7 Key Points to Improve Your Muay Thai Training Skills That Not Every Trainer Will Tell You

Sparring can be overwhelming at first. Going from hitting with a pad or a heavy bag (neither of which is counter-punching) to a real person trying to disrupt your training and impose their will on you is quite different. It’s a good challenge to really start to understand how to apply your Muay Thai in a live setting, and it also helps you develop your own style. After all, whenever you spar, you’re improving your technique and complementing all those hours of jumping rope, running, and training. Plus, you’ll get a much better idea of ​​timing and distance, and you’ll gain the skills you need for a real fight.

Whether you are new to training or have been training for a while and simply want to improve your current skills, here are 7 ways any athlete can improve their Muay Thai training skills.

1) Be creative and try new combinations

When you first start training, you should focus on getting all the basic techniques right before moving on to more advanced techniques. However, that doesn’t mean you should keep attacking with the same combos. Instead, why not mix and match your basic techniques to form new combinations?

In addition to keeping your partner guessing, combining moves will allow you to perform different combinations and think quickly. As a result, you will learn to adapt to any situation and become unpredictable in a fight.

2) Use practical exercises

A great way to improve your sparring skills is to engage in practice drills with a partner. There are tons of practice drills and you will start to successfully perform many moves, strikes, defenses, etc. with a real partner.

You can create drills for any type of skill you want to hone and develop. Isolating a single skill will help you succeed and teach your body how to move so you can easily incorporate that skill into your actual sparring. Some example drills you can easily set up with a partner:

Slipping: If you want to learn how to slip a punch, this is an easy drill to do that will help you get the repetitions you need to be successful. One partner is isolated to perform a straight punch or a cross punch. The other partner attempts to slip the punch with good technique, then follows up with any combination of punches on their partner. This allows the partner to perform a series of slips, as well as begin to learn how to incorporate follow-up punches on their partner.
Teeps: If you’re just starting to learn how to time and apply your teeps, this simple drill is great. One partner will lightly strike the other partner, eventually launching a leg kick back at them. The receiving partner in this drill is trying not to overreact to the strikes coming their way, as well as learning to see the leg kick in time to launch a teep. If the receiving partner has trouble seeing the kick coming, the offering partner can always slow the kick down and then speed it back up as their partner becomes more successful.
Pre-determined, live, set-up drills are one of the best ways to improve your Muay Thai sparring skills. These two drills are beginner-friendly examples, but you can create your own drills like these at any level of training. They can be as simple or as complex as you want, but the ultimate goal is to provide the opportunity to get a series of successful repetitions of skills that will be used in a live setting.

3) Don't be afraid to spar with different people

While it can be intimidating to spar with people you've never sparred with before, it's completely worth it. When you change your sparring partners, you're actually allowing yourself to react, adapt, and respond to different fighting styles.

Plus, you'll learn more from people at a higher level - so don't be afraid to pair up with them. In fact, you should take chances and step out of your comfort zone. After all, facing your fears and overcoming them will make you stronger.

 

4) Safety first

And perhaps the most important piece of advice for beginners before your first training session is to always put safety first. Yes, training sessions are meant to simulate the complex ups and downs of real-world combat. But it’s important that training is conducted in a safe and controlled environment. This is important because you want to make sure that both you and your training partner are free to practice techniques together.

Always make sure you are wearing the right safety gear and that your workouts are supervised by coaches and instructors. There should always be someone watching what is going on so they can guide you. They can see things from a different perspective and can advise you whether to back off a bit or push harder.

 

5) Have fun!

All of us at PTS KickFitness believe that this is the most important thing to keep in mind when you train. After all, sparring should be a fun way for you to learn how to use the techniques you learn in class and improve your skills.

 Finally, it is important to always respect your sparring partner and not treat them like a punching bag – you are all there for the same reason: to learn, grow, and become a better fighter.

6) Always imagine an opponent

You won't always have a partner to work out with. Sometimes you need to work out on your own with a heavy punching bag or shadowbox. Whether you're at the gym, at home, or traveling in a hotel room, you can improve your sparring skills by adding a mental element to your workouts.

When you shadowbox or hit a heavy bag, imagine you have an opponent right in front of you. It's easy to throw 50 punches in a row to a bag, but that doesn't always translate into a sparring session when your opponent is moving and attacking and making you move too.

When you practice on the bag, imagine them throwing punches at you. Add in your footwork and head movement. Apply pressure to the bag and then find some range. Defend and counter an imaginary kick that is coming your way. Just because you don’t have a real opponent or sparring partner in front of you doesn’t mean you can’t improve your sparring skills during this time.

Next time you accidentally hit the bag, choose to focus your mind instead of having a real opponent in front of you. You will create a more realistic round for yourself on the bag and improve your sparring skills as well.

6) Observe others

One way to really improve your sparring skills is to spend time watching other people who are more skilled than you. Watch how they move and how they attack. Watch their stance and how they react when they are hit or swept. Notice how hard or soft they hit. Watch them explore different skills, even ones they are not yet good at.

Watching others is a great way to get a feel for the atmosphere and expectations at your gym, and also to see the practical application of all the skills you’ve been practicing on the punching bag or pads with your coach or training partner. If you’re a visual learner, it’s also a great way to see techniques you might want to implement yourself, or to notice certain athletes whose playstyles look similar to yours or that you might want to emulate.

If you want to improve your sparring skills, spend some time watching others. Watching others in the gym is also a great way to improve your sparring skills while you are injured and unable to train. Injury doesn’t have to mean a halt in your learning.

Improve your Muay Thai sparring skills!

There are many great and practical ways to improve your sparring skills. Whether you have a sparring partner who can do some live drills, set up with you, or practice solo on a punching bag or shadow boxing, you can definitely improve your skills. Furthermore, even during times when you are injured or unable to train for whatever reason, going to watch and observe others train will definitely help you improve your own training skills.

If you don't know what Muay Thai workouts are or if you're looking to improve your Muay Thai training skills, consider PTS KickFitness' Muay Thai Workout Series: Workouts, an in-depth online video workout series created by champions/trainers with over 20 years of competition and nutrition plans for each weight class.

In this Muay Thai Workout Series, beginners will learn how to apply basic techniques while advanced practitioners will learn how to strengthen their weaknesses and apply various fighting strategies. No detail is left untouched as PTS KickFitness MMA’s Muay Thai World Champions break down the sparring drills they use to hone their tools and prepare for fights. Learn how different sparring drills can develop specific body parts!

Nhận Chuỗi bài tập Muay Thái: Bài tập đối kháng ngay hôm nay!