PRICE INFO:Sharq Village & Spa:Single Class: QR 6010 Classes: QR 55020 Classes: QR 1,000For more info visit www.sharqvillage.com The Hilton DohaSingle Class: QR 7012 Classes: QR 700 (All classes must be used within a 3-month period)For more information visit www.fitnesswithfood.com

Haitham Khalid is offering a fun way to get fit fast and learn self-defense techniques at the same time with the ancient Thai

martial art of Muay Thai. During the last 5 years Haitham has trained with some of the greatest Muay Thai competition fighters from London, Holland, Brazil and of course the home of Muay Thai – Thailand. Here’s what he had to say about his love for Muay Thai and why you might want to try it as a form of exercise.

History of Muay ThaiMuay Thai began as a close combat battlefield fighting skill and developed a name in Thailand as the ‘sport of kings’ because successive kings took interest in developing [it] for entertainment, as a fighting skill for their armies and as a form of exercise for Thai people. All social classes in Thailand enjoy Muay Thai and every year a huge competition is staged and televised which is called the Thai Fight.

Benefits of Muay ThaiMuay Thai benefits go beyond the traditional mind-body-spirit benefits and as with martial arts in general, Muay Thai also has a social value.

Physical BenefitsThere are a range of physical benefits associated with Muay Thai and these benefits can become apparent relatively quickly depending on the level of commitment that is shown.

• Weight loss - Muay Thai has a heavy focus on body conditioning and a big part of this is eating the right foods to prepare your body for the training

• Cardiovascular health - Muay Thai increases fitness levels through endurance-style training so it’s a great form of exercise and certainly improves cardiovascular health (a jog is usually part of the warm-up)

Packing

A PunchFiles courtesy of Deliah Furcoi and ABODE Magazine

Photography by Jessie Palanca

No pain, no gain! We test drive the new Muay Thai class at the Hilton

Doha to get our bodies into the best summer shape of our lives. It’s a hard-

hitting workout that will leave you sore and wanting more.

• Muscle toning - the repetition of practicing kick, punch, knee and elbow techniques works every major muscle group

• Physical stamina - the exhausting training sessions will certainly increase stamina

Mental BenefitsThe rigourous nature of Muay Thai training helps develop courage, discipline, determination and self-confidence. The training requires a lot of discipline and the correct mental approach.

• Mental stamina & determination – developed through the training can easily, and usually does, carry over into other aspects of one’s character and encourages you to never give up.

• Technique, patience and strategy - technique is massively important in traditional Muay Thai which is a strategic sport where the competitors assess each other and try to identify flaws in their opponent’s technique. First, you learn techniques, and then you learn tactics. Students need to exercise patience in developing the technique and tactics.

• Stress relief – the focus required in the training and the satisfaction of developing your technique and physical stamina are great forms of stress relief – once you learn the basics you start to really enjoy the physical aspects of the training and the exertion is a great way to relieve stress!

• Self confidence - when you reach a certain level in Muay Thai your confidence in your inner strength will increase along with your ability to make sudden and timely decisions.

• Discipline – to succeed at Muay Thai you must train regularly, be in a learning mode when training and focus on keeping general good health (which includes taking care of your sleeping and eating routines). A necessary part of appreciating the power and the skill you develop is to exercise discipline. Competing at any level requires discipline in order to succeed.

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Haitham is offering Muay Thai

classes for adults (of any age,

gender or fitness level) from

both the Hilton Doha and the

Sharq Village & Spa, and will be

starting classes for kids soon.

Want to know more? Visit

Haitham’s website for full details

on classes and his other training

services at

www.fitnesswithfood.com..

Haitham practices a cross punch

Keen focus and daily training build stamina and endurance

Going in for a powerhouse oblique kick

What You Can Expect In Your First Class Read on, and you’ll be a hard-as-a-rock lean machine in a matter of months...

As a newcomer, you should be made to feel welcome. You’ll start by learning the basic techniques and working on pads. Also (and this is the bad part) you’ll be doing countless push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, and various other body weight exercises designed to leave you a trembling wreck. The good part is it makes you stronger and you will have a more athletic body.

The first thing you will learn is the basic guard stance and footwork. You will need to be well balanced in order to increase agility and create greater impact, in a basic stance your body should be vertical and your hands must always be up protecting your head. Once you are comfortable with your stance then you can try the following 4 moves to get you started.

1Jab – is a quick punch with the lead hand. Most right-handed fighters stand in a left lead stance and therefore jab with the left hand. You will jab

in order to keep your opponent at the right distance or in punching combinations. The jab is the first punch every Muay Thai student learns.

2 Cross punch - is a powerful, straight (direct) punch with the back hand. So if you stand in a left lead stance you punch with your right hand.

The cross and the jab (lead hand punch) are the first punches Muay Thai beginners learn after the fighting stance and basic footwork in a triangular pattern.

3 Hook punch – you can throw a hook punch when your opponent is very close and he has both hands in front of his face. In Thai, the hook

punch is called Short Jerk Punch or Mat Wiang San (Mat = Punch).

4 Front thrust kick - By generating power through your hips the front thrust kick allows you to keep distance, or to knock your opponent down or to

get them off-balance. You can kick with the front leg or with the back leg. Front leg kicks are faster, while back leg kicks are more powerful.

5 Oblique kick - a lot of people call this move the roundhouse kick or diagonal kick. Obviously, this kick is called oblique kick, because you are

kicking to the obliques. There are other circular kicks in Muay Thai, such as the cut kick, the thigh kick and the down-roundhouse kick. Westerners usually call all of them roundhouse kicks.

Will You Have To Spar? Beginners do not spar and even when your skills develop you do not have to. A lot of people take up Muay Thai purely for its health benefits, and do not spar at all. n

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