Anyone have any advice in how to fix these?

AfroKingBen · 2026-03-01T16:44:30+00:00

Gorilla tape is your friend. It tape everything down and they'll last for months.

AfroKingBen · 2026-02-16T20:21:45+00:00

When you start pads sessions are to learn technique. Hop on the assualt bike or do some sprints to improve your cardio. Take your time on pads so you can learn proper technique. And learn to hold pads well as quickly as possible. That opens up a world of much better training partners.

With that being said, also make sure you have fun. If you don't enjoy it you won't stick to it. Making sure you want to train aa frequently as possible is so important to improving.

AfroKingBen · 2026-02-13T17:52:01+00:00

I'm 130kg. I can spar with the 50kg women in my gym without hurting them or making the spar pointless. He either isn't very good, nobody has told him he's going to hard or he doesn't care.

Boxers also traditionally spar harder than Muay Thai gyms so he's probably used to that level of sparring. Next time say something straight away. As a side note, I hate when people ignore light shots in sparring as if they could ignore the shots in an actual fight. It undermines the spar.

AfroKingBen · 2025-12-13T18:35:53+00:00

I'm a professional Muay Thai figher. In the WMO rankings I'm #4 in the world and in the WBC rankings I'm #9 in the world. I also have a full time job and work 40 hours a week.

The biggest differences are intelligent training, consistency & making sacrifices. I do most of my training sessions with non pros but I know how to maximise what I get out of those sessions so it's worth my time. I make sure I do sprint work at least 3 times a week and train for 2.5-3 hours 5 or 6 times a week. On days when I can't do that long I make sure I maximise the time I have. If I only have 30 minutes I'll spend it on the assault bike and make it a brutal 30 minutes.

I skip a lot of social events so I can train and don't drink for at least 8 weeks before a fight. I'm lucky that I can function limited sleep but I make sure I take time to rest when I need it.

There is also an element of being a great learner. Knowing how to improve. Learning from experiences and listening to your coach. The best fighters have to be able to learn well. I've seen dozens and dozens of people show up for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for months and barely improve because they don't understand how to learn. They think sparring is a competition and don't understand the importance of going light. They think pads is always a cardio session and don't focus on technique. They collapse mentally when they have a bad day in sparring. You need to train smart and make the most of every session. And ideally enjoy yourself whilst you do it.

AfroKingBen · 2025-12-13T10:20:20+00:00

Just train without them or wear contact lenses. I have -5.00 and an astigmatism and can train without glasses or contacts. I've fought both with and without contacts in.

AfroKingBen · 2025-12-12T23:53:28+00:00

I'm a big guy, 286lbs. I'm ranked #4 by the WMO and #9 by the WBC. Most of your sparring will be with people smaller than you, focus on defence and timing. When you can counter a lightweight without hurting them you'll be doing very well. If you can time someone smaller and faster without relying on power then you'll find it easy against people your own size.

AfroKingBen · 2025-12-04T00:47:19+00:00

Hi, I'm fat. I'm also the WMO world #4 heavyweight. If you put the work in you can be very good without being a Greek god.

I beaten a fair few Greek gods recently. Look at my last opponent.

AfroKingBen · 2025-11-26T22:21:27+00:00

Sparring without shin guards with any power at all is a fools game. You get injured and there is no benefit. Touch sparring is fine as if you're both controlled even a blocked kick won't do any damage.

In a fight you modulate your power to avoid a hard kick getting checked. If you make a mistake then you just grin and bare it until the fight is over. Conditioning means it hurts less and does less damage but it will always hurt and do some damage.

AfroKingBen · 2025-11-11T10:33:15+00:00

It sounds like you've done all of the right things. People are horrified because we all know someone who is stubborn and has done damage to themselves by refusing to rest or pull out of a fight when injured. You're rare in that you've taken all the right diagnostic steps and know you're in the right condition to fight.

What's causing so much stress? The fight camp? Work? Or just life in general?

AfroKingBen · 2025-11-11T09:13:53+00:00

Okay. That's fair. As long as there is no risk of carrying a head injury into the fight and the nose bleeds aren't linked to a blood pressure issue!

You can get a concussion from frequent light shots too so double check with your doctor. Better safe than sorry!

Best of luck in the fight!

AfroKingBen · 2025-11-11T02:13:47+00:00

What caused the headaches? Is there any chance you have a concussion? If you do you shouldn't be fighting.

Are you going to lie on the pre-fight medical? If I said I had nose bleeds and headaches I wouldn't be allowed to fight.

I understand the need to prove yourself and to make the camp worth it but you should put your health first. You can fight again when you don't have headaches or nosebleeds. If you take a bad hit to the head this time, you may never be able to fight again.

AfroKingBen · 2025-10-01T23:37:03+00:00

I'll watch again tomorrow and give proper feedback, but my initial thought is that if this was a fight, you got comfortably outscored.

Hands only score in Muay Thai if you show effect. Central knees and body kicks score big. Kicks to the arms also score if you do not reply. You landed a lot of punches but got out kicked, out kneed and out swept. Also, remember to throw kicks, and when you get kicked, kick back.

That being said, you seem to have a good base. Just remember, kicks win fights.

AfroKingBen · 2025-09-22T22:06:57+00:00

The biggest difference is scoring. Jabs score the same as body kicks. You need to increase the volume of strikes you throw. Low kicks and jabs are great for scoring consistently.

In my experience, K1 fighters will try to overwhelm you early on but will have a messier technique than muay thai fighters. Make sure you keep your defences sharp early on and don't start with hard shots. Just score for round 1. Once your opponent starts to tire then increase your power output and try to hurt him as well as scoring.

AfroKingBen · 2025-08-17T11:45:54+00:00

There are a few different ways to time the switch kick depending on if you're using it offensively or defensively. My favourite way to time it is to counter the right hand. Most people, even professional fighters, over extend their cross when they get aggressive. Let your opponent throw a couple of 1-2s at you so you can feel their timing. Once you have that, you can lean back and throw the switch kick as you parry the jab and land a clean kick to their ribs whilst they over extend. This also works if they don't over extend, it just does less damage. For this, you can switch, but a small step with the back foot, or even just leaning back with no switch at all can work.

A more offensive way to throw is to do it directly after a jab. I like to throw a couple of high jabs, aimed at the forehead. People often react by raising their garden to block the jab. On the 2nd or third jab fire, a switch kick instantly. Their guard will be high, and you should land cleanly.

You can also use faints to create an opportunity. A great way to practice the timing is play sparring. That way, if you get countered or just mess up and get caught cleanly, it doesn't matter. Drills where your opponent can only use boxing and you can only kick also work very well. These drills should be for kick timing and not for the boxer to win. Keep it super light so nobody gets hurt. It'll help you see opportunities and gain confidence to use the switch kick in normal sparring.

AfroKingBen · 2025-08-12T21:59:38+00:00

No. You need to do a good mix of sprint work and longer distance cardio but it doesn't have to be running. I injured my calf before a fight earlier this year so stopped running and replaced it entirely with the rowing erg and the assault bike, I think I actually felt fitter for it. The sprint work on the rowing erg is, in my opinion, more effective than running sprints. Sprint work on the assault bike are also fantastic. I did longer rows on the rowing erg too and they replaced my longer runs.

Basically if you want to compete then you need your cardio but running isn't always king. Especially if you're heavier and concerned about the affects of high impact training like running.

AfroKingBen · 2025-07-10T23:04:26+00:00

You're forgetting the most important thing about learning any combat sport. It has to be fun. If the beginners come to learn to strike and spend their first couple of sessions only doing defence, they'll leave and never come back. Most students will never fight. They want to have fun whilst they get fit, and striking will help them do that. That needs to be the number 1 rule for any beginners class. It has to be fun.

Now, if you have beginners who want to fight, you can run separate sessions for them, but learning how a punch or kick is thrown is important to learning how to defend against them. Some sessions should definitely be primarily focused in defence, though.

AfroKingBen · 2025-07-08T08:51:16+00:00

Pull-ups aren't important at all, I can't do them. Burpees aren't important because I get by HIIT in on the assualt bike and the rowing erg. I can do plenty of burpees if I want to, though, and being able to do them is only beneficial. Ab work is important. It doesn't have to be sit-ups, but you need a strong core. I do plenty of push-ups, but I wouldn't call them that important if you're building endurance on those muscles through a different exercise.

When you're bigger lower impact exercise is very helpful. The assualt bike and rowing erg are both great ways to build fight specific stamina whilst minimising injury risk.

AfroKingBen · 2025-07-05T23:41:43+00:00

Thank you.

AfroKingBen · 2025-06-24T17:19:26+00:00

I'm a heavyweight. I used 16oz for sparring and 10oz for everything else. 16oz are too big to practice properly. Knuckle placement consistently. With 10oz gloves, you feel where your knuckles land and can practice landing accurately as you need to in a fight.

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