Learning to be a good padholder?

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

and no I'm not throwing roundhouse kicks upwards or not turning the hips. this guy was really a shit padholder.

it was a new guy who had trained before but is rusty, we had to either throw two roundhouses or one switch kick based on the coach's call, and he was messing up the calls everytime and then left the elbow open up. I hit the pad with the shin but my foot caught the elbow.

 

[Kanka]

let me tell y'all a sad story...

just got home from MT training, limping like a motherfucker because I kicked this guy's elbow with my foot - he was a terrible padholder - and in sherdog's preferred words my foot now has a "grotesque swelling".

it's not all that painful but believe me, it's swollen like hell. have some of you kicked an elbow and have something to chime in? like, if there was something serious, I wouldn't be able to withstand the pain, right?

Hard to know, but foot injuries aren't to play with. Ice it, rest it and rub in some lotion.

 

[facePuncher7]

Hard to know, but foot injuries aren't to play with. Ice it, rest it and rub in some lotion.

Put some of the lotion on the foot too.

 

[Paradigm]

First point is subjective and debatable. For instance, most of the people at my gym hold pads pretty well. Out of 10 guys I'd say a good 3 of them are not decent so there's no use arguing there.

As for the elbow to elbow kick thing, I believe that holding a pad elbow to elbow for a kick is bad because it puts unnecessary pressure on your elbows when there is impact. Yeah you're right in saying that it's tailored to the individual, but that's the trainer's job. Surely, as a drills partner, there is a way of holding pads that the majority would deem flawless. Otherwise, in an hour class time with pretty much a new person each time, we would both be figuring out how to hold pads for each other rather than holding pads.

do your instructors teach padholding as part of the class? if not, you must just be lucky to have a lot of good natural padholders in one place. the majority of average students ive seen in gyms do not know how to hold pads (either angle, resistence, positioning, etc).

i always wondered why some guys kicks would look/sound/feel so good when i was holding for them compared to when they were holding for me. i realized it was because i knew how to hold pads and their lack of padholding skills was not helping me look. this became very evident when ive had Thais holding for me as opposed to some random students.

completely agree on the /\ vs || on holding.

I tried to copy this style for about 20 rounds, it was fucking painful. At least it got me to buy a full chest pad and thigh guards....(everyone should own both)

the thigh guards are the thing i regret not buying when i was in Thailand. was gonna pick up the Fairtex ones i wanted but didnt want to spend TOO much money on gear while i was out there.

ive tried holding pads Thai style with the belly pad and shinguards on but most of the guys ive tried with are too new for it to flow right.

i will say that getting kneed through a belly pad is a good way to build up body conditioning to strikes lol.

Put some of the lotion on the foot too.

i literally chuckled at this one.

 

[Kanka]

do your instructors teach padholding as part of the class? if not, you must just be lucky to have a lot of good natural padholders in one place. the majority of average students ive seen in gyms do not know how to hold pads (either angle, resistence, positioning, etc).

i always wondered why some guys kicks would look/sound/feel so good when i was holding for them compared to when they were holding for me. i realized it was because i knew how to hold pads and their lack of padholding skills was not helping me look. this became very evident when ive had Thais holding for me as opposed to some random students.

completely agree on the /\ vs || on holding.



the thigh guards are the thing i regret not buying when i was in Thailand. was gonna pick up the Fairtex ones i wanted but didnt want to spend TOO much money on gear while i was out there.

ive tried holding pads Thai style with the belly pad and shinguards on but most of the guys ive tried with are too new for it to flow right.

i will say that getting kneed through a belly pad is a good way to build up body conditioning to strikes lol.



i literally chuckled at this one.

Youre supposed meet his thigh with the pad so that it doesnt hit the belly pads full force

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

Put some of the lotion on the foot too.

lol you're good.

thank god it seems that it wasn't serious, I'm gonna skip training today and miss a couple of soccer games and hopefully I'm ready to go next week.

I was kinda terrified at first because all I like to do is eaty, trainy, sleepy, and play soccer.

 

[Paradigm]

Youre supposed meet his thigh with the pad so that it doesnt hit the belly pads full force

I hold the Thai pad facing down near the top of the belly pad (forming an L shape like an overhang coming out from a wall) when I'm doing it but as far as I've been taught, knees should drive into the target, more than up.

most of my force when I'm throwing the knee goes into the belly pad, not the Thai pad. throwing the knee upwards causes it to "skim" the belly more instead of transferring the power into their gut.

could be incorrect technique as I am by no means a world class padholder.

would also like to add that my knees are the worst of my eight limbs.

EDIT: look at some of the angled knees in this padwork vid. the Thai pad isn't taking much of the force on many of the knees thrown:

 

[nomilkforsanta]

Youre supposed meet his thigh with the pad so that it doesnt hit the belly pads full force

Not according to Duke Roufus.

 

[Kanka]

Not according to Duke Roufus.

Does it take no talent to hold it that way?

 

[Kanka]

I hold the Thai pad facing down near the top of the belly pad (forming an L shape like an overhang coming out from a wall) when I'm doing it but as far as I've been taught, knees should drive into the target, more than up.

most of my force when I'm throwing the knee goes into the belly pad, not the Thai pad. throwing the knee upwards causes it to "skim" the belly more instead of transferring the power into their gut.

could be incorrect technique as I am by no means a world class padholder.

would also like to add that my knees are the worst of my eight limbs.

EDIT: look at some of the angled knees in this padwork vid. the Thai pad isn't taking much of the force on many of the knees thrown:

Oh allright, yeah there are different ways of holding. When i throw knees i prefer some of the force to be absorbed by the pads, though.

 

[nomilkforsanta]

Does it take no talent to hold it that way?

Duke does it at a 45 degree angle with the pads spread apart at the elbow. He pushes down a little but the impact is felt on the pads and the belly pad. This style works best with small Thai pads.



The guys at CSW are much more passive.



Edit: I have kicked pads for both these guys and use all 3 ways to hold pads for my girlfriend, depending on what we are focusing on. However, my coach likes me to hold the traditional way for him.

When I go passive I usually allow people to kicking me like the above Cro-Cop Video and the below CSW video. I feel it is good for working on range and hip turnover. However, I always go passive with knees.

 

[Paradigm]

Duke does it at a 45 degree angle with the pads spread apart at the elbow. He pushes down a little but the impact is felt on the pads and the belly pad. This style works best with small Thai pads.



The guys at CSW are much more passive.

wow...i would hate if someone held pads for me the 2nd way. seems loose and floppy but what do i know. seems like the resistance varies on each kick. sometimes his kicking foot goes between the pads, etc.

for me, its all about the padholder meeting me with the right amount of force right when i hit. some guys are too floppy like that 2nd vid and some guys try to meet you too far out/hard when holding for you.

the guy in the red holding pads at 2:35 is the style i usually prefer (and how i hold for other people).

Oh allright, yeah there are different ways of holding. When i throw knees i prefer some of the force to be absorbed by the pads, though.

think about what is supposed to hit when youre throwing the actual knee at someone's body? i wouldnt want to land with the top part of my thigh.

look at vid i posted in above starting at 0:45. the pad holder catches at lot of his left knees the way youre describing but he catches the right knees straight to the belly pad a lot. either way...many different ways of padholding like you said.

 

[Kanka]

wow...i would hate if someone held pads for me the 2nd way. seems loose and floppy but what do i know. seems like the resistance varies on each kick. sometimes his kicking foot goes between the pads, etc.

for me, its all about the padholder meeting me with the right amount of force right when i hit. some guys are too floppy like that 2nd vid and some guys try to meet you too far out/hard when holding for you.

the guy in the red holding pads at 2:35 is the style i usually prefer (and how i hold for other people).





think about what is supposed to hit when youre throwing the actual knee at someone's body? i wouldnt want to land with the top part of my thigh.

look at vid i posted in above starting at 0:45. the pad holder catches at lot of his left knees the way youre describing but he catches the right knees straight to the belly pad a lot. either way...many different ways of padholding like you said.

Well its still the same motion, and my knees seem pretty sensitive if i hit the belly pad full force.

 

[Paradigm]

Well its still the same motion, and my knees seem pretty sensitive if i hit the belly pad full force.

personal preference, i guess. id rather practice the motion as it would be delivered in a fight. unless the Thai pad on top of your thigh is to simulate someone trying to block the knee with their arms or something.

i dont know if the knees can be conditioned like the shins can but i used to get bruising on my knees when throwing them a lot in a session. doesnt really happen any more.

if they can be conditioned, thats a reason for throwing them straight into the belly pad. i mean, why dont you ever see Thais throwing kicks on the heavybags or pads with shinguards on?

i wish i had the option in Bangkok lol because my shit got fucked up just from kicking heavybags:

 

[Ryukyu Damashi]

The pad man hits the top of the thigh to take the heat off it for his own benefit. It has nothing to do with the actual strike. The fighter aims at the belly pad. The pad man meets the thigh with the pad to absorb it.

 

[Paradigm]

The pad man hits the top of the thigh to take the heat off it for his own benefit. It has nothing to do with the actual strike. The fighter aims at the belly pad. The pad man meets the thigh with the pad to absorb it.

true but its not the only way ive seen it done. im sure youve seen where guys are handfighting with the pad man and then throw a straight knee to the belly.

 

[nomilkforsanta]

true but its not the only way ive seen it done. im sure youve seen where guys are handfighting with the pad man and then throw a straight knee to the belly.

Yep, a million ways to skin a cat. As long as the fighter wins and avoids training injuries...it works.

 

[a guy]

First point is subjective and debatable. For instance, most of the people at my gym hold pads pretty well. Out of 10 guys I'd say a good 3 of them are not decent so there's no use arguing there.

As for the elbow to elbow kick thing, I believe that holding a pad elbow to elbow for a kick is bad because it puts unnecessary pressure on your elbows when there is impact. Yeah you're right in saying that it's tailored to the individual, but that's the trainer's job. Surely, as a drills partner, there is a way of holding pads that the majority would deem flawless. Otherwise, in an hour class time with pretty much a new person each time, we would both be figuring out how to hold pads for each other rather than holding pads.

Either your gym gets great instruction in holding or we have very different standards for our holders. I'm very picky about it, I'd rather hit bags or work with a partner unless my holder is much better than decent. There's a definite art to catching punches properly to give enough feedback without stuffing the punches that the average guy simply doesn't master, even if he avoids the other major mistakes I mentioned. To be fair it is much easier to get passable holding with Thai pads than focus mitts though, which is where most of my complaints come from.

The second part of my post wasn't addressed to you, it was responding to the op.

 

[Centaur]

No offence Mr Saamag, but I frigging HATE when pad holders do this.
I like to think of pad holding as inbetween bag work and sparring. It's away to rep things on a moving target and get a more natural flow. I've had pad holders basically spar me with Thai pads, they can hit me with anything, but I can only hit where they pad. Fuck that.
I use pad work to perfect my technique, I'm not going to use perfect technique if I know my pad holder is going to wade in randomly swinging 2lbs of Thai pad when I finish. That's what sparring in is for.

When I hold pads, I throw strikes back at the guys mistakes.
If he always moves off to his left when he finishes, I'll right kick.
If he drops his hands after a combo, I'll throw a pad out.
If he doesn't recover his kick properly, I'll leg kick.
I won't just start throwing combos at the guy just because.

I tend to do it the same as you.

One of the fun things we do in class is keep the counters moderate, but everytime the pad holder scores a strike, the partner has to do burpees - 3 for leg/body, 5 for head.
Again, this is when the pad holder counters like you, not attacking all out. It really gets the newer students to add footwork and get the hands back/up after a combo.

 

[Paradigm]

just curious...has anyone here had their support leg swept out from under them while kicking pads like in the Tiger Muay Thai MMA video?