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• Muscle toning - the repetition of practicing
kick, punch, knee and elbow techniques
hitting w
works every major muscle group
H
aitham Khalid is offering a fun way to get
fit fast and learn self-defense techniques
at the same time with the ancient Thai
martial art of Muay Thai. During the last 5 years
Haitham has trained with some of the greatest
Muay Thai competition fighters from London,
Holland, Brazil and of course the home of Muay
Thai – Thailand. Here’s what he had to say
about his love for Muay Thai and why you might
want to try it as a form of exercise.
•
Mental Benefits
The rigourous nature of Muay Thai training helps
develop courage, discipline, determination and
self-confidence. The training requires a lot of
discipline and the correct mental approach.
•
Mental stamina & determination –
developed through the training can easily,
and usually does, carry over into other
aspects of one’s character and encourages
you to never give up.
•
Technique, patience and strategy technique is massively important in
traditional Muay Thai which is a strategic
sport where the competitors assess each
other and try to identify flaws in their
opponent’s technique. First, you learn
techniques, and then you learn tactics.
Students need to exercise patience in
developing the technique and tactics.
•
Stress relief – the focus required in the
training and the satisfaction of developing
your technique and physical stamina are
great forms of stress relief – once you
learn the basics you start to really enjoy
the physical aspects of the training and
the exertion is a great way to relieve
stress!
•
Self confidence - when you reach a certain
level in Muay Thai your confidence in your
inner strength will increase along with
your ability to make sudden and timely
decisions.
History of Muay Thai
Muay Thai began as a close combat battlefield
fighting skill and developed a name in Thailand
as the ‘sport of kings’ because successive kings
took interest in developing [it] for entertainment,
as a fighting skill for their armies and as a form
of exercise for Thai people. All social classes in
Thailand enjoy Muay Thai and every year a huge
competition is staged and televised which is
called the Thai Fight.
Benefits of Muay Thai
Muay Thai benefits go beyond the traditional
mind-body-spirit benefits and as with martial
arts in general, Muay Thai also has a social
value.
Physical Benefits
There are a range of physical benefits associated
with Muay Thai and these benefits can become
apparent relatively quickly depending on the
level of commitment that is shown.
•
•
Weight loss - Muay Thai has a heavy
focus on body conditioning and a big part
of this is eating the right foods to prepare
your body for the training
Cardiovascular health - Muay Thai
increases fitness levels through
endurance-style training so it’s a great
form of exercise and certainly improves
cardiovascular health (a jog is usually part
of the warm-up)
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Physical stamina - the exhausting training
sessions will certainly increase stamina
•
Discipline – to succeed at Muay Thai
you must train regularly, be in a learning
mode when training and focus on keeping
general good health (which includes taking
care of your sleeping and eating routines).
A necessary part of appreciating the
power and the skill you develop is to
exercise discipline. Competing at any level
requires discipline in order to succeed.
PRICE INFO:
Sharq Village & Spa:
Single Class: QR 60
10 Classes: QR 550
20 Classes: QR 1,000
For more info visit www.sharqvillage.com
The Hilton Doha
Single Class: QR 70
12 Classes: QR 700
(All classes must be used within a 3-month period)
For more information visit
www.fitnesswithfood.com
6/27/13 9:59 AM
What You Can Expect
In Your First Class Read on, and you’ll be a hard-as-a-rock lean machine
in a matter of months... As a newcomer, you should be made to feel welcome.
You’ll start by learning the basic techniques and
working on pads. Also (and this is the bad part) you’ll
be doing countless push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts,
and various other body weight exercises designed
to leave you a trembling wreck. The good part is it
makes you stronger and you will have a more athletic
body.
The first thing you will learn is the basic guard stance
and footwork. You will need to be well balanced in
order to increase agility and create greater impact, in
a basic stance your body should be vertical and your
hands must always be up protecting your head. Once
you are comfortable with your stance then you can try
the following 4 moves to get you started.
1
Jab – is a quick punch with the lead hand. Most
right-handed fighters stand in a left lead stance
and therefore jab with the left hand. You will jab
in order to keep your opponent at the right distance
or in punching combinations. The jab is the first punch
every Muay Thai student learns.
2
Cross punch - is a powerful, straight (direct)
punch with the back hand. So if you stand in a
left lead stance you punch with your right hand.
The cross and the jab (lead hand punch) are the first
punches Muay Thai beginners learn after the fighting
stance and basic footwork in a triangular pattern.
3
Hook punch – you can throw a hook punch
when your opponent is very close and he has
both hands in front of his face. In Thai, the hook
punch is called Short Jerk Punch or Mat Wiang San
(Mat = Punch).
Going in for a
Keen focus and daily
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4
Front thrust kick - By generating power through
your hips the front thrust kick allows you to keep
distance, or to knock your opponent down or to
get them off-balance. You can kick with the front leg
or with the back leg. Front leg kicks are faster, while
back leg kicks are more powerful.
5
Oblique kick - a lot of people call this move
the roundhouse kick or diagonal kick. Obviously,
this kick is called oblique kick, because you are
kicking to the obliques. There are other circular kicks
in Muay Thai, such as the cut kick, the thigh kick and
the down-roundhouse kick. Westerners usually call all
of them roundhouse kicks.
Will You Have To Spar? Beginners do not spar and even when your skills
develop you do not have to. A lot of people take up
Muay Thai purely for its health benefits, and do not
spar at all. n
a and endurance
training build stamin
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6/27/13 9:59 AM