The workouts are quite similar in many ways: training by rounds, emphasis on conditioning, realistic drills with bags, pads, and sparring and so on. Occasionally, the cross training would help learners to reach a place where they could understand what was learned in a way that they would have been unable by merely sticking to a single gym.
The example that I speak of is in relation to three elements that are critical to your success as a fighter. Power, speed, and technique. How do these three elements rank in importance? You may be surprised at my answer would be..
During the course of an exhausting workout, it suddenly dawned on me that power is the least important of the three factors. When you reached a point of the workout where you had almost nothing left to give, yet there was the coach, demanding you to continue striking the pads with power and if you found yourself focusing purely on the actual technique, ensuring that the body was in proper alignment and everything was in sync. You are supposed to use it next to no energy, but each strike was sharp and solid.
It also dawned on me that this would carry over to MuayThai as well. Focus on the technique, because if your structure is solid, the strike will be as well. Further, speed creates its own power. So the faster you can strike with everything properly aligned, the more powerful your strikes will be. There is a terminology in aeronautics called the “trim tab”. Achieving the trim tab is the point at which you are getting the greatest amount of work or productivity with the minimal amount of effort. While this realization has helped your training and coaching immensely, it is a concept that is surprisingly difficult to master. Only through constant and diligent training can you truly apply the “trim tab”.
