Khun Kao's Fight Training Regimen

Discussion in 'Thai Boxing' started by Khun Kao, Jul 12, 2003.

  1. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    Hi everyone....

    I recently took a group of fighters to Virginia Beach, VA to compete in an amateur Muay Thai & MMA event. Though none of my fighters won (I'm *still* bitter about that!), I have received NUMEROUS requests for information regarding my Fight Training Regimen.

    For those of you who don't know me yet, I have a habit of recording EVERYTHING that I do with my Muay Thai classes and our training. I go to every single class with a written lesson plan, often "mapped out" down to the minute.

    That being the case, I've compiled my entire Fight Training Regimen into a single document, beginning with two different course outlines, and followed by every single workout we did in preparation for the event. I've included a few comments in the document regarding what I feel was, or was not, effective.

    So, without further ado, here is the link to the online version.

    http://stickgrappler2.tripod.com/kbox/kkregimen.html

    Apologies in advance for the lack of spacing between paragraphs and sections. We expect to have that corrected in the coming weeks.

    I would appreciate any comments, discussion, critiques, suggestions, or feedback anyone cares to offer. I may have a number of years of experience in Muay Thai, and accomplished a number of things, but I'm still relatively new to coaching a fight team.

    Kob Khun Krab!

    Kru Brooks (Khun Kao)
     
  2. Yin and Yang

    Yin and Yang Valued Member

    One word...wow. That is really awesome that you wrote all of this down. I am not really familiar with Muay Thai, I do Kung Fu, but I recognize many of the strikes, kick, and other things you wrote down. However some I can not even think of their meaning. I havent finished the entire document, but I will.
    -X
     
  3. Jay

    Jay New Member

    At first glance .... WOW !!!

    I've printed it off to study tomorrow ... while I should be working :D

    Jay
     
  4. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

    Thanks!

    Khun Kao
     
  5. Bon

    Bon Banned Banned

    I have very limited experience & knowledge... but, I'll offer my thoughts anyway.

    What's neck wrestling? I see a lot of time being spent on that, does it transfer over to fighting?

    I like the Boxing vs. Kicking, very good idea I think. Maybe always follow that up with boxing & kicking? Once you go from being limited to not being limited, things seem to flow a bit better I think.

    Why'd you wait so long to work on strategy? Shouldn't that be one of the first things you work out so you can then set about training so you can employ your strategy?
     
  6. YODA

    YODA The Woofing Admin Supporter

    Bon: Neck wrestling = fighting for the Thai clinch - the "plum".
     
  7. Grifter

    Grifter Edited by White Wizard

    i also have limited knowledge but was wondering why when it comes to the sparring. You go from boxing only to kicking only to boxing vs. kicking and eventually to elbows. vs. boxing or kicking. so i was wondering why dont you have your fighters spar using boxing,kicking,elbows,knees all at the same time?? Also what is Ram Muay??
     
  8. SoKKlab

    SoKKlab The Cwtch of Death!

    Grifter,
    A Ram Muay is a part of the Wai Khruu.
    It is a Pre-Fight dance ritual to honour your teacher (Wai Khruu-Bow or offer Respect to, Khruu-Teacher) and to help protect the fighter by invoking certain forces to keep from serious harm.

    The Ram Muay is literally the trance-like dance movements before the fight commences. In older times each training camp and or region of Siam/ Thailand would do their own unique Ram Muay (Fight Dance), so that an observer could see where the fighter originated from and who his teacher was.

    The Movements have both practical and semi-mystical meanings.
     
  9. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    Thanks SoKKlab...

    He is very right. Our gym actually practices three different Ram Muays, and are in the process of learning a few more. The reason for the number of Ram Muays is because we instructors have trained under a number of different instructors and/or camps. We practice each of the Ram Muays in honor of the different styles/schools of Muay Thai that we have training in.

    Grifter...

    I have to point out that even though I made note of the Kicking Only, Boxing Only, Boxing vs. Kicking, etc, etc, etc. We also did spar using all techniques. For some reason I just didn't make note of it in my written lesson plans. Basically, I wanted to make note on my plans of the SPECIALTY training we were doing during sparring, but did not note the regular free-sparring.

    Khun Kao
     
  10. Grifter

    Grifter Edited by White Wizard

    oh I see. Thanks khun Kao and Sokklab
     
  11. thiaboxr2

    thiaboxr2 New Member

    I also printed out the regimen. Very impressive. I noticed the classes lasted anywhere from 1 1/2 hours up to three hours. Seems standard for most schools in our area.
    I really do not see a problem with the training. Respectfully, of course, how much experience do your fighters have? Have they fought before in other competitions? Sometimes being new to competitions, fighters get a little nervous performing in front of a large crowd, throws their concentration off a bit.
    I do not see overtraining as a problem. What about the conditioning of your fighters? Are thier endurance levels up to par for competing? Seeing the regimen I would hope so.
    I notice you also go through 5 rounds of fighters choice. Would that be against pads or just shadow boxing? I also noticed that you do a little bit of everything during training. Ever thought about deviding the training into specific areas of defense/offense? For example, upperbody defense and offense on one day. your next day would be lowerbody defense and offense...
    Just a few things to ponder. Good luck on your future competition. By the way, my school was probably at the competition also. I do not know how they did, though.
     
  12. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    Thaiboxer2...

    EXPERIENCE:
    I had 3 fighters participate. My first fighter was competing in his first fight ever. He has 1 years training experience. My second fighter was participating in his first MMA match. He has fought in 2 kickboxing matches, and a few grappling tourneys, and is the current instructor of BJJ at the school where I teach and train. My 3rd fighter has about 8 years total training experience, and this was his 6th kickboxing match.

    In the case of the first two fighters, inexperience (overall) was probably a key factor. In the case of my 3rd fighter however, for some reason he was not mentally prepared.

    The conditioning of all three was good overall, but I realize that it needs more attention in our training as it contributed a bit to the first & third fighters losses. Our first fighter completely ran out of steam at the end of the 2nd round, our 3rd fighter was just never quite in the condition that I wanted him to get in.

    The "Fighters Choice" was for shadowboxing, not choice of drills in general. You'll see that non-fighters were given specific shadowboxing drills to work on, but fighters should not need that.

    "Ever thought about deviding the training into specific areas of defense/offense?"

    Actually, that is one of the changes I am seriously considering making. Covering a little bit of everything each day has its benefits, providing you have the available time. But because of the short length of many of my training sessions, this isn't possible and I believe that I should narrow my focus on these days.

    Thanks for your responses!!!

    Kru Brooks (Khun Kao)
     
  13. Bon

    Bon Banned Banned

    Thanks, YODA. :)
     
  14. SoKKlab

    SoKKlab The Cwtch of Death!

    I'm Just wondering how I could feed/clothe/job myself over in Virginia with Khun Kao..Hmmm. :)

    Khun Kao your fighters are lucky to have you.
     
  15. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    SoKKlab...

    I'll let you know when my wife and I have a house, so that we can rent out the garage to you or something, LOL!!!

    If you're ever stateside, please contact me and come train! We have a blast!

    Khun Kao
     
  16. SoKKlab

    SoKKlab The Cwtch of Death!

    I'd love to KK. But Money says not, unfortunately, at present.

    I've only been over to the States on business once, that was LA.
    Have some family somewhere in Virginia, never met them, more's the pity, otherwise I'd be staying in their garage about now.

    How much time do you give to teaching the more Muay Boran style stuff, as opposed to the 'Ring-Distilled' Modern Muay Thai?

    Over here in the UK it's diffcult to find a decent school, mostly totally Sport-orientated, which is fine, but sometimes alot of the Traditional techniques get neglected or not taught at all.

    My first Muay Thai teacher always taught stuff right across the board and stressed the whole approach to the Art.

    Do you teach the entire syllabus of the first book that Jay posted, as equal parts?

    Or do you find yourself dwelling more upon certain core techniques more than others?
     
  17. Khun Kao

    Khun Kao Valued Member

    I actually teach only modern day ring Muay Thai, as that is all that I have been officially trained in. The little bit that I do know of Muay Thai Boran (Muay Boran) is more in training methods rather than actual non-ring Muay Thai techniques.

    There are a number of cross-over techniques that I have picked up between the two styles. Predominantly in approach to training. For instance, going to a mix of padwork and partner work. There are a lot of drills where I have my students actually beat on each other as opposed to the Thai pads to raise their pain threshold and condition their bodies.

    I've also picked up a philosophy of attack that I attribute to being more Muay Boran than what I learned in regards to ring Muay Thai. The philosophy of attack is one where rather than using your angle of attack and combinations to create an opening, you simply attack your opponents guard HARD to hurt it, which will then begin to create its own openings. I'm sure that there are ring Muay Thai gyms that use this approach also, but I had not trained that style.

    There are also a lot of HARD blocks that I picked up that I attribute to Muay Boran. In this style of blocking, you condition your shins, knees, elbows, and forearms to be especially tough to attack your opponents weapons as he attacks you.

    As you can see, almost everything that I have trained in, and even the Muay Boran influenced material I've learned, has been almost entirely from the perspective of ring Muay Thai. That is all I teach because that is all that I have actually been trained in and certified to teach. However, I try to pick up any little tidbits that I can and try to apply them to my own teaching.

    Many of the techniques in the book are things that I teach, though they may not look exactly the same. Because my focus is on ring Muay Thai, there are a number of techniques that I do NOT teach, like the Diving Punch and the Flying Headbutt. Also the leg and arm breaks are not taught, and the Spin Kicks.

    I do tend to stick with certain CORE techniques as you ask. I have a tendancy to stick to the Basic Punches (Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut), the Horizontal Elbow Strike, Fowards Spike Elbows, Straight Knee, Curve Knee, Side Knee, Basic Push Kicks, and basic Round Kicks. I always return to the simplest variations of the above strikes in my teaching.

    I do depart from these techniques from time to time to teach different variations of them. Especially varying elbows and varying kicking angles (push kick AND round kick). I also show a couple of different ways to throw the straight knee.

    Khun Kao
     
  18. SoKKlab

    SoKKlab The Cwtch of Death!

    Thanks for answering KK,

    I am very much of The Muay Boran school. People are always complaining how hard my elbows, shins etc are when they try to attack me! :)

    I feel that my needs have changed now from a more Sporting perspective. I am geared towards the Limb Destructions and the more brutal aspects of the art. Looking to stop attacks ASAP, not neccessarily partake in an exchange of blows as a Fair and Legal fight.

    Your camp sounds like a really good one and I'm pleased that you have provided so much detail, like I say they are lucky to have a teacher who pays so much attention to detail and knows his stuff.

    Good Luck and if I'm ever in Virginia....
     
  19. Jack

    Jack Valued Member

    SoKKlab, could you maybe tell me about your former and current training? Knock me out with details if you'd like. :)

    Jack
     
  20. nicolo

    nicolo Valued Member

    about knees...

    Khunkao,

    In regards to knees, how exactly are flying knees executed? I read in your articles on the stickgrappler site about it.
    I try executed them but could never achieve proper mechanics and height.
     

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