Handwraps, Bells, Sit Ups, And More in this week’s Fairtex News
Handwrap Equipment
The sport is a craft. In the backroom at the bouts the specialists live. The cutmen are especially known for their art. The tools come from local pharmacies. The medical adhesive tape, the gauze, and the scissors.
In international hand style wraps, hands get covered with gauze first. Athletes on ONE Championship and in Fairtex fights use the international style. Then a layer of medical tape lays on top. The tape goes up the back of the hand to below the knuckles. A pad goes over the knuckles for protection. Thin strips of tape run between the fingers to secure the gauze.
The wrap ends with a final layer of tape.
Cutmen will refine their art with the scissors. If the wrap cuts into the hands too much they snip at the cast to make more breathing space.
When the athlete returns to the backroom the wraps come off with the same scissors. The blades curve so that the skin isn’t pinched during the cut.
The Bell Tolls
At the famed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, the bell sits. The iconic instrument rings at the beginning of each round. Seated next to the bell is a timekeeper. Their sole job, is to keep track of the passing seconds of the round.
For Fairtex Fight, Muay Thai bouts are three minutes per round. Each break is only 60 seconds long. The red bell above will rings when the seconds should leave the ring.
Then the hammer hits the golden bell. It sounds out loud and the fight begins again.
Ferrari knees
(In this photo: Fairtex FGV18 Super Sparring Grappling MMA Gloves, Fairtex TP4 Compact Thigh Pads, Fairtex KPLC5 Muay Thai Kickboxing Lightweight Thai Pads, Fairtex BPV1 Belly Pad Rib Guard Body Protector)
Tall and lanky, Ferrari is built for the drive. And he drives his knee into Kru Hern’s belly pad. Spearing knees up the middle do damage. So they score high.
In the photo, Ferrari has his knee turned slightly. The angle allows for a more piercing knee. Also, his toe turns downward. This changes the shape of the knee and again creates a better stabbing effect.
The corresponding arm goes down to maintain balance and help with the explosive power.
While the opposite hand, left, remains high in the guard position.
What Are Aqua Punching Bags Good For?
(In this photo: Fairtex HB16 Hydro Heavy Bag Unfilled)
Pro Muay Thai fighter, Celeste Hansen, pounds away on the Fairtex Aqua bag. These bags, filled with water, are perfect for developing stamina and power. The bag absorbs the punching power of the boxer.
This compares to traditional heavy bags which are often filled with sand or cloth. These bags are heavy and have little give to them. They can injure the muscles and bones. The bag is also uniform in composition. Often heavy bags, are dented in due to heavy usage. Water bags maintain their shape short and long term.
Generations of Muay Thai
(In this photo: Fairtex HB7 Muay Thai Pole Heavy Bag, Fairtex HB3 Muay Thai Extra Large Heavy Bag, Fairtex HB6 Muay Thai Banana Heavy Bag, Fairtex UC1 Uppercut & Hook Wall Unit)
Athletes in Thailand start young. Saenchainoi, the young boxer in this photo is just 10 years old. He came to Fairtex before Covid and trained. The coaches helped him after school to work out and increase his skills. He had his first fight at a local festival. He kicked and punched his way forward but lost the bout on points.
Covid pushed his career back by two years but after the plague lifted Saenchainoi returned.
Here he is training with one of the coaches. He comes in late, after the normal classes, and after school. Saenchainoi will hit the bags and will fight. Bouts for boys his age get wages of a few hundred baht. If he develops a reputation and skills large side bets can be put on fighters like him.
Nakrob On The Ropes
(In this photo: Fairtex FGV18 Super Sparring Grappling MMA Gloves)
Nakrob Fairtex made his ONE Lumpinee debut. The hard hitter took on Sherzod Venum Muay Thai. Sherzod is known for his unorthodox attacks. Sherzod spun around. He threw spinning back kicks and spinning back fists as well.
The athlete spun and spun and was on the run the entire fight. Nakrob was able to track him down and cracked him with a right hand. The blow sent Sherzod down for a count in the third. The Venum Muay Thai athlete was rocked and skated around the ring on wobbly legs. When the verdict was announced Nakrob got up on the ropes and received the victory.
Conditioning Kicks
(In this photo: Fairtex BS1911 New Muay Thai Boxing Shorts, Fairtex KPLC5 Muay Thai Kickboxing Lightweight Thai Pads)
Fighters at Fairtex condition their bodies regularly with kicks at the end of the round. The boxers will pair up and blast away at the pads. They throw one power kick at a time. Having a partner to kick the pads with helps them maintain the intensity and timing.
In this photo Yodnamchai (left) and BM (right) take turns hitting the pad. Trainer Champ holds for them as they finish off the session with power.
Thai Style sit up
After the end of a hard session, the boxers will do sit ups. The ab exercises are done at the edge of the ring, usually with the legs falling off the ring or wrapped around the ropes. Rather than doing a basic crunch upwards, the fighters will pull their entire body upwards. They then pull down. This ab exercise helps them mimic the core engagement necessary for fights.
Boxers will do 100 sit ups per set. Often they will do two or more sets per session. In a week they will have done well over 1000 sit ups. These exercises help them have cores of solid steel.
Author: Matt Lucas