Well it’s been a week or so since I spoke to you last, but I’m pleased to say I’ve got my training up to speed again. Well, almost. I managed to train most of the week this week which was good as usual and with things continuing in the same vein next week as always it’s nice to know that in short, I’ve still got it. Being honest I don’t think it ever really leaves.

Fighting wise there isn’t anything on the immediate horizon but that’s ok and I’m happy to play things by ear when it comes to competing. Training is just as essential as it always has been. I’m still planning to branch out into other fighting styles to broaden my horizons and get myself thinking outside of the box and in general, things are moving forward.

I’m still a firm believer that the more you put into something the more you get out of it, so I’m going to make sure I keep training as much as I always have done and keeping my fitness up to of course. The last couple of weeks training wise I’ve focused a lot more on a couple of my favourite weapons elbows and knees.

It always seems whenever I want to work on something at the gym it comes up in the lesson so I was pleased to find both areas covered in training recently. I think that not only are they the most effective and destructive of all your weapons in Muay Thai they are also pretty formidable when working in unison.

Other than working well as either mid range (see above)  or close range weapons they also tie in nicely with the one thing I’ve grown to love over time which is of course, clinching. That’s something I’ve got a lot better at and it’s served me well in previous fights.

These three tools other than striking  I think can be applied outside of a ring too in a self defence situation if needs be. (All being well that shouldn’t need to happen but like I said earlier I’m doing my best to think outside the box at present.) Clinching is an art within an art but fundamentally its stand up grappling and creates a lot of opportunities for not just knees but those lethal fight stopping elbow strikes we all know so well.

Other than training in Thai I’m still leaning heavily towards Panatukan (there’s a place near me that I think probably teaches it) and also I’ve been thinking about revisiting  Krav Maga  The videos a little fluffy but it gets the point across. I trained in that a little when I was in Bournemouth and although I enjoyed what I saw of it I moved to Bristol and never bothered to pick it up again.

It’s also very good for fitness and I found it sits alongside Thai well.  Fundamentally, I believe and I’ve always believed it’s good to keep your mind open when it comes to martial arts. A friend of mine in Portsmouth (Hi Tony) has trained in Wing Chun for many years and met me when  when I first started training in Martial arts, and just before I found Muay Thai.

When I started boxing he told me ‘always finish one thing before you start another.’ and although I know that my journey with Muay Thai isn’t going to be over for a long time I’m beginning to  feel that a breath of fresh air in my martial world wouldn’t go amiss.

I’ve asked myself of late, if maybe I’m getting a little bored with Thai but after this week I know that I love it just as much as I always have, it’s just that I think it’s equally as  important to look at the bigger picture. Muay Thai is one of those martial arts that has a lot of depth and from what I understand the competitive element is only the tip of a very large iceberg.

I’m still planning to head out to Thailand again this year, but life at the moment is doing it’s best to push me in more than one area so I guess it comes down to priorities. I’d like to travel around the country and maybe venture towards some of the lesser known places and gyms at some point too, but in the meantime it will be nice to see the guys and girls at Sitsongpeenong again (hopefully in June but we shall see.)

When it comes to training at home, I’m going to make sure the time I spend training Thai here also involves thinking out the box too. There’s always something to work on and  varying ways or options to approach any given situation. And of course, there’s always  something to improve and always a plateau you can push yourself to exceed.

I’m looking forward to getting back on the proverbial horse  next week as usual, and I thought I’d leave you this week with a great elbow KO from Muay Ties  ..  next blog should be up as usual next Sunday, but as always thanks for reading and just like the last time, I’ll see you that road.