Muay Thai is often referred to as the ‘Science of eight limbs’ which actually refers to eight weapons or points of contact. Namely, elbows, knees, fists and feet which translate into close range elbow and knee strikes and long and short range kicks and punches. If weapon volume were a measure of effectiveness Karate with many more empty hand martial weapons than Mauy Thai, would come out winner. Restricted by the rules of the...
Martial Arts Injuries; damage to knee joint Often martial arts injuries occur at the knee and these frequently occur as a result of training ignoring the structure of the knee. The knee complex prefers to function strictly as a hinge, with flexion and extension being the primary motions, although a lesser amount of medial-lateral rotation is permissible. Knee damage is not an integral part of martial arts training and need not occur if your...
Increasing Punching Power by Opening and Closing The waist area is packed with muscle and potentially will add substantially to your power punching. In karate Senseis often tell you to use your hips but they should really be interested in the waist. After all the hip is no more than a joint between leg and pelvis. There is a lot of muscle working across and around this joint which can contribute to the power...
In the short film about the Astoria Boxing Club there was mention of the positive impact boxing can have on people. This is not new, boxing has saved many famous fighters across the years. Champions such as Ali and Tyson are just two. Over on Ross Training there was a post about an amazing underground boxing club that was set up by an old pro boxer called Nilson Garrido. Not an ordinary club as...
I first watched a Burmese Boxing fight after someone posted a link from the old United Goju Forum. These fights are frantic impressive affairs, with few rules; no gloves, takedowns and head butts allowed! An extreme style of Muay Thai, if you like! There is a three knockout rule, not three knockdowns, three knockouts. If you are knocked out they wake you up and you have a minute to decide whether you want to...
Muay Thai Stance – using the activation Through the formalisation of stances and techniques in Karate the sensation of being activated tends to be lost. This is not universal but there is a strong predisposition for this to be the case. Muay Thai fighters, however, develop and utilise the neural activation in the muscles to output exceptional power when throwing their eight martial weapons. Of course, there will be some MTB fighters that fail...
The importance allotted to historical tradition by karate, and similar arts, results in something similar to the historical weapons used in battle re-enactments such as those of the sealed knot, i.e. sub-optimal in modern times. This post shows how karate’s emphasis on form over function results in a ‘flat’ inactive ‘fighting’ stance which is in stark contrast to the activated, primed posture of the Muay Thai stance. The irony is that while traditional karate...
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