Football........lol

I have read somewhere (it was a while ago) that Ernesto Hoost, Kaman, and maybe Ramon Dekkers all had a very strong Soccer background. Hoost I believe almost made it as a professional player, but he then discovered Kickboxing.

Now all these guys are top muay thai /kickboxing fighters, so i am wondering if soccer is actually a strong base for future muay thai artists? (especially for kicking capabilities)

If that is the case, i believe Brazil, Germany and Italy could really produce some top muay thai champions since they have the best soccer teams in the world. :-)

p.s: Wanderlei Silva sure knows how to give a soccer Kick to the head!!!

yeah, we call it Football in Europe! (soccer in the US) LOL

Now, if Zidane knew how to give a middle kick, i think he could break someone's arm!!!

I found the link to Dirk stal article on Kaman's playing professional soccer before martial arts!



http://www.fightingmaster.com/legends/kaman/kaman.htm

"Rob kaman was born on the 5th of June 1960 in Amsterdam. He started training in the martial arts in 1976. Before that, he played soccer for Ajax in Amsterdam. Rob was a good player, but he never liked team sports. "

An interesting idea. A football (soccer) kick has totally different technique than a Thai kick, though. Great for kicking someone in the nuts though.

oh and I forgot to mention Peter Aerts . He also has a pretty strong soccer background.

I know that Thailand has the best soccer team in southeast asia.

Apidej said, in a interview at mmaringreport.com, "Powerful kicks were the result of hard practice. I kicked like a footballer". So maybe their is something to soccer and helping with MT kicks.

Perhaps its something to do with these guys being natural athletes before they started thai boxing.

man, I can't believe Rob Kaman actually played for Ajax team. Ajax is like one of the best soccer team in Europe. This is pretty cool.

check this out:

"After this win Apidej was taught by his Uncle and then his schoolteacher. He also played soccer, attributing a lot of his kicking finesse to his football skills and hard practice. "

I retrieved this line from :
http://www.vuwkickboxing.com/articles/general/apidej_sit_hirun.htm

now Apidej said it all for me. :)

Think if a Thaiboxer became a Soccer player. He wouldn't even have to wear shin guards. heh heh

The thing is though that Thailand is rubbish at soccer- and it is a very popular sport there.

On the other hand, pretty much all European males grow up playing soccer but Europe is behind Thailand in Muay Thai.

So what Apidej said cannot be taken as gospel. I knew a fit 98 year old who claimed that his longevity was due to drinking whisky every day....

lol. I don't know about that. Soccer is a vicious game. You never know when and where you gonna get kicked instead of the ball. :)

Choppa chapman also played football ,and made it pretty high ...hummm why did they move to Thai boxing

that is a KO blow hehehehehelol

ChiK.O. Swerts has a soccer background,too.his brother is a pro
and he considered doing the same himself.

Liam Harrison has a strong football background 2!!!
Maybe there is summat in it!!!

Yeah, I played soccer for years before i started training in Muay Thai, back in 1988 and I'd have to agree that it does help with your power, also a female student from our gym played soccer intensely for many years before starting with us 3 months ago and she has got the hellish kick, oh and conditioned shins to boot! excuse the pun :-)

I have been training in kickboxing/muay thai now for 8 years and before that, i had been playing soccer for 7 years.

I would definitely say that soccer has had a big influence on my kickboxing experience, because I love to kick... LOL

Let me add a couple of things. I played for a Zwei Liga team when I was just 18-19 in Germany, and what that level of play helped me to develop was incredibly strong legs for my bodyweight. I could usually out squat guys twice my weight without much effort. Additionally, from growing up and NOT wearing shinguards except during matches, my shins were already well conditioned prior to starting muayThai training nearly a decade later. It is a great complement and what I see with many Americans who play predominantly "throwing" sports like baseball is under-developed or even nonexistent leg power. The footballers that have come in to train generally pick up the mechanics of kicking and can even hit the pads and heavybag without nearly as much pain as the rest of the students. One last point though - my legs went through a rather radical transformation physically - my quadriceps and hamstrings are significantly leaner than my football days and my calves much thicker.

I wouldn't fancy taking a low kick off Roberto Carlos. He probably has the biggest thighs in football.

Does football not lead to problems with flexibility though, or is that just me?

JD, Big Darbys certainly lead to problems with flexibility!

Indeed, but that was developed due to the nature of football!

Eight hours in trhe pub every sunday!

Plus drowning my sorrows as a West Ham fan

I can sympathise with you there mate !

me too!!! sorrows of that proportion would take some serious drowing!!! ;)

Maybe we could pretend to be Life long Chelsea fans like all the others that have crept out from the woodwork

Rob, you have a big darby and you're not even a West Ham fan, what's your excuse mate?

LOL
If you truly were a life long Chelsea fan you would have done more than your fair share of sorrow drowning over the years! It wasn't that long ago we were yo-yoing back and forth between the divisions!

lol Andy no excuse for me just like me food too much!!!

All these new Chelsea fans must annoy you more than they annoy me Rob!

LOL, Rob when you get to our age a belly looks distinguished (so I tell myself:)!

lol Andy i am starting to look a bit too distinguished for my own liking though what with the creeping alopecia as well!! :((

It's actully more annoying here JD with every Thai you meet telling you they are a life long Man U fan or Liverpool! though the Liverpool ones are keeping it quiet right now! Theres more and more Thai gooners appearing out of the woodwork also!!!

LOL Thailand is not that far away to be a Man Utd fan!

I think I could say with 100% honesty that as far as I remember I played football more or less everyday from the ages of 5 to 15, and its completely f***ed up my flexibility. The muscles used are different than those in MT, especially around the hips, and I've found my Quads and hamstrings permanently tightened due to this. Although I can whack in a decent low kick, which probably has had some assistance from my football days, its the mid/high kicks I just cant do, and that basically takes away a huge percentage of possible attacks, much like a boxer only fighting with one arm.

So IMO football ISNT good for MT!

Mind you, as a Leeds fan, there's every chance Ill be back playing soon cos Ill be called up with us not having any players left!

Leeds are going down. Thats good though because all their players are racism!

What, even Duberry, Sakho, Camara, Domi, Olembe, Singh and Simon Johnson to name but a few? Wow, they must have been hypnotised to think they are white when they look in a mirror. Good old Paul McKenna.

And its racist not racism in that context! Glad you didnt teach me Farhad mate!

You trying two say i'm illitterut :-)

Eye woodnt sey thatt, itz justt nott evriwun cann spel az wel az mee.

Bowyer and Woodgate now play for Newcastle Farhad, I presume they are the players you were reffering to.

yeah they're all racism..is that the right word???

lol

Right Andy, and Upton Park is a den of racial happiness!!!

lol

I was taking the piss out of farhad using the word in the wrong context (cheap jibe I know), not commenting on race relations at Elland Road; honest guv!!!!

I was taking the piss out of farhad using the word in the wrong context (cheap jibe I know), not commenting on race relations at Elland Road; honest guv!!!!

Cheap jibes and taking the piss? RACIST!!! off with your head!

I can hear the sound of that same old bag of worms being opened again.