FEATURED AUTHOR
CHAD BOYKIN

As unfashionable as it may be, I came from a great family. I am the son of loving, hardworking parents who both grew up humbly and worked their way up. I was raised in a growing town, and there were a lot of rich kids where I went to school. Even at a young age, I realized that these kids really had a curse because they didn't learn to appreciate anything. I was in lucky that my folks demonstrated a strong work ethic, which made me appreciate what we had.
This served me well when I nearly died from diabetes at the age of 15. The perseverance and guts I'd seen in my parents showed me that I should be thankful the disease I had was treatable with daily blood tests, shots, carbohydrate counting, and exercise. (I knew many people in that hospital had it much worse than I did.) I had to work to keep reasonably healthy and thus gained a renewed appreciation for life.

As a teen, I was far from athletic; if you'd put a dime on my head, I'd have been a nail. Hence, I got addicted to weight training and devoured all the information I could about it. Later, while I was working to put myself through school to earn a two-year business management degree, a friend introduced me to kickboxing – a mix of Muay Thai and boxing, similar to European-style kickboxing. I was sold on its practicality and physicality. Now, to say I sucked at first is putting it mildly. But I loved it and kept trying hard to improve.

Looking back, I see that there were so many people where I trained who were just gifted at kickboxing; they could have been great, but they just didn't stick with it. (This was another early lesson for me: "stick with it!") Then there were the tough guys . . . the ones who had the biggest mouths usually had the smallest testicles, wanting only to show off rather than push themselves to their limits. They couldn't stand to look bad in the gym, wouldn't dare to help anyone, and would never put their "bar fight" reputations on the line in the ring. There were some good people around too, of course – people who just liked to train and had nothing to brag about anyway. I found years later that the most quiet and humble folks are not only the best ones to be around but also the most skilled.I learned a lot from a retired boxer who was always around the gym. When I decided that I wanted to fight in the ring, he was the only one to take me seriously. To most, my diabetes and lack of athletic prowess meant that I was destined to fail. So I was determined not to. Over a few years I had 15 fights in kickboxing, Thai boxing, and boxing. I won plenty, and I lost plenty too. I worked as a personal trainer and taught Thai boxing while finishing school. Through it all I learned a lot about life, met some great people (and some not so great), and had a ball. I don't subscribe to popular martial arts philosophies, but I enjoy what I do a great deal. To this day I feel that there is nothing like helping someone who was out of shape and full of self-doubt become good at the art, get in shape, and feel better about life. That is what it's all about for me.

Q & A

Paladin: So you got a start in weight training before martial arts. Would you recommend this approach to others?
Boykin: It all depends on what you want. It is great to have as many different ways to train as possible. If you get stuck in a rut with boxing, you can go back to more weight training or cardio (running, etc.) to mix it up. As long as you enjoy what you're doing, it is all the better to cross-train. Weight training is a great base for all athletics because stronger muscles and tendons are always a plus. I deal with this in the book, because as a fighter or martial artist it always pays to be in condition; you want to be healthy long term. For me, power lifting early on taught me what you learn in all athletic endeavors – that you are always your own toughest opponent. I never thought I could hit the goal of 1,000 pounds in 4 lifts (bench press, power clean, squat, and incline press) but that was what I worked for 3 years to do when I was into the power lifting. Overcoming my own doubts was hard, but it helped my out later when I decided to get into amateur fighting.

Paladin: What types of fights did you do?
Boykin: I had all types of fights a lot of basic boxing and kickboxing. In boxing my record is 6-4, kickboxing 2-1, and Thai rules kickboxing 1-1. I'm an ugly fighter to watch it seems, because every loss except one was a decision. Of my wins, only one was a decision victory; every other win was by knockout, TKO, or even forfeit (had a guy back out last minute once).

Paladin: What type of martial art style do you think is the best?
Boykin: I am partial to Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the stuff used in most of the no-rules fighting. But everyone is different, and these styles aren't for everyone. Your chosen style should be fun, be it judo, kickboxing, or another similar martial art. Watch the participants. Walk right past all of the degrees on the wall, the WWF-style belts in their cases, and the trophies lined in the window. Forget them; they mean nothing to you. Instead, focus on the smallest person in the class, the woman, the child, the person who looks the most unlikely to escape being squished or eaten alive. How would it look to you if you were that person? If these weaker, smaller, or newer students appear to be having fun, learning, and actually performing material, chances are good that it's a great school. This litmus test is the best tried-and-true method for finding what you're looking for in a martial art. Real martial arts instructors are happy to share their art with you; they love it, and it means the world to them that you care to check it out. Posers fear you, fear their own lack of skills, and worry that they can't perform in a way that measures up to the hype they create.

Paladin: What kinds of things should one avoid in a martial art?
Boykin: There is no sense at all in seeking out some obscure ninja school in someone's basement, open only at midnight to those acolytes who were so fortunate to have passed the instructor's guarded gates by use of expensive handmade swords and poison-tipped throwing stars. Chances are good the instructor is not offering you much anyway. Worse still are the many commercial "Cobra-Kai" schools masquerading as practical self-defense schools – steeped in the tradition of abuse and rich with the custom of humorless humiliation of participants. Don't be fooled by extra bowing, screams of "sensei," creeds, or copious amounts of punishment push-ups. You don't have time for this. Move on. It is not tradition to have a bad time with what precious free time you have. There are enough horror stories about this to fill a book. An instructor I once knew was teaching a chokehold to the class. The student he chose to demonstrate on was a new female student who had chosen to train because she had been physically abused in relationships for years. The choke was applied in front of the class to this woman, who had never been taught how to "tap out"; the choke began to cut off her airflow. Naturally, this woman panicked and her muscles tensed up; she couldn't scream because the air was cut off. The instructor felt her tighten up and assumed that she was trying to show him up and make the technique look bad. He tightened the choke even more. She blacked out for a second, and upon coming to, rightfully stormed out of the gym, never to return. So, it's important to choose your instructors carefully.

Paladin: What is your philosophy on training?
Boykin: My philosophy is a simple but somewhat unpopular one. A training partner of mine once sent me e-mail that sums up our mutual feelings on martial arts training very eloquently. With his permission I am going to share it here: "NO matter what anyone tells you about MA, no matter how many books you read or videos you watch, the fact of the matter is you are going to have to get on the mat, or in front of the bag, and get sweaty. Don't let anyone fool you, sitting behind the desk and visualizing your opponents or daydreaming in the car about your favorite technique is NOT training. The time you put in is directly proportional to what you get out of the practice. Most of us don't have all day long to train in anything – be it soccer, weight-lifting, or MA, so you have to choose how best to apply your time. Here's the reality of the situation: if you are like me, you work for a living, and you have about six hours or so a week you can devote to your physical practice (whatever it is). If that practice is not convenient or enjoyable, it's not going to get done. That's a bottom line. If you want martial arts, you must find yourself an instructor who can provide you with skills to build while you have a good time."

Paladin: How did this book come to be?
Boykin: Actually, I thought to put down on paper some basic techniques for the new folks at the gym I was running at that time. I have always enjoyed writing (and reading), and the project was a lot of fun for me. It was hard, but it was fun too. I poured out everything I knew (and it's pretty sad that that only fills a couple hundred pages!) and included training routines, conditioning, equipment, technique, history, and tips on fighting strategies. A friend convinced me to try to publish the manuscript, and with some research I eventually hooked up with Paladin Press.

Paladin: Any parting words of advice?
Boykin: No matter what you practice, it is most important to enjoy it. Furthermore, as it relates to the self-defense aspects of any martial art, it is not important to know 1,000,001 techniques. What is important is how well you can apply a few basic things. And no matter what any martial arts pitchman tells you, remember that

1) You will never be invincible
2) Be aware, choose your friends carefully, and think for yourself
3) The bigger they are, the harder they hit!

MUAY THAI KICKBOXING
The Ultimate Guide to Conditioning, Training, and Fighting