Review of Master Sken’s Instructors Class 17th August 2008

By Tony Terranova

On Sunday morning the 17th of August 2008, our instructors and a few of our senior grades had the privilege of being coached in Muay Thai by Master Sken, who was assisted by Paul (one of his experienced senior instructors and fighters). I was even luckier in that I got to train privately with Master Sken and Paul for 2 hours earlier on some work we will be doing together in the future. It was a 2 hour FFMA class that all attendees said they will remember for a long time.

Master Sken's approach to teaching is like many good coaches who firstly spend some time communicating with the students to create a relaxed atmosphere and a feeling of trust before proceeding with any physical training. In his introduction he covered a variety of subjects ranging from the history of Muay Thai, philosophy, fitness, conditioning, breathing and Muay Thai as a way of life. Everyone listened so intently that you could have heard a pin drop in our hall.

Within the 2 hour time frame Master Sken presented a structured approach to the training. The following provides a summarized and systematic review of the class content (as it would take many more pages to cover all aspects of the session).

Warm up

We went through one of Master Sken's many warm up routines, in which you use similar body movements that will be utilized during training including coordination drills. During the warm up there was a lot of emphasis placed on optimizing our breathing techniques and focusing on light smooth but continuous body movements to ensure good balance was maintained at all times.

Footwork

We then worked on correct footwork and its importance in being able to; maintain balance, evade strikes, develop good timing, and execute effective strikes from all angles. Emphasis was also placed on not being flat footed, as mobility is enhanced when you move on the balls of your feet (with your heels just slightly off the floor).

Pad work (focus and Thai Pads)

Pad work plays a significant role in Muay Thai, as it is used for impact training and drilling of Muay Thai single and combination techniques. It is important to learn good pad holding skills if you are to progress in Muay Thai, as there is a lot of partner work involved. Full contact pad work also provides good conditioning for the pad holder.

We did something we had not experienced before. Normally when you shadow box/spar you are doing so with an imaginary opponent and executing strikes and defenses with fluid footwork. Master Sken has us doing the equivalent of shadow boxing but with focus pads, with us visualizing a training partner striking the pads to his set combinations. It was an interesting way to practice pad work with no partner.

He explained in detail the correct position that the focus pads should be held and that they should reflect the basic shape of a human being. For example when holding the pads for a lead jab and rear cross punch the pads should be relatively close together and not too far apart. Having them far apart does not resemble an approximate size of a human head (which is what you would be striking). There were endless examples provided through out the training session for punching, kicking, knees and elbows.

We also spent time looking at the correct amount of pressure (resistance) that you should apply to your focus pad when it is struck by your training partner. Too much résistance and you could hurt your partner's joints, too much movement forward and you will adversely affect your partners timing - not enough resistance and your partner does not develop their punching ability (and you could get hurt, as the impact may hurt, for example your shoulder joint).

We then moved on to do a series of punching and elbow striking combinations on the normal focus pads. The emphasis was on a graduated system, which first ensured you used the correct movement with good transition from each technique to then delivering the combinations full speed.

Reaction drills with Thai Pads

We were once again introduced into a new way of training. Typically when we do reaction drills they can either be one attacking and one defending with counter attacks, or free sparring (anything goes), or we counter strike with a focus pad if our partner has dropped their guard during a drill (and many other concepts used at FFMA).

In this session one of us held the Thai pads ready in front of us to receive either a full contact left or right body section roundhouse kick (and our partners were not wearing shin guards). As the pad holder you had to get the pads in the correct place (left or right) to receive your partner's roundhouse kick. The striker (your partner) was in control as they could use feints to throw your timing out. It was an interesting drill for many reasons not to mention that you were learning to block and correctly position your forearms without getting them smashed in the process.

Basic techniques and combinations with pad work (focus and Thai Pads)

It is true that you can make basic technique training as advanced as you want. Master Sken systematically went through some of the basics necessary to learn and fully understand the short and long range striking techniques of Muay Thai, which include punching, elbow, knees, kicking and clinch work. Due to the limited time on this first session Master Sken and Paul did several demonstrations on these techniques.

We then got to practice combinations with punches, elbows, knees and kicks on both the Thai Pads and small focus pads. The combinations utilized the great Muay Thai body levers in that typically striking is done left then right or right then left. This provides you with maximum impact derived from the torque on your body, it is one of the characteristics that makes Muay Thai the fluid, full contact and effective art that it is. Basically the art is in the effectiveness of the technique, and the Thai strikes are designed to go right through you by using opposite levers. For example, after a left hook is thrown the hips are ready with torque to deliver a powerful right roundhouse kick with good transition from punching to kicking being enhanced with the left to right movement.

Cool down and close of session

Cool down consisted of a combination of breathing and gentle graduated stretching exercises that were not too dissimilar to some Yoga and Pilates movements. The session closed in the same way as it started with Master Sken talking about training and philosophy and how our goal should always be to try and better ourselves and lead a good life. FFMA is very grateful for Master Sken's support, time and generosity and we look forward to training with him in the future.

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