Commando's review about the padholder course

Following the Padholder course for the commandos in December, a review has been published on the Defense intranet. We thoroughly enjoyed your enthusiasm! We hope to see you again soon, and thank you for your trust in PTBoxing.

Here is the review:

Our Padholder course was held at the PT Boxing training center in Amsterdam, conducted by Sonny van Putten (former competitive boxer). The course consisted of three 2-hour sessions on location (in this case, at the EvN barracks). The goal of the course was to familiarize participants with ‘Pad Training’ and explore its application within current training methods. We defined ‘Pad Training’ as a very safe, effective, and engaging way of training, where different techniques can be refined while also achieving specific physiological training goals through various training methods.

The course effectively addressed the specific needs required for training our operators. It also took into account the level of our instructors (I-MZV / KI-MZV / REACT INSTRUCTORS, etc.). During the training, there was a continuous combination of technique selection, technical execution, timing, positioning, initiative, distance, target areas, positioning relative to your opponent, movement in combinations, all integrated with intensity. As it’s often said, it was integrated, combined, and fully in context! (except for the final sparring exercise). The course emphasized not just the intensity of the punches, but the importance of executing a technically correct technique on a target area (pad) that closely mimics a realistic scenario. A lot of focus was also placed on how to coach proper technique execution while acting as the 'padholder' in front of your student.

In general, there are many practice and organizational forms that you as an MZV instructor can implement in your MZV/REACT lessons, where you have your students act as the Padholder, and you as the instructor select the drills to train the intensity of techniques in the safest and most realistic manner.

Although this type of training is currently offered in many different training centers, we are convinced that a course like this would be a very valuable addition to this field for the LO&S MZV instructor! Perhaps something for the Development Academy? It has certainly provided us with an additional level of depth within the MZV/REACT field, which we can now use in the Professional Training of our operators!