Muay Thai - Day 532 - PT with Seven on Lengthening the Guard

Day 532
Lamai Muaythai, 15th August 2023
Myopia edition; forgot to toggle the auto focus mode on the camera, but also representative of how it'll look when I need to fight without my contact lenses in.
First PT in Lamai for this trip. It was with Seven who, along with Pure, was suggested by Ralph (the owner of Lamai Muaythai) as being suitable trainers for me, given they are my height. I’ll try both and then settle on one. Which is not to say that I won’t do PTs with other people from time to time, but there will be a very strong commitment to one trainer.
First adjustment was to my stance: I’m a bit too square. Square torso - easy to teep. Second, my hands, particularly my lead hand, should be further out in front of me. We will begin the process of guarding a bit longer out in front of me instead of being inside a shell all the time.
The longer guard will make it easier to parry strikes of advancing opponents.
Distinguish between the footwork for advancing and retreating. When attacking, you gallop and don’t cross your legs; when defending, it’s possible to move backwards with more of a walk, switching stances with each stride. This way you can throw kicks with each retreating beat. Because the stance alternates, both left and right kicks are possible.
The angle I check at should be more forward, I have a habit of blocking too far sideways. Going out too far to the side is slower, less balanced, and easier to kick over the top of, and not as flexible in adjusting to feints into knees or teeps which, if I have checked in a more forward-pointing vector, I can move my checking knee across to block or deflect. I should also stay a little more upright in my checks. If the opponent does come in for a right knee, if I’m more upright I have the cross block available.
Such a balanced check enables attack also. If the opponent is kicking you off the back foot, then you can check easily and keep on walking forward with each check. Check, place the leg down forward and move forward, the back leg following to allow you to occupy the space the check opened up.
One thing Seven mentioned is that you have to have different styles. The stompy muay thai school is good for certain things - it has strong kicks, it’s stable for clinching, sweeps, knees, elbows. But you should learn the bouncier kickboxing style also. But you cannot always find the style you need in every location. It’s hard to find that K1 style in Thailand - Seven competed in it, but had to train himself since no sparring partners had good experience with it. Good reason to travel! One day I’ll head to the Netherlands and check out Hemmer’s gym and try to ingest a bit of the Dutch style.
If you’re solid, sometimes it only requires one strike to KO someone, but control your pace and your breathing to get there. A note here, Seven suggested shadow boxing is good to work on your footwork, bounce around more in shadow than you would in an actual fight. Be loose and light.
Emphasise control - this helps land kicks, so no need to be max power all the time. Throw with force only when sure you'll land. Control grants flexibility, vision, liberty of action.
And in a fight, if you’re under control, you have more time to act, more brain space, you can think and plan and act coolly under pressure. Without control, and without a plan, you’ll be spasmodic.
It also comes back to choosing a longer guard instead of a shell. If you just shell up, they can attack you in a flurry, and you need to wait for them to stop to counteract. No control. So to keep control, keep the hands out in front, and stop them advancing with your own strikes, teeps - it doesn’t matter all that much if those strikes are not the most powerful if they still interrupt the advance. Move backwards as needed, and if you reach the ring ropes, move sideways. Sometimes left, sometimes right.
A point about the left and the right arm. The left arm is more active - and you should probably use it more for various defences, catching or deflecting teeps (you can deflect them both left, or deflect teeps right with your left elbow and a slight right turn of your torso), catching kicks on both sides - inside on the left, outside on the right. Keep the left arm in front as your deflector shield; reserve the right arm for powerful counter punches.
Chapters
0:00 Warmup
7:50 Adjusting to a longer guard
10:35 Setting up strikes
11:25 Not skipping the lead leg kick when attacking
14:55 Attacking vs defending footwork and kicks
15:55 Lead leg checks vs fades
16:40 Checking properly
22:40 Hopping teeps
25:00 Balance enables action out of a check
31:05 On different styles of fighting
37:25 On how to land shots - waiting for movement, and moderating power
40:15 Control, eyes, time, planning
41:50 How not to just shell up - the long guard in practice
42:55 Shelling in close range, entering the clinch
44:50 On the left hand deflector shield
48:10 On catching and swinging kicks