My Muay Thai Training Diary: Sparring

I’m 6’1, around 230 pounds and I train in a gym with either taller fighters or heavyweights. I can tell you that slipping (backwards and side to side) is seen as the second, most important line of defense for the taller fighters and its a skill that is absolutely crucial when a smaller fighter can get on the inside.

Ducking, on the other hand, is rarely used by the taller fighters, for obvious reasons, and in my opinion, it can cause even more problems, especially if you’re sparring against someone adept at either knees or uppercuts. This being said, it can certainly be used for offensive purposes ala Fedor-style feinting and the movement can literally freak out many of your opponents.

I’m a bit taller (6’1" 170lbs), but most of the pure Thai guys in my gym are shorter than me, so I can relate. As a taller fighter the fundamentals still hold true. My guess is that when you’re rolling to avoid the hook, you’re probably bending at the waist. This effectively moves your head closer to the punch and opens up your face. Not what you want.

You should just practice two things: 1) bending at the knees and stepping out when rolling under the hook. I work this every time I shadow box and it’s paid off for me. 2) countering the hook with straight punches (while keeping your opposite hand up, of course). The hook is an arching punch, so it’s a bit slower. And if you’re taller than your opponent they’ll have to close the distance before they can land it. If you’re countering with quicker, straighter punches while keeping your guard up, you’ll find that you land a lot of really crisp counters while catching the hook on your glove.

Hope this helps.

sparring in an art like that is not easy.

I took two days of Muay Thai at my academy, and it was a small class so they didn’t really have beginners separated out. You just had to roll with the upper level guys, so I got tossed into sparring on my second day.

I like you, tried to check kicks with my hand, an old habit from my fencing days and guys started throwing up head kicks on me right and left. I had to idea how to deal with them, so I pretty much would duck and run stupidly away. Then towards the end of class I caught my toe on the mat liner and cut it open and had to take a week off of BJJ to let it heal and basically said “Fuck Muay Thai” and just stuck with BJJ.

I have mad respect for all those who do Muay Thai and kickboxing related arts after that.

i like parrying or moving in and out or side to side. i like to parry and the hand i block with i attack with. it’s a nice way to throw someone off. parry slide hit with the same hand you just parried with. overall no matter the height speed kills if you can’t see the hit coming your already done.

I am not a tall guy 5’9" but what are your feet and hands doing when you try and slip or duck a hook? If you are crossing your feet that may be the problem and if your hands are all over the place that could cause you to lose your balance. Minor things like that can create a big difference. Also from my personal experience my first few times in a ring were terrible because I was so happy to be in a ring I completely forgot everything that I had learned. It is a very good thing that was not a real fight for me.

Realistically the only correct answer is the one that works best for you. Keep it up thanks for the read!

That’s a great point about forgetting the fundamentals in the ring. I do think there was a large degree of that for me.

When ducking I keep my feet planted and my hands up by my ears. I do have a bit of a tough time finding the right width for my stance on the duck though, which can give me some balance issues.

Also, may I just say that the comments sections in these articles are consistently a highlight. Thank you to everyone for all the great insight you bring here.