As with the majority of combat sports, Muay Thai places great emphasis on fitness and conditioning.

Training exercises include those familiar to a boxers regime, but there are naturally some notable exceptions. One such exception is the conditioning of the shin bone to harden it, as Thai Boxers rely a lot on kicks using the shin bone.

To toughen up this area of their legs, Thai Boxers will repeatedly strike a densely filled heavy bag, which is highly advisable over the dangerous practice of striking tree trunks or other solid objects which can obviously damage your shins. By conditioning the shin correctly, fighters harden the bone via a process called cortical remodeling.

As far as training equipment goes, the Thai Pad is an essential piece of equipment that allows fighters to practice their kicking, punches, knees and elbow strikes with considerable force due to the densely padded nature of this kind of pad. It is also common for the trainer to wear a Body Protector to allow the fighter to practice their straight kicks and knees to the body.

As with boxing, Focus Mitt pad work sessions are effective ways for a Muay Thai fighter to develop their striking speed and accuracy, as well introducing some Heavy Bag work for developing power. There are gloves available that are more suitable and specific for more Muay Thai also. Such gloves tend to have padded palms and are more flexible than boxing gloves, allowing fighters to hold and clinch their opponents more easily.

Due to the relatively busy schedule of professional Thai Boxers, their sparring sessions are often light in terms of contact to avoid the risk of injury between fights. During sparring sessions, more emphasis is placed on perfecting timing, techniques, range and honing pre fight strategies.

So there you have it, a very brief breakdown in to the training regime and the kind of equipment used for a discipline that is amongst the most physically demanding of any of the martial arts.

After much eager anticipation, the series has landed here at Hayabusa Europe!

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Everyone loves a good quote, including us! Check out six our favourite combat sport quotes from notable names from MMA, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu and other disciplines.

If you’ve ever seen the “Last Emperor” fight then you’ll probably recognise that he was pretty damn good at putting this philosophy in to practice. This quote is straight to the point and reveals something of the motivation behind one of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of our time.

Mike Tyson

ai???Most fighters are the most humble people in the world because they’ve gotten their ass kicked before.ai???

In his prime, it’s hard to believe that Mike Tyson would have had much experience of getting his ”ass kicked”, but there’s definitely some truth in what he says, taking a beating in the ring by a better opponent certainly keeps you grounded!

Ai??

Carlos Gracie Jr.

“There is no losing in Jiu-Jitsu. You either win or you learn.”

Taking the positives even in defeat is something that we can all learn from and apply to any sport, this short quote epitomises this philosophy.

Wladimir Klitschko

“Mental strength is really important because you either win or lose in your mind. And I’m not solely talking about sporting matches, boxing events – anything you do, you do it first with your mental strength. And you can actually train and develop it, and I am responsible for what I’m saying because I have experience with that.”

“Dr. Steelhammer” shares his wisdom about the power and importance of mental strength and how this can be improved through training.

Bruce Lee

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

Bruce Lee reveals his fear of those who dedicate their training and specialise in a particular technique. We wonder if he would have felt the same facing the might LHK of Mirko Cro Cop in his prime?!

Lao Tzu

“The best fighter is never angry”

Short and sweet from the ancient Chinese philosopher. As with many of these kinds of quotes they are open to interpretation and require you to look in to them a little deeper to grasp their meaning. We like this one because it sums up the need to contain your aggression, remain focused and keep a cool head during a fight.

We’ve covered a few different disciplines with our favourite quotes above, but don’t forget that we also cover a range of disciplines when it comes to supplying you with top quality apparel and equipment to help you get kitted out and apply some of your new found wisdom that you’ve acquired from reading this post 😉

Depicting scenes from combat sports in various forms has been a popular subject for many artists throughout the ages. We’ve picked out a few that caught our eye, from established artists, enthusiasts and unknown creators alike!

Starting off with the image below, depicts a scene from Ancient Greece where we have two boxers battling it out, being over looked by two apprehensive looking referees or umpires.Ai??Beneath that, there is a fresco style wall painting depicts two youths engaged in a kind of playful boxing match, wearing what appears to be some sort of early form of glove or wrap! Despite it’s good condition, this painting is said to date back to around 628 B.C. from the Minoan civilisation from the Aegean Bronze Age!

As you will see a lot of the images feature boxing scenes, the next from our selection Ai??shows two Edo warriors practicing their Judo techniques, with one being masterfully thrown by the other.

On to boxing now and as one of the foremost practitioners of lithographic printing, TheA?dore Gericault, applied his skill for depicting sporting scenes and athletic figures, as highlighted by the artwork below simply called, “Boxers”Ai??(1818).

Whilst this next painting by Antonio del Pollaoilo “Hercules & Anteaus” (1890) doesn’t depict a specific style of fighting, we thought we’d add to the mix purely because it shows Hercules in a kind of wrestling match, using his unmatched strength to bear hug a giant to death!

The next painting by American artist, George BellowsAi??“Both Members of This Club” (1909), features Joe Gans an eight year Lightweight Champion title holder. At the time of this painting, public boxing had been made illegal due to corruption, although some clubs like, Tom Sharkey’s Athletic Club (where the match depicted took place) had managed to find ways around this. Interestingly though, the fighters were only granted membership to the club during their bouts, not prior to or after the fight had begun and ended. Boxers were viewed with a low opinion and were thought of as socially unacceptable.

Following on with another boxing painting, featuring Joe Louis’s victory over Max Schmeling, “The Brown Bomber” was painted by Robert Riggs in 1938. Full of detail, this scene captures the moment when Schmeling’s cornerman threw in the towel after the German fighter took a barrage of blows to the head result in him hitting the canvas three times in quick succession.

Moving on to more modern day works and looking more at Mixed Martial Arts, with a sketch by artist Christoper Rini. We think this could a preparation sketch for a painting showing part of a fight between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson judging by the writing to the top left of the drawing.

We liked this pastel drawing of Urijah Faber by Daniel Peci because of the way the rough marks made by the artist give a sense of movement and dynamism to the fighter as moves his body forward to throw the right hand punch. He cleverly uses limited colours to pick out highlights and shadows to give the figure a 3-D form too.

We’re unsure of the artist responsible for producing this highly detailed print of Georges St Pierre, but we were impressed with the level of detail shown here. You can really get a sense of the force being applied by GSP as he applies his grip, surely this was followed by a tap out shortly after!?

We picked out this last image, purely for the novelty aspect! We love the pixelated versions of some of the stars of the UFC, they’re a pretty good likeness too, although we’re not sure who the pet monkey belongs too!

Here at Hayabusa™ Europe we have fully re-stocked the Kanpeki Elite 2.0, Tokushu and Ikusa Series equipment lines.

We know that the re-stock for products within these ranges has eagerly anticipated, so don’t delay if you have been waiting to get your hands on anything in particular!

We have fully re-stocked the highly popular and sought after Hayabusa Kanpeki Elite Series 2.0 equipment line.

We have also topped up our stocks to meet the demands for the Hayabusa Tokushu and Ikusa Series equipment lines too.

These ranges from Hayabusa are amongst our most in demand products so if you have been waiting for any of this to come back in to stock, grab yours while you can!

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We are now fully re-stocked in all colours and sizes of Short Sleeve Metaru 47 Silver Rashguards as well as the Long Sleeve Black Metaru 47 Silver Rashguard too!

Grab yours while they’re here as this popular favourite is sure to sell quickly!

We are also expecting a full re-stock of the remaining Long Sleeve versions in the very near future too, so stay tuned to our Blog, Facebook or if you’re not on the list already, sign up to our Email Newsletter (see the “Sign Up & Save banner on our Home Page) to receive notifications of the latest Hayabusa™ updates.

By combining some of the essential attributes needed to perform at the highest level as an MMA Fighter, we’ve put together the skills and know how of some of the best in the world to create our own ‘Perfect MMA Fighter’!

Not only is our fighter a Mixed Martial Arts specialist, he’s also made up of a fair few nationalities. Taking in to account the nationalities of the fighters we’re drawing his skills from, he isAi??56.25% American, 25% BrazilianAi??andAi??6.25% Russian, CroatianAi??andAi??CanadianAi??to boot!

Strategy and Brain -Ai??Georges St. Pierre

Starting off, we’ve blessed our guy with theAi??Strategy and BrainAi??ofAi??Georges St. PierreAi??due to his flawless ability to calmly adapt and change his game mid fight, not to mention is unrivalled desire to win mentality.Ai??

Trash Talking -Ai??Chael Sonnen

There’s nothing like a bit ofAi??Trash TalkingAi??to build up a fight and get beneath your opponents skin before you’ve even gone toe to toe. There were a few candidates for this, but there are few others who like the sound of their own voice than the opinion dividingAi??Chael Sonnen.

Chin -Ai??Dan Henderson

The best form of defence in any combat sport is to avoid being hit, but in the unlikely event that our superhuman will take a few hits, then a cast ironAi??ChinAi??will also come in pretty handy.Ai??Dan HendersonAi??boasts never being knocked to date after sixteen years, need we say more?

Heart -Ai??Frankie Edgar

When the heat of the battle rises and things get tough, the desire to keep on going and fight until you’re running on empty requires courage and a bigAi??Heart, something thatAi??Frankie “The Answer” EdgarAi??is famous for.

Elbows – Jon Jones

There are so many attributes that we could have taken fromAi??Jon Jones, but if you askAi??Stephan Bonnar, he’s likely to mention that devastatingly fast spinning ElbowAi??he ate during Jone’s 2nd fight in the UFC. It’s not only the speed you have to look out for, Jones’s elbows are like blades and seem to open up cuts like a machete!

Ground and Pound – Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez’sAi??domination of AntonioAi??“Big Foot” Silva backAi??at UFC 160 was a prime example of Velasquez’s brutally effectiveAi??Ground and PoundAi??game. When used effectively, raining down a flurry of blows using this technique can often be a fight finisher.

Submission Grappling – Ronaldo Souza

For overallAi??Submission GrapplingAi??prowess, there are few MMA fighters more highly thought of than the Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Jacare is one of the most feared fighters in MMA when the fight goes to the ground and often tops the list of the best BJJ practitioners within the sport too.

Knockout Power – Johny Hendricks

As with all of the different traits and attributes we’ve listed, there are going to be many choices for each, but our decision to includeAi??Johny HendricksAi??forAi??Knockout Power is based on this guy’s ridiculous striking power and the fact the he seems to get more powerful with each fight.

Striking Power -Ai??Fedor Emelianenko

As well as knockout merchant credentials, we though that we would give our fighter some additional Striking Power from Fedor Emelianenko.Ai??Renowned as one of the all time greats, “The Last Emperor” possessed bear like strength with unmatched power behind his heavy hands. It has been said that Fedor actually punched too hard, and posed a risk to the health of his own hand bones and joints!

Striking Accuracy – Anderson Silva

UFC stat boffins will know of the incredibleAi??Striking AccuracyAi??possessed by one of, if the not, the greatest fighter in MMA history. There’s so much that we could take from Anderson Silva when creating our Perfect MMA Fighter, but his striking accuracy keeps him firmly at the top of the FightMetric ‘Significant Strike Accuracy’ stats list with an impressive 62.7% record.

Hand Speed -Ai??Demetrious JohnsonAi??

Few can match the Hand Speed ofAi??Demetrious Johnson, one of those who was recently frustrated and outfoxed by “Mighty Mouse” wasAi??Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174. In this fight it was Johnson’s overall speed and manoeuvrability that helped him to overwhelm BagautinovAi??secure the victory.

Kimura -Ai??Fabricio Werdum

We might be being a bit excessive here as we’ve already got the submission grappling skills of Jacare in the bag. But, as one of our favourite BJJ maestro’s, we thought we’d throw in a dose of Kimura specialist, Fabricio Werdum for good measure too.

Muay ThaiAi??Clinch – Anderson Silva

If there’s one place that you do not want to find yourself in the midst of a fight, it’s being held in the Clinch of Anderson Silva. It’s no secret that Silva can come at you and do you damage in many ways, but feeling the full force of repetitive knee and elbow strikes from this position is certainly one of the most devastating.

Explosiveness -Ai??Melvin Guillard

Melvin GuillardAi??is a genuine athlete that possessAi??ExplosivenessAi??of movement as well as punching power. Guillard’s aggressive, dynamic style made him exciting to watch, despite being released earlier this year by the UFC after nine years with the organisation.Ai??

Wrestling & Takedown – Dan Henderson

Not only renowned for his Iron Chin,Ai??Dan Henderson is also highly regarded for hisAi??Wrestling & TakedownAi??skills. These attributes are sure to give our fighter another option to effortlessly control the fight if it goes to the ground, or purposefully take the fight to the ground to show off his skills!

Front Leg Kick -Ai??Lyoto Machida

Not only do we have a well rounded, probably unbeatable fighter in the making, we also want him to be a crowd pleaser.Ai??Lyoto Machida’s Front Leg Kick that he originally used to flaw Randy Couture back in 2013 certainly got people on their feet and is still talked about today as one of the most famous knockouts in the UFC.

Left High Kick -Ai??Mirko Cro Cop

Blink or take your eye off the ball and our fighter will hit you for six withAi??Left High Kick that will take your head off your shoulders. Widely feared as being a generally scary individual not mention one of the greatest MMA heavyweights in MMA history,Ai??Mirko Cro Cop’sAi??LHK was lightning quick equally as powerful.

Footwork -Ai??Dominick Cruz

It’s highly likely that you are going to be hit by our fighter, given the lethal cocktail of skills we’ve plied him with. It’s also very possible that you are unlikely to get near him as well, as we finish him off with the unique and incredibly quick FootworkAi??ofAi??Dominick Cruz.