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... from @Dexter
While I don’t expect this to be nearly as deep a topic of discussion as my Cuban/Soviet Boxing Thread. Dexter sent me down another rabbit hole of Russian Muay Thai. This particularly sparked interest for me because Russian boxing has been a big influence on my approach to punching both training and coaching Muay Thai.
Training drills:
Here we primarily see kick counters, parrying to set up offensive techniques. All practised slow with precision.
More focus around clinch technique and clinch entries – all very fundamental stuff, executed well.
A good mix of stuff here, mostly around punching and defending against punch/kick combinations.
A good class to watch. Partner drills aren’t non existent outside of Russia, but these drills are a lot more fluid than ones I’ve observed in the UK. The drills I’m seeing here aren’t foreign to me, we do this in the West, but most of these drills (not unlike Russian boxing drills) have more simulation of sparring. Rather than it being Fighter A attacks then Fighter B responds, Fighter B will respond in the middle of fighter A’s drill, who will then do the same. This, coupled with a focus on simple techniques rather than long combinations of several punches, three kicks and two knees, keep the drills realistic.
This is a switch kick drill, seems to be focused more on co-ordination. The drill speaks for itself. I will say I am not a fan of how wide these two guys switch, as I prefer a very small step in which you actually come forward, but even if this is not how you would approach a switch kick in a fight, the drill can be modified and above all will be good for co-ordination.
The style of kicking is quite baseball bat like, which is in of itself very different from the type of kicking I am used to, which favours a more upwards an in approach, closer to golden age Muay Thai in Thailand.
None of this is to say that this is what is exclusively focused on, or even focused on heavily, but I personally like the focus on partner drills over one student holding pads for another student, which I don’t find to be beneficial – yet is very common in the UK.
Much of these drills bare a lot of resemblance to dutch kickboxing, which is very well known for emphasising partner drills exchanging shots over holding pads. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that kyokushin karate, which seems to be popular in Russia, has had a similar influence on Muay Thai over there, in the same way it influenced the way that dutch kickboxing in trained.
This makes it stand out particularly from the training Thailand, which is heavily based around bagwork and Padwork with an experienced pad holder. The nature of living at a gym in Thailand, with 12 training sessions a week, not including personal training – and fighting regularly means you don’t need as systematic an approach to learning Muay Thai, in Thailand you go, you do bag work, pad work, spar and clinch and you do it twice a day every day and within a relatively short time you’re starting to get quite good at it.
Some examples of Muay Thai fighters in action:
Alaverdi Ramazanov vs. Petchmorrakot:
This fight was a great display of boxing, and I do mean boxing, not simply punching combinations. Ramazanov keeps just out of range to make kicks and punches fall short before coming in with his own. He also makes good use of a counter leg kick to sweep as Petchmorrakot round kicks to the body.
Khayal Dzhaniev vs Buakaw:
This was the first fight that made me stand up and take notice of what the Russians were doing. Out elbowing a Thai isn’t normal, but Khayal makes very good use of southpaw elbows, particularly in combination and on the counters. Boxing with elbows is a rare skill and it’s typically only seen in Nathan Corbett or Thomas Almeida matches. While Thais are obviously the best at using elbows, the commitment to boxing in with them in combination isn’t as common in Thailand as you would think.
This fight also has the single least professional ring announcer I have ever seen.
Artem Levin vs David Keclik
Levin is probably the most famous Russian fighter here thanks to winning Glory: Last Man Standing and the Glory middleweight title. There has been a lot written about him, but I will say, he’s got great head movement and has weird long loopy punches and elbows that make him very difficult to fight.
Overall, my observations have been that when compared to other countries, Russia seems to place a lot more emphasis on elbows, knees and being able to clinch. Probably due to the popularity of sambo, we see them far more comfortable in clinch range than any other nations fighters save for Thailand. While Americans and Brits will tend to avoid the clinch if they can in favour of staying in kickboxing exchanges.
Punching technique is by FAR the smoothest I’ve seen in Muay Thai. They punch long, they keep their elbows in and change levels. Overall though, this isn't as stark a contrast as the differences between Western and Russian boxing are. There is a lot of similarity and overlap here, probably because Muay Thai is all round a smaller world than boxing is. The main difference I find, is better use of partner drills, which are used in the UK and US but not emphasised enough in the way that they are in Russia and the Netherlands.
This is about the most I’ve got now, but if anyone wants to add anything, feel free! Thank you to Dexter for sending me down this rabbit hole.
While I don’t expect this to be nearly as deep a topic of discussion as my Cuban/Soviet Boxing Thread. Dexter sent me down another rabbit hole of Russian Muay Thai. This particularly sparked interest for me because Russian boxing has been a big influence on my approach to punching both training and coaching Muay Thai.
Training drills:
Here we primarily see kick counters, parrying to set up offensive techniques. All practised slow with precision.
More focus around clinch technique and clinch entries – all very fundamental stuff, executed well.
A good mix of stuff here, mostly around punching and defending against punch/kick combinations.
A good class to watch. Partner drills aren’t non existent outside of Russia, but these drills are a lot more fluid than ones I’ve observed in the UK. The drills I’m seeing here aren’t foreign to me, we do this in the West, but most of these drills (not unlike Russian boxing drills) have more simulation of sparring. Rather than it being Fighter A attacks then Fighter B responds, Fighter B will respond in the middle of fighter A’s drill, who will then do the same. This, coupled with a focus on simple techniques rather than long combinations of several punches, three kicks and two knees, keep the drills realistic.
This is a switch kick drill, seems to be focused more on co-ordination. The drill speaks for itself. I will say I am not a fan of how wide these two guys switch, as I prefer a very small step in which you actually come forward, but even if this is not how you would approach a switch kick in a fight, the drill can be modified and above all will be good for co-ordination.
The style of kicking is quite baseball bat like, which is in of itself very different from the type of kicking I am used to, which favours a more upwards an in approach, closer to golden age Muay Thai in Thailand.
None of this is to say that this is what is exclusively focused on, or even focused on heavily, but I personally like the focus on partner drills over one student holding pads for another student, which I don’t find to be beneficial – yet is very common in the UK.
Much of these drills bare a lot of resemblance to dutch kickboxing, which is very well known for emphasising partner drills exchanging shots over holding pads. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that kyokushin karate, which seems to be popular in Russia, has had a similar influence on Muay Thai over there, in the same way it influenced the way that dutch kickboxing in trained.
This makes it stand out particularly from the training Thailand, which is heavily based around bagwork and Padwork with an experienced pad holder. The nature of living at a gym in Thailand, with 12 training sessions a week, not including personal training – and fighting regularly means you don’t need as systematic an approach to learning Muay Thai, in Thailand you go, you do bag work, pad work, spar and clinch and you do it twice a day every day and within a relatively short time you’re starting to get quite good at it.
Some examples of Muay Thai fighters in action:
Alaverdi Ramazanov vs. Petchmorrakot:
This fight was a great display of boxing, and I do mean boxing, not simply punching combinations. Ramazanov keeps just out of range to make kicks and punches fall short before coming in with his own. He also makes good use of a counter leg kick to sweep as Petchmorrakot round kicks to the body.
Khayal Dzhaniev vs Buakaw:
This was the first fight that made me stand up and take notice of what the Russians were doing. Out elbowing a Thai isn’t normal, but Khayal makes very good use of southpaw elbows, particularly in combination and on the counters. Boxing with elbows is a rare skill and it’s typically only seen in Nathan Corbett or Thomas Almeida matches. While Thais are obviously the best at using elbows, the commitment to boxing in with them in combination isn’t as common in Thailand as you would think.
This fight also has the single least professional ring announcer I have ever seen.
Artem Levin vs David Keclik
Levin is probably the most famous Russian fighter here thanks to winning Glory: Last Man Standing and the Glory middleweight title. There has been a lot written about him, but I will say, he’s got great head movement and has weird long loopy punches and elbows that make him very difficult to fight.
Overall, my observations have been that when compared to other countries, Russia seems to place a lot more emphasis on elbows, knees and being able to clinch. Probably due to the popularity of sambo, we see them far more comfortable in clinch range than any other nations fighters save for Thailand. While Americans and Brits will tend to avoid the clinch if they can in favour of staying in kickboxing exchanges.
Punching technique is by FAR the smoothest I’ve seen in Muay Thai. They punch long, they keep their elbows in and change levels. Overall though, this isn't as stark a contrast as the differences between Western and Russian boxing are. There is a lot of similarity and overlap here, probably because Muay Thai is all round a smaller world than boxing is. The main difference I find, is better use of partner drills, which are used in the UK and US but not emphasised enough in the way that they are in Russia and the Netherlands.
This is about the most I’ve got now, but if anyone wants to add anything, feel free! Thank you to Dexter for sending me down this rabbit hole.
