HO HO HO,
Wow- We are here. Last month of the year. Thank you to everyone for all your support, love and all good things.
I want to give a super extra special shout out to the entire TBI staff for your help running, teaching, covering, training and being so supportive of our community and each other. From our front desk person Erika helping me answer all the questions, organizing the professional side of TBI. To our kid’s class coaches, Coach Jeannie, Coach Greego and Jade. To our teens class Coach Tony. Our super sweet and kind new intro sessions Coach Lee, Womens Muay Thai Coach Erin, Coach Warsame for helping me one evening a week off. Our new coaches Coach Jordan and Coach Robbie and Coach Nate for helping out earlier this year.
And to all members that help with pad holding, helping the coaches run the different classes, for repairs, maintenance and cleaning of the place.
Our success and the success of our members is based on the care and willingness of each other. Thank you all for everything.
See you next year!
Re: USMTO
The team competed two weeks ago at the Fall USMTO Muay Thai tournament in Phoenix, AZ. Eoin dropping a decision lost in his first bout while Andy winning in the semifinals and ultimately losing in the finals. Although we went 1-2, our two athletes demonstrated great heart, great muay thai technique and great grace and sportsmanship in both defeat and in victory.
Super proud of them and the rest of the team. Big thank you to Coach Tony and Coach Jeannie for all your support and help that weekend and thank you to everyone that lent a hand in training the athletes and any other support whether it was morale or otherwise.
Onto the next year!
Muay Thai 101: Introduction to Clinch Wrestling
It’s here! Finally, a fundamental and practical guide to learning the basics of the Muay Thai clinch.
We cover:
- Different positions and ranges
- Hand grips and arm grips
- Footwork and knees
- Tips on being a good partner
- Clinch fighters (Muay Khao) to watch for inspiration
Remember, if there’s no clinch, then it’s not Muay Thai!
📖 Read More
▶️ Watch Video
UPCOMING EVENTS
Next PKB
Upland: December 22, 2024 (Date changed)
🔗 Event Details
HELLO FROM THAILAND
Was going to save this little excerpt as a bigger bit on ‘Off/on topic’ but in all reality I should be chilling and not working on this self-imposed sabbatical.
With no definite plan or itinerary I find myself in a small town 30 mins north of Chiang Mai at Manop Gym but aside from that I’m letting the wind take me where it may.
After a 22 hr door to door trip I wasn’t sure if I could handle a 4 hour training session. How I manage I chalk it up to pure delirium from the lack of proper sleep and time zone adjustment but I figured the best way to fight the anxiety was to go through with training on that first day.
The training was busy, over 20 people I would say with maybe 10 trainers holding pads. Felt like we were doing 4 min rounds. I got 3 rounds with a very young Thai kid. He was a very sweet and kind soul. The pad work involved a lot of right kicking and elbows.
Sparring was good. We maybe did 8 rounds? Got to move around with a lot of higher level guys. People were complimentary of my technique and style. Felt good to hear and sort of validated my work back home with our members and the level of the art at TBI. We then clinched for a few rounds and that was it.
The next day I had a chance to work with the head coach ‘Kru Manop’. Claim to fame would be that he was Saenchai’s coach for many many years. Very Muay Femur style and why I chose the gym.
Muay Femur gyms tend to have more focus on play and technique rather than a gratuitous propensity for volume work. If I were my younger, more fit self then I would gladly take on that work but where I am at now I have to be mindful of injuries and overtraining.
Anyways, my second day involved something very interesting that I’ve never done before.
- Hit 5 minute rounds
- Freestyle pad work
First, the 5 minutes was hard. Not so much physically (it was still exhausting) but rather mentally I had to remind myself to be present and focus. I would find my mind losing attention sometimes in the middle of the rounds so I thought that was a really novel thing happening to me.
I would be hitting pads, thinking about what i’m going to eat later that evening or some random shit. Trying really hard to not look at the timer to see how much longer I had.
This is also the first time I’ve seen a digital timer being used in Thailand which makes me think they do it on purpose to see who looks at how much time is left. Haha.
Second, the freestyle pad work. He just stood there and let me kinda do whatever I wanted and he caught it. We would start slow and build up rhythm and intensity. He would simulate sparring, he would give me feedback and also let me try things. When I would feel my heart rate start to go I could control the pace by teeping, feinting and light clinching.
It was a very cool, fun experience.
I can see how the 5 minute rounds could help build technique since I think everyone relatively new to the sport tends to want to hit hard immediately but if you’ve done this long enough you understand that pace is unsustainable. So it sort of dissuades trying to blast the pads and kill your holder. I feel like it also gives you space to relax a bit and be more playful.
That’s what I got from all that.
Saturday the level significantly dropped where it was all beginners. By this point my body felt pretty exhausted and I had a spicy lunch that was bothering my stomach so I was ok with a chill workout. Note to self: Mild spicy is still hella spicy by West LA standards. 🙁
The days have all blurred together so far. Feels like I’ve been here for a while now but it’s only been 4 days since this writing.
Weather has been great, reminds me of a very temperate LA summer. Low to mid 80’s with a breezy sometimes chilly evening at about 70’s.
It’s quite nice and I feel like this has helped with the training being tolerable. I had a pretty hard time last year while I was in Thailand at FA Group, where it was 100 degrees at 100% humidity at 7AM.
After 1 round of pad work the thought of quitting ran through my mind. I’ve never experienced an exhaustion of that level. The trainers were kind enough to get me through the next two rounds but only by clinching me up and rag dolling me across the ring. Ha Ha.
HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
We will also be closing the gym for all classes on Monday December 23rd through Saturday the 28th for Christmas break. Regular schedule will resume on Monday December 30th.
Tuesday December 31st we will have a special morning All Levels Class at 11AM followed by open gym/sparring from 11-12PM.
We will be closed the following day in observance of New Years Day and finally back open on Thursday Jan. 2nd and through the rest of the week on our normal schedule. Thank you for your understanding and we hope you have a safe, restful happy holiday season and happy new year!
DECEMBER CURRICULUM
- 12/2 – 12/7: Hooks and uppercuts
- 12/9 – 12/14: Hooks and uppercuts defense
- 12/16 – 12/21: Proper pad holding
- 12/30 – 1/4: Basic defense (punches, kicks, push kicks)