Maurice Smith Thaiboxing Volume 1 - fundamentals
available online for ~$20 or as part of the four DVD set for $50.

This is sold as a Muay Thai tape on the sites I visited. It is about half Muay Thai, kickboxing is a better description. There is a difference, and if you are looking for pure Muay Thai you really won't find it here. Shins are used and low kicks covered but not in a fully Thai manner, more in a modified method. Good clear basic kickboxing is what is served up.

2-4 mins each on are spent on the jab, cross, left hook (that would make a boxing coach wince) and an uppercut. Both sides aren't shown and by eight minutes Maurice is onto the kicks.

Defensive front kick with lead leg, inside low kick, more like a JKD lead kick with a shuffle step than a Thai kick. The right leg version of the low kick is much more Thai like. Maurice shows a couple of angles to throw it and does a body kick from one side.

Knees and elbows are next on the list. The video is very clear on both long knees and short clinch knees. Some decent info on holding the clinch and making space to throw knees is included. The elbow section is short and sweet. A few angles are shown and the cutting aspect stressed. Once again the different sides aren't really covered, both arms are used but for different angles.

Defensive manoeuvres are next. Parries and scoop blocks. Defenses for jabs, hooks and uppercuts are shown, again only on one side. Elbow blocks get about a minute and are shown in a clear manner that co-incides with the Thaiboxing I have seen. Next in the defense is kick blocking, including a good section on defending against leg kicks to the lead leg. The last section is knee defense, unfortunately Maurice chose to show a knee defense involving both hands dropping to the opponents hips. Without explaining the timing and recovery involved this defense leads to the blocker getting elbowed and hooked punched everytime.

Maurice is a multiple kickboxing title holder and an accomplished MMA fighter. There is no doubt he has the experience to deliver this material. He does so clearly and concisely. My only complaint is it may be a little too concise. In an effort to cover all the material in the time alotted, some of it feels glossed over. The quality of the video is excellent and sound is fine. If you are a beginner this would be a fine introduction to kickboxing with some Thai technique included. If you have been training for a few months you may still pick up a couple of things but whether it is worth the money is hard to say.

See also Volume 2