Hey guys as you know we had a Muay Thai seminar with Mehdi Pouroskoui. It was a really good 3 hour seminar that started off with basic skills and progressed to more advanced tactics. Here are some piks and I also asked for 2 reviews. One from senior student Ivano Stelatto and anotehr from our new member Liz Foote. Ivano: This past weekend the Kombat Arts Training Academy was pleased to host a seminar by a very special guest … Kru Mehdi Pouroskoui, from the KB One school in Vancouver. Mehdi is a four time World Muay Thai Champion and current 86kg WPMF Muay Thai Champion … but his accolades go well beyond the achievements of international glory. Perhaps one of Mehdi’s greatest strengths is not his ability as a fighter, but his ability as a teacher and mentor. Mehdi is a teacher not only of students but of aspiring Martial Arts instructors as well. And that is just one of the many reasons that make his seminars so popular. Training under a master like Kru Mehdi is like shooting hoops with Michael Jordan or playing a round with Tiger Woods or lacing up the skates with Wayne Gretzky, and his annual visits to the Kombat Arts Training Academy have become sought after events. His most recent visit focused on what I like to refer to as “Violence In Motion”. Combat sports after all are very dynamic, and since our opponents do not stand in place as docile recipients of our attacks, why should we train in a stationary position? The Kru showed us some interesting drills that helped refine our striking while moving forward. He reinforced these forward moving attack principles with key concepts of footwork blending various types of attacks involving all of the deadly weapons of Muay Thai. Especially interesting was how he blended in attacks involving hands knees and kicks into a seamless surge of precision blows designed to keep your opponent constantly on his heels and on the defensive. Training under Mehdi the Kru was an honor that helped take our striking to another level. Training alongside Mehdi the Champion was an inspiration that we will not soon forget. Let’s just say that I have already reserved my spot for his next visit, Thank You Kru, Sawadee Krup Liz: Kombat, I wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to train with Kru Mehdi. At first I was a little nervous because I am still fairly new to the Kombat Family but that didn't seem to matter to my teammates nor to Kru Mehdi, he pushed me and encouraged me the same as everyone else. He took the time to come over and correct me or to even tell me I was doing a good job. He took the basic techniques I have learned in Muay Thai class and brought them to a new level. He pushed us to be better fighters by slowing down techniques and repeating them over and over to perfect them. I learned so much from that class and by the end I was exhausted but proud of myself.- Thank you Kru Mehdi and my Kombat Family! [gallery link="file"]