Questions About Muay Thai

[Jacob Creutzfeldt]

After reading many posts on this board about Muay Thai I have taken an interest in learning the art, but have a few questions: Are Muay Thai and Thaiboxing the same art? How can I tell if an instructor is of high caliber (I live near Boston, MA if anyone has recomendations)? How do you condition the bones such as the shins to take bone to bone impact?

 

[Thaibox]

Hey bro, Muay Thai and Thaiboxing are the same art. Thaiboxing is sort of slang for it.

Regarding finding an instructor. This can be hard depending if you want to focus on traditional or not. There are several different types of muay thai "councils", "intstitutes", etc. Some of them are total bullshit. "We're affialiated with the World Muay Thai Fat Slob Organization." There are some that are legit though. If you plan on studying traditional Muay Thai, Find someone affiliated with the World Muay Thai Organization for example. They are all about Krabi-Krabong which is the art Muay Thai comes from. Krabi-Krabong is actually a very spiritual art in which 9 diiferent weapons are taught. Muay Thai is the empty handed part of this art, and the most popular. Anyway, here is some names of people to look for in the training lineage if you want to train in a very traditional manner.

Late Grandmaster
Ajarn Samai

Gold Sash 9th Degree.(grandmaster outside Thailand)
Arjarn Tony Moore (From England).

Gold Sash 8th Degree. (these are masters and badasses)
Arjarn Michael Delio (From USA).
Arjarn Pedro Solana Villalobos (From USA).

Gold Sash 7th Degree.
Arjarn Steven Wilson (From USA).

Gold Sash 6th Degree.
Arjarn Jason Webster (First American to qualify as a Gold Sash)
Arjarn Arland Sanford (From USA).
Arjarn Vincent Giordano (From USA).
Arjarn Klaus Handke-Prompan (From Germany).

There are also 10th and 11th degrees. However, if anyone tells you they have one of these, and you're not in Thailand, slap them, because they're full of shit. Only the prince and king have these. And, if they tell you they have 7th, 8th, or 9th and are not on this list, check up on them further, as they are probably full of dookie too.


But, not many people are interested in traditional Muay Thai or K-K. If you just want to learn this for its striking, etc, it is relatively easy to find a decent instructor. The thing about Muay Thai is, it doesn't take 20-30 years to become extremely proficient like some arts do. So, there are relatively more capable instructors of MT than of most other arts. Never train at a place that teaches kids or advertises "Cardio Kickboxing." The best schools I've ever seen for the most part, have been in warehouses and some don't advertise. Find out how many professional fighters have come out of the school. The most important thing(I think) is to find out the instructors fight record, then check on it. My first instructor had an extremely impressive list of sanctioned(pit-fights) and non-sanctioned fights. When I attended my first fight(watching, not fighting), he had two fighters there, and it was announced to the crowd that he was in attendance that evening and he stepped into the ring, getting more applause than the guest Don "the dragon" Wilson. You can also find good Thaiboxing instruction in many MMA dojos. My MMA dojo had a boxing instructor, Wrestling instructor, Muay Thai instructor, etc.


Conditioning shins...I started on heavy bags. My shins were super moist(they hurt easily), so I started on a pretty soft bag, then moved up to heavy more solid bags. Then moved on to using other peoples shins(exchanging low shin blows until someone gives), Grinding and whacking them with Kali sticks, I had a 3 ft, maybe 20-25 inch circumference tree trunk in my back yard. I peeled the bark off of it and kicked the shit out of that all the time. Just start off light, because you will bust vessels and such in front of your shins, and they can swell up to the size of golf balls. You can actually dent your shins also.

Anyway, I don't know if this helps. But good luck

I'll see what I can find out about schools in Boston by the way

 

[UltimaThule]

Hardening the shins is actually one of the most misunderstood aspects of muay thai training for the beginner.
Its not really nessesary to tap them with the fat end of a baseball
bat or roll a bowling pin over them or anything like this.Some people do this a little and it is it not a bad idea but not nessesary.
Allmost all professional fighters in Thailand simply hit a hard heavybag and the poas(hard ,thick punching and kicking mits).
Although shin pads are traditionally not used that often in Thailand they are a good idea and allow for better contact during light sparring.The cheapy Tae Kwon Do ones work quite well and are cost effective.Making a little contact by kicking and blocking with the shin wearing shin pads during drills or sparring helps.It mostly helps your mind though.Impact on the shins creates bruises that cause the body to send more calcium making the shin thicker and denser when it heals,but perhaps the most important thing for having hard shins is just getting over the psychological fear of using the shins.I have Thai friends with over 100 fights and sometimes when we play spar outside of class with no protection ,I may block a kick with my shin and they will make a playfull grimace because of the pain.It hurts when you are just playing around.Even after a hundred pro fights his shins are still sensitive.The amazing thing is when you get in a fight with your adrenaline running high you can block and kick full power and not feel it at all.Even after the fight the shins are not too bruised after blocking and kicking with much more impact than you ever experience in the gym.
Just hit the pads and bag alot ,rub the shins in the shower with hot water and soap giving them a massage and bringing fresh blood to the bruises.Tap them sometime with a hard object(rolling pin ,baseball bat,bowling pin) if you want for fun but it is not nessesary,in fact it can discourage some beginners and lead them to believe the shins are too sensitive . That's about it.

 

[3 Fortunes]

Boston Schools

For Muay Thai in Boston I suggest

Boston Muay Thai Academy (formerly Fairtex)

http://www.bostonmuaythai.com/bmta-frame.html

 

[greenspan]

Also heard of wrapping a single layer of duct tape around a beer bottle and smashing it over the shins.

MMA Training TAPES WANTED, Muay thai, Boxing, Judo, Ortiz, Lidell, Frye, Coleman, etc.

Thanks

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