Muay Thai and Race

My man Patee in Thailand

Hello all, hope this finds you all happy and healthy as we close out this year. It was an amazing year for us at Lucky's Muay Thai and I am so proud to be a part of such a great group of people. We are already scheduled for a couple of events in the new year and I am stoked. I wanted to touch on a subject that some find uncomfortable, and that's race relations in Muay Thai or Martial arts in general. Maybe it's a good thing that it makes people uncomfortable to talk about race or it could just be, the way that I see it, in Martial arts it just doesn't matter. It matters in other places in society e.g. politics, certain neighborhoods, social issues, etc, but in Muay Thai in my experience, it just doesn't matter.

Matthew from Switerland and Jihad from France

When you walk into a gym or dojo anywhere in the world the focus is on the discipline and technique. It's about uniting your mind, body and soul. Yes something about being hit in the face or kicked extremely hard is spiritual. I'm not sure why we don't think so much about race when we train in Muay Thai or Jiu Jitsu, or Taekwondo, or other arts. Possibly because we are spending most of our time trying to learn how not to get knocked out or choked to sleep. All of us seem to realize that we will progress faster individually if we work together as a group. We are more when we are training as one. Not to say we don't have our opinions on the social issues of society but the reality is when we get matched up at a tournament or in a ring or a cage the last thing we care about is the color of our opponent. We care about how well we trained, how hard we worked, how our coaches and team feel about the efforts we've made and can we express ourselves fully when the bell rings. What I find unfortunate is that some may read this and say, well you forgotten where you came from or you're not where i'm from. All of that couldn't further from the truth. I know exactly where I came from. I had great great grandmothers who were slaves, I grew up in Chicago where at times it was one of the most segregated cities in the country, I lived in Texas where I was called the N-word by cops and chased on more than one occasion by idiot racists with guns. So yes I get it things are not fair for everyone in society, particularly minorities but in every place i've lived and with every group I've had the honor of training with one thing rang true. Race was never an issue. From my Israeli friends that teach and train Krav Maga to my Brazilians that train Jiu Jitsu, all the way to my Thai friends that train Muay Thai and beyond.

MMA class 08'

We all love each other just the same and putting our heart into getting better at our arts and using that to make us better human beings is the goal across the board regardless of race. As most of my readers know I have a new baby, she is now five months old and she is bi-racial or mixed, or whatever label people are using now but to me she is just my baby. I didn't even realize she was light skinned until people would ask me,"who's baby is that", or "is that your baby?". No joke, i've heard that and more. As she starts to get older the only place I feel really comfortable with her being and people I feel comfortable being with are those that walk the Martial path because those are the people I know will instill in her a sense of love and compassion not based on her color and I love that. I wanted to add some pictures of people I've had the pleasure of training with from different parts of the world and of all different races but it would just be a never ending collage. So I just added a few but know that I think of you all and have truly enjoyed meeting you, training with you and growing with you.

       Only one thing left to say and that is thank you for letting go of the insensitivity of the outside world to become more sensitive and aware of your true self. Peace and blessings through the holidays and much success in your training and fighting in 2015

Last night's training all colors, all creeds, all L-O-V-E

Guess they haven't seen Kevin Ross fight

What's up people?! Hope all is well out there in your world during this holiday season. Before you jump to conclusions about the title of my post let's get one thing clear, though I am ma huge Kevin Ross fan this post isn't about how sick his spinning elbow looks or how he throws that sneaky head kick off the misdirection. No, this post is about us, the participants and fans of said fighting acumen. See we have a bit of a problem here in the U.S.. The problem is that in the midst of a combat sports renaissance world wide, from MMA to Jiu Jitsu, and even boxing finally making a comeback. Kickboxing whether it be Muay Thai, K-1, or Glory just isn't getting the love in the states. I'm not sure of the reason, because watching a high level kickboxing match is every bit as exciting as anything else on television.
           Maybe that's the problem, no major television deal. I mean we have Lion Fights on Axs which is awesome except for when I talk to people about it most of them don't know if they "have that channel". Not only that but they are not at all familiar with the fighters. If not knowing the fighters is an issue then an organization like Glory with an amazing show including dancers, pyrotechnics, smoke, and some good marketing, should have no problem promoting the fighters. Well, Glory does do a great job marketing it's product, unfortunately most of the fighters are European. So yeah, that doesn't help the American kickboxers almost at all. Leading the charge in Glory was Joe Schilling winning the middleweight tournament. Glory let his contract expire. So yeah, instead of seeing an awesome glory card featuring a fight between Schilling and Manhoef we instead had to tune in to Bellator MMA to watch the awesome knockout that should have further helped the growth of kickboxing in America. MMA wins.
           Speaking of MMA winning it just reminded me of how women's MMA has blown up and it was primarily kick started by one Gina Carano and carried on by now MMA champion Rhonda Rousey but let's keep it real, Gina is the original and was the first true face of MMA. There's only one problem with that situation and that's that Gina was a Muay Thai fighter first and had there been an outlet, maybe kickboxing could have shared in the success of women fighters.
          I don't know if we are that far away from enjoying some of the lucrativity that MMA has garnered, I don't even know how much of that we even want. How would it change our community if we were blessed with Muay Thai on Fox or Glory on ESPN a couple of times per month? Might not be in a good way as the market as we know can be oversaturated. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want fighters to have an organization that offered  good pay, promotion, marketing, and a way to let the fighters use their personalities to acquire some sponsorship dollars.
          So you see when I that "I guess they haven't seen Kevin Ross fight", what i'm really saying is I guess they have never seen Kevin Ross, Joe Shilling, Angela Hill, Tiffany Van Soest, Miriam Nakamoto, Angela Hill, Wayne Barrett, Joseph Valtellini, Chris Mauceri, Raymond Daniels,...etc..etc..because if they had they would realize that they have been missing out on seeing some of the most exciting fighters this country has to offer.

My interview on the Muay Thai Guy podcast with Sean Fagan

MTG 059: "Lucky" Lloyd Walton and I Discuss The Muay Thai/Kickboxing Divide, Balancing Life With Training and More!

You gotta be a little crazy

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm in most of the country. Pretty stoked about the holidays this year. not to say that I'm not normally but this year is special. Got a new babygirl to celebrate with, my sister is moving down, the team is strong and my woman is a badass. I say that because it takes a special kind of person to deal with a fighter because we are all a little crazy. And in lieu of my bad segway, i'll just get started..
     So what does it take for a human being to want to challenge themselves against another human being in hand to hand combat. Some might believe that it's money, well that's a huge misconception. Unless you are one of the top guys in the entire world, you're making some seriously average pay. How about fame? Nah, you can become moderately famous if you're winning but again unless you're getting some top billing internationally then you're just as local as the guy throwing boxes at UPS.
 So what is it then? The answer just isn't that simple, some people need it to keep control of some emotional fire within them, some do it to challenge themselves and their martial spirit, others just like to fight but all have one thing in common. We're all a little crazy. Not the kind of crazy that gets you put on the evening news... okay, a bit of that is also involved but it's not the main ingredient.
      No, what we are is a combination of bravery, heart, intelligence, passion and the ability to say at the moment the bell rings, I'm ready to face all of the potentially horrible possibilities as a warrior and I will go out on my shield if need be. Although that in itself might seem a little nuts, it's not nearly as crazy as the eight weeks of training we put our bodies through preparing to face somebody of the same mindset. Yes the actual fight can be brutal but the training is the truly insane part. What the average person sees on television or at an event is a fraction of the amount of time spent beating our bodies up in training. Between sparring, strength and conditioning, running, and visualizing it can drive a fighter to the brink. We are emotional especially in training camp, we fight our fight a thousand times in our heads, going over every possibility. It is a roller coaster ride of emotions, losing, winning, questioning why we even do it. The fact of the matter is it's in us, we are passionate for it and we do it even to our own detriment but it is a special thin we have, we are a brotherhood and a sisterhood of fighters and most will never understand us. Some might call us crazy, but we would rather be deemed crazy and know we tested our very existence against another willing to do the same, than to live a life so ordinary.
      That being said let's be clear, all of the best ever, greatest of all times, number ones, etc were a bit crazy. From artists, to intellectuals , to fighters. In every aspect of life the majority of the time the ones that were best at their crafts had a little extra crazy in them. The obsession for being great, they hate losing more than they like winning. If there is a chance you can tap into that even for a moment why wouldn't you try. I encourage everyone of you to go out and get obsessed about something you love, pour your heart in it and see what happens. The payoff is being able to say you did what others said you couldn't and doing what other people just won't. Be different, be brave, be challenged, and be a little crazy. Ossss...

Poverty over Passion

What's up people, hope this finds you all doing well and gearing up for the holiday season. Which for some of you means being angry because you're cutting weight and can't eat all of that tremendous holiday food. I hope that's not the case and if it is, i'll eat plenty on your behalf, no worries.
          I am stoked about how the LMT team did this year, we are growing stronger everyday and it is a humbling experience. Please check out our video posted on this blog if you haven't already it's called "LMT in motion", it's available on YouTube. Let me know what you think.
           After training numerous people from different walks of life I honestly am not sure that the idea that the poorer you are the harder you fight. There is definitely something to that, but I strongly believe that passion sometimes supersedes being hungry. I train a banker that is willing to leave it all in the ring and he is nowhere near poor and I honestly don't think he's ever been there. So where does that inner fight come from? I think it comes from human nature. The possibility to do something bigger than yourself for reasons other than getting out of a bad situation. Some fighters are engaged in a quest to prove something to themselves or dedicate their careers to the people that sacrificed for them to have a better life.
         I am a firm believer that whether you are in a impoverished situation or you're well to do, you will only get as far as your heart and your will are going to take you. You have to want it more than the next guy but you also have to train as hard, study as hard, and be prepared to go out on your shield. Now, if you have more to gain and nothing to lose from the fight then the wealthier fighter, you might be more willing to go out on swinging but if you haven't put in the time in training or studying the techniques it doesn't matter who you are, rich or poor, you're going to eventually hit a wall. Ultimately, you are only as good as the effort you put in and that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with heart, attitude, belief , and willingness.
         Be willing, and you just might attain greatness.

This is LMT.

This is just offensive.

Oh boy, a long post, I must be feeling it right now. Well the truth is that watching my team prepare for their upcoming fights has got me amped up.  Coaching them up for their competitions is an amazing feeling. Showing them what their bodies are capable of is even better. Before you can understand that, you must first know what you're equipped with. What the casual fight fan, beginning fighter, and unfortunately some trainers don't understand is their actual understanding of the weapons that are available. The human body is magnificent. It is secretly embedded with an arsenal of weapons. If you're not sold on that then let's examine them.
  Starting with the hands when balled up tight forcing the knuckles to extrude are no longer hands but spiked maces like the ones used by the gladiators. If used properly the fist can deliver devastating knockouts to both the head and body. Ask anyone that has had to stand in front of a person that has had any boxing training and knows where and how to place them. The great thing about them is they don't require a lot of effort to use, but the bad thing is that they can be broken if you landed on the wrong part of the opponents body. Which leads us to the pair of almost unbreakable axes attached to the middle of both arms. Elbows are some of the most devastating weapons in your possession. They can be used to both smash and cut your opponent. These are fight enders. When levied with the right velocity elbows can break jaws, collarbones, ribs, and skulls. As terrible as that might sound (or great), these weapons are as I said before, dual purposed. If your opponent is game enough to withstand the force of the elbow strike, their skin will almost certainly not be able to handle the slicing effect. Some of the bloodiest fights in all combat sports come from proper application of the elbow. Go back and watch Daniel "The Crow" Loiseau when he fought in the UFC, or how Bj Penn finished Joe "Daddy" Stevenson, and last but not least Yodsanklai Fairtex when he fought a much

Buakaw's  delivers a flying elbow

larger Chike Lindsey. Chike was much larger and more powerful but Yod began to slice him to bits with elbows securing his victory. The elbow is your friend at close range and can be used in a direct striking method as well as spinning and jumping. If you are not proficient in elbow striking I strongly suggest you become so before you reach an opponent that is. The results can be brutal.
        As we move into the lower part of the body let's first make sure we understand that these weapons are all tied together by one thing, the core. If the core is weak, these weapons are useless. I'm not saying of course that you couldn't strike with force but the effectiveness of any of these weapons with a strong core increases exponentially. Work on your core!
        So let's first start with the legs. The foundation for all of your abilities, the base of your pyramid. They seem innocuous enough from the outside. However for every martial artist knows that those legs are actually spring loaded baseball bats attached to your hips and core. The beauty of the legs is that they can be used in so many ways that when trained at a high  level an opponent can literally be lost as to what is coming next. Round kicks, axe kicks, side kicks, turning side kicks, low kicks, high kicks, and on and on and on. Something as simple as leg kicks can end a fight in incredible fashion. Edson Barbosa, Ramon Dekkers, Jose Aldo, Ernesto Hoost, all devastating leg kickers that have finished fights with those kicks. You can go on Youtube and literally watch fight after fight of leg kick knockouts. The the toes, core and hips helps fire the legs with power and gives a fighter a way to finish fights as well as destroy defenses. Blocking kicks with a single arm has a risk involved. Cung le broke Frank Shamrocks ulna in a competitive fight in Strikeforce up until that point and Alistair Overeem broke the arm of Gohkan Saki during the K-1 grand prix. Nothing worse than being on the wrong end of two baseball bats being swung at you from every angle and ultimately done from a distance which doesn't allow you to retaliate without taking punishment. If your core is right, you can throw kicks with the power of a major league homerun hitter. So what happens when someone is able to close the distance o those legs either by superior footwork, defense, or just willingness to take the punishment in order to apply some strikes of their own? Well then that leads us to the  Battering rams.

          Knees... Two battering rams that are destruction heavy. So maybe your opponent can withstand the punches, and elbows, and checks kicks like nobodies business. The question is can their body continue on while sustaining blunt force trauma to the thighs, ribcage, sternum, and if you involve a solid clinch game, the head.
The knees have no mercy, if the arms are put in front of them to block, then the arms are broken or severely bruised and rendered useless. The amazing thing about knees is that they don't need to be thrown at full force to cause damage, a simple raise of the leg and the knee can be felt. As I mentioned if you have a solid clinch game and can manipulate your opponents movement, the knee can be your best friend. So what is the clinch game?
        Clinching allows you to control the movement, posture, and ability of your opponent to get off their own offense. When stuck in the clinch of someone that knows how to clinch it feels claustrophobic or like quicksand. The only options when in the clinch are to be defensive or try to escape, or break the clinch and get into your own clinch. All of these things are easier said than done, especially when knees are being hurled into your torso and your head is being bent into your chest and you're being whipped in circles around the ring.
        After writing this I can only say that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Striking methods and weapons are many and they are evolving everyday. Learn your craft and put as many tools in your toolbox as you can or else you might be on the wrong end of a technique that you might have overlooked or just didn't respect.
       Lastly, don't forget the most important weapon of all, your brain. Train smart, understand your flaws and places that need improvement. Don't take unnecessary punishment in training just for the sake of banging it out. Save something for the fight. Fight smart, learn to recognize the movements of your opponents and be tactical. Hit and don't get hit. Don't be in the fight, be the fight. Tune in to the very frequency of the energy and be one with the ebb and flow. Be the fighter you always say you can be. If you take the time to learn your craft, how can you be stopped from succeeding.
Love you guys.
Lucky