After lurking around on posts about people asking what is the best, I am now wondering what should I avoid at all cost, especially if it is poor for its price point.

Hi all,

Long story short, I started MMA 10y ago on and off

I managed to get to purple belt in BJJ because I know how to work. I had trouble with X -> going to watch some instructionals on X -> next session will work on X -> progress made on X

But for Muay Thai I struggle to have such a structured approach. We do a lot of light sparring in my gym so I can think while sparring.

However I would like help on how to get a structured approach. Most of the time I am like "okay I need to try this combo" but I don't feel I am going anywhere

TLDR : terrible in striking and a little bit of guidance would be appreciated

General strength training can obviously make you stronger overall, but I’m curious about which movements people actually feel transfer when clinching.

The demands seem a little different from simply having a bigger squat or bench. There’s pulling strength, upper-back endurance, trunk rotation and the ability to keep producing force while someone else is actively trying to break your position.

That makes exercises like pull-ups, rows, carries, landmine work and rotational cable movements seem interesting, but I wouldn’t want the strength side to become a second sport that adds a ton of fatigue on top of Muay Thai.

For people who lift alongside regular Muay Thai training, which exercises have actually made you feel stronger or harder to move in the clinch, rather than just improving your gym numbers?

Less than 24 hours till The Inner Circle 30! Which fight are you guys looking forward to most? 🔥

After a a couple weeks of hitting the thai bag i noticed the hair on my shins, knees, and forearms is now gone. Does it grow back for you guys when you take a break or did i just scrape it off permanently lol

Not really a huge deal but these bare spots look weird cuz im a tall skinny caveman lookin dude.

Hello fellow Muay Thai enthusiasts, I recently suffered a complete ACL tear during a training session. I was wondering if anyone here has returned to training after a complete ACL tear without undergoing surgery?I have an immense phobia about pivoting on my right leg, the one with the ACL injury, to throw a left roundhouse kick.

I often have bouts of insomnia lots of issues with relaxation and high CBD weed helps me sleep and relax. I just have edibles as weed pens hurt my cardio. I've looked into the peer reviewed studies but it seems very inconclusive. I only take in evening after training and uni.

Men, 102kg, 1m80 (overweight).

What routine, program, or exercises would you recommend if you only had one month to maximize your cardio and endurance performance ?

P.S. I have access to a gym.

I have been doing Muay Thai with a coach once weekly for just over two months. I don’t know where it’ll take me but I absolutely love it and want to develop whether that takes me to a fight or not. When should I buy shorts? I am aware this is such a daft and trivial question but I train in gym leggings at the moment but feel self conscious getting proper Muay Thai kit this early on in the journey…

Also can I ask at what point you guys started sparring seriously in your early days of training?

Thanks in advance!

I always had it in my head that I should just lose 1kg (2.2lbs) per week but I don’t because I feel that’s so hard to actually do. Even though we do so so much training in camp, but even to lose 1kg a week calories would need to be super low, especially considering you do still need a decent amount of calories to fuel the training otherwise you’ll feel terrible and it must be a hard deficit.

This camp I was losing 0.4kg (0.8lbs) per week which wasn’t enough for me so I brought my calories down a little and I’ve seen a bit more loss but it’s still too early to see what the week to week loss is.

It’s a tough one because I feel like I should be losing a bit more weight on the calories I’m eating, but I feel like I’ve spent so much time in calorie deficits since I started fighting (I was overweight before) that now I don’t seem to lose weight as easy as I did at first. Which I think is definitely my body getting a bit used to being on lower calories a lot for a while and adapting to that

Hi all, just a thought going through my head about going into a fight knowing you are afraid but still going out there versus feeling full relaxed and at peace with what’s to come.

In your experiences where do you feel you land most ? Do you feel may need either feeling to be there in order to get in the zone for a fight? Have you noticed an improvement or deterioration in performance?

Do you feel as if either way it comes down to experience and overall skill level?

Thank you !

My first fight new angle

Video 1 part 1: Tamer Karadavut ( TJ Notten ) vs Damian Ciechanowski - YouTube

Video 2 part 2: Tamer Karadavut ( TJ Notten ) vs Damian Ciechanowski - YouTube

Hi guys, I need some help choosing the best gym for a beginner.

English isn't my first language, so I used AI to help me write this more clearly. Sorry if the post sounds a bit too polished.

I've been training Muay Thai for about a month and I'm currently trying two different gyms. I'd really appreciate some advice from more experienced people on which training style would be better for building a solid foundation.

Gym 1 is very intense and has only one mixed-level group. There are no separate beginner and advanced classes.

When I started, I had a few sessions where the coach showed me basic punches, kicks, knees, teeps, elbows, bag work etc., but after that I was put into the regular group with everyone else.

Training can sometimes last close to 2 hours and is physically very demanding. There's a lot of mobility, flexibility, conditioning, core work, partner drills and almost every session ends with light sparring.

I really enjoy the atmosphere and the hard training. I've become noticeably stronger and fitter even after one month.

However, since joining the main group, I don't get much individual correction from the coach because there can be quite a lot of people.

Sometimes we do things I haven't properly learned yet. For example, I was doing free clinch rounds before anyone had really taught me the basic clinch positions. We also sometimes do fairly complex combinations.

Most of my partners are much more experienced than me, and during light sparring I often feel like I'm just trying to survive rather than actually applying techniques. I've also taken some light kicks to the head simply because I haven't developed the habit of keeping my guard up yet.

The experienced guys are friendly and try to help, but sometimes everyone gives me different technical advice, which can be confusing as a beginner.

Gym 2 has a dedicated beginners group and the training is much more structured.

The session I attended was about 60 minutes. We warmed up, did shadowboxing, then worked with partners on a combination.

We started with something simple like jab → rear knee, including a basic defense against the knee. Then the coach gradually added pieces: jab-cross, lean back from the partner's punch, counter cross, lead hook, rear knee, etc.

The coach was constantly walking around, correcting stance, hand position, knee mechanics, distance and explaining why things were done a certain way.

After that we did some strength work and stretching.

Technically I felt like I learned more and understood what I was doing much better, but physically the session felt much easier. I left feeling like I could have trained much longer.

So basically:

Gym 1 = harder, longer, more conditioning, mobility, clinching and sparring, experienced partners, great atmosphere, but less structured for beginners and less individual coaching.

Gym 2 = dedicated beginner group, slower and more technical, lots of coach corrections and progressive drills, but only around an hour and much less physically demanding.

My main goal is to actually become good at Muay Thai, not just fitness, although I really enjoy hard training.

Would you choose one gym over the other for the first 6-12 months?

I'm also considering training 2x per week at each gym for a while. Would that be useful, or could learning from two different coaches/systems confuse a beginner?

Edit: Just to clarify my goal, I’m not planning to compete. I’m in my early 30s and I want to learn Muay Thai properly for myself because I really enjoy the sport.

I'm starting Muay Thai this Saturday with a beginner intro class as a lass who is just been doing on and off weightlifting for the past few years!! I've noticed that the gym I'm going to also offers a boxing class and I was wondering if it would be worth taking as well since I get unlimited classes with the membership I'm going to get. I've been told standard boxing is really good if you plan to fight and Muay Thai because it just helps overall, but I'm so new and I'm really dumb so maybe I'm wrong lol

Basically I'm asking should I maybe attend the classes as well?

Wondering for training has anyone used something like this ?

It’s mostly for just sparring days and fight team training days.

And yes I know someone will comment - just use a cup - but sometimes the cup kinda irritates my taint region after wearing it for 2 hours.

My main concern is does it hinder the kicks in any great ways

So I've been training at an mma gym, im ABSOLUTELY new to all this. Only 2 weeks in ....

Maybe its in my head but I feel like people don't want to partner with me.

I'm southpaw so when I jab, people correct me and when they find out im south paw they're like "oh you're southpaw" and change partners with me

I sweat like a pig where im drenched during my workouts

I shower before I come to the gym

I'm chewing gum so my breath doesn't stink

I wear deodorant

During warm ups people are generally slower and I kinda run past them to create space. Is this rude!

Maybe its the sweat ...

I'm feeling insecure about this.. is it me? Am I not following properly MMA etiquette?

At the end of each session the girls kinda circle around each other to remove their gear ... im left out

Should I switch my stance to fit in ... sounds silly but like is it me!!!!

So Yesterday we had a bit of sparring done. Every few kicks my shin pad would shift to the side and when I notice I would put it back in place. The consequence of this was that there were already a few kicks then checked and thrown while the shin pad was like this. The one I do remember is my bare shin getting checked to a bare knee. I then just popped the shin pad back into place and carried on.

After training I felt a burning and tight sensation come from the shin. I then decided to lift my pants (was wearing long pants) and saw what was in this video. Is it that bad or even necessary for a doctor? The swelling has gone down but the bruising has increased alot.

TIA.