# I'm a beginner to muay thai :) and a couple of questions :P



## Burbankian (May 31, 2013)

Hello, 

I just started Muay Thai around last week, with the main reason to lose weight
I planned to train muay thai, 6x a week then rest at sundays

but after a while, I feel my feet hurting from kicking heavy bags, around the ankle, I do think that it is normal

My question is, should I just bear it and continue to train 6x a week?
or should I abandon my plan for 6x a week to 3-4x a week resting between days so my feet can recover?

rest days are important, but I'm new to this, so I'm not so sure what to do ?_? I don't know what would be more fruitful


I want to be in Muay thai for the long run, I want to continue it even after I lose weight, sparring is fun


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## Tony Dismukes (May 31, 2013)

Assuming you're mostly training round kicks to hit the bag, then you should be feeling the soreness in your shins rather than your feet.  The primary striking surface for the Muay Thai round kick is the shin.  If you are hitting with your feet, then adjust your range until you have the right striking surface.  

That aside, it's not a bad idea to scale back your practice a bit until your body has a chance to adapt to the new training regimen.  Otherwise you may be breaking down your body faster than your system can build it back up.  

(Another point to consider:  if you are doing the kicks correctly you should be pivoting on your support foot with each kick.  If you are doing this barefoot, then training 6x per week in your first week is likely to produce blisters which may end up limiting your training.  If you take the time to build up callouses gradually, then this shouldn't be as much of a problem.)


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## Cyriacus (May 31, 2013)

Slight addition to what Tony said. Its also possible to hit with your foot from the correct range, if you do what i did the first time i was told to kick something with my shin, and contour my spine/hips to a weird, weird angle i wasnt even aware of. As a result, the lower shin + instep became the striking surface. Reap the benefits of my disregarded information! Slow right down and just try to get the movement right. It only takes about 60 seconds. Then kick the bag. Pay attention to your posture and stuff.


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## Burbankian (May 31, 2013)

oh, I don't really know what part of my leg hits the bags....

I'm fighting at southpaw, only my right foot hurts, my left foot is ok
when I kick my right foot it hits where the shin and the foot connects ( I don't know the word), the point where it hurts is on the side of my foot

I guess I'll slow down a bit, and let my body adapt first

Thanks


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## Dirty Dog (May 31, 2013)

Burbankian said:


> oh, I don't really know what part of my leg hits the bags....



Then THAT is the first problem to be addressed, right there...


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## Danny T (May 31, 2013)

If you are pivoting properly and lifting up onto just the ball of the foot (which is proper) there is a lot of stress on the foot, ankle, tendons, and ligaments. It will take time for your body to strengthen and adjust to the demands of kicking. Recovery and healing is also a very important part of training. As a beginner I strongly recommend training every other day for the first few weeks giving your body time to recover. Within a couple of weeks you should be able to start training 2 days with 1 day to recover building to being able to train 5 - 6 days a week. Go slow and learn to perform the techniques properly. Everyone wants to kick hard. Go slow, relax and ingrain the proper technique. Kicking with power will develop not by kicking hard from the beginning but by kicking properly over and over for thousands of kicks. My beginners kick at 10-20 percent for 2500-3000 kicks before letting them start kicking with power. This gives them time to develop the strength while ingraining proper technique from the beginning.
Good luck with your training.


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## steve93 (Jul 23, 2013)

Burbankian said:


> when I kick my right foot it hits where the shin and the foot connects ( I don't know the word), the point where it hurts is on the side of my foot



The part of you are referring to is called the Instep. You really shouldn't be kicking with this part as this can cause some damage as there isn't much bone or anything to protect the ligaments and tendons. As Tony said above, In Muay Thai the striking surface is the shin so you should look at adjusting your striking distance.


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## CK1980 (Nov 8, 2013)

When I started in Muay Thai, I had a similar issue.  The top of my foot would be bruised and sore and at times it felt like my foot was going to break off at the ankle.  It was, like has been stated, because I was kicking wrong.  As far as the amount of time you are training, 6x a week is a bit extreme...  Remember, Muay Thai is a COMBAT art.  The strikes are powerful.  The strikes are meant to stop an aggressor.  If you are not giving your body a chance to recover from the abuse that its not used to taking, then you will find yourself doing more harm than good.  At the height of my training, I would sometimes train 4x-5x a week.  Most commonly, it was 3x.

A couple tips for the right kick:
1)Check your stance.  If your stance is not correct, then you stand a better chance of hitting incorrectly.
2)Check your range.  If you are too far back, you will hit with your foot.  Too close and you will feel awkward.
3)Rotate your hip forward.  Your hip should face your target.  Also, this pushes your leg out further.
4)Point your foot.  This will expose your shin- the striking surface.
5)Work the technique and the power will come.  Don't try to hit hard, just try to hit right.


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