Old Guy

Also technically, it helps to push back at the point of impact. It helps you keep from getting mowed over or your elbow and shoulder wrenched and it puts resistance to the fighter. Relax in between combos and inbetween blows. It takes years to get proficient at it but doing 10/15 rounds 4 days a week, you got to learn how to survive. One good thing is I developed forearms like popey and my wrist bomes literally grew over an inch over the years. Shows you the impact and how your body adapts. Also for trainers, don't just go up and down a line. Pair people of same size and hopefully skill together. I wrote a small book on how to teach MMA and have a big section on teaching 'striking'. I won't promote it yest because I don't want to think I'm here to hock my wares. I googled best muay thai forums on the internet and this came up. MMA is king but when you go there and people are so ignorant they say 'when you throw a Thai kick' they mean a leg kick' or his Thai is good, it's time to move on because it's like saying his Brazilian is good. simply no knowledge of the subject.

In gyms in the US it's hard because you have to switch. I had a small gym, so I held pads for 7 years with 4 fighters. all above 70 kilos, one 200 pounds of molten muscle who competed in the UFC 2x and all over the world. I'm going to tell you, I was in my 30's when I took to training full time and those years too Years off my elbows and shoulders. My elbows especially. If I had smaller guys, mai pen rai. I'm pround/ humble to say I was the best thai pad holder in the region. People used to come to me to get pad work done. I had numerous Thais and other known fighters look at us training and say, you pad holding good. You train in thailand? That felt good and validating but it didn't come overnight, nor did I want to be one. An injury sidelined me after only 13 fights. Yes I did train in Thailand for 2 months. Not much but enough to learn some fundamentals especially how they hold pads. 7 years of imitating the best in the world hurt me physically but eye wise, I could see things coming from a mile away, the only problem is when I had a couple of fights, I fought like a pad holder. My defense was impeccable but my offense, well, lost me those fights. Unless you are a fighter, you should be gentle with smaller people. You aren't winning any fights just training. work your form and don't be a jerk. If you are a trainer and have fighters you should be holding pads for them. They shouldn't be holding pads while training for a fight much if at all. If you are a small guy, just tell the person, you are killing me, can you go lighter and you work some defense. Everyone gets the deer in the scope look and attitude when they see a bag or pad. If you want to go hard and no one is available to meet your needs, there is nothing better than a heavy bag that swings and there are plenty of tools out there for boxers to work with. Oh and for positioning the pads, there are plenty of youtube videos to help with pad holding and combos. hundreds of thhem. Everyone wants to get 5 rounds with the pad man. He can't do it all in the west. If you want a full time pad holder, join a gym, become a top fighter or go to thailand or get privates. It's just our reality. Karuhat in the free videos online didn't hold pads but worked on movement. Unique for a thai trainer, I'd guess. Very effective in a private session. You can't expect that in the west. In BJJ it seems like everyone wants to be a 'teacher' because it confers rank or seniority. It is becoming a TMA mentality except for heavy competitors or MMA fighters. Pad holding for me was like a sculptor with a hammer and chisel to craft the statue I envisioned. But I was limited in my time.

I was kind of like you. I trained for 4 years before I had my first kickboxing fight. No knees, just leg kicks and boxing. I never pulled out of something I decided to do but I was very fearful of competing. All the people, the lack of self confidence and the freedom of not having to worry about committment. I loved training but Prepping for a fight? whole different thing. By nature, fighting is a self absorbed sport. You have to ask yourself, do I really want to do this? or do I want to get to a place where I DO want to do this and be like the other guys who seem on a different wave length and level. Am I afraid of it all? Till your answer is YES, I want to fight more than anything else you shouldn't worry about it. The more you train and spar, the more confidence you will ahve. Age is going to catch up to you. IMO you either want it or you just enjoy training. Some people know from the beginning they want it and others just enjoy training. There is ZERO shame in accepting which person you are because we all have situations in our life that affect our desire to fight. Family, work, etc. If it's fear, I used to tell my fighters, You need to accept fear of losing from the start of your preparation and allow yourself to concentrate on the feeling of fear, the embarassment including what others would think of you etc. what would happen in your mind and if you would continue. Absorb these possibilities in your truest feelings, then bury them and train like hell with the attitude that you do not fear the outcome and really love the training and the fight is the reward. Winning is the bonus.The test. You can't get over the fear of something till you do it. You will find the more you do something, the less you fear it. I got to the point in the ring where I did not fear the result, only performing under my ability. One of my fighters fought Anderson Silva for the Cage Rage world title. Curtis Stout. it's on youtube. One of the fights we had in cage rage, he told me, now I know what it's like to fear winning. There is also a fear of winning because then expectations come, especially if you do very well. You need to decide if you want it and deal with all the possibilities, then bury them. If you just want to train, do that. Some of the best pad holders are never fighters. Some of the best fighters are horrible teachers. It's gifted to be a great fighter and teacher. I hope that helps.