Muay Thai Tips & Tricks

Modern Muay Thai has evolved from its historical Muay Boran roots, where it was used in battles when soldiers lost their weapons, to a regulated, rules based ring sport. Muay Thai is Thailand’s most famous culutural export and, nowadays, is known throughout the world for its beauty and brutality.

Shadow boxing is a fundamental part of Muay Thai training. To the uninitiated observer, it can look odd and some may consider it a time-filler, however, in actuality, it's a key part of training which enables practitioners to visualise, experiment, refine and warm-up.

When you first start out in any full-contact martial art, it's difficult to embrace strikes coming your way without flinching, moving and/or blinking. It's a natural human tendency to want to avoid pain and be hesitant in the face of incoming strikes. Given the frequency of sparring and drilling in Muay Thai training, it's important to condition your mind and body to incoming strikes so you can make the most of such training methods.

This guide assumes you're committed to learning and enjoying Muay Thai and seek advice on what gear you need to get the most out of all your training, along with what equipment you'll need to mitigate and treat injuries.

This article provides guidance based on the assumption that you're either new to Muay Thai and aren't yet sure whether its the sport for you OR you enjoy training Muay Thai but only do so infrequently, with a focus on the fitness aspects without engaging too heavily in sparring.

There are some stylistic approaches you can adopt in your sparring sessions which will broaden your experience and help develop your learning in this way. They'll also force you to think creatively and help you diversify your arsenal. Try them on different sparring partners and adopt the approach which fits into what you're looking to learn/achieve in that sparring session.

Whether your new to Muay Thai or a well-seasoned veteran, going to train at a new gym can be an intimidating and uncomfortable experience at first. Unless your name, skills and experience precede you, it's likely you'll not know many people, if any, and you'll be walking into an environment filled with testosterone, sweat, bravado and even ego.

Your hands and wrists form 2 of the key limbs used in the Art of 8 Limbs. Not only are they integral to effective boxing, they're also crucial components of your blocking and clinching capabilities. Unfortunately, your hands and wrists are two areas in your body made up of numerous, individual bones.

Whether you're new to Muay Thai or looking for a gym to develop new & existing skills, training in the right gym is key to getting the most out of your time & effort. What's right for you will depend on a variety of factors but it's worth first thinking about your goals and how quickly you want to achieve them. For exa

While Muay Thai is widely considered the most effective striking discipline in the world, its reputation often deters many people from practising the sport as they consider it too brutal or likely to involve too much pain. While there is some justification in this, much of the pain arising from contact can be avoided and the benefits Muay Thai brings even the average practitioner are worthwhile and varied.

Over time, all that hard work you put into your Muay Thai training rubs off onto the gear you use. While the materials will weather over a longer period, in the short term it’s easier to notice the transfer of all the various bodily fluids you secrete during training and all the dirt that accumulates on you and your gear from the gym. To maintain your gear, increase its life and keep any pungent odours at bay, you need to clean it thoroughly and frequently.

Your gloves can be a continuous source of pungent odours if you don't take the time to prevent odours building up and rid your gloves of odours when they do arise. Fortunately, it doesn't take a lot of time and there are plenty of methods to help keep your gloves clean and fresh.