My journey as a fighter wasn’t a very typical one. Most start from a very young age, and by the time they hit their mid to late twenties, they retire from the sport. I started during my late twenties, and while I didn’t particularly aim to start fighting, opportunities to fight became apparent, and I was encouraged by my trainers to jump into the ring. This was no easy task and took many hours of dedication and hard work to get to that point, but what kept me going was the passion that I have for the sport. In this article, I’m going to give you a bit of an overview on how I got started fighting, as well as some advice if you’re aspiring to do the same thing.
Start with Passion
I think, like any difficult endeavour, you need to be passionate. This is especially important for something like fighting. This is a sport that has a very minimal payoff, but you can risk lots when you get into the ring. You need to truly love it if you want to get fight-ready. I was never necessarily a fighter myself or someone overly confrontational, but I fell in love with the sport the first time I started hitting the pads and training. This is the most important thing, and if you’re not passionate, you at least need a serious reason behind what you’re doing and why you want to fight.
If you don’t find your passion or reason, you’re going to give up as soon as things get difficult or you encounter some roadblocks. And trust me, you’ll get roadblocks, whether that be injuries, issues with unfair matches, difficult opponents and even personal life getting in the way. Life will always test you one way or another, so best to be prepared.
Shift of Mindset
The first thing I noticed about Muay Thai is that I had to change my mindset about training. This isn’t the same as working out with weights. After my first class, I remember being pushed to my absolute limits simply after one session of padwork. I remember being completely red, sweating and panting. Then the trainer pushed me even further, not to mention sparring and taking on other fighters. You’re truly in another world while training, and most understand this after their first sessions.
It requires a different kind of effort and discipline, and what I found with Muay Thai is that so much of the sport is mental, and you need a different kind of mental resilience and discipline to keep up with training. From here, I understood this won’t be a quick journey, and I would need some patience.
Finding the Right Environment
When I started training, I was in northern Thailand backpacking alone, I was never interested in Muay Thai as it seemed overly macho and unnecessarily violent. But I was wrong, the sport is steeped in deep history, and the art of Muay Thai has so much beauty and technique that it was hard for me not to get obsessed with the sport.
My first steps were at a gym called Charnchai Muay Thai, and for my level, it was the perfect environment. There were many other beginners training as well, the sessions were hard, but also focused on technique and skill. It was the perfect balance for a beginner, and I felt like I was making progress. Then, when I went back to Australia, I spent some time looking at other gyms around Melbourne, tried many different camps until I found the one that was right for me.
This is very important when looking to train and fight Muay Thai, as it’s very easy to get caught up in fitness gyms or with trainers who have little experience. If you haven’t trained in the sport before, you won’t be able to tell good quality from bad quality. As a general rule, I would go to a gym with active fighters who are relatively well known (points if they’re a champion) because you know the training there will be sufficient.
Sharpening the Craft
After much deliberation and training at different gyms, I ended up gaining enough experience, fitness, and knowledge of the sport to take it more seriously. By this time, I had gotten my conditioning to a good level and had some experience sparring with others. But I was still very far from where I wanted to be, I knew it was going to take more time and focused practice.
This is where consistency came into play, you can’t expect to get to fight level if you’re only training a few times a week. It takes serious dedication and time for this sport. I made a promise to myself to run every day as well as attend training at least 5 times a week. It ended up simply being part of my routine: we wake up, run, work and train. This is the kind of deliberate action and consistency that gets you to the level where you need to be. I already knew this from when I was performing and playing the drums, it took a similar level of dedication.
My Training Routine
Now, my routine wasn’t entirely my own, and since I’m part of a gym, I needed to follow their schedule and do whatever they recommended. But during my time training in Australia, especially, and leading up to my first fight, ht this is what the training routine involved. It obviously might have changed slightly as classes can vary, but this is the meat and potatoes.
This is what my training routine looked like on a weekly basis.
Muay Thai (5 sessions weekly):
This included skipping, shadow boxing, bag-work, pad-work, clinching and sparring. I would also fit in private sessions when I had the chance.
Running (Every Day):
I decided to implement running every single morning for at least 4-5km, starting a bit lower until I could consistently run this amount. I would adjust if I had any injuries.
Strength and Conditioning (2-3 times weekly):
This wasn’t as emphasised as Muay Thai and cardio training, but it still had a massive impact. I did compound lifts, functional movements and kettlebells to help bulletproof and strengthen my body.
Recovery (2-3 times weekly):
Another important aspect for me was recovery. I would go do a combination of sauna and ice bath at least a few times a week, as well as going for massages. This was a little loose and more centred around injuries or soreness rather than a schedule.
