I held mitts for a pro-boxer once. I was actually scared! I couldn’t believe how hard he hit.

When I hold pads, I like to throw back after they throw to make sure their hands come back home. Like I hold it up for a jab, then I will throw a soft wide right to make sure their hands are back. That is something you can't get on a heavy bag.

Dewey quickly became a 'go-to' of mine for Combat Sports knowledge. Also love some of The Modern Martial Artist, Lawrence Kenshin, MMA Shredded, Fight Tips... Oh my god, they're all so awesome!

I remember having to holding pads for pro fighters during my first muay thai classes. My forearms were so bruised from their kicks, and I thought my instructor was some kind of asshole, but after a few months I had built resistance to it and that was the whole point. Kind of a Mr. Myagi moment.

Lend your voice to audiobook. I will buy that so fast

On the same wavelength - teaching someone something can help you understand it better

Me to Firas: "I don't have to do what you say, you're not my real dad !"

You're getting at something I've always found funny. A lot of people in martial arts and combat sports actually keep getting better and better even after they're done with the competition phase of their life (as long as they're still doing some kind of practice and study of their craft). You'd think the best fighter would be the one who's training hard 4-6 hours a day, but actually they're not the best (technical) fighters, they're just the toughest fighters. When they get older they can't keep training hard, but if they have a mind to do it they actually keep growing.

As a teacher. I told my students I have a one up on you cause I hold pads for you. It helps my reflexes and see your attacks coming easier. I'm not the best fighter in my room. I just know everyone more.

The professor X of MMA has spoken!!! Those who will listen take heed now!!!🥊🥊🥊

One thing that helped me a lot with holding pads was learning how to root myself into the ground to absorb the hits.

And as usual, I've gotten a little bit wiser from your videos. Thank you💯

Very true, as a beginner holding pads really teach me a lot, especially experiencing different power, speed, and rhythm.

Quality content as always. Dude is consistent. Thankyou for broadening my perspective on training, I just joined a boxing gym and am very intimidated by all of it, your videos help me stay focused and encouraged. 👊💯

*What I learned a great deal from you* is that you can learn from ANYONE the things you learned, now you teach US. Thanks Coach!

Punching mitts have helped me alot for working on my distance and refine my technique. I think alot of mitt training is done randomly with no real goal in mind. Training mitts (for boxing) with my friend, we always had specific goals in mind : assess movement quality, distance, timing, holes in the defense, practice some techniques relevant to one's style...etc Personnally, it helped me tremendously at improving. So I both agree ans disagree. Random hitting no, but having a goal to improve one's weaknesses, polish some techniques yes. Doing pads along sparring improved my technique much faster than just sparring. Also I find Ramsey take on the pad holder experience and reflex gains very interesting. I hadn't thought about it until now but it's a very valid point.

Always impressed by your analysis of fighting and fight training. You provide a fresh point of view. Just an awesome perspective of holding the pad as a coach.

I mean EVERYBODY can look good on pads, but in the fight they have bad form and technique. Pads are for accuracy.

Flinch reflex training! Interesting, very insightful, never even considered that but it makes perfect sense

Your production value has come up so much, man. Keep the momentum going!

Helping with the flinch aspect. Very cool. I've always wanted to help with holding pads for exactly what you are talking about!. Thank you for that small amount of motivation I needed to be a more well rounded Individual. Something cool I can look forward too again! #changitup #wisdom #journeytogreatness

In order to teach properly one must have a great and deep understanding of the topic at hand. I have found this in many aspects of my life. Back in highschool I enjoyed skiing, so I became a skiing instructor for free lift tickets. During my time as an instructor I became a near Olympic level skier due to the level of analysis I went through to become a good teacher. Teaching something I find is often better practice than normal practice.

That is awesome! I’ve never thought of coaching in this way.

Your awesome man, every time am going to the gym i listen to one of your videos, and feel pumped for training 😉

I learned from holding pads that some people have power moves and some haven't developed the grounding to do 'power moves'. Awesome thinking Ramsey - makes me rethink not just 'pads' but other situations - viewing things from different perspectives.

Dude this video was very enlightening.

I had never considered this before. Thank you for giving me something to think about next time that I am holding the mits.

Pretty insightful thoughts! Thank you!

I've been wondering this question myself lately, the value of a padman. Hard to argue with your conclusion, well thought out point. I definitely like pads more than the heavy bag but I think my favourite is partner drills where we take turns hitting each other's gloves as if they were pads. Heavy bag lets bad habits sneak in if I'm not particularly disciplined that day. A live partner in front of me keeps me awake.

Mr. Dewey, I just wanted to speak up and let you know how much I enjoy your videos. Thank you for having this channel. Eddie ~~~~~~~~~~

Great video as always

Facts I have to admit u are taking a very good eye to the truth an not being bias . Great vid

Great point!!! Agree with this 100% One of the ways we can evolve training is to make aspects of "dead time" productive time. Using pad training to develop better fighting habits is one way to do this. Holding the pads can also, with side kicking applications and large pads, teach students to take impact better, develop more balanced static positioning, and obviously kick a lot harder.

Yes, I like to hold pads and try to respond to the strikes without anticipating them. This is very beneficial. Of course the intensity and speed needs to be less than overwhelming for your skill and experience.

Completely agreed. I lernt much holding pads. When came to that conclusion I stoped hold them for each fighter insted started teaching students to hold them properly. Thank you for the video.

Thats makes a whole lot of sense, now i wanna hold pads for the first time in my life. 👍🙏

reactive padwork is great...as is slapping them if they drop hands. Everyone disagrees on something... I think jumping rope or speed-balls are sorta useless beyond one round...its Rocky 3...everything is a simulation...all skills are simulations of situations...I totally agree on your "flinch instincts" Fight flight or whatever. Seeing king hits come at you is great it helps offense and defense...your last point of the pad holder-being attacked is an awesome point.

In my utmost humble opinion. “ It is the units that complete the whole” After listening to Firaz in regards to the topic at hand, I believe the statement he made is multifaceted that padwork has its place and redeeming qualities, but many athletes/ practitioners substitute or negate the importance of other factors in terms of favoring pad holding for instance: instead of time on the mat with live opponents/ sparring etc. All the tools we have available as practitioners have their place, but in my experience, to be a complete martial artist one has to comprehend the importance of each individual piece and understand its role as a sum of its parts. Static active objects like heavy bags, speed bags( all imperative important tools) including pad/mittwork, can never be( nor should) neither intended to be, a complete substitute for a live opponent in terms of a sparring context. A fighter who only has one pad session a week, but spars sensibly 3-7-10 times a week, will be able to apply his art at an increased rate of success than one that does 10 pad sessions a week and spars within a limited or lesser quantity. Also important to note is how one applies one’s tools, for example Saenchai attests to Coach Dewey’s statements in regards to how many Thai fighters hold pads. The pad itself is an inanimate object, so one has to make the the pad act/ resemble and respond in a dynamic active way that not only mimics a living human being, but also reacts correspondingly, moving, countering, parrying, etc. the dynamic between the pad holder and practitioner has to be spot on as well, as the risk of injury especially to the one that is hitting the pad is increased if the pad-holder isn’t able to flow consistently and respond accordingly with quality. Like in all stages of training, there are levels, so standing static and just holding the pads as beginners to be able to create an environment for learning is imperative, no issues with that, it is when this type of training negates everything else, and we have many an examples of mitt/ heavybag anomalies that look undefeatable on tape, but crumble the moment someone is actually fighting back with resistance and mental fortitude. So comprehension in regards to the semantics of when/ where/ why etc of implementing said tools into one’s training curriculum is key, as to assure/ ensure desired results. “ perfect practice makes perfect” “ Fighting is relativity in motion, never expect only respond, as it one’s opponent within context that dictates tactics ” Always enjoy your content and insights coach Dewey, a joy to learn from such an experienced peer as yourself. :) Sincere regards Fellow martial artist. Tom Framnes. Norway.

Good video and explanations! Khabib's coach, Javier Mendez, basically said the same thing as Zahabi. He was talking about himself when he was younger and everyone who trained with him were poor and didn't have much equipment so they just fought each other all the time. When they competed with others from other schools where they used mitts and pads, the poor guys kicked butt because their training was more functionally realistic.

I have been training muai thai for almost 5 years now. And the thing is that I have been training for 3 years without getting in the ring. meanwhile I was holding pads for the fighters and I always believed that I was still working on my own stuff. this video comfirmed that in some way. witch is amazing to know. thanks for that

7:20 I rate that whole extended commentary right there 👌 very nice.

as always, awesome advice..

nice my favorite 2 martial arts bloggers (firas and ramsey) in 1 video. Love you guys insights on the sport. And yep Firas (i am at the same gym) rarely do pads but he does alot of movements

Ive hit pads and held pads most of my life and Failed to see what you have related in youre video. Thats a great insight and a very valid one.

Good and interesting talk. A good pad man should he 'alive' and hp simulate the realness of combat. I believe a good pad man is worth his weight in gold. But, I totally agree about helping the pad man, too.

Very interesting perspective!

Great video mate

I trained overseas, in a class with no physical dojo, no insurance, and a lot of freedom. We learned the basics. exercises, forms, techniques, but sparring was the difference. We wore no gloves, or pads, we used controlled contact, which meant, you hit a half inch deep, not and inch and a half deep, but, at full speed. Safety was from the rules, no neck or above, no back, no kicking the knees, sweeps and traps were fine. Mostly stand up tag. You got over the flinch thing, you learned to block, because missing one meant you got hit. You also learned, you don't feel a lot, until later in a fight. We were all GI's in our 20's, our teacher was a local guy that lived in an actual Nipa hut. We trained in carports, under a huge tree, outside a barracks, depending. Not fancy at all, but, the best training I ever found.

Hi Coach Dewey, apart from your great advice, your voice is very soothing, thank you

What a great talk Ramsey

This is an interesting subject. I agree with questioning conventional wisdom. Isn't that how we grow and learn? I can appreciate working between pad holding and heavy bag work. When i'm holding pads, I'm always emphasizing footwork and the importance of keeping your hands up. If my training partner keeps his hands low or gets lazy, a friendly tag to the head will remind to get em up! Constantly drilling blocks, parry, and slips. I would like to work on my pad holding a bit. This is a cool subject.

I agree hundred percent. I was trained to be a professional boxer. But I actually got better at boxing when I started coaching.

This video is very true, teaching helps to cement What you know.

I cant tell which voice is more comforting, Bob Ross’, or Ramsey Dewey’s

Great information thank you...

All these things he talks about cutting out have a common theme of being something that's easy to do in a monotonous, unfocused fashion. Lots of people say the same about heavy bag, especially to beginners. Firas is training people for a high level who's training regimen is going to be pretty different from even avg competitors. For them the conditioning is a foregone conclusion, they're going elsewhere to make sure that's up to par, they're not trying to force it into their mat time. I love jump rope but it's definitely a low bar of footwork skill, after a while it's become something I can do with my brain off. At that point, i could see the argument that i should find new, more advanced drills to do with my time. As for pads in particular, I personally feel I learn more from holding pads than punching them. There are 2 or 3 higher level guys who i'll ask occasionally to hold pads for me, mostly so they can observe my patterns/habits and point things out to me. I spend 2x as much time holding and it has helped me understand technical nuances waaay faster, because I know what's going to happen so it's like i'm getting constant demonstration while *feeling* how effective the resulting punches are. My jab still sucks, though. If I wasn't so much taller, I'd never land a single one. hahaha

Well, this is insightful.

You are very charismatic. I enjoy watching your facial expressions

I love holding pads, what I do is have the pads down and call the strike, I try to meet the strike AS it’s thrown rather than have it up in advance. This really helped with reflexes

Love your channel bro....i hope and pray that oneday i get to train with you...im a Muay Thai fighter and im fighting April 25th..... #NBBC

Pads also seem to teach the student to punch off target. Jab to the left of the head, straight to the right, hook in front.

Listen, everybody, listen! Whatever works for you, do that. WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU, you should do it. If you get better by hitting pads, do that. Better in terms of what? In whatever, if you feel improving keep doing that.

Thank you for this.

Good wisdom!!

Listening to you and watching the training montage, I am honestly quite miffed that I’m sitting here in Central Europe; should I ever find my way to Shanghai, I am going to drop by the Fight Club. (I have no clue about MMA techniques, but that won’t stop me !)

Thank you!

With pads you can work on slipping an attack from 1 of your opponent's hands while counter/attacking to the other pad, something you can't do on punch bags...

I like the version where the pad is close to the body. It is the same footwork and distance as it is live. Learning how to hit a target away from my opponent's target points didn't taught me as much. But holding pads great for you to learn how to deflect impact.

Ramsey, do you play Chess? I'd love to play a game online with you sometime if you do bro!

I like doing reverse pad holding. Partner throws a 40% power and speed combo while I catch and parry the punches in long guard. I have to guess each punch as its thrown. Effective defensive training for the pad holder. Works best when both fighters have heavy gloves, so I guess its not really pad holding as much as a parry exercise, but it can be done to some effectiveness with mitts.

Its a definite yes in my book. Mitts/pads are the closest thing to a moving target and a much better way to train your ‘snaps’ compared to bag work. Sparring trains fight ability under stress but pad work gets the balance of reaction/technique just right

I used to wrestle a long time ago. You make me want to learn more. Unfortunately there are no good gyms in my area but I'll find something.

I think this is the better opportunity to ask this. Hope I can get an answer from you. When I'm holding the pads, I let my students hit them full power 100% of the time or do I tell them to focus on proper form or technique, properly connecting and other aspects? Last students I had I used the pads as a tool to improve their form, accuracy and such and so I'd told them to not worry about the power of the blows at that said moment and when I wanted them to work on raw hitting power I'd have them work on the heavybag. What's the line between slapping punches and just meeting then enough to preserve your own body?

No idea why I found this so enlightening, I don't even train. I listened carefully.

I have worked the doors for 15 years, and watching this was a lightbulb moment, I always thought I was just lucky at never getting a punch in the face. I always managed to defect it or move or just plain catch it. I spent the rest of the time holding pads for my students. 💡💡💡💡💡

I never thought about the learning from being the pad holder

Hey Ramsey! Thank you for all your interesting videos, I wondered what were you feelings about traditional martial artists like Higaonna and Naka Tatsuya

Great video again Ramsay :)

i cant believe i was wondering about this for last 1 one week. everybodyvis uploading videos with pad work but why dont i see any use of it or what is exactly the use of it? very important video thanks alot coach.

Me myself always loved pads before fights since that way i could do my rounds at full power. Something that is not possible in sparring. Also if the padholder is experienced it can at the same time be used as a tool to both teach techniques, responses and reflexes. I too believe since i started coaching instead ive become a more technical fighter but i wouldnt give that to the padholding as much as thinking about techniques in a way i never did before. All in all pads are great! 100% neccesary? Probably not, but they cover a wide spectrum in standup fighting and they can be used as a multitool and a great compliment to the normal sparring.

Holding mits for partners in training helped me get really good at parrying. It became a reflex to slap at a lot of straight shots, as well as getting used to someone punching at you. Much more beneficial than anything I got from me hitting the pads.

Thanks for this. Always felt padholding was more for the holder than the striker. It teaches you to be faster than the striker at least. What I do hate about some padholders is that they strike the punching hand. As a striker I focus on where the pad is and if somebody then moves that pad I fuck up my wrist. It's like if someone would headbutt my hand! Not realistic. I aim for the head..it might move to the side or what..but not as a strike towards my hand...in 99% of the time.

This is a good talk. I like to criticize this kind of stuff online but this is legit. When I was a taekwondo instructor and amateur kickboxer, I found it extremely helpful to spar with low level students two or three days before the fight. Sounds asinine, but it puts you in the frame of mind of complete dominance over your opponent. And you can carry that dominance with you into the ring. Now leading up to the fight, you need high level sparring partners. But when you’re resting your last few days before the fight, you need to crush some people.

My boxing gym has been closed for over a year and I don't think they'll be reopening anymore. I wish I could get on the pads to get more familiarize with "strategies," for lack of better term, when sparring such as footwork, reflexes, slipping, rolling, counters, catching punches, reacting to counters, etc. It gets really tiring and monotonous trying to fight an invisible opponent created by my imaginations during shadow boxing.

My sanda coach had a different approach to pads. We used them for a number of things. First of all it was teaching the distance. So you were allowed to mark a punch with a pad if someone was in your distance while moving, second was marking a punch with the pad when the person was not covering after a combination and the third one was all about the reflex. So the person holding the pads was showing an "opening" with a pad and the person without it, was to hit it whit the shortest time possible with the correct technique. It was never about how hard can u hit a pad.

4:12 - there isnt. The “reality based self defense” idea of using the flinch reflex is confused. A movement that has been developed over generations of real world use and deliberately trained is by definition vastly superior to an automatic response. Once you start think you will use an automatic response in an intelligent way under predetermined circumstances, now youre talking about training a specific movement. TRAIN THE MOVEMENT THAT FREAKING WORKS, GENIUS 😂

This was very interesting coach :) Perhaps I should go hold up some pads! When you trained with that coach that said "just hit me and I will catch it", did he do it differently than "regular" pad holding or mitt work? With mitts, receiving a hook is probably done with the opposite mitt-hand: receive a hook to the right side of your head with your LEFT mitt-hand (pushing your left hand to your right outside). With pads, would he hold the pads to the inside of his arms or to the outside? When I hold a big kicking pad up for a round kick to my side, I hold the pad to my outside for example. Im "wearing" or holding it on the outside of my arm let's say, for a middle-height roundkick or a high roundkick. For a lowkick a kickpad is held to the outside of the leg. Perhaps you could shed some light on various types of pads, kickpads, mitts? I'm a beginner so it may be too basic. Depends if other viewers find it interesting to know more about the holding techniques.

Very educational video in a most unexpected way. Thank you. Now get out there and John Coltrane.

Good video. Bonus points for sporting a Cobra Kai shirt

I noticed hitting the punch bag with pads on hands and then with boxing gloves improves speed and combinations.

What are the training times of your gym Mr. Dewey?

I'm a complete rookie but i always say to people try and hit me when doing any sort of sparring/self defence/pad work. I enjoy reacting to an incoming attack. I also think it's better for the attacker too so they can try and feint an attack. You just need to agree on percentage of power.

I made a comment on that Firah's post that mitts is important for striking and got attacked by a couple of people, it's definitely important because you can practise your slip, rolls and counter moves with a live person rather than on the bag.

Even I don't fight, I get more useful info from your videos.

I also think that helps a new fighter to fell better by " looking good in the pads " a moral booster you know

I've heard of people talking about the skill involved with holding pads before, but I think this is the first time I've ever actually heard someone talk about the training benefits of HOLDING pads before, and yeah, that absolutely makes 100% sense. I've seen pro fighters push kick average people holding pads across rooms before, and even holding pads for Mike Tyson seems terrifying.

Why not partner drills or controlled sparring then. Example one guy does jab, cross, hook the other guy defends and then switch around. Isn’t this better than hitting pads?

It'll either be pads or a moving bag so you might as well. I wouldn't spend massive amounts of time on it but it's a good training exercise as far as your overall movement positioning etc.

Holding pads helps in understanding the impact that you need to be able to deal with, using arms, legs and your body; it has to do with the endurance/conditioning, strength you devellop. Also, it teaches you the range of the greatest impact of your opponents strike, therefore, seeing the need to avoid it properly.

3:07 the terrible 3 things you mention is what i consider as defence during fight lol, stepping back, trying to hit back and hugging him to incapacitate him. Was i thinking wrong this whole time?? :D