Muay Thai Training Exercises by Christoph Delp Read Free Book Online

advanced athlete you can extend your rope-skipping to fifteen to twenty minutes without a break. Vary your jump style and pace.

    Stretching and Loosening Up
    The warm-up program should include some stretching exercises. It’s best to briefly stretch all muscle groups, with more intensity on your weak points. Make sure that you can get into a position carefully, and don’t hold it for more than ten seconds. After that, you can loosen your joints and swing your arms and legs.

    3. Main Techniques Training
    In the main part of the training session, you practice attacking techniques and their combinations as well as defense and counter techniques. The training session includes shadowboxing, pad training, punching bag training, partner training, and clinching, not necessarily in that order. Advanced athletes extend their training sessions with rounds of sparring.
    Shadowboxing
    In shadowboxing, you train your techniques and fight tactics in the air. Be careful not to overextend your joints, and don’t let down your guard. Act as if you were facing a real opponent. Move toward your opponent and dodge. Use attacking techniques, and defend and counter against the techniques of your imaginary opponent. Shadowboxing can also be done in front of a mirror.
    In the course of fight preparation, shadowboxing will be adjusted to the fight style of the next upcoming opponent. Thai boxers imagine their opponents fighting in their usual style in a match, and they work on their own fight tactics while shadowboxing. If, for example, your upcoming opponent is known to use a powerful straight punch from behind, you would repeatedly train in kicks to the upper arm and knee kicks to the rear of the body.
    Tips from Saiyok and Kem
      Shadowbox as if you were in a real fight.
      Move swiftly, with power and concentration.
      Use all the techniques you know.
    Saiyok trains in shadowboxing for relatively long periods. Each training session contains three or four rounds of four minutes each. Kem is satisfied with one round of five minutes.
    Pad Training
    In pad training, you practice each technique against a handheld pad to develop a sense of distance and timing for use in competition. Pay attention to correct technical execution, a stable stance, balance, and your guard. Take your time and avoid rash moves. The trainer attacks your defense by hitting the pads gently against the gaps in your guard. The power and pace depend on the trainer’s instructions. Techniques are initially trained in individually, and later in combination. A combination will frequently be repeated in the course of one round.
    In fight preparation, the trainer simulates different situations and fight styles. For example, the trainer can apply pressure by repeatedly moving toward the fighter, who must stop the trainer with his or her techniques. The trainer can also use attacking techniques to develop the athlete’s counters. In this way the trainer teaches the Thai boxer the fight tactics required for the next competition.
    Tips from Kem
      Emulate the pad training of champion fighters.
      Always train as if it were a real fight.
      Remain active and train at 100 percent.
    Saiyok trains on pads for three to five rounds, and Kem does four to six rounds. The rounds last four minutes each. Both athletes also use combinations and repeat them several times.
    Punching Bag Training
    By training on a punching bag, you develop stamina and power as well as hardening your body. Try to deliver each punch, push, or kick with maximum hardness. In the process, pay attention to technically correct execution. Avoid any rash moves and use the right timing. Train with combinations, but also train by instinct. The trainer watches and gives instructions, such as the use of certain techniques, in order to change behavior patterns.
    It is best to train on a big, heavy bag so that you can deliver all techniques with power. Inexperienced athletes initially use a bag with soft filling such