Padwork classes are a chance to learn new techniques as well as practice old ones. They are also a good place to work on fitness in an atmosphere that accommodates for students of all levels, those new to the sport or those with more experience, those looking to get in shape in a fun way and those looking to one day compete.
A typical padwork class at the warrior academy involves a mix of rounds on the pads and fitness work on and off the pads.
Typically a class starts with a full warm up, followed by some kicking practice on the pads. This gets you warm, flexible and keeps one of the fundamental techniques sharp.
After the kicking practice, rounds of padwork begin. These involve putting combinations together to make students more familiar with classic combinations used in the ring as well as making students work on their footwork, balance and technique. Padwork involves some defence drills as well as attack drills and is physically demanding pushing the fitness of students as they improve technically.
The last quarter of the class is usually dedicated purely to improving and testing the fitness of students. This is done to provide them with the level of cardio they would need to compete as well as helping get students in shape and stronger. Emphasis is put on cardio and core strength as these are important aspects of thaiboxing.
To finish with the class always stretches in full. Stretches are done not just to relieve aches and pains but also to improve flexibility for kicking and punching.
Padwork classes take place Mondays 6-7pm at Fit Guru Gym, 117 Twerton High Street, Bath. They are a great way to get fit in a friendly atmosphere. All levels are welcome from complete beginner to experienced fighter.
The next article will detail a typical sparring class with the Warrior Academy (Wednesdays 6-7pm at Fit Guru)
The Differences Between Thaiboxing and Other Martial Arts:
Thaiboxing is a “hard” martial art, meaning it involves strikes and other techniques that apply force to an opponent. This separates thaiboxing from the non-forceful martial arts such as Tai Chi. There are lots of hard martial arts (for example kickboxing, karate, judo) and there are further differences that separate thaiboxing from these other styles.
First of all, thaiboxing is a competitive sport. Lots of other martial arts are sports but many are not, such as Aikedo, Japanese JuJitsu and Krav Maga. The sport aspect means that thaiboxing has rules, competitions and involves a level of fitness as fighters train based on the knowledge that their opponent has also trained for the fight.
The rules of thaiboxing are what separate it most from other sport martial arts. Thaiboxing is a striking martial art, like boxing or kickboxing and fights take place standing. This is different to the grappling arts such as Judo or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In thaiboxing fighters may strike with their hands, feet, knees and elbows, whereas in boxing a fighter can only punch and in kickboxing/tae kwon du fighters can punch and kick but not elbow or knee.
Furthermore, in the other main striking styles fighters are not allowed to strike the legs or grapple at all. In thaiboxing both of these are allowed and are seen very frequently. Fighters kick and knee the legs of their opponents and are allowed to strike whilst grappling so long as the fight remains standing.
Because Thaiboxing is more varied in its targets and attacks than the other striking styles and involves an element of grappling it is seen by a lot of Mixed Martial Artists as the most effective form of striking for MMA. This is evident in almost all MMA fights at the top level.
At the Warrior Academy students are taught the techniques that are allowed and are effective in the sport of thaiboxing. In sparring classes (Wednesdays 6-7pm at Fit Guru Gym) students get to practice these techniques in a controlled environment and test themselves against other students.
The next article will detail a typical Padwork class with the Warrior Academy (Mondays 6-7pm at Fit Guru Gym).
An introduction to Thaiboxing – April 24th
“Thaiboxing” or “Muay Thai” is the national sport of Thailand, it is both a martial art and a sport and is growing more and more popular by the day.
Thaiboxing involves a number of techniques not often seen in other sport martial arts, most notably the use of elbows, knees strikes and stand up grappling or “clinching”. Practitioners learn techniques that allow them to effectively use both their fists, feet, elbows and knees to strike their opponent, it is for this reason that thaiboxing is often called the “science of eight limbs”.
Training thaiboxing leads a student through a lot of different aspects. Training involves a large amount of conditioning and fitness work as well as technique drills and flexibility training. This is a result of the sport side of thaiboxing. Practitioners must be able to compete over 5 rounds each lasting 5 minutes so stamina is of huge importance. Fighters must also possess the muscular strength and endurance to perform effective techniques in the late stages of a fight. Finally, on top of all this fighters must also perfect the attacks and defences they will need to be able to challenge another trained fighter. All this means a typical class of thaiboxing covers a lot of bases and offers a lot of variation.
At the Warrior Academy we offer thaiboxing classes in a friendly yet serious environment. Classes are split into separate padwork and sparring classes so students can study thaiboxing without having to do any of the contact work until they have learnt the necessary techniques and are comfortable and confident to try sparring. All classes are great for building fitness, learning effective self-defence and perfecting skills. Thaiboxing classes are taught at Fit Guru Gym, 117 Twerton High Street, Bath on Mondays (Padwork) and Wednesdays (Sparring) from 6-7pm.
These articles will serve to explain what thaiboxing is, what you can expect to learn at classes through the Warrior Academy and how training can be supplemented outside classes.
The next article will explain what the differences are between thaiboxing and other martial arts such as kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do and where it fits in to the mixed martial arts (MMA) movement.
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Thai Boxing Courses in September!
Starting in September Warrior Thai Boxing will be running 6 week beginners courses in Thai Boxing at a new venue, Fit Guru, on Twerton High Street. (Click here for a map)
These courses will cover all the fundamental techniques of Thai Boxing as well as including a full fitness and conditioning aspect. Classes are open to all levels, absolute beginners, those with previous experience in other martial arts and people currently training Thai Boxing looking to improve their fundamentals. The classes will be run as a structured course in a friendly and supportive environment.
Courses are run separately for men and women with the women’s class starting Monday 5th September and men’s starting Wednesday 7th September and running for 6 weeks. Class times are 6pm-7pm and a 6 week course costs only £35.
Places must be booked in advance as there are limited numbers.
Contact Warrior Thai Boxing Instructor Sam Lewis on 07875723167, email me at slewis96@hotmail.co.uk or message me on facebook.
English Championships 20th March 2011
Warrior Thai Boxing are entering the following fighters for the English Kick-boxing championships:
Amir – Bath
John – Bath
Grant – Bath
Dan – Bath
Carl – Warminster
Chester – Warminster
Mitchell – Warminster
Some clips from our boys in Bath Thai Boxing club.
One on One – Kids and Adults!
The main Instructor Sebastian Bates (several time British Champion, fully qualified Personal Trainer, second degree black belt and full contact fighter) not only teaches Martial Arts to up to 200 different students per week in 4 different counties, but also spends time on one on one classes with children and adults!
We even offer Parents and kids packages where mums/dads can learn alongside their kids and get a great workout!
The sessions speed up the learning process for the children and are based around our main teaching principles (confidence, perseverance, determination, self control, discipline, respect, the importance of a healthy lifestyle). The sessions are great fun and parents are encouraged to watch for themselves the development of their children both physically and mentally!
NOT just for adults!
Not only are we training adults to fight in national competitions and in full contact fights…we currently teach at 4 primary schools! The sessions are great fun and teach all of our core values, such as confidence, perseverance, determination, respect, self-control and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle!
Rode, Methodist First School – 7 week Young Warrior Martial Arts Course
Frome, Hayesdown First School – 6 week Young Warrior Martial Arts Course
Bath, The Studio – 6 week Thai Boxing Course (Women only)
Bath, Culverhay School – 6 week Thai Boxing Course
Bridgewater, Woolavington Primary School – Martial Arts Seminars in January
London, St Thomas More RC Primary School – Martial Arts Seminars in January
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The latest video!
6th December 2010
Thai Boxers of Bath – Check out your latest sparring video. I will be uploading these now and again for you to check your form and technique and to allow you to physically see your progression as you go along in the training. I want you to look for how you could improve your defence/offence in each of clips – take a look at the more experienced guys and see how they attack and defend. Good work, keep it up.
A typical day in a Muay Thai boxing camp .
I spent June and July of 2010 in Thai Boxing camps in Thailand – in the mountains in northern Thailand outside the city of Chang Mai and in the South on the island of Phuket. Both training camps were very different and added a variety of experiences to the training.
6 am – A typical day in the North of Thailand would start – waking up in a budget guest house which was replaced soon by a boxing ring and a towel to save money for the training fees. I would then go straight to the camp with my only shoes on and go for a 6 mile run with the other Thai boxers who were made up mostly of local Thai Fighters, but you could find the odd western fighter looking to get a major detox and improve their game in the ring. The run would cover roads and tracks with quite a few hills with the aim of improving the endurance a fighter needs to last the rounds in the ring constantly moving on his legs, most fighters would shadow box as they ran.
By 7 am I would go directly to the market to haggle for some fresh fruit – bargaining the prices from 50p to 20p per kg, I would eat around 1kg of fruit while chatting to the locals and then jog to the camp again.
By 8 am I would be in the camp with the other fighters and would spend a good hour on my own shadow boxing in front of a large mirror, checking form, going over and over the basics, referring to the punch bag for distancing with techniques.
By 9 am hand wraps were going on and id refuel with some electrolyte powder mixed with water. I spent the time from 9 am to 10 am working on the punch bag practicing basics again – back kicks, teeps, front kicks, building up power gradually.
By 10 am I would be focusing on strength training, dumbbell work, plyometric work, loads of bodyweight exercises; one legged squats, clap push-ups, a high amount of work was aimed at strengthening the core, leg raises, stability work etc. It was around 30 degrees heat everyday so we would train only in Thai Boxing shorts and maybe a t shirt/vest and even then at least once a day I would almost pass out and need to lie down and stock up on water/sugar. The Thai fighters were totally accustomed to the heat, but it’s a different story for westerners.
11 am to 3 pm I would rest, go into town, grab some food, take a look around and then try and get around 2 hours sleep before the afternoon training which was a bit more intense then the mornings.
3 pm would be the start of afternoon training. We would start the session with 10 minutes skipping and then again with another hour of shadow boxing, just like the morning, focusing on basics, we would also be developing the more advanced techniques, higher kicks, elbows, combinations.
4 pm – By this time I was warm and ready to continue hit the pads, we would do several rounds with 1 minute rests of one on one pad work, mixing in combinations. The rounds would last 3-5 minutes. Probably the hardest part of the day, one hell of a workout and the trainers were just relentless. Development of both offensive and defensive technique was the aim and the Thai trainers would throw low kicks constantly to test reactions/checks/blocks etc.
5 pm I would go back to the punch bags and practice more advance techniques, mixing it up with some strength work. A lot of teeps and back kicks developing strength and endurance but mostly technique. We would stick the pads on and do a good hour of sparring. Hands only, legs only, hands and legs etc practicing various combinations against different sized fighters, eventually we would go straight into full contact fighting often ending in split eyebrows, bumps sticking out of the body like extra limbs a lot of bloody noses and a ton of bruises. The pads were all communal with a nice mixture of 30 degree heat, a load of Thai fighters and 8 hours training a day for the last 20 years with no sign of a washing machine, the funny thing is no one thought to complain but in bubble-wrapped England it’s a different story. Around 10 minutes at the end of the day was spent talking to the “First Aid specialist” who was a Thai gardener who used only the plants she had in her garden to reduce swelling, stop the blood, healing infection etc.
6 pm we would spend a good hour stretching, shadow boxing again and cooling down from the day’s work, going over technique in slow motion.
7 pm I would go for a huge meal with a load of meat.
9 pm Fast asleep.
6 week Thai Boxing Course
The fantastic 6 week courses running in Bath and Warminster from the 8th and 6th of January and finishing around mid Febuary will entitle all the students to become members in the Warrior Thai Boxing Club. Keep watching the blog for more information and some training tips!
Warrior Thai Boxing will be leading the way for Martial Arts in Warminster and Martial Arts in Bath.
Warrior Thai Boxing 