I am at a camp right now in thailand and i thought some of you guys would be interested in some things i noticed as well as some comparisons, between the western and thai way of training (though different camps will differ and i am going to another camp later on so i will post that to.)
I would like to hear your thoughts to!!!
First thing i noticed is the length of the sessions, they are not intense sessions like in Australia. They are very laid back and there are sessions with interval training in them but largely they are relaxed with spurts here and there of hard training.
Over here they dont teach you things, rather they let u hit the pads or the bag and then they correct u. I found this a bit hard initially but now i'm starting to get the hang of it.
They dont spar in here at all, rather they "play" alot. Which is like isolated sparring but very soft. Anyone who thinks they kick trees is kidding themselves. THEY ALWAYS USE SHINPADS. They do NOT condition their thighs by kicking eachother over and over. This is because they compete regularly. In fact one of the reasons they dont spar is because they use competing aas "sparring". By the age of 17 alot of them have had 70+ fights which works out to a fight every 3 or 4 weeks since they were very young.
The trainign methods are a bit querky for eg using sauna suits etc and some of the weight lifting methods and conditioning, but no1 can doubt their conditioning. They train twice a day running both times, skipping both times. Another note, their skipping ropes are ALOT heavier than western ones.
They love their throws here in clinch sparring and on top of that they barely EVER knee to the head, that seems to be a western misconception. THis is because its so **** hard to knee them in the head!
They dont practice in combos here, liek they do in western style thai boxing facilities. They practice each technique individually with thousands of reps and learn to "fire them off". This is reflected in their fights when its almost an exchange. This IMO is ok as long as u start it when ure 8 or 6 years old and can fire them off. I cant. So i have to rely on combinations to land, which they dont show so i am stuck trying their method and playing catchup. Learnt alot though!
They train their pads here very differently to Australia, these dudes wack u back at every opportunity and pad hitting is basically sparring with the holder actually trying to score LOL!! Pretty good fun when u get the hand of it...hurts though!!!
Anyways interested in your thoughts. The fact they dont practice combos was the biggest shock to me.
Enjoy
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