5kg per week? How much

I’ve been trying to lose 1kg per week, I feel like with the amount of training it would’ve been easy but not every week I have went down 1kg but most I have.

I thought it should be been easy to lose 1kg but the more I think of it that is quite aggressive of a cut right? Although as long as you eat the right calories and be strict then it should definitely be doable but I just thought it would’ve been easier than it probably is.

What a brutal shot… For sure one of the best KOs of the year so far.

Does anyone watch mtgp? They have an event tomorrow on DAZN, I’ve never heard of them. How are they compared to other mt promotions like one, Rws, Thai fight?

Hello. Which puncing bag should I buy 35 cm or 45 cm in diameter? Both 180cm height, so which should i pick?

From Rambaa's temple festival card, this great corner. The legend of the Silver Age Sirimongkol (RIP), FOTY in 1972 (if I recall), told us that most of what he learned about Muay Thai wasn't from krus. It was from watching the fights of teammates and cards up close. This is a hidden dimension of Thai fight IQ and pedagogy. Not only are they developing as fighters in the kaimuay, they are doing so as teammates, as corners.

Hi, i'm pretty new to the muay thai world and i was wondering what a healthy diet within this sport looks like.

i'm 28, 158cm and let's just say hella overweight. i haven't lived a very active lifestyle and i'm working on changing that. i've been training muay thai few times and i'm really enjoying the sport and i'm ready to take my health journey more serious. my goal is to get fit and lose weight (maybe 20kg or more), so what should i be eating (and not be eating) to be on the right track without losing energy during training sessions and what can i do on days i don't have training?