Thai Style Repetition Work

Enriko davidson

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When I was in Thailand a few years ago I noticed something you don't see as much of in the US and thats repetition work with roundhouse kicks, knees, teeps and punches. Fighters spammed out hundreds of them. Since then I've watched a lot of Thai's train on YouTube and I've always been interested in that type of training but never found any English speaking people break it down and explain the reasoning behind them.

I was wondering if some of you more experienced guys on here could break down in detail why fighters do it, how much they tend to do a day and all the benefits. I know it helps sharpen up the kicks but I'm sure there is a lot more benefits to them since every camp swears by it. I wonder what effect it has on balance and if that is one reason among others why Thai's have such good balance.

Some examples:

The second guy to come on in this clip probably has the sharpest kicks I've seen.



Look how long this kid knees for. You can tell he was exhausted at the end.



Buakaw kicks.

 
The difference in balance between Thais and non-Thais is obvious. They are always balanced and ready to defend or counter after a kick.

In the West people usually train as a hobby so the lesson needs to be exciting and fun. Thais train to earn money, for them it's a job. Besides that the scoring is different so they need to have perfect form. Repetition and running everyday makes their legs stronger to maintain balance.

In most sports athletes train the basics over and over again, but in kickboxing / western Muay Thai many gyms skip this and immediately progress to long combinations.
 
In most sports athletes train the basics over and over again, but in kickboxing / western Muay Thai many gyms skip this and immediately progress to long combinations.

Yeah, I would have thought the answer was pretty obvious; they're basics so you train them alot. I don't think there is anything particularly "thai style" about this. Wrestlers will practice zillions of shots day in day out, no matter what level they're at. People are always looking for some kind of super secret hermeneutical key to unlock why the thais do this that and the other thing, when the answer is usually pretty straightforward.
 
I don't know if this is necessarily true. From my training experience we do A LOT of repetition.

It does seem that the Thais focus on stringing single strike techniques together rather than rushing combinations together which you see a lot in the west though.
 
I don't know if this is necessarily true. From my training experience we do A LOT of repetition.

It does seem that the Thais focus on stringing single strike techniques together rather than rushing combinations together which you see a lot in the west though.
I've trained at 5 gyms in europe. I've noticed a pattern whenever trainers make students repeat things they're focusing more on going all out and compromise technique and balance. I think they might have seen to many buakaw videos
 
bruce_lee_quote_i_fear_not_the_man_who_has_practiced_10_000_kicks_once_but_i_fear_the_man_who_has_practiced_one_kic5383.jpg
 
I think for kicks and knees, there is a big emphasis on coming up straight and balanced. So the repetitions distill the technique to its most important aspects, the come up and the hip turn at the end. There is less room to make big swinging motions with the leg. There is a tendency for beginners to "chicken wing" the leg, so the drill is great for correcting this.

Pacquiao alternates submaximal straight punches and uppercuts in most of his training videos, so its definitely not exclusive to the thais. When it comes to form, I find sometimes overthinking the technique impedes the natural flow of how the strike should come out. So training on a mindful-mindless spectrum has merit in martial arts. In the video below you see Pacquaio not overly concerned with the punch technique, but just getting the reps out.
 
I think for kicks and knees, there is a big emphasis on coming up straight and balanced. So the repetitions distill the technique to its most important aspects, the come up and the hip turn at the end. There is less room to make big swinging motions with the leg. There is a tendency for beginners to "chicken wing" the leg, so the drill is great for correcting this.

Pacquiao alternates submaximal straight punches and uppercuts in most of his training videos, so its definitely not exclusive to the thais. When it comes to form, I find sometimes overthinking the technique impedes the natural flow of how the strike should come out. So training on a mindful-mindless spectrum has merit in martial arts. In the video below you see Pacquaio not overly concerned with the punch technique, but just getting the reps out.


well said, its not a perfect science.
 
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