Last week we were doing pad training in class and some of my students weren’t getting an important concept. So I showed them a clip of muay Thai legend Ramon Dekkers doing some pad training. Take a look at the clip first and then I’ll explain:

There are several things you can see in this video:

• Ramon hits hard. He punches, knees, elbows and kicks with plenty of power. You don’t see him holding back.
• He’s fast. Look at the combo he does at 1min.40, especially the hook punches.
• He does complex combinations. He’s not just throwing a jab-cross-leg kick like everybody else already does. He makes long combinations that involve all ranges, all weapons, switching leads, stepping forward and back, etc.
• You never see him off balance. He doesn’t stumble or slip up, he’s in control the entire time.

But that’s not really what I wanted to talk about. It’s important, but for now it’s just background information. Here’s the thing: [Read more…]