Richard - I agree that there is often an air of disrespect perceived if something is said against the norm of an establishment. I believe this comes from fear based conditioning. The human ego attaches to its beliefs and holds onto them as it does life itself. Anything that threatens its beliefs it feels threatens its very existence. To say anything against a war or the government in the US is to be anti-American. To say anything against the Bible is heresy. This has developed to protect the belief (could be intentional or otherwise). Beliefs put in the Bible include if you don't believe and follow you are going to hell and if you do believe and follow you are going to heaven. This reward and punishment beliefs are to support the story and are based in fear. (not suggesting the story is correct or not) beliefs are neutral in that they don't have to be true or false to spread. true or false when supportive beliefs are punnishment or reward I have to think twice for they are fear based mechanisms for supporting an idea. Truth doesn't need fear to support it in my opinion. In memetic language they are defense and offense memes.

To walk a different path from ones peers or to speak outside of the box is always met with extreme resistance (this is not directed at you beaty).

I would fit into the school (or at least use to) of what some call a MuayThai Nazi.. I am all about Thai style. In my experience, at least on a technique perspective, Thai style kicks ass for MuayThai rules fighting.

The reason MuayThai is dominant (my opinion) in SE Asia over Burmese boxing, Cambodian boxing, Laos boxing etc is nothing to do with Thai superiority but to do with the opportunity and frequency of fighting. The Thais have had the sport of stand up fighting developing in greater numbers for a long time in the last 100 years (or whatever it is).

My point is that it is little to do with Thais and more to do with circumstances. In the western world there have been circumstances that have lead to knowledge and development of understanding the human body in terms of exercise and fitness and conditioning.

Though in the West there are many schools of thought, most of the top strength and conditioning coaches that are not limited to one sport, seem to agree (as far as I can tell) that doing aerobic conditioning works best for a sport with aerobic demands and anaerobic conditioning best for sports with an anaerobic demand.

This is over simplified as the aerobic energy system starts right from the get go even if you move for 2 seconds... however the dominant system on high intensity movement is anaerobic. (there are more than two systems too). But training the anaerobic system does train the aerobic...

The energy system you train when kicking pads for 3 minutes will be much closer to the energy system you will use in a fight than running for an hour. The energy system is related to the muscles used and muscle movement also. Lifting weights (say squats) and running (though they may have benefits) do not train the same muscles in the same way for the same movements of kicking and punching etc Yes there are benefits and they may be worth working in to a degree, but they can never and will never conditioning the muscles, body, mind, energy system etc like kicking or punching will.

Training recovery is hugely over looked in my opinion also.
Imagine 1 round of 15 minutes... wow very different. Obviously the breaks are huge for recovering strength and energy but very rarely is there much attention or intention focused on the break time in training. Many corners stress out and stress out their fighter, when the whole point of the break is rest and recovery and prep for the next round.

Developing a ritual(s) for between rounds where the focus is on recovery (which means the corner not yelling or talking excitedly the whole time) is huge in my opinion. The body learns by doing and rituals are familiar and comfortable. Doing them and intentionally focusing on recovery in training tells the mind and body in the ring that it is time to relax and recover - the mind and body go "ok, I know this" and the conditioned response to to rest and recover and prepare for the next round. Think of it like Pavlovs dog - bell rings with food enough times and the dogs salivates... condition the body and mind to respond to break times by recovering and it automatically goes into recovery state (you can set triggers on the body to move towards a relaxed state - such as rubbing your glove on your temple =can do anyway you want= but simply practicing recovery with intention and attention is HUGE.

Breaks are first for recovery, second for info on what to do or watch for (game plan) etc tell a fighter a million things and he won't remember and you'll be stressing him out and not allowing near as much recovery. He needs one or two bits of info presented calmly and I think near the end of the break. My opinion is the corners shut up - learn the fighters ritual between rounds and help provide a peaceful environment for recovery, offer one or two bits of info close to the end of the break clearly and calmly and stated positively (possibly and over all on the fight etc).

A powerful thing is thought. A single thought (science is behind this and you can demonstrate effects in seconds) shifts the fighters physiology immediately. Stressful and worrying thoughts release different chemicals energy flows differently than peaceful or calming thoughts. A warrior can turn on and off his focus on fighting in my opinion. Focusing on fighting in recovery uses up valuable resources. A simple trick that I have found powerful is to have one or two thoughts prepared (and used in training) ready to pull up in the break. The fighter only needs to focus on it for 2 or 3 seconds and it does shift his physiology and energy flows. The thought should be peaceful, beautiful, calming, wonderful... whatever works for them. I use to think about making love with my ex (this was used when we were together lol) i would literally smile in the corner. I held this thought for only a second or two. Scientifically and from my experience in training and fighting and working with fighters as well as being able to test it with strength tests leads me to believe this aids huge in recovery and increases strength etc - thoughts release different chemicals (such as neuropeptides) that go to the cells in our body, not just the brain but also immune system cells, heart cells, lung cells etc etc It immediately has a physical effect on our whole body.

Training for a 5 rounder (or anything) train recovery.

"Rest is a weapon." Jason Borne :)

This gets into between training sessions recovery also - sleep, food, active rest, fun, thoughts, water etc etc

Develop between round rituals ..the order at which stuff is done, when corners do what and in what order, planned thoughts on fight, on being strong, on recovering, on being positive, wonderful thought that makes you smile... could be leaning back on the ropes like Thais do before the round starts, banging gloves as heading back out, smiling on your way back to the corner - an intentional smile releases some of the same chemicals as a natural one... repeat a phrase in our mind for the first 30 seconds..

This stuff is big in terms of the mental game but also big in terms of physical recovery. The body learns by doing. By focusing intention and attention on recovery in training you prepare for recovery in a fight...

There are exceptions and degrees but over all I think training (running or bag or pads etc) should be about the same as your go and stop time fighting. Not just for the fighting part but for the recovery part.

You will use the energy systems differently doing 3 min rounds with a 2 minute break or a one minute break... training the same for both makes little sense to me unless the up coming fight isn't as important as later fights that you are training for that has different times for example...