Primadonnas!

[TheDeadlySquid]

Maybe I'm being too sensistive but there seems to be a lot of primadonnas working out at my gym. Whenever we pair up to do pad drills there are these guys that get all picky about where I stand, how I hold the pads and where I hold them. They are constantly adjusting the pad location after every rep and never the same way twice. Typically, the guy will be newbie, I can tell since they seem to run out of gas after the first round. Anyway, do they think that the situation will be the same in a fight or sparring situation? Shouldn't you adjust to strike your opponent in the most effective manner?

Anyway, thanks for the rant.

TheDeadlySquid

[Tom Yum]

Maybe I'm being too sensistive but there seems to be a lot of primadonnas working out at my gym. Whenever we pair up to do pad drills there are these guys that get all picky about where I stand, how I hold the pads and where I hold them. They are constantly adjusting the pad location after every rep and never the same way twice. Typically, the guy will be newbie, I can tell since they seem to run out of gas after the first round. Anyway, do they think that the situation will be the same in a fight or sparring situation? Shouldn't you adjust to strike your opponent in the most effective manner?

Anyway, thanks for the rant.

TheDeadlySquid

Hey deadly squid,

Patience man.

If your arms start sagging down while holding the pads and they face the floor, your partner can't practice their thai kick properly. Here's the general progression of pad drills:

Static pad drills - The attacker works on delivering a specific technique with good form and power on their own pace. You've got to hold them at that persons height. If they aren't ready to kick above gut level, then hold them low.

Combination drills - The attacker throws several kick, punch, knee, elbow combinations. The pad holder has to deliver the proper sequence otherwise he might get accidentally kicked or punched if he's not coordinated enough to follow the sequence.

Random drills (intermediate) - By now the pad holder and attacker have both been training for awhile ~ 6+ months. The pad holder calls out random sequence and quickly moves the pad to those sequences (yes there is a correct way to hold the pads for each strike). By that time, the attacker has about 1-2 seconds to deliver each technique in the combination. It takes much more coordination and decent reaction time.

Quick drills (advanced) ~ 1+ year These are harder for the attacker than the pad holder. By now the attacker can instantly recognize if he/she is being fed a rear thai kick, left hook, right cross and ax elbow etc. The pad holder feeds a random combination with no verbal warning. The attacker has to react QUICKLY to each pad otherwise they miss and punch air. Its the closest thing to real timing while sparring, because sometimes you only have a microsecond to land a hard shot from an opening.

Defense drills (intermediate) - The attacker can be fed drills in any of the above ways, but also has to defend against the pad holder - whom will hit back with the pads and kick. Doing the defensive drill with the random or quick drills is a good way to test your defense and see how you might hold up while sparring.

[Damian Mavis]

Deadly squid, how long have you been training? If you are holding improperly it can be really be detrimental to your partners training. When I joined Muay Thai all the advanced people had to constantly readjust my pad holding because I sucked at it, it was completely my fault and they were not being picky.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[TheDeadlySquid]

Oh Well

I have been training consistently for about a year. My point was that I think I'm dealing with people who are more inexpericenced than myself (never adjusting pads the same way twice). Where I think I'm helping, I guess that I'm not. Anyway, it was more of a rant than anything. Regardless, thanks for the advice.

TheDeadlySquid

Deadly squid, how long have you been training? If you are holding improperly it can be really be detrimental to your partners training. When I joined Muay Thai all the advanced people had to constantly readjust my pad holding because I sucked at it, it was completely my fault and they were not being picky.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD