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The Thai Pads Are Another Misused Piece Of Muay Thai Equipment - Here's How To Use Them Properly
I see people doing thai pad training the way it has been commonly taught in the west. Most of the time it is effective muay thai training although there are some points that are missing that the Thai's do all the time.
As I keep saying, the Thai's have been doing muay thai for a long time...they do things their way for a reason. Instead of trying to take bits and pieces of what they have to offer and mix it in with our previous knowledge, try taking on everything and discarding what doesn't work for you. People like to quote Bruce Lee when he said "Take what is useful, discard what doesn't work, and add what is uniquely your own".
They take this as meaning that they listen to what they think works and not try new ways of doing things, like the way the Thai's hold their hands. I still see westerners teaching "muay thai" where they have their hands palms in on their cheek bones.
Remember that Bruce Lee also said "to learn something new you have to first empty your cup so that you can put new water in it". The first Bruce Lee saying was something that he made up a few decades ago, the other is a centuries old Taoist proverb.
Which one should you listen to first?
Let get on to the muay thai pads shall we?
The thai pads are rectangular box shaped foam covered with leather and with straps running along one face to attach them to the inner forearms. The pad holder holds them singularly or together for the fighter to strike with punches, kicks, knees, and elbows.
They are one of the most versatile pieces of muay thai equipment and are so popular these days that many different martial arts have incorporated them into their boxes of tools.
They are tough enough and are positioned on a part of the body which allows the fighter to throw full power techniques at his partner whilst the pad holder is free to move around like an opponent. This creates the most realistic fighting experience for the fighter without actually getting into the ring. Even sparring doesn't match with thai pad work because you can't usually go so hard against a sparring partner.
They are so crucial to muay thai practice that many gyms that don't have much equipment only use thai pads. I have been to many muay thai schools where all they had to practice at was an old hall or park. The students just turned up with their own thai pads and started training. They had some very good fighters too.
Some time ago when Thailand wasn't as open to foreign fighters as it is now, countries like America and Australia went to the second best country in muay thai which is Holland. They wanted to know what their training techniques were and found out that they mainly did partner work with thai pads.
So as you can see there is a reason why my favorite muay thai training tool is the most popular everywhere. The thai pads work magically for almost anything to do with muay thai training. kept the two in competition to a certain degree with clinch techniques or stand-up grappling.
