Karen Burfoot

I am going with the girls. I don't like the indigo as a venue but I am looking forward to the fights.

Thanks I have been having hot epsom salt baths. Luckily my coach is training to become a yoga teacher too so we did yoga instead of thai in my private session and then some boxing pads in class with a friend who also has an injured ankle. Finally a huge lump came up on my lower shin and now I have started massaging it my foot and ankle are no longer filling. It must have been pretty deep though as I have a couple of other lumps on the same shin that I have been massaging but couldnt feel any more. Its pretty lumpy at the moment but I know after a few days of massaging it hard it should go down. (The joys of your first fight with no shinpads!)

So after my fight my left leg was bruised and lumpy and I started massaging it. 2 days later my left foot and ankle swelled up and have been huge since. I have just had it xrayed and after 3 doctors and 2 sets of xrays they have decided there are no breaks. I have been keeping it up, icing it, taking ibuprofen and resting but does anyone have any other super tips to help speed up the progress? Should I strap it? From fight prep to nothing has got me itching to get on with some form of exercise. I am even considering going swimming as I am so fidgety which I suck at as I can only do breast stroke.

For me I got a couple of interclubs under my belt despite them being much larger weight wise and I also managed my first fight. Thailand is booked too so it's going quite well so far for my goals this year.

I popped my knee cap out clinching, it immediately swelled up and I feared the worse but I was back to thai after 2 weeks following lots of physio and some taping. I worse a brace to train for 3 weeks and after that I was fully back to normal. I do lift heavy weights twice a week though and the physio said my strong quads had prevented a more serious injury.

I popped my knee out during a clinch session. I was really lucky I went to the physio and she taped it. I do 2 session of heavy weight lifting a week and she reckons this stopped too much damage as my quads are strong. I was out for 2 weeks then back to normal after 4. Good luck wiith the recovery

Its difficult to explain in a post but a lot of people don't cover their ribs then panic move back so it's your foot not your shin and cover them elbowing the kicker in the top of the foot. If your ribs are already covered the kicker would kick the outside of the arm and the kick would be turned in if that make any sense. The low kick often occurs when I haven't blocked but they kick my ankle bone instead of my thigh and the when I block they often catch my foot or ankle instead of my shin. Hope that makes sense!

its here! http://muaythaigp.com/mtgp-3-maria-lobo-v-iman-barlow/

I saw Iman Barlow fight at MTGP last Saturday!

I always think someone should design a machine that you could kick and punch and it would kick and punch you back so you can feel what you actually feel like power wise! I definitely think you need to talk to your coach and see if they have any suggestions. Does she do the same when they hold pads for her or other people do? If you know she gasses out ask her to hold the pads first? This is what I do then I know they will have most of their energy. My feeling is it's newbie nerves. Could you gently suggests she gets a couple of one to one sessions. I recently moved clubs and at my last club I had a few people I went with happily. This club has a different feel to it and they are a lot less experienced but over the weeks they are much calmer when kicking me with no pads and can hold for stronger kicks and punches. They also now know we are not doing the same combo for 3 minutes straight but i will throw in a few kicks, punches, knees etc. Another tip maybe to tell her you will only be holding one move at a time so she slows down. so Jab, put the pads down, cross put the pads down move a bit, right kick, move again, cross. when she has got the idea you can say all together. Do you get on with her generally? I am now getting to know my new team mates and as I know them more I can joke with them about the pads or kicking or whatever. At the start I was desperate to fit in and impress and probably went harder than I should. Try and think kindly of her but equally try and find a solution. Does your instructor ever do rounds where you hit with everyone for one round? This sometimes is an eye opener to see how she is with other people and see how they react to her. Best of luck :)

I think there is a difference between newbie mistakes and what annoys me. For example a lot of newbies try to block every kick, it doesn't bother me but sometimes in light sparring taking the kick to give a better one back works better. Things that do annoy me are low kicking too low or kicking my ankle whilst I am blocking. I have had many an elbow in the tops of the foot from panic reactions on rib kicks or teeps which are never nice. I usually forgive them if they go hard as its a nerves thing but hitting or kicking hard after the bell has gone frustrates me. I also get frustrated if someone stops bent over as if they are hurt and I ask if they are okay and they then take the opportunity to hit or kick. All of this happens rarely and I am sure I have annoyed a few people in my time so I generally try not to complain as we all had to learn once and I am still learning from those who are more experienced.

I have known shows that have made a loss but have still paid the fighters on the night. I think it's incredibly hard to make much money for Muay Thai shows or even those that put on a mix of boxing and Muay Thai. I am glad she has been paid

Thank you for the info. I don't think it's much different to most gyms, they have a style and they teach it. I know my kick has changed since changing gym because my new trainer focuses on different aspects. Neither is wrong. Also sometimes people explain things differently which helps something click. I quite like repetition too as I am a perfectionist. I have read as many reviews etc as possible and most seem positive which is great but I am aware that different people can have different experiences in the same gym. My friend has just come back from a gym in another region. She went with 3 friends but her trainer was really difficult and got angry with her a lot even though she was trying her hardest to follow his instructions. She ended up in tears a few times. All the others had a great time. Thanks for the sightseeing tips too, I also saved a post you put up on facebook the other day about Chiang Mai.

At the start of the year I decided one aim would be to go and train in Thailand. I didn’t have anyone to go with but that wasn’t going to stop me. I started doing some research and asked my new coach for recommendations. Sadly WPT where she trained mainly is no longer running but she recommended Santai. A month or so ago a friend who has not been doing Muay Thai long said she would love to come. I had given her the links to a gym in Phuket and Santai in Chiang Mai. I thought she would pick Phuket as the website is very impressive, the reviews great and it looks very clean with access to the beach etc. Last night we sat down and went through the pro’s and cons and we settled on Santai. We are going in November and plan to stay 2 weeks (well just under). We will arrive on the Sunday in Chiang Mai and leave on the Friday to spend our last day in Bangkok before flying home on the Sunday. I have emailed the gym asking about availability and we are looking at flights now. Does anyone have any good tips on what to see in the region (Although we are there to train we would like to fit some kind of sightseeing in on occasions), places to eat, drink, visit or avoid! Neither of us has been to Thailand before but I am hoping the gym will suit both of us training wise (I did a lot of research on female friendly gyms that would suit a relative beginner and an intermediate). We are pretty similar that sunbathing is not of interest nor is partying every night and we want to train as much as we can manage. I think I will be wishing the year away!

I have one from the dentist. Its cost £35 but I have some veneers from a childhood accident that cost £2000 so a small price to pay. I got offered the choice of 50 colours but I let the dentist pick as colour is unimportant. They also put my name in it under the silicone as in larger gyms or inteclubs it makes it easier to identify. Like Emma it fits so well I don;t take it out and have been known to walk out the shower with it in. (sorry I don't have photos)

Ah that puts a different slant on it. I know I feel nothing will better my last gym but at least I have someone that fought internationally in Thai as a coach and they are making huge efforts to really improve the feel and classes. I don't know the reason you don't drive and you don't have to say but is this or a bike licence something you could consider? Could you get a fold up bike and catch the bus most of the way and cycle the rest.?

I would be interested to know what gym it is that has moved. I always think its hard moving gyms when you don't want to, I am going through this same thing for other reasons right now and I have to be quite positive at the new gym and try not to compare. I did a lot of research and in factr a top Thai coach is teaching in an mma gym in london so this is my back up option. I think trying it out would be a good idea, see what the people are like when you do a group class, see what a private is like. A friend sent me a link to a gym that is closer than the one I am travelling to and I was put off by the videos so I know how that feels. I think there is a difference between putting up relatively inexperienced people doing their best in class compared to videos of the head instructor doing the weirdest pads I have ever seen or letting someone doing a private and not correcting their technique at all. Are you in an area where there are a lot of choices of gyms or is this MMA one your only option?

I am really pleased you found it so helpful and were able to put the techniques into good use. It sounds a great seminar I have never been to a seminar but then I am incredibly lucky in that the gym I always trained at had national and International champions in it so none of us have ever felt the need to go to any seminars. They did hold a workshop where the owner of a gym in Spain came over and did a K1 session with his daughter. That was very interesting especially as I like playing the long game and rib and head kicks and am quite slow. This was all about speed and low kicks.

Thanks a lot I was planning on going to this one as John Wayne Parr is fighting Michael Wakeling and I have never seen Iman Barlow fight live. I also usually go to Yokkao but have found a couple of them super long (12 hours I was in there watching fights for one of them waiting to watch Harrison who didn't fight until almost 1am!)

For me Find a sparring class Continue to improve my flexibility and balance work more on the clinch learn to go harder when told when sparring (and stop apologising so much) have at least one interclub train in Thailand Watch more fights here in the UK

I find it fascinating how different instructors can try and tell you the same thing but it's all in the delivery. The 3 phrases that stuck with me about kicking are push off the floor and move forward motion not up (I then realised I wasnt pushing with my kicking leg just flicking my hip. Secondly a student told me she imagines her standing leg as a tree with roots, strong, straight and supporting the rest of the bosy and thirdly and most amusing rather than kick up imagine my partner is a sausage and try and slice them in half with my leg! It certainly made me turn my hips over! Different things work for everyone though.Sometimes the most amazing fighters cant actually tell you how they do something it's so innate but some are brilliant at breaking it down