Jade Sirisompan is 24 hours away from her Muay Thai debut. Fresh off her 19th birthday, she’ll be fighting Ya Ra at the Siam Paragon Night Bazaar. You can watch the event from anywhere in the world by ordering it on Pay-Per-View for only $4.99 on MuayThaiLive.tv.
Jade’s been surrounded by Muay Thai her entire life (her dad is the legendary Master Woody and she says Master Toddy “is like her second father”). There’s a lot of pressure on Jade to perform well given her lineage and associations, but she’s getting in there and doing it – while a college student no less – and that’s a victory in itself. Best of luck to Jade Saturday night. We’ll be cheering for her from the front row!
I caught up with Jade for a video interview, but also picked up some lessons about training through watching her:
(1) Always warm-up thoroughly. The demands of MMA training mean that the body needs to be warmed up. Warm weather is not enough (as this primarily warms up the body from only the outside). Jade spent a considerable time warming up, lightly skipping rope, lightly shadowboxing and generally preparing her body for more intense movements.
(2) Active Rest. As Jade worked the mitts for three rounds, she spent her 60-second break doing pushups rather than simply resting. While rest between rounds can be good for anaerobic power (by helping your body recover so it can best explode in the next round), active resting in between rounds can keep your heart rate revving, burn more calories and have a positive impact on aerobic performance
(3) Knowing when to turn it on. Jade was just two days out from her debut fight, so she realized this wasn't the time to go "all out," it was a time to go through the movements and to taper down. Recognize this about your own training. If you are training for competition, be sure not to push yourself too hard just prior in the hopes that the extra intensity will make you perform better. Remember, when it comes to fitness of any kind, consistency is king. Royler Gracie once said something like: It's good to practice hard but not too hard. You want to leave some left in the tank so you can have fire for tomorrow. Otherwise, if you are always training at 100% you will eventually get burned out or lose your motivation.
Thanks again to Jade for the interview and for her inadvertent teachings for our MMA Fitness column here.
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