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Christmas is right around the corner. Purchase a package with us before the year ends to enjoy free classes on us! 

​If you are a Muay Thai practitioner you probably already know that good hip mobility is essential in order to generate force for better kicks as well as keep you balance on the way back.

Although you can develop this mobility while training Muay Thai - it might be a good idea to focus solely on that so you can get a better understanding on which of your lower body joints (ankles, knees or hip) has any mobility limitation and address it accordingly.

As there is a connection between all your lower body joints - a disfunction in one of them may cause posture deviation and wrong activation of the other joints - making your movement not as efficient as it can get.

Here we want to share with you very simple movement combination that will dramatically improve your lower body mobility and will help you to identify where your limitation in movement is, so you can address that for better performance be it in Muay Thai or fitness session.

We all know how important it is to have a strong core. It helps with spine stability, prevents back pain, helps to straighten your posture AND help you move better.

One of the most commonly practiced exercises for core stability is of course the PLANK! But lets be honest - it’s not the most fun exercise to do. As gyms are closed - we want to give you some ideas on how to spice up your core workout at home using body weight or suspension training (if you have access to it). We have covered few progressions from a complete beginner to a bit advanced practices. Enjoy amping up your workout with those core variations.

​As a Muay Thai studio, we’ve heard the question quite a bit. So we’re here to set the record straight. And undoubtedly, it’s a fair question, for someone who will observe from a distance– it will look pretty much the same.
 
Let us dive in and explore the main similarities and differences between these two martial arts.
 
Let’s look at the similarities first:
Both of the arts use punching and kicking techniques, strategic foot work and distancing as well as effective defence against striking attacks by an opponent.
That alone would make the fundamentals of both arts identical to a certain extent.
 
What is the difference then?
1. The primary difference between the arts is that Muay Thai uses what’s called “The Art of Eight Limbs” or the 8 points striking system: utilising your hands, feet, knees & elbows to strike while Kick Boxing uses only 4: hands & feet.
 
2. Visibly – Muay Thai is much more aggressive then Kick Boxing. While a Muay Thai fighter is trained to move primarily forward with an obvious attacking intention, a Kick Boxer will be more defensive, use more circular and evasive moves and be more fluid in his actions.
 
3. The effectiveness of the approach. Muay Thai training focuses on very simple & powerful strikes that produces a LOT of damage if it hits. However, not off balancing the striker if it misses – making it very effective. In Kick Boxing, on the other hand, you may find wider range of kicks and punches that might give the fighter more movement diversity and arsenal BUT will not be as effective and might bring the performer to lose balance if the strikes don’t land properly.
 
In Hanuman Muay Thai & Fitness, we focus mainly on Muay Thai as we view it as a more complete system that utilize all the striking aspects, it is more concrete for the practitioner to utilize if needed and it is the original authentic art as was and is practiced originally in Thailand.

Have you ever seen a real Muay Thai fighter?
If you haven’t yet, let us be the first to tell you – they are pretty ripped – equipped with a well-defined six-pack and a cutting-edge muscle definition.
 
If you’re a Muay Thai practitioner yourself, and you still have some generous amounts of fat that you find hard to get rid of OR you are someone who is looking to lose weight with Muay Thai training then this information is EXACTLY what you need to know to make it work.
 
Here is one big secret about weight loss: It is mainly about caloric deficit!
To put that simply, you need to burn more then you eat – you will lose weight and if you eat right, you will effectively burn fat.
 
Muay Thai is an amazing martial art and is very challenging both physically and mentally.
One session of Muay Thai will burn hundreds of calories but here is the thing:
If you keep on training and your weight is not going down – there might be few problems:
 
1. You don’t train enough: Caloric deficit is an accumulative process. Meaning – If you burned more calories today then what you have consumed and the day after you intake more then you burn – your weight will never go down.
Yes – you will see physical improvement – like better cardio performance, strength and mobility – but the scale will not move down.
 
2. You eat too much: In addition to point 1: If you train 7 times/week and burn tons of calories in every session – yet you are not taking care of your nutrition and keep on eating too many calories – your weight again – will not change.
One of the most common mistakes people do when they finish a Muay Thai session (or any fitness activity in general) is that they go and eat a very heavy meal (because they are hungry post workout) and that meal contains WAY too many calories than they have burned. And quite often, it’s not the healthiest food choice possible – so basically they work hard with the workout and all progress gets reversed in their post exercise meal.
 
Now you may ask yourself, how come a Muay Thai fighter is so ripped?
And the answer is this:
A real fighter trains Minimum 4 hours/day – 6 days a week .
While they are training, they maintain caloric balance that either maintain their weight or designed for them to get to their fighting weight: so their diet is strictly monitored.
 
For your other question: can you lose weight by training in Muay Thai? The answer is: Of course, you can!
But with an effective Muay Thai training regimen, you must also take care of your caloric intake and your nutrition in general.
 
Having trouble with that?
We would be happy to help you understand how to adjust your nutrition for the best weight loss results while enjoying authentic Muay Thai training with us at Hanuman Thai Boxing & Fitness Hong Kong.