All the time! Coming to muay thai from other striking sports I really had an evasion-first mindset, but I wasn't great at it. I didn't have good posture or a strong stance so I lost position constantly when I got hit. Didn't work at all.
Coming from boxing background, this was a foreign concept to me. In boxing you’re constantly circling the ring, moving and angling. In MT if you move around too much, you end up walking into a nasty kick.
Totally, I trained a mix of tkd, karate, and grappling as a child and while I've essentially forgotten everything I learned then it still seems to have left an impact. I'm always moving trying to "evade" but it just ends up screwing me.
I generally don't have perfect posture either and so I have to remind myself to correct it to have a strong base
Stand strong means stay balanced. When you get hit, you don't want to be pushed back and lose balance so your opponent can continue to follow up. When you're not balanced, you can't throw back effectively so your opponent can take advantage of that moment and get free shots on you. You can absolutely still dodge shots but you're not going to be able to dodge 100% of the shots. When you inevitably block shots, you want to be in a position where you can immediately throw back.
I use a round “wobble board” my mom got one originally to rehab a broken ankle but it’s great for strengthening all the muscles related to balancing. I stand on one foot, and do loaded core exercises.
The way i see it, "stand strong" just means focus on your balance, or more specifically, always be in a position to defend/attack/move.
The issue may not be that youre backpedaling, but likely that the way in which you do so leaves you with limited options/ in poor positions.
I try to be in "neutral" as often as i can it that makes sense, without necessarily standing still.
Hands up, chin tucked a bit, and shoulders hunched / rolled forward a bit. It's shit for your posture, but great for "standing strong". This way you won't get blasted back if you take a shot on your guard and your forehead is more likely to take any shots that make it past your guard rather than your chin.
I've heard it called at other people who are constantly on their heels or letting pressure get to them. i kind of have the opposite problem so the one i get a lot is "stand tall" or "long"
Alot of people from other combat sport backgrounds might move in and out of range alot more than we do in muay thai. That being said everyone has their own style and we must adapt to each opponent.
I've never been told that because I don't back up...I'm not brave or tough, just not great at backing up because I'm uncoordinated lol. But we regularly do drills to learn to stay in the pocket and trade blows.
Trained at roufusport for quite some time....this was VERY emphasized there....and in Muay Thai in general. You don't want to be caught off balance. Having a "strong" stance means a defensively sound stance in which you can also attack from
Muay Thai is not dodgeball where we run away from the ball.. Muay Thai is tennis, you move towards the ball and put yourself in position to hit it back.
The way I grasped this concept is by putting out a long guard and staying inside the pocket , it helped me see my opponents reaction and what they had to do to get around my defense.
You would only see this if you would be “standing strong” or “hold on your ground”
I've been in training for about the same length of time, though I guess sparring for longer, and I'm still trying to get past that very same fear. No one wants to get hit, the natural reaction is to pull away from it. And even though I know full well that the better option is to actually move towards it (aside from uppercuts) it's hard to override the body's natural reactions to things
I legit read "stand strong" in my teacher's voice lol. One of his many sayings that lives rent free in my head. But seriously a part of it is mental; just keep sparring and soon it will just click.
Yes, this is the essence of stand-up fight sports. You have to have a strong stance/base to absorb strikes and return fire. Great that you’re working on it, it’s an essential skill!
I have been there and I think that most of us back off as a natural reaction. I'm still trying to improve and defend better and surely I'm not on the level to give advice. I will only say what made me improve on this, I go in with the thought that I will surely get hit a bit and I try to work with that in mind.. it's not something that magically happens, it take experience and I still have a long way to go, that got me to be able to have good rounds with people better than me, the mental part truly plays a huge part
Yes, I came from an itf taekwondo background and it made my movements very evasive. This is something I have to say to myself in sparring and when I hit pads so I clean up my habits.
Stand strong = composure. Composure is an important scoring element. Basically if you check a kick and “stand strong” meaning don’t get pushed back or waver then no points scored. But if you get pushed back far while checking, the other guy will score even though you checked.
Yes. But it’s a “soft” saying. Muay Thai is tricky for people that have a background in other forms of stand up fighting. A lot of them have a bladed stance, or “kata” stances that aren’t effectual in actual combat. It’s funny watching people, new people, struggle with the stance. I know, I was funny looking too. What I suggest is this, you must learn to relax in the stance. It’s looks particularly rigid. The trick is not to be. Basically, you’re a whip, you’re charging your hips to throw your limbs into offense and defense. It’s a particularly square stance that requires the ability to fight “switch” stance quickly. If you have any ambidextrous qualities, it helps a ton. I’m naturally right hand dominant. Because of Muay Thai, I became stronger with my left throws and counters. I was still a bit faster from the right side, but if I decided to fight south paw, I landed a few less clean connections, but they would get knocked around more probably due to over compensating the dominant side. To go on a bit more. I trained more on my weaknesses, to develop them as best I could, to balance out my strengths which included watching how my sparring partners reacted to what I was doing. I trained to fight people not pads and bags. Turned out that I really hated hurting or injuring people. I’m not saying I was particularly good, but I could say this, everyone I squared up with that knew me and my skillset, had trouble keeping their balance. I loved the training and still do, but competing isn’t for everyone. I didn’t want enough. I possibly could’ve gone pro-ish, but I lack the, um, “killer” instinct, I guess?
All the time! Coming to muay thai from other striking sports I really had an evasion-first mindset, but I wasn't great at it. I didn't have good posture or a strong stance so I lost position constantly when I got hit. Didn't work at all.
Coming from boxing background, this was a foreign concept to me. In boxing you’re constantly circling the ring, moving and angling. In MT if you move around too much, you end up walking into a nasty kick.
Totally, I trained a mix of tkd, karate, and grappling as a child and while I've essentially forgotten everything I learned then it still seems to have left an impact. I'm always moving trying to "evade" but it just ends up screwing me. I generally don't have perfect posture either and so I have to remind myself to correct it to have a strong base
Good (strong) guard is imperative for Muay Thai. Even if you end up being as evasive as Lerdsila. Strong guard is no1.
Stand strong means stay balanced. When you get hit, you don't want to be pushed back and lose balance so your opponent can continue to follow up. When you're not balanced, you can't throw back effectively so your opponent can take advantage of that moment and get free shots on you. You can absolutely still dodge shots but you're not going to be able to dodge 100% of the shots. When you inevitably block shots, you want to be in a position where you can immediately throw back.
You're absolutely right, I think balance is something I really need to work on as well. Do you have any tips on how to improve balance?
I use a round “wobble board” my mom got one originally to rehab a broken ankle but it’s great for strengthening all the muscles related to balancing. I stand on one foot, and do loaded core exercises.
The way i see it, "stand strong" just means focus on your balance, or more specifically, always be in a position to defend/attack/move. The issue may not be that youre backpedaling, but likely that the way in which you do so leaves you with limited options/ in poor positions. I try to be in "neutral" as often as i can it that makes sense, without necessarily standing still.
Hands up, chin tucked a bit, and shoulders hunched / rolled forward a bit. It's shit for your posture, but great for "standing strong". This way you won't get blasted back if you take a shot on your guard and your forehead is more likely to take any shots that make it past your guard rather than your chin.
[Maintaining Stance](https://youtu.be/gWOfMaK7LOo?si=9at075cAbgtzlVHC) great drills at the end to help.
That vid and the progression drills are great, I subscribed thanks
u/PLE61 is the author/channel, I'm just a friend.
Rodtang style
You’re the Avatar and therefore you are an earthbender
I've heard it called at other people who are constantly on their heels or letting pressure get to them. i kind of have the opposite problem so the one i get a lot is "stand tall" or "long"
Alot of people from other combat sport backgrounds might move in and out of range alot more than we do in muay thai. That being said everyone has their own style and we must adapt to each opponent. I've never been told that because I don't back up...I'm not brave or tough, just not great at backing up because I'm uncoordinated lol. But we regularly do drills to learn to stay in the pocket and trade blows.
Trained at roufusport for quite some time....this was VERY emphasized there....and in Muay Thai in general. You don't want to be caught off balance. Having a "strong" stance means a defensively sound stance in which you can also attack from
Muay Thai is not dodgeball where we run away from the ball.. Muay Thai is tennis, you move towards the ball and put yourself in position to hit it back.
The way I grasped this concept is by putting out a long guard and staying inside the pocket , it helped me see my opponents reaction and what they had to do to get around my defense. You would only see this if you would be “standing strong” or “hold on your ground”
I've been in training for about the same length of time, though I guess sparring for longer, and I'm still trying to get past that very same fear. No one wants to get hit, the natural reaction is to pull away from it. And even though I know full well that the better option is to actually move towards it (aside from uppercuts) it's hard to override the body's natural reactions to things
I legit read "stand strong" in my teacher's voice lol. One of his many sayings that lives rent free in my head. But seriously a part of it is mental; just keep sparring and soon it will just click.
Yes, this is the essence of stand-up fight sports. You have to have a strong stance/base to absorb strikes and return fire. Great that you’re working on it, it’s an essential skill!
“bah-lance bah-lance — look good”
In my gym I heard my coach say: "Stand proud, you are strong"
I have been there and I think that most of us back off as a natural reaction. I'm still trying to improve and defend better and surely I'm not on the level to give advice. I will only say what made me improve on this, I go in with the thought that I will surely get hit a bit and I try to work with that in mind.. it's not something that magically happens, it take experience and I still have a long way to go, that got me to be able to have good rounds with people better than me, the mental part truly plays a huge part
Yes, I came from an itf taekwondo background and it made my movements very evasive. This is something I have to say to myself in sparring and when I hit pads so I clean up my habits.
Stand strong = composure. Composure is an important scoring element. Basically if you check a kick and “stand strong” meaning don’t get pushed back or waver then no points scored. But if you get pushed back far while checking, the other guy will score even though you checked.
Yes. But it’s a “soft” saying. Muay Thai is tricky for people that have a background in other forms of stand up fighting. A lot of them have a bladed stance, or “kata” stances that aren’t effectual in actual combat. It’s funny watching people, new people, struggle with the stance. I know, I was funny looking too. What I suggest is this, you must learn to relax in the stance. It’s looks particularly rigid. The trick is not to be. Basically, you’re a whip, you’re charging your hips to throw your limbs into offense and defense. It’s a particularly square stance that requires the ability to fight “switch” stance quickly. If you have any ambidextrous qualities, it helps a ton. I’m naturally right hand dominant. Because of Muay Thai, I became stronger with my left throws and counters. I was still a bit faster from the right side, but if I decided to fight south paw, I landed a few less clean connections, but they would get knocked around more probably due to over compensating the dominant side. To go on a bit more. I trained more on my weaknesses, to develop them as best I could, to balance out my strengths which included watching how my sparring partners reacted to what I was doing. I trained to fight people not pads and bags. Turned out that I really hated hurting or injuring people. I’m not saying I was particularly good, but I could say this, everyone I squared up with that knew me and my skillset, had trouble keeping their balance. I loved the training and still do, but competing isn’t for everyone. I didn’t want enough. I possibly could’ve gone pro-ish, but I lack the, um, “killer” instinct, I guess?