Amateur Fighter Spotlight: Robby Squyers Jr.

The Muay Thai and Kickboxing world is filled with amateur fighters. Most of the amateurs won't turn into a professional fighter for one reason or another, while some will go on to make excellent pro athletes. Wherever their path leads them, whether it is to the pro ranks or not one fact remains. They play a significant role in shaping the future of Muay Thai and Kickboxing. In our Amateur Spotlight segment will will be interviewing a current amateur fighter and she what drives them to step in the ring, and what their plans are in the sport. For our first segment we interviewed Robby Squyers Jr.

Robby is a 24 year old from San Francisco, CA. He started his training at World Team USA under Kru Sam Phimsoutham and has competed in several smokers and has an official amateur record of 3-1-1. He currently resided in Las Vegas where he trains with Chaz Mulkey, Dewey Cooper, and Jonathan Balgame.

MTA: When and why did you start training Muay Thai? 

Robby Squyers Jr: I started Muay Thai back in 2010, after being sent to the hospital after being jumped by 9 individuals, I became depressed, lost hope in everything, dropped out of college and quit my job back a year prior in August of 2009. It was during this year I met a SFPD Gang Task force member who eventually lead me to my home gym World Team USA under the watchful eye of Master Reyes and Kru Sam. I became a bit discourage because I couldn't afford it and then Kru Sam offered to teach me, and take me under his wing if I were to clean the gym, and be there everyday to stay outta trouble. So this started my journey. 

MTA: What is your record amateur record? 

Robby Squyers Jr: 3-1-1. IKF Superheavyweight Champion, 2012 Golden Gate Games Champion. 

MTA: What has been your best experience this far in Muay Thai? 

Robby Squyers Jr: It turned my entire life around, Muay Thai became an answered prayer whilst being in the hospital. I was literally a troubled teen, in the clubs 4 nights out of the week. Partying, drinking, just wasting life, I wanted to change my life. I'm still alive today because of what its taught me. Muay Thai has taught me confidence in life, being strong and never giving up. Even though I still would consider my self not much, what I have accomplished in these past 5 years. I went from fighting in bars to main eventing my last fight in Las Vegas. If i were to tell you where I'd see myself in 5 years, 5 years ago I would of said dead.

MTA: What was it about Muay Thai that peaked your interest? 

Robby Squyers Jr: It was always the mix of savagery and beauty of respect involved. The family that I came to know and the legacy I came to understand. 

MTA: When you started did you plan on competing or look at it just as an activity to stay out of trouble? 

Robby Squyers Jr: Lol, I never thought I was going to fight. To be dead honest I was knocked out cold from my first day of sparring. From that day I told myself I cant quit now. If that's the worst thing to happen I want to fight and so 3 months later I did my 1st smoker and fought the state champion. got a broken nose and busted up rib... I fell in love. 

MTA: World Team USA has had some great fighters, Michael Mananquil, Ky Hollenbeck, Bebe Etzler. Have you gotten to work with them in the past? 

Robby Squyers Jr: You cant exclude the other people I've gotten to work with including up and coming pro fighters TJ Arcangel, Jade Hayes, Kevin Arceo, Skylr Pena and Vishnu Gulati and Kenneth Giang. All under the guidance of Kru Sam. The whole fight team from ‘09- until current days, I have gotten to work with all of them. Being the gyms “heavy bag” I've been able to learn from the best and just watching them and their work ethic. I learned from all these great champions and took a little from each of them, its because of them I am the fighter I am today. Kru Sam could of not given me a 2nd glance, but he developed me into his 43rd champion and I hope I still make the team proud and can leave something behind like Micheal, Ky and Bebe.

MTA: What are your short term goals in Muay Thai? 

Robby Squyers Jr: Currently looking for a heavyweight to fight in Cali before the end of the year. Its hard finding opponents. Within 6 months, if no fight at heavyweight happens I'll start heading down lower than 235 or less. I would love an opportunity to fight for my country and represent it well. 

MTA: What are your long term goals in Muay Thai? 

Robby Squyers Jr: I plan on opening up a gym one day in the future, to help like I was helped. I feel its super important to help the community from where your from so opening up one will give me a chance to help people out. I plan to fight pro one day if the opportunity is there, I've been given an opportunity and I plan on running towards the goal of becoming a world heavyweight champion. 

MTA: You recently moved from San Francisco to Vegas. What gym are you training at now? 

Robby Squyers Jr: I've been blessed to finish up my schooling here in Las Vegas for hospitality management an I've been learning a lot from Chaz Mulkey at Syndicate MMA, Dewey Cooper at TMT and Kru Jong at Fight Capital. Its a blessing having people pour into you and want to help. I owe these people credit too. Other goals are maybe doing an MMA fight as well, but well see.

MTA: Any words for your supporters Robby?

Robby Squyers Jr: Thanks to everyone who believes in me and my dreams, my teammates back home at World Team, my sponsors Thaismai, Nor Cal Fight Shop, Dome Piece Audio, and my great friends over at Action Pro Gear, and to an amazing supporting Girl friend Jackie. I hope soon to represent our great country and show you all what this heavyweight can do!

Hydration for Muay Thai Athletes

by James Bee

In my last article I touched on the importance of water for staying lean and healthy. Well now I’m back giving the M.V.P. of performance another shout out because, quite frankly, water doesn’t get enough ring time.

The truth is most of us don’t appreciate water like we should. We only really even think about it when we are thirsty. The problem with that is thirst only occurs once the body is 1-2% dehydrated. By this time even with this mild degree of dehydration, athletes especially will suffer reduced endurance, increased fatigue, altered thermoregulatory capability, reduced motivation, and increased perceived effort. And that’s just from 2%.

It is not uncommon for athletes to lose 3-4% of body weight in sweat loss during training and if you’re in Thailand that number could increase up to 6%, and can lead to exhaustion and heat stroke if fluids have not adequately been replenished. When dehydrated, the blood thickens putting greater strain on the heart, raising core temperatures and it’s all downhill from there. I hope now your beginning to see how staying hydrated is so crucial to your training performance.
 

So considering thirst is such a poor indicator of hydration, to get an idea of hydration status I encourage athletes to use this chart below compared to the color of their pee pee.

Urine color chart:

In the last couple of days prior to a weight cut, it’s pretty normal for an athlete’s urine to be a 5, 6 or 7 on the chart. If you’re urine color is anywhere between 3 to 5 on the chart you need to drink some water as its likely your dehydrated. Once urine color is 2-1 on the chart, you’re good to go. For most normal people, staying well hydrated should be pretty easy. Drinking around 2-3L of water per day will do the job just fine. But for us MT athletes, especially those who are training up to and in excess of 2 hours, Its super important to hydrate before, during and after training to maximize performance.

Studies demonstrate that maintaining proper hydration before, during, and after training and competition will ultimately reduce heat stress which prolongs performance and endurance.

Here’s the strategy:

Pre Training
It is recommended that you take into account your hydration status before training. If left until your break a sweat or are in dying thirst, performance losses have most likely already occurred. Thus athletes should consume 500ml of fluid 30 minutes before training and “pre-hydrate”.

During Training
Both fluid and electrolyte replacement is the main goal. This enables the athlete to avoid dehydration and electrolyte changes that can decrease performance. You should be consuming 250ml of fluid and electrolytes every 15 minutes of training. This amount will depend on body size, climate, training intensity.

After Training
Athletes need to rehydrate quickly to assist recovery. I recommend consuming 1L of water with ½ -1 tsp. of full profile mineral salt like Himalayan, Celtic, or sea salt.

Training in Hot Climate
If you’re training in a hot climate like Thailand, athletes should consume water with a pinch of sea salt. Studies suggest adding sodium to your drinking water during training in the heat plays a significant role in preventing performance losses.

So no matter how underrated, overlooked and unappreciated water is, no one can deny this hero of hydration remains a major player in your Muay Thai performance. Next time you’re feeling flat during training, ask yourself. How much water have you had today? Check your hydration status. It could be the limiting factor holding you back.

(Follow these hydration strategies for 1 month and you’ll notice the difference in your training performance and health.)

Until next time. – JB

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