Muay Thai Quick Reference
Mat Manual companion guide to "Muay Thai: An Instructor's Overview." Print it, keep it with your wraps, and check your hands against it.
| Art | Muay Thai |
|---|---|
| Family | Muay Thai & Ring Sports |
| Level | all-levels |
| Format | reference |
| Topics | fundamentals, strikes, kicks, clinch, competition, rules, safety |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Muay Thai: An Instructor's Overview." Print it, keep it with your wraps, and check your hands against it.
Name: ______________________________ Gym: ______________________________ Kru: ______________________________
Stance and Guard: The Checkpoint Card
Stand in front of a mirror and check every line before you shadowbox.
| Checkpoint | What right looks like | The tell that it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Feet | About shoulder width, lead foot a short step ahead, both feet angled slightly out | Feet in a line (you fall sideways) or a wide karate stance (you cannot check) |
| Weight | Near even, a touch toward the rear leg. Lead leg light enough to lift without a shift | Weight parked on the lead leg. Every check arrives late |
| Lead foot | Light bounce or small steps, ball of the foot alive | Flat and planted. Your teep and check both start from zero |
| Rear heel | Raised slightly, calf loaded | Heel nailed down. The cross and rear kick lose their spring |
| Hands | Gloves at the temples, elbows in and down, chin tucked behind the lead shoulder | Hands at cheek height drifting lower each round. Head kicks and elbows send their regards |
| Elbows | Tucked to the ribs, not flared | Flaring elbows invite the body kick you were trying to block |
| Eyes | On the opponent's chest and shoulders, seeing the whole body | Staring at the gloves. Kicks appear out of nowhere |
| Return rule | Every strike comes home. Hand back to temple, leg back to stance | Admiring your own kick while your leg hangs out to be caught |
Guard variants you will meet. The standard high guard is both gloves at the temples. The long guard posts one arm long into the opponent's space to smother punches and reach for the clinch. The cross guard folds one forearm across the face against elbows. All three are Muay Thai. Your kru's gym will have a house preference.
Muay Thai Quick Reference
Mat Manual companion guide to "Muay Thai: An Instructor's Overview." Print it, keep it with your wraps, and check your hands against it.
What's Inside
- Stance and Guard: The Checkpoint Card
- The Eight Weapons
- The Clinch: Position Ladder
- Twenty Combinations, Counted as Trainers Call Them
- Defense Checklist: An Answer for Everything
- Scoring at a Glance
- …and 6 more sections
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Free companion article: Muay Thai: An Instructor's Overview — the full article, free in full.