First lesson

[Thaegen]

Tonight I am going to my first Thai lesson, I am a bit sceptic about it, the club is runned by Danielle Somers, a previous world champion by women.

A lot of teh best fighters in Belgium train there.

I have no idea what to expect,

So far I tought about this. Bring a mouthguard, gloves, shin protection, a springrope and groinprotection.

[ineluki]

I have no idea what to expect,

So far I tought about this. Bring a mouthguard, gloves, shin protection, a springrope and groinprotection.

You could always call and ask.

Seriously, I don't think a school would expect a beginner to already have some gear, so you probably won't need anything for the first lesson.

[Thaegen]

I do Wing Tsun, all things I said above, I already have.. I expect to get it hard, but I want it hard. I only hear things about how good Muay thai is and now I wanna feel the experience myself.

[SevenStar]

yeah, those are the basics that anyone should have. what kind of gloves do you have? are they boxing gloves, or something open fingered/palmed that you used in WC?

typically, a beginner won't do any real contact anyway, other than possibly some padwork. since you have some experience though, they may allow some for you. schools tend to have extra gloves and headgear, but don't always have extra shin guards, and obviously, you will want your own wraps, cup and mouth guard!

Have fun and let us know what you think!

[Thaegen]

I have WT gloves, but also a pair of 12oz gloves, I needed those when I did a half year kali arnis escrima.

I know the basics, low kick, combos (jabs, swing, hook...). In two hours the class starts.

Hehe I am little bit nervous . But hey, I like to compete and maybe I can kick some *, you never know;) (joking)

[Thaegen]

Well I did my first lesson and I liked it.

The warm up was great, but I didn't had a problem with that.

Then we did with a partner combos... left/righ jab..low kick..uppercut, hooks, middle kicks.. very intense.

Then I had to spar with someone, only boxing, the guy was a head shorter than me and hmm it was easy... I just attacked with my first hand and get so close as I could and punched rapid (somekind of chainpunching which was not so easy with those big gloves:)) him of the mat.

Second sparring (other guy) was only feet and there I had some problems.. because I know three kicks in WT and hmm our front kick is better, when we both frontkick, I always came better out it, but that is because I try to stick

But headkicks, middle kicks where painfull:) I can't headkick and my middlekick you see from a mile away coming

3and4th sparring (with another guy) punching and kicking I was constant controlling him, they all were rookies 1 year training or so. I used always the same tactic, let them attack first, frontkick, stick to him and punch him in defense position ...some guy even turned his back to me..

Summary their condition/warm up is better.

Are they better prepared for real fights than other MA. No I don't think so. Do they know how to take hits, they sure do.

If TMA copied the training program and modified it to a TMA, you would see something.

Anyway I liked it a lot and it's going to make me a better MA, so I signed in and now I also do Muay thai.

[SevenStar]

the problem is that tma won't do it. the major difference between a sport system and a traditional is conditioning. the second is experience. When you fight guys (if you get to) that have had more training and several ring fights, you'll see what I'm talking about. That opportunity for extra experience makes all the difference. Other than that, it's pretty much the same - just a different way of doing things. I posted just yesterday on the chinese forum how we use tan sao, pak sao and other things in muay thai from a basic standpoint. also, the jab/man sao, but man sao has a different purpose than a jab.

[SevenStar]

one tip though - don't get caught up in who you can beat while sparring. use sparring as a method to ingrain/refine what you are learning. beating people is what you do once in the ring; sparring is a tool to get you ready for the ring. if you focus on beating people while sparring, you will eventually notice that your development stagnates.

[baronbvp]

I can't headkick either; I'll never be limber enough for that. But I don't see that as a disadvantage and I've seen some guys get wacked good in the groin by exposing themselves with high kicks.

I think a good early lesson is paying attention to when you should kick versus punch versus use a knee or elbow. And your conditioning will pick up but first you will get worse and hit the wall and feel like it will never get better.

Stick with it and keep us posted!

[Thaegen]

"the problem is that tma won't do it. the major difference between a sport system and a traditional is conditioning. the second is experience. When you fight guys (if you get to) that have had more training and several ring fights, you'll see what I'm talking about. That opportunity for extra experience makes all the difference. Other than that, it's pretty much the same - just a different way of doing things. I posted just yesterday on the chinese forum how we use tan sao, pak sao and other things in muay thai from a basic standpoint. also, the jab/man sao, but man sao has a different purpose than a jab."

Hmm I don't see why a TMA won't do it, granted where I do Wing Tsun there is no conditioning.

Like I said in another post, no conditiong and no getting used to getting hit.

Yesterday I trained with the guys who don't compete, the guys who compete did their own training. I talked to some (not an instructor) and they told me that after a year I can ask to compete in fights. I don't see why I need to wait a year. Maybe I am to self confidient. But with warm up, I could easly follow the competion fighters. I do WIng Tsun, but I do together with my nephew condition training + I train for triathlon so my condition is not so bad;). There is ofcourse a differcene between duration sports and fighting in a ring. It are two different kind of conditions. But I train for both.

You've got a point about sparring I was more concentrated to dominate the sparring match. I didn't try to incorporate the combos that we trained before the sparring. I did some hybrid WIng Tsun/ thai boxing. And the only explation why I think it worked is because with those big gloves, you marge for incorrect position of your hands/elbows is bigger.

My stance wasn't very sideway(left foot in front, left hand a little bit furtehr then your strong hand). My stance was more like I stand in WT; Right foot forward, both shoulders aiming at the front of the opponent. Hands in man sau(left hand)/wu sau(right hand). But with the exception that my seeking hand was a bit farther than I would stand if I do WT and my wu sau, my hand stood on the postion where normally your wu sau is, but now there was that big red glove:). The 4 guys I sparred against all said that I had to protect my face raise those big gloves in front of my face. Which is probably true, but I am a little bit stuborn. The three sparring games where punching was allowed al had problems with getting past my mansau. + when I land a hit on their defence they dont give, hmm I mean they stay hard and take it, while I have more the urge to bring my mansau in bon sau or tansau and take over the attack. When we train in WT and some times we do latsau, where one is a boxer and the other one is the Wter, it is always difficult, because even if you are the one who is the boxer, you always have the urge to protect your centerline. Which yesterday wasn't, It sound stupid and the guys I've trained with were not the more advanced students but I always get through straight ahead... let them come, get from my centerline, front kick, back in my centerline and advance straight ahead. None of them could resist it. + when I tried to stick against their hands/arms, they also hadn't a clue what to do with it.

Hmm what is the point of all this rambling:).

Muay thai trains harder, agressive than most MA, but is it more dominant? I don't believe so, the style certainly isn't better than a TMA, the way they train their style is just thousand times better.

But a muay thai fighter who only fights against MT fighters is also limited, I don't think cross training is the way to go, To train in 1 style extreme and test your style against other styles and than you adapt.

I really don't hope that you think I am bashing MT, because that is not what I am trying to achieve. I going to keep doing it and it wil make me a better fighter and I really liked the sparring/ it was tense:D