james7454

I was watching an old Sports Illustrated Video, "Power" where Ajarn Chai was training Randy White of the Dallas Cowboys. In it, White is shown kicking and exhausted at the end of a workout. White then says that he kicked for 16, 3 minute rounds, which seems amazing to me. Does anyone know how Ajarn Chai set up the workout for White(and the Cowboys) in those days? In the video, nobody was punching, so maybe they just focused on kicks and knees.
I am a college strength coach and my players perform Muay Thai and I am always looking for new ideas. Thank you.

Little Apple

I'm not sure I'm the best person to comment here, but nobody else has, so here's some info from my humble experiance. Please note that I'm not a teacher.

After making sure that we had good technique, my brother (who is a teacher) would have us start rounds. A standard set of rounds, as far as I know, is 3 minutes on and 1 minute off. Nobody started above 3 rounds who hadn't done them before, and depending on how things went, he would slowly add rounds, usually one or two at a time. I believe a round is effective because of the variation in movement and the consistancy of movement: when in a round, the guy doesn't sit there and think about life, he moves, and it's usually not just kicks, it's whatever your instructor says.

The kind of rounds that we usually do, my bro calls "drill rounds" not sure if that's just the full name of rounds, or if it means something spacific. But, in the absence of a spacific technique we're working, it goes something like this:

Leg Section: 8 of the same technique, 4 off each side, of something like Evade the Padholder's Kick and do 2 kicks-On the left, on the right, on the left, on the right etc. Or maybe tepe the kick and 2 kicks.

Knee Section: Charge in and get your pad holder in the clinch, and give 8 of the same technique, like skip, or side knees. For skip knees Left-Right counts as one, for side knees, you do two to the same side, and that's one.

Arm section: Let the pad holder go, and do 8 of the same thing, 4 on each side, like: Jab-cross-2 down elbows, Left, Right, Left, Right, etc. or Jab-cross-hook-cross, or Snap elbow-down elbow, or something.

Go back to the Leg Section and start again, get through as many rotations of this cycle as your time allows. Especially at first, limit the students to one or two combinations per-section per-round so they don't waist round time trying to pick what to do next. And try not to pause between sections; it's all one round. When you're guys think they're finaly surviving, add rounds.

When you get to 10 rounds, instead of adding rounds, first add blitzes. The blitz (sorry if I spelled that wrong), is done at the end of your 3 minutes and eats into your 1 minute rest, the faster you do it, the more rest you have. The one we use is 3 kicks off each side, up to 8, so 4 off each leg. To clearify: Left-Kick, kick, kick, is 1; Right-kick,kick, kick, is 2; Left-kick,kick, kick, is 3; Right-kick,kick, kick, is 4. You go up to 8.

OK, so that's my input. Remember I'm not a teacher and there may be stuff I forgot or don't know, so try to ask around some more, but I hope this helps. It's what my bro has us do anyway.

gregimotis

I've heard Ajarn joke about his Dallas Cowboy's time during seminars. I also would like to hear what he was doing there. I sort of imagine he was a 'celebrity trainer' for a season or so... sort of a change of pace for the players.

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james7454

Thank you for your replies. How are Ajrn Chai's seminars? He is coming to Baltimore in April and I would like to see him.

chanmartialarts

james7454:

As April approaches, we will be posting info on our site regarding the Ajarn Chai seminar if you or anyone else is interested in attending. We bring Ajarn to MD every April. Feel free to register yourself & participate on our forum, as it is open to everyone.

www.mdthaiboxing.com

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chalambok

I believe Master Chai was a fitness and conditioning coach with the Cowboys for 8 years. He once told me Randy White was the hardest kicker for whom he ever held the Thai pads. More than once I have sat with him in hotel rooms watching Dallas play; meanwhile he was making notes about blocking schemes and tendencies. The 'educated eye', to borrow a phrase from Ajarn Inosanto. Coach Tom Landry and Master Chai were particularly close, and talked regularly on the phone for years after leaving the team when Jerry Jones became the owner. Stories I have heard about his time there are pretty wild, including knocking out Ed 'Too Tall' Jones with a focus mitt/left hook. This was after Jones had retired to become a boxer (he got $100,000 for 1 fight) and then returned to football. Master Chai told me he first said "You think you are a boxer?" The joke is Master Chai is 5'7" and Ed Jones 7'2". I could fill a book but all my stories are second hand, even if they are from the horse's mouth. (my apologies for the obvious pun, but I was born and raised a Westerner) My favorite is that in all the time he worked for them he was only beaten in the 100-yard dash twice, once by Tony Dorsett and once by Bill Bates.

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james7454

Those stories are fascinating. I am looking forward to meeting Ajarn Chai at the MD. Seminar. That's amazing that Randy White had the hardest kick...the force produced must have been crazy.

kooky

Ajarn Chai, Ajarn Inosanto and Larry Hartsell all worked with Dallas and some worked with the 49ers as well.

Larry has got some great stories of back in the day....

dmcdonnell

I have heard it was upwards of 450 lbs pressure..

I just attended a dinner for Guro Dan Inosanto and Don Garon was telling us stories of how Ajarn Chai smacked Ed Too Tall Jones with a focus mitt for not working hard enough or something to that effect, but my favorite was when Ajarn Chai told Tex Schramm to "Get off my field Sir.." LMAO..!!

Dave

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