how I was maimed by the complete muay thai home study course and my own newbishness

**MarcoRugeass** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 9:37am

Hi all, great site! I visited a while back and was going to ask about muay thai places in the UK. I ended up sending away for a course I saw an ad for. While I waited for the dvds to arrive, I went out and bought a bag and started practicing hitting and kicking it. It was loads of fun but I really just was blowing off steam because I dont know anything yet.

The course finally arrived. It was made by Scott “Bam Bam” Sullivan who runs Bam Bam martial arts school. Needless to say he is a qualified instructor and has earned the whiskers to make such a great series. He was and may still be part of the TBA of USA organization of Ajarn Surachai(Chai) Sirisute in the states. The TBA site is always down so I couldn’t verify current status. None the less he is credible. He is a very animated speaker and like many energetic martial artist adds sound effects to the techniques as he demonstrates them. With his fight name Bam Bam and the noises he makes add into some old original batman series bangs and pow animations would really help get people motivated (lol), I think. In all seriousness how he speaks its good, he understands how people learn. I started with the first diskMuay Thai Fundementals

Very good coverage of basics I think. This doesn’t cover every technique used in a muay thai fight but it cover the ones a fighter would use 99.9% of the time unless he goes to the ground. His terminology works but it is different than what my friends who train tai kwon and kick boxing use. Nothing wrong with that you would just have to make that adjustment yourself if your working long distance with a new coach right? This is truly a great starter disk, nothing fancy or unexpected.

My only con from this disc and its a big one -is that the cover hand the fingers are nearly fully extended all the time. I was taught by my mates to have a loose fist and not present my finger like the top of a rooster. He sometimes has his thumbs extended when making fists also. Is this right? I was told by my mate that was another no – no. Let me state he didn’t say do these two things but if some one like me analyzes the video they pick it up.They can get injured more easily which ended up bein the problem for me.
Other than that this is good. He shows how the body should move without the punch being thrown, I thought that is a useful tool a lot of beginners like me might get hung up on the tool and the end of the technique and not the foundation.

Now I have a hyperextended thumb and can't train right now but I am letting the audio run while I study and sleep so that I get more used to the terminology.

Does anyone know how long it takes before you can put the gloves on again and bang the bag.

Thanks in advance

**MrGalt** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 9:42am

So because a video didn't tell you, you didn't think it would be a good idea to clench your fist before hitting a bag? Sorry mate, you're crippled for life. Your MT dreams are over.

**Sang** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 9:43am

Don't kid yourself, you are not learning Muay Thai.

**Kovacs** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 10:03am

Just train at a gym and stop messing about, save the DVD's for when you have a rough idea of what you're supposed to be doing.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 10:49am

I'm curious how a complete noob would even know who Marco is.

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 10:51am

DVDs are generally only useful for finetuning when you cant get down the gym or dont have a full size mirror available for shadows.

go to a gym.. or you'll never know what you're doing wrong until you wake up in a puddle of your own blood and piss

**thaclient** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 11:33am

Originally Posted by War Wheel

I'm curious how a complete noob would even know who Marco is.

Spidey senses are a-tingling?

To the original poster: where in the UK are you? There are bullies here that can probably suggest a local school for you. Like the posters before me have said, leave the video learning for later. You need a kru that can see your form and make corrections where necessary, and a place that provides a safe environment in which to learn MT. You watching a DVD and then banging around with your buddies is an easy way for someone to get injured.

**Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 11:48am

Originally Posted by thaclient

Spidey senses are a-tingling?

It isn't War Wheel alone who's Spidey senses are a-tingling. The first part of the OP his text reads as an informercial.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 5/05/2010 12:15pm

Originally Posted by MarcoRugeass

With his fight name Bam Bam and the noises he makes add into some old original batman series bangs and pow animations would really help get people motivated

YouTube- Batman 1960s Intro