Eight Points Muay Thai & Fitness
Owner:
Chris Clodfelter
Chris
Clodfelter’s goal for his
students and fighters alike
is to represent true Muay
Thai. From his beginnings as
a nine-year-old Karateka, a
black belt at fifteen, and a
tournament competitor, Chris
moved on to Muay Thai when
his friend took him to his
first kickboxing class.
Clodfelter recalls with a
chuckle that as a black
belt, he assumed that he
would have no problem
hopping right into the
fighters’ class at a Thai
gym. “Low kicks, clinch—I
took a beating!” From then
on, he had a change of
heart. Seeing Muay Thai
fighters and old Pancrase
shows, Chris determined his
new direction. He went on to
attain an amateur Muay Thai
record of 10-1 and an
amateur MMA record of 2-1,
becoming a pro at age 20 and
earning a 9-7 MMA record and
a Thai record of 7-3-1.
After a split from his
coach, Clodfelter and some
of the guys he was training
with decided to open their
own gym.
After initially focusing on
his own fight career,
Clodfelter learned that
coaching provided for him “a
different fulfillment than
fighting…my heart was
hooked.” Since then he has
been training champions. He
currently has one
professional MMA fighter,
Michael Stevens, as well as
Sean Good, an “MMA beast,”
says Clodfelter. Making
waves for Eight Points now
is fight star Aracely
Valenzuela, the current WKA
Amateur Women’s Southeastern
Regional Glory Rules
Champion. Her standup record
is 7-1, and she also trains
Jiu-Jitsu and competes in
MMA, with a current record
of 1-1.
Clodfelter
employs a specific training
method that he believes to
be extremely beneficial to
fighters. He calls it
“tit-for-tat sparring”. In
this exercise, one fighter
delivers a two-to-three
punch-to-kick combination.
The other fighter is not
allowed to block, but must
return immediately with his
or her own combination.
Thus, fighters learn to
recover from an opponent’s
activity and deliver it
right back. He also employs
handicapped sparring, in
which a fighter may only use
one technique or set of
techniques, such as foot
jabs, or punches alone.
Clodfelter’s focus with this
activity is “to build good,
clean technique.”
Several other factors in
Clodfelter’s training
philosophy go into
developing his fighters.
He believes in attention to
detail and technique. He
also personally holds pads
for all his fighters.
Clodfelter also takes a
personalized approach to
training—he figures out
“what makes [each fighter]
tick” so that he can
motivate each fighter
according to his or her
specific needs. All students
train the same at Eight
Points—fighters and ordinary
students alike. Fighters
build a three to four year
amateur career before they
think about fighting
professionally. First and
foremost, Clodfelter
instills a sense of good
sportsmanship in his
students so that each and
every one of them can become
representatives of “true
Thai style.”
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