Muay Thai Advice For Beginners

[Gweilo]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to the journey, keep that passion you have, train with as many higher ranking students as you can, be like a dry sponge in a bucket of water, absorb as much as possible, feel what you are doing, try to understand everything you are doing, and ask, if you dont understand, and its great that you are prepared to talk about your fears. Fear is a good thing when learning martial arts, as long as you confront them, understand them, and dont just hide them away, because they have a habit of turning up when you least need them too.
Enjoy every minute of your training, you will get good days, and days when you think why do I bother, days when things you know you can do, just aint happening, and days when it just flows, enjoy each one of these days, learn from them, when these things happen, just stop for a couple of seconds, and feel how your body feels, inside and outside, really get to know yourself. If you get stuck with a technique, or movement, take a second and breathe. But most of all, never give up, and enjoy.

 

[Ryeangle]

You got put on the floor and got winded....**** happens. Real training isn't like the karate kid where you do a few weeks then you're an expert.this won't be the last time you get discouraged especially if you start sparring. If you're not looking to compete don't even worry about how you compare to others. Just go in train do your thing get better then once the sessions done move on. Don't spend hours after breaking down every little scenario that happened you'll drive yourself mad and you'll get so anxious on performing well you'll lose the enjoyment. Just go in do your best and the results will come. Everyone's different maybe you'll get good really fast maybe it'll take you longer. There's no right or wrong way to do this stuff. If you want to never spar and just hit pads and do drills and bag work that's fine because that's what you are after. If you want to fight and spar all that that's fine to.

Thanks for the advice! I definetly need to look at this as a personal journey rather than comparing myself to others and stop overthinking things. It does drive you mental! Probably one of my biggest downfalls to be honest, the dreaded overthinking.

 

[Ryeangle]

Welcome to the forum mate . Yeah the other guys have given great words of insight already. Training is a process, and if you have the perspective that even falling, getting hit, stuffing up is part of training itself, you can only grow .

I totally get the feeling of being disheartened by it... I remember one training session years ago, it was a really tough one, and I reached that point where I almost passed out, vision was fuzzy, nausea, and I had to lay down. I remember feeling so upset that I couldn't continue. But later after reflection, the fact that I had the grit and perseverance to push myself to THAT level showed just an immense strength I had within me. There was literally no failure in any sense, but great fortitude that I saw I had. And after I rested a bit I jumped back in there and continued, and finished the session. I mean that's also amazing that I could even do that. Double whammy of what I learned about myself that day!

It's certainly not a step back in any way at all, but a step forward in your training, as you've reached an uncomfortable place, and knowing what that feels like and even embracing it is key. Learning how to posture yourself in those uncomfortable moments determines how much you grow. But being disheartened too is a part of training, learning and asking why you're feeling disheartened is revealing too.

Welcome again, hope you stick around mate I love your energy and enthusiasm

Cheers Simon, and thanks for your response! It's good to know I'm not the only one thinking about and going through these things.

That's definitely what I'm taking from this though, the fact I got dropped, which shook me up real good, but got straight up and back into the thick of it for the rest of the session. I'm proud of that.

Like you said though it's all a learning process. I'm just itching to get back into the gym tonight!

 

[Ryeangle]

Doing Judo will help out his Muai Thai in a lot of different ways. From maintaining good structure to timing sweeps to obviously good breakfall. It is probably worth dping all of it if he is going to supplement his training.

I'm definetly going to look into judo. I'm currently doing 2 muay thai lessons a week and then train at home on my own doing light weights, hiit and running mainly. I've just been trying to find some other gyms near me that provide these sort of classes. I've been looking at a boxing gym that also do kickboxing which I presume would help improve my striking etc.

 

[Ryeangle]

I didn't say anything about 'supplementing his training' at all, I just said learning to land is always good, which of course it is. I don't know anything about his situation financially or his lifestyle or whether he wants to do anything else so I am not going to give advice about doing any other training. All I was doing was saying it's worth learning how to land, nothing more so please don't go reading into a very small piece of advice something more than is there and making an issue out of it, there is no issue and this is not the thread for your verbal sparring.

You've hit the nail on the head there! Financially it's hard to do exactly what I want but I'm making the most with what I can at the moment. What are your thoughts on training muay thai alone at home? I've seen things that say as a beginner it can create bad habits...

 

[Ryeangle]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to the journey, keep that passion you have, train with as many higher ranking students as you can, be like a dry sponge in a bucket of water, absorb as much as possible, feel what you are doing, try to understand everything you are doing, and ask, if you dont understand, and its great that you are prepared to talk about your fears. Fear is a good thing when learning martial arts, as long as you confront them, understand them, and dont just hide them away, because they have a habit of turning up when you least need them too.
Enjoy every minute of your training, you will get good days, and days when you think why do I bother, days when things you know you can do, just aint happening, and days when it just flows, enjoy each one of these days, learn from them, when these things happen, just stop for a couple of seconds, and feel how your body feels, inside and outside, really get to know yourself. If you get stuck with a technique, or movement, take a second and breathe. But most of all, never give up, and enjoy.

Amazing advice, thanks! I dont intend on giving up and even with this little rough patch I've been itching to get into the gym since. Almost like I want to make up for it in my head or something haha. But thanks again for the advice, I'm definetly gonna be thinking about the things you've said as I train tonight.

 

[Flying Crane]

I'm definetly going to look into judo. I'm currently doing 2 muay thai lessons a week and then train at home on my own doing light weights, hiit and running mainly. I've just been trying to find some other gyms near me that provide these sort of classes. I've been looking at a boxing gym that also do kickboxing which I presume would help improve my striking etc.

I suggest you stick with one thing for the time being. Especially as a beginner, it is easy to spread yourself too thin and then none of what you do improves. Stay focused. A few years down the road when you have a solid grounding it might make sense to explore some other things, but don’t be in too much of a hurry.

The exception being if you find yourself not liking the place where you are training, then by all means look elsewhere. Don’t feel like you are locked into a school if you find you simply do not like it.

 

[Flying Crane]

error.

 

[Tez3]

You've hit the nail on the head there! Financially it's hard to do exactly what I want but I'm making the most with what I can at the moment. What are your thoughts on training muay thai alone at home? I've seen things that say as a beginner it can create bad habits...

it's very difficult to teach yourself at home, it's true you will pick up bad habits and perhaps do techniques incorrectly which will cause injury. Practising what you've learnt in class is good though especially if you can rig up something to punch and kick ( punch/kickbag not younger siblings lol) I find kicking and punching something quite therapeutic, helps if you have had a bad day or are feeling a bit down, using correct technique of course! It also helps fitness if you do something like the ten kick routine, start with one kick, then two, three etc up to ten, if you aren't tired then ten downwards, both legs. the more you kick the quicker and better you get. bag work is a good part of MT. If you can get hold of a cheap copy( some of it is on YouTube but I'm not sure how much) of Bas Rutten's MT boxing workouts they are very good, you can do them on your own anywhere or do them on a bag. They are workouts rather than instructionals, I use it a lot as do our fighters ( they use the MMA ones by him as well but they are exhausting!)

 

[Headhunter]

I'm definetly going to look into judo. I'm currently doing 2 muay thai lessons a week and then train at home on my own doing light weights, hiit and running mainly. I've just been trying to find some other gyms near me that provide these sort of classes. I've been looking at a boxing gym that also do kickboxing which I presume would help improve my striking etc.

Don't overtrain yourself especially at the beginning. I know it's tempting but it's a marathon not a sprint. Also training at 2 seperate combat sport striking gyms may cause conflict of interest from the coaches and the fighters there. E.g 2 guys are fighting in an event 1 from one of your gyms one from another each gym could be concerned that you're telling the other one what the other persons is doing or telling them their stratergies or how they fight etc. Not saying it will but I've seen it happen.

If it's a completely different sport then no big deal but still wouldn't recomend trying to do to much to early. Do maybe a year at one place build up good solid fundamentals then if you want to then maybe look around at other stuff. Just my opinion I mean you do what you want to do and if it works for you that's great and no reason why it wouldn't work but just my opinion.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

You've hit the nail on the head there! Financially it's hard to do exactly what I want but I'm making the most with what I can at the moment. What are your thoughts on training muay thai alone at home? I've seen things that say as a beginner it can create bad habits...

As long as you're doing what you're taught in class, and still going to class, it's a good idea. Practice is better than no practice, and your instructor/senior students can help correct bad habits before they get ingrained.

 

[drop bear]

I'm definetly going to look into judo. I'm currently doing 2 muay thai lessons a week and then train at home on my own doing light weights, hiit and running mainly. I've just been trying to find some other gyms near me that provide these sort of classes. I've been looking at a boxing gym that also do kickboxing which I presume would help improve my striking etc.

Yeah if you are being chunked hard on the ground and are hurting yourself I would get that sorted first.

 

[drop bear]

Don't overtrain yourself especially at the beginning. I know it's tempting but it's a marathon not a sprint. Also training at 2 seperate combat sport striking gyms may cause conflict of interest from the coaches and the fighters there. E.g 2 guys are fighting in an event 1 from one of your gyms one from another each gym could be concerned that you're telling the other one what the other persons is doing or telling them their stratergies or how they fight etc. Not saying it will but I've seen it happen.

If it's a completely different sport then no big deal but still wouldn't recomend trying to do to much to early. Do maybe a year at one place build up good solid fundamentals then if you want to then maybe look around at other stuff. Just my opinion I mean you do what you want to do and if it works for you that's great and no reason why it wouldn't work but just my opinion.

Two times a week is not a lot of training.

 

[Tez3]

Two times a week is not a lot of training.

Not for you to judge though. what works for you doesn't mean it works for others.

 

[Ryeangle]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Getting a bit hard to reply to everyone, but really appreciate all the support. From what we've spoken about my plan for now is to stick with my current gym and just work on my muay thai and cardio. I've been paying per lesson at the moment but at the end of the month I'm going to join full time which will allow me to use the bags and weights out of class time which will allow me to practice further.

For anyone that's interested, class went really well tonight. We worked on a number of different pad drills and when the instructor eventually came to me and my partner, he commented on how I'm already picking up my guard and that we'll give it a year and I'll be ready for my first fight haha. Obviously not taking that part too seriously but the fact he picked up on my guard which I was intentionally trying to work on made me pretty damn chuffed, not gonna lie.

Like you all said, ups or downs, get ya head down and soak it all up. I'm now a human sponge.

 

[oftheherd1]

Yeah I agree. If you'd told me yesterday that that was going to happen last night I'd have been well nervous, but if you told me its gonna happen again tonight, I'd be ready for it. Not gonna say I'd enjoy it haha, but I'd definitely be ready for it and 100% more aware during practice.

I'd like to think I'll make some friends there. That was another reason I wanted to join. I train at home alot doing light weights and try to run multiple times a week, but it's easy to plateau when training alone. Whereas I know training with people at my gym that are far more experienced will push me harder and like you said, hopefully lead to some friendships too.

If you stick with it I think you will find you plateau even in a class environment, feeling some discouragement. When I did that and continued training, I found that one day without warning, I suddenly found I had indeed moved on and was better after all. It wasn't an aha moment when I crossed some plateau that I could look back on, but I could see I was better than I had been, or had thought I could be. Keep at your training and enjoy crossing those plateaus.

 

[Ryeangle]

If you stick with it I think you will find you plateau even in a class environment, feeling some discouragement. When I did that and continued training, I found that one day without warning, I suddenly found I had indeed moved on and was better after all. It wasn't an aha moment when I crossed some plateau that I could look back on, but I could see I was better than I had been, or had thought I could be. Keep at your training and enjoy crossing those plateaus.

Thanks! Juat got to stick with it and remember I'm not gonna pick it up over night. The closest thing I've ever done to muay thai is really basic boxing pad worl with my dad, years ago...so it's definetly a brand new form of training for me.

 

[Gweilo]

Thanks! Juat got to stick with it and remember I'm not gonna pick it up over night. The closest thing I've ever done to muay thai is really basic boxing pad worl with my dad, years ago...so it's definetly a brand new form of training for me.

Have you ever trained with the legendary clyde cash?
Hes in you area

 

[Ryeangle]

Have you ever trained with the legendary clyde cash?
Hes in you area

Nah I haven't! Where's he located? Does he have his own gym? Might be useful for some 121's...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Nah I haven't! Where's he located? Does he have his own gym? Might be useful for some 121's...

A guy going by that name is a troll who comes here by different names. Spends his time trolling the board, trying to avoid going over the line, and then when he figures out that we know it's him again, he starts making posts encouraging steroid use and talking about coke. Definitely not someone you want to train with.