GSP getting trained by the best!

Training
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I thought I’d share this photo I grabbed off facebook from the Tiger Muay Thai and MMA fanpage. As some might recall from his stint on TUF, he has a lot of respect for Nak Muay. Here he is in his gym with two of Phuket’s best trainers, Kru Yod on the left and Kru Langsonkram on the right.

I remember how much GSP improved his boxing, especially his jab when he trained a little with Freddie Roach. I can’t wait to see what his game is like after hanging out with these two.

I know it’s a little early for UFC 154, but my prediction is a GSP win.

FYI: The two are giants by Thai standards.

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The picture in question!

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I love Lamsongkram.

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I always heard Tiger Muay Thai was a terrible place to train unless you were considerably cashed up or a well known fighter.

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p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.

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By the best? Which one is Ckenney?

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[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.

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Woops, guess I misunderstood and he brought the trainers to him rather than going to them, so scratch theory #3.

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[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.[/quote]
He’s not weight training anymore really. He’s doing the Marinovich esque training, water training, ball training, balance training, plyos and isokinetic machines.

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[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.[/quote]
He’s not weight training anymore really. He’s doing the Marinovich esque training, water training, ball training, balance training, plyos and isokinetic machines. [/quote]

Interesting, wonder why he made the switch, clearly the weight training had been working well for him with his style of fighting (very explosive wrestling centric style). Hope it works out for him

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[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.[/quote]

I think it might just be a bad picture, have you seen the recent NOS video? He is doing some strange exercise balancing on pvc pipes and his legs look pretty huge.

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[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
I always heard Tiger Muay Thai was a terrible place to train unless you were considerably cashed up or a well known fighter.[/quote]

Honestly, it’s the best gym of its kind in Asia at the moment. It has beginner through to advanced classes and a ring just for fighters. All these gyms can be a little expensive, and the real cost is when paying for private sessions. I think to put a private Muay Thai training with Kru Yod into perspective, it is just like having Freddie Roach coach you for equal time in boxing. These guys are that good and Tiger has a lot of champs teaching there.

Yes, you can get swallowed up in Tiger’s beginners class just doing a thousand teeps and crunches and the more boring aspects of the training. But you’ll get chewed up in the Intermediated and Advanced classes if you haven’t got those things down.

Consider that many people in the beginners class are totally new and just having a training holiday. I think most of the complaints you hear about the gym are people who wanted to become ninjas but couldn’t even throw a jab properly.

The beauty of Thailand is that Yod and Langsonkram are accessible to GSP and to ordinary ol’ you and I. But Freddie Roach isn’t someone we can just buy a few sessions with.

I trained elsewher, but I was lucky enough to do some pad work with Kru Yod and I can testify that he is a Muay Thai Jedi. However, I really loved training were I did. Fewer students and a much closer relationship with the trainers as a result.

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[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
By the best? Which one is Ckenney?[/quote]

I made a whistling noise out of my noise as I laughed.

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[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.[/quote]
He’s not weight training anymore really. He’s doing the Marinovich esque training, water training, ball training, balance training, plyos and isokinetic machines. [/quote]

Interesting, wonder why he made the switch, clearly the weight training had been working well for him with his style of fighting (very explosive wrestling centric style). Hope it works out for him[/quote]
He doesn’t seem too bright with his strength and conditioning imo. He was doing way too much stuff when he hurt his knee. Sprint training with sprinters, olympic lifting with Pierre Roy, Swimming, and gymnastics.

All of that with all the mma could not have been good for his knee. On the other hand I’ve looked at a lot of the Gavin Mcmillan stuff and a lot of it seems stupid but I feel like a reduced load like this is very beneficial for him. He picked Gavin because he has helped football players rehab their knee and his athletes do not get injured too much.

GSP is the type of athlete where I do not think the type of strength and conditioning he does really matters. Plus that Chaimberg guy looked like he was doing way too much knee dominant exercises and a lot of guys he was training suffered knee injuries. Mo lawal, Kenny FLorian, Rashad etc…

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[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
p.s just me or does GSP look really small there?

I remember when he was training with roach he looked fucking HUGE, like easily almost 200lbs.[/quote]

His legs especially look much smaller, but I guess that’s understandable with him coming off of ACL surgery. His upper body too looks slightly smaller, again again, being laid up for a few months may have contributed to that, or maybe it’s just a bad picture, or maybe he has sweated off a bunch of water weight training in Thailand.[/quote]
He’s not weight training anymore really. He’s doing the Marinovich esque training, water training, ball training, balance training, plyos and isokinetic machines. [/quote]

Interesting, wonder why he made the switch, clearly the weight training had been working well for him with his style of fighting (very explosive wrestling centric style). Hope it works out for him[/quote]
He doesn’t seem too bright with his strength and conditioning imo. He was doing way too much stuff when he hurt his knee. Sprint training with sprinters, olympic lifting with Pierre Roy, Swimming, and gymnastics.

All of that with all the mma could not have been good for his knee. On the other hand I’ve looked at a lot of the Gavin Mcmillan stuff and a lot of it seems stupid but I feel like a reduced load like this is very beneficial for him. He picked Gavin because he has helped football players rehab their knee and his athletes do not get injured too much.

GSP is the type of athlete where I do not think the type of strength and conditioning he does really matters. Plus that Chaimberg guy looked like he was doing way too much knee dominant exercises and a lot of guys he was training suffered knee injuries. Mo lawal, Kenny FLorian, Rashad etc… [/quote]

I think if anyone is going to be more likely to be injured in the gym its’ GSP. He’s an animal, and he loves training and honing and mastering his skills. He’s a perfectionist, and perfectionists can sometimes go overboard.

That said, he’s very receptive to instruction. Maybe someone talked him down from such relentless training into a more focused regime?

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And here is an article about the training. Man, I can only imagine the hype around Tristar at the moment. IF you know anything about Muay Thai you’d be excited just to be in the city!!!

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2012/11/02/showdown_joe_georges_st_pierre_at_tristar_gym_montreal/

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Man you guys care so much about appearance. Who gives a rats ass about if his right thigh is 3 mm out of proportion with his left nipple.

All that weight training is pure horse shit for any fighter that wants serious mobility, fluidity and devastating power.

Ok, ok… I exaggerate, it has it’s place and I weight train myself but never have I focussed on it for fighting but merely used it as a supplement. Coming off injuries one thing you do learn is that your elasticity, flexibility, functionality can never be enough and you’d happily decrease strength in the weight gym in exchange for the above.

I have always admired GSP for a cerebral fighter and this is the best move he has made to date to compensate for his previous styles.
If he takes this seriously and keeps Muay Thai in his arsenal as his primary focus, he will be undefeatable and will destroy condit with ease and may provide a serious platform for a much more balanced fight against Silva if it were to eventuate.

All of MMA is missing Muay Thai. Serious and authentic Muay Thai not the watered down shit offered as an MMA bandaid just so you can stick a label on your shorts.

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[quote]humble wrote:
All of MMA is missing Muay Thai. Serious and authentic Muay Thai not the watered down shit offered as an MMA bandaid just so you can stick a label on your shorts.
[/quote]

Hey Humble, what is watered down in MMA Muay Thai, in comparison to authentic Muay Thai? I know that you modify certain techniques in every style to fit MMA. I was just curious because I’ve only dabbled a little in Muay Thai.

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[quote]fnf wrote:

[quote]humble wrote:
All of MMA is missing Muay Thai. Serious and authentic Muay Thai not the watered down shit offered as an MMA bandaid just so you can stick a label on your shorts.
[/quote]

Hey Humble, what is watered down in MMA Muay Thai, in comparison to authentic Muay Thai? I know that you modify certain techniques in every style to fit MMA. I was just curious because I’ve only dabbled a little in Muay Thai. [/quote]

Everything that gets incorporated into MMA gets watered down somewhat to fit into the format of the cage. I don’t expect you to bob your lead foot up and down as you would in a typical Muay Thai stance. And pure straight up boxing stance leaves your legs exposed for takedowns. And nobody wears a Gi in the ring anymore, so there are no traditonal Gi hold throws. However, I hear your point about the MMA Muay Thai being below average. I think so many fighters are so concerned about the risk of imbalance and takedowns that they do that stupid, half arsed low kick effort we see so much. Kind of a shame, because Edson Barboza showed the world what hardcore Muay Thai is capable of in the cage. Maybe GSP will do the same.

Follow the link for THAT Edson Barboza spinning kick knockout!

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[quote]humble wrote:
Man you guys care so much about appearance. Who gives a rats ass about if his right thigh is 3 mm out of proportion with his left nipple.

All that weight training is pure horse shit for any fighter that wants serious mobility, fluidity and devastating power.

Ok, ok… I exaggerate, it has it’s place and I weight train myself but never have I focussed on it for fighting but merely used it as a supplement. Coming off injuries one thing you do learn is that your elasticity, flexibility, functionality can never be enough and you’d happily decrease strength in the weight gym in exchange for the above.
[/quote]

Of course you’re right about the elasticity, flexibility, and functionality, but it’s hard to argue with GSP’s results up to this point. Other than a slight hiccup vs Serra, and a lackluster performance due to an eye poke against Shield GSP has pretty much physically dominated everyone he has faced since taking the belt. His explosiveness, strength, and general athleticism has been off the charts with his former strength training regime.

The thing is, straight Muay Thai striking is different than MMA striking. The presence/threat of takedowns changes things. There have been some very knowledgeable Muay Thai coaches (Duke Rufus, Rob Kaman, Mark Dellagrotte) who have trained numerous fighters, as well as some successful Thai fighters (Cro Cop, Melvin Manhoef, Overeem) who have successfully transitioned to MMA. I’m sure you’re also aware that MMA fighters are never going to be on the same level in terms of Muay Thai as someone who focuses on it exclusively (like Buakaw, Ramon Dekkers, John Wayne Parr, Yod). Straight Muay Thai fighters are specialists while MMA fighters are synergists.

That said, I think training with some of Thailand’s best Muay Thai coaches can only help GSP’s overall striking skills.