by Chris Romulo
As we all know, the “one
shot” knock out is the final word of a Muay Thai bout. It is the pinnacle of any exchange where you
render the opposition unable to continue their campaign. As a newbie you watched highlight clips over
and over again so you could analyze and cringe on the impact.When you first
started training, whether you were hitting the bag, pads, or your fellow training
partner, you were thinking“that what would have been a knock out in a fight”. With the 8 weapons we have as Nak Muay’s, we
can all imagine even one of those tools being able to stop our opponent dead in
his/her tracks and not having your win or loss being decided by 3 people with
differences of opinions.
So how do we ensure
that you don’t leave the fight in the hands of the judges? In my 20 years
of training, fighting and coaching, there is no sure fire way to stop your
rival every time. No matter how good you
think your set-ups are, your feints that make every one flinch, or your look
low/go high round kick that works like a charm in the gym… you need something
else. You want to have a few more tools
in your bag to increase your chances of landing the “one-hitter quitter”. These tools can be sharpened, not just on the
heavy bags, pads and drills/sparring, but honed-in on with some
extra-curricular work off of the mats.
Remember, “The harder
you work, the luckier you get”!
Just like the 8 Limbs of Muay Thai, there are 8 attributes
you want in order to enhance the possibility of landing that night ender! Agility, balance, flexibility, endurance,
power, speed, strength, and stability are going to get you where you want to
be. If you possess and sharpen all 8 of
these attributes not only does it increase your ability to land the knock out
shot, but it will increase your longevity in the sport.
Even though I don’t actively fight anymore, the preservation
of my attributes over the last 20 years keeps enable me to train and learn on a
daily basis. As I turn 41 next month, I
can safely say that I am a better athlete presently than I was when I first
started training Muay Thai. Back then I
had age on my side, but now I train smarter and harder than the old me ever did.
Though there are multitudes of ways to enhance your 8
athletic attributes to make you a better Muay Thai fighter, I developed a
movement that hitall 8like a sledgehammer!
Best of all you need no equipment as this move relies solely on
bodyweight. I call it the CROMplex.
Whether you are a seasoned vet or a green newbie, the CROMplex will
challenge any level of athleticism. It
consists of 4 dynamic bodyweight exercises performed one right after the
other. The CROMplex is best used as a
burn out drill after a proper warm up and/or skill training.
-Knees to feet
-Reverse burpee (deck squat)
-Burpee
-Tuck jump
Start with 2 minutes on the clock, then repeat as many as
you can with explosiveness, grace, and most of all controlled breathing.
Check out this video for a step by step CROMplex tutorial:
Visit Shred by CROM on YouTube to receive a complete breakdown of each movement along with the full length work out to follow along with.
Chris Romulo is a retired Muay Thai champion, Muay Thai & Strength & Conditioning Coach, owner of CROM Physical Culture and Creator of SHREDbyCROM™. After a total of 32 years of trial and error through fitness, conditioning, martial arts, sports, and “play” Chris has taken what works, sculpted away what doesn’t and painted a different way to engage in Physical Culture.
Visit www.crompc.com for more info
