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Ultimate Muay Thai

Written by IK on 04 March 2011

John Scida's Ultimate Muay Thai combines the best of boxing, kickboxing and traditional Muay Thai into a student effective self defence and a ring-proven combative form.

Western boxing skills comprise an integral part of training as, says Johnny, "without proper use of your hands you're nothing. We use our hands for everything we do in life and our natural defensive reflexes come from our hands. It goes without saying therefore that to be a good fighter you should not neglect the importance of learning to box properly."

John has seen the sport of kickboxing evolve over the past 25 years and he has evolved with the times, although sticking to a strict belief in the value of basics. Classes are designed mainly on technique and secondly on fitness. "As you learn the technique you naturally get fit," says Johnny. "My class format and training style is designed around my fighter's fighting technique - if it works we use it and pass it down through the clubs."

The Muay Thai techniques employed in John's syllabus come from his training experience in Thailand which he visits annually. "It's all very street effective for self defence application," says Johnny "and if students so wish they can learn for the ring. We have a close knit family at Team Ultimate and our students get the benefits of training alongside champions and veterians of the sport who not only are there to impart there knowledge but also to inspire the younger students and show them how beautiful the techniques can be when employed properly."

To say that John lives and breathes Muay Thai and kickboxing is an understatement; "for me ,training is a way of life. Not a day goes by I'm not at a fight, watching a fight video or training a fighter. The only way to be successful in any sport is to give 110 per cent - Ultimate Muay Thai prides itself on looking after its fighters and students. Twenty-five years of Zen Do Kai was a great building block for what I am now, and every day I look forward to passing my knowledge onto my students who will continue the proud tradition of Ultimate for years to come.