The pad man is the most important person other than a Khru to a fighter ; as it is only when using pads (other than when fighting-in ring or hopefully not but in the street) that the fighter is permitted to use full power.
Therefore the pad man mirrors as a sparring partner to the fighter, however he is the person who controls the power, speed & tempo of the training. It is therefore important that as a pad man you should be live & move around as in a fight your opponent will not be static but be moving around. In doing this the pad man will also improve his / her own footwork & reactions. So the role of the pad man is two fold in that you are not only concentrating on training your fighter, you are also training yourself in the act of defence, increasing your reaction times and improving footwork.
If you hold the pads wrongly your student will learn how the execute the techniques wrongly & also their own pad holding skills will suffer as they in turn will learn from you , so it is very important that good pad man skills are effected . Therefore the pad man should encourage the fluidity of combinations to be thrown.
As both a pad man and a fighter, when using the pads you should listen to the sound your punch / kick / knee / elbow makes against the pad. When a kick for example is made half heartedly or lightly then it will make a dull dud noise whereas when it's executed correctly it'll sound sharp & snappy.
The role of the pad man is also to motivate & encourage the fighter , if fighter is dropping guard gives them a 'kiss' with the pads (i.e. Hit / tap to remind them to keep them up) As a pad man you can also simulate an attack against the fighter as well so encourages them to defend & counter techniques and check their reaction times.
It's a another factor of being the pad man to think about the safety of not only yourself but also your fighter, so when holding the pads you need to be relaxed but firm - in that you need to put some resistance against the pad as the fighter hits however not too much. The reason for this is that if they throw a punch lightly and yet you push against the pads hard then this will only jar their elbow / shoulder and could cause them injury. Make sure there's nothing that could make either one of you fall - be aware of your surroundings.
The pad man uses various drills to train the fighter - the reason for this is it is human nature to learn from repetition. Think of children learning to talk, times tables or adults learning a different language ..they learn from repetition until it becomes second nature to them. It is the same with executing combinations - reaction will only develop through drilling the combinations in to the fighter.
The pad man should be aware of the fighter they are working with and train them within their boundary, whilst at the same time encouraging them to surpass their comfort zone, in a safe surrounding. Learn to communicate with your partner as they in turn will encourage you if and when the roles are reversed .
When working as pad man you may take some knocks along the way, but this is to be expected as you would in an actual fight. However it's in the laboratory so to speak so it's an ideal time to work out different combinations as you can see where an opponent may get knocked back from a kick & decide what's best to follow it up with.
Remember: Failure should be viewed as a friend as it makes you learn and learning from mistakes is the key to success .
JAB/CROSS DRILL Everything begins off the Yab / Mahd Dtrong
Jab - Cross - Lead Hand Hook
Jab - Cross - Rear Hand Hook
Jab - Cross - Lead Hand Uppercut
Jab - Cross - Rear Hand Uppercut
Jab - Cross - Lead Hand Sawk Dtad (horizontal elbow)
Jab - Cross - Rear Hand Sawk Dtad (horizontal elbow)
Jab - Cross - Rear Kao Dtrong (straight knee)
Jab - Cross - Lead Kao Dtrong (straight knee)
Jab - Cross - Dtae Chang
Jab - Cross - Dtae Chang
The above equals 1 set - this should be repeated 10 times
It's useful to use this as a warm up drill as it's working on basic techniques whilst at the same time getting the heart pumping.
1 MINUTE DRILL Purpose of these 1 minute drills is that each one is repeated 3 times with a 15 seconds break in between each of the minutes - totalling 3 minutes which is 1 round in a fight. Also 1 minute is easier for the fighter to focus on achieving rather than taking them for the full 3 minutes straight off - naturally once their level of stamina increases the rest periods could be shortened.
• Jab - Cross - Jab - Knee - Double Dtae Chang
• Jab - Cross - Jab - Cross to the mid section - Step round as you throw the Lead hand Hook & then Rear leg Dtae Chang
• Clinch 4 Straight knees, 4 Slap Knees, Turn pad man & follow up with 2 Dtae Chang's.
3 MAN DRILL You have 2 pad men, both holding pads for Dtae Chang & 1 fighter then for duration ranging from 1 minute (as above you can gradually increase the time 2mins/3mins) the fighter continually kicks - so as soon as one foot comes down to the ground the other is already up!
Note that both the pad men have to be Static for this drill & sometimes it is therefore best to have a slightly wide more grounded stance so that you can hold the pads more effectively.
4 MAN DRILL It's a repeat of the above, however you now have 2 fighters & 2 pad men so both fighters kick alternative pads at the same time, this can encourage both fighters as it raises the competitive nature in both fighters and drives them on.
NUNG ROY DRILL
'Nung Roy' means 100 so it's simple
100 Straight punches
100 Knees
100 Kicks of each leg
NUNG PAN DRILL
Recapped this drill 'Nung Pan' meaning 1000
DIFFERENT DRILLS WILL DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT
Belly Pad / Boxing Gloves:
The fighter's only task is to keep the pad man away with the teep for 3 minutes - At this time the pad man is continually walking forwards to the fighter if the fighter tires & becomes stuck on the ropes throw punches until the fighter moves out the way. This trains the fighter of what to do if they tire / need to catch their breath in the ring & also helps with their evasion footwork if they have to move out from the ropes.
2 Belly Pads: Wear 2 belly pads cross over so both your hips / rib area is protected. Then the fighter can clinch the pad man up but must only use a variety of knees that are only targeted at their opponents sides (i.e. no front knees are allow) This makes the fighter think of differing side knees (kao dtee, kao chiang, kao dhat) This can be done up to 3minutes rounds.
Focus Mitts: A really good pad man can defend all techniques by just using a pair of focus mitts. They're called focus mitts due to them being such a small target area and so therefore the fighter has to focus more on their target!
One trick shown was the pad man offers their lead hand palm up so that the fighter can parry down & counter with an elbow to the other focus mitt which the pad man is holding.
Thai Pads: If you hold them like you do for teep it gives you the option of moving them to either side for the fighter to execute slap knees.(picture 8)
However you can cross them or even defend with one and get fighter to follow up with a cross - you are the pad man and it's up to you to communicate what you want your student to do.
Good Stance + Good Defence = A Good Pad Man Kru Shaun Boland from Chao Phraya Muay Thai Academy demonstrates basic pad holding at KO Highmans Park
1 The Stance
2 Kick to the Body
3 Kick to the Head
4 Cross
5 Uppercut
6 Hook
7 Knees
8 Knees
Information supplied by Kru Shaun Boland fromChao Phraya Muay Thai Academy written by Kru Maria Randall from the KO London Muay Thai Academy
