I saw this list this morning on my friend, Aaron Chatfields’ facebook status, basically breaking down the job description of what it is to be a fighter.
• Extreme physical labour
• Restricted diet
• Mental hardship
• Stress
• Risk of injury
• Exhaustion
• Sleep deprivation
• Depression
• Lack of money
• Extreme working conditions
• Public critique
• Loneliness
…..all for the moment you have your hand raised

Do you really have what it takes to be a fighter?
Being a fighter has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world. Health and Safety would have a field day if they had to do a ‘work-place assessment’ of working conditions and managerial expectations.
….But this is what we do.
All of these traits above are used, in some form or another, to punish crime, and most are even used as hard line interrogation techniques (allegedly)

So, what is it that people find so alluring about training as a fighter?
For me it is that rollercoaster of emotions. You are either riding high on cloud-9 after a win, feeling on top of the world….. Or you are at the depths of depression feeling so low. I think the enjoyment and excitement of putting everything on the line is what keeps fighters coming back to the ring.

Testing themselves
Testing their metal
Testing their tenacity
Testing their physical capabilities
A fighter is essentially, ultimately vulnerable to really show their skills and back up any statement they are willing to make. Maybe this is why most good fighters tend to be quiet, softly spoken, humble and polite. They recognize their frailties and have also been to very dark-places (mentally) during fight preparation to appreciate the nicer things in life.
Which brings me to my closing thoughts on this matter, I am reminded of one of my favourite poems. IF by Rudyard Kipling:

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

So, you have been training muay thai for a few weeks/months and you have been to your first show. You have seen how the guys from your gym have performed in the ring and you are thinking that you want to fight…..

What exactly are you signing up for?

I think it is important that the guys and girls who train, and want to take it to the next level, know that there is a whole host of preparation that goes on in the background before fighters climb in to that ring.

1. Fitness
2. Diet
3. Technique
4. Sparring
5. Mind

Fitness
For fight training, you should be taking things ‘to the next level’
There is no 1-exercise routine that will give you that extra advantage. There is a particular synergy when you mix some of these killer exercises:
• Kettlebells
• Olympic lifts
• Bodyweight conditioning
• Interval training/ Tabata’s
• Hill sprints

….On top of increasing the intensity of the pad work routines with the more advanced fighters.

Mixing your training up, with early morning runs can boost your metabolism twice in the same 24hrs. This is where a lot of old-skool fighters see their benefit, even though there are now smarter ways around sports specific fitness training.

Diet
As fights are matched in particular weight categories, your coach will tell you what weight you should be competing at. This will normally draw a shocked response from the newbie fighter as it will have been several years since they were that weight (certainly for adults).
For the record, I don’t condone weight-loss or weight cutting for under 16’s.
In my e-book, available on www.mindbodydiet.co.uk, I discuss more of the concepts around planning your diet and the mental thought processes which will help people lose weight.

Technique
As a rule, I say the best strategy for a fighter to adopt is to utilise your most effective techniques, essentially making your strengths even stronger. This is why particular fighters get renowned for certain techniques because they have a ‘special skill’. This doesn’t mean the fighters turn in to ‘one-trick-ponys’, it means they are super sharp. They will also always be looking to strengthening their weaknesses and building that repertoire of skills.
For instance, my team mate at Bad Company is Liam Harrison. He is known for his left hook and low kicks, but as I spar with him all the time I can tell you he is one of the most rounded technical fighters I know.

Sparring
If you are preparing to fight, then you need to be able to keep your technique even when you are being hit back. Some fighters can be the most technical guys in the gym, but if they cannot stick to the game plan when they are under attacks (and counter attacks) then this ‘slick technique’ can be a superficial.
Fight training sparring, means that there is no rest between rounds, and the level of contact can be increased from 30-50% power up to 60-80% power. This builds up the fitness, technique and conditioning, and gets fighters thinking in real-time, while also experiencing real-time consequences.
This experience builds confidence and mental tenacity, knowing that you can still stick to the game plan even when being punched and kicked!

Mind
One of the key services that most fighters are using now, are the mind-coaching skills of some of the mind coaching professionals around the fight circuit.
There is a “Fighters Mind” professional close to you. If not, I am sure they would be willing to travel to deliver seminars or a series of one-to-one coaching sessions if there’s a group. The key professionals are:
• Lancashire/Manchester – Vinny Shoreman – 07955 439 234 vshoreman@hotmail.com
• Yorkshire/ Leeds & York – Rich Cadden – 07887 812 139 rich@starmindcoaching.co.uk
• South/ Redbridge – Alan Whitton – 07903 713 234 info@westessexhypnotherapy.co.uk
• South/ Hampshire – Gary Turner – 07879 624 646 gary@garyturner.co.uk

Even when you have slogged your guts out in the gym, there can still be that negative nagging voice in the back of your mind, questioning your abilities, shaking confidence or even just coping with stress of the event….all manner of issues.
Despite the big-name fighters having this performance development service, this isn’t just for the elite. I personally have helped most of the new fighters coming through the ranks at Chokdee and the success speaks for itself.

One of the things that I hear people saying is that they love hitting pads….while also adding in that they hate holding pads. What most people miss is the learning opportunities that you can glean from holding pads.

NEWS FLASH – PAD WORK IS NOT A PASSIVE PROCESS

Pad work should almost be the same as sparring, with the hitter unleashing their techniques at 100%, but the pad holder isn’t just waiting to be hit. This is an interactive blend. This is why experienced fighters make better pad men.

So what should the pad man be focussing on?
Here are my top 5 tips for pad holding.

1. Footwork
2. Balance
3. Noticing opportunities/counters
4. Flow
5. Work rate

Footwork
One of the fundamental skills of a true nak-muay is in the footwork they use around the ring. This is an ideal time to practice your own footwork and ring craft, knowing how to move about the ring and utilise the space to your advantage.
This is one of the reasons why it isn’t important to have a ring, so that you do not start being lazy, relying on the ring ropes to bounce off, and it forces you move correctly.

Balance
As a pad-holder sometimes I like to test my balance and see if I can stand on one leg while the hitter is hitting the pads. This develops my own core stability, and the avid readers of this site, and the class attendees, will know how important that is in muay thai scoring.

Noticing opportunities/counters
And leading on from the last point about balance, if you have more time after the pads have been hit, you will notice when the hitter over-commits/telegraphs or falls off balance. As the pad-holder, it is your duty to capitalise on these mistakes and counter back by either slapping with the flat of the pad or kicking back with good technique.

Flow
As the hitter is hitting the pads you will notice a particular tempo that they pick up. Beginners can be quite static and wait to be told things, whereas the more advanced guys are bouncing techniques back and forth. The pad holder can be throwing kicks while the hitter is blocking or catching, and the pad holder can then offer another counter opportunity. Its this to-and-fro which makes pad work enjoyable, and this is a trait than can be carried over in to sparring. This should lend itself to learning to keep your balance, predicting where counters are coming from and being able to evade/block while still thinking 2/3/4 moves ahead.
Eg
If I throw this and he blocks, then he is more than likely to counter with this technique so I can trump his counter with this.
This to-and-fro shows how these legends from Thailand train and are able to stay in the trading pocket and not show pain/tiredness, as their mind is already thinking about the next few moves.

Work rate
One of the beautiful things about pad work is that you can simulate the intensity of competition and push the pace hard in the opening rounds so that the hitters can be carried in to unconscious learning and automatic reaction learning stages a lot sooner.
A personal favourite of mine is starting and ending every round with 10-kicks on both sides.

So, in short, make the most of your time when holding pads and see what you can notice about your training partners. See how you can serve them best to improve their technique, because if their technique improves, so will yours.

Also as a side note:
Thai pads are multi-level foam packed shields designed to withstand impact shocks from kicks, knees, punches and elbows.
They are designed to withstand impact…..
As the person hitting the pads, I take that as a challenge.
Next time you hit the pads, see if you can break them