Inside/Top Thai Academy, located in Bristol Park, São Paulo, Brazil, received intense criticism after a controversial video surfaced on Facebook and went viral. The video in question captures a brutal training drill known as “toughness training”, which is administered by lead instructor Fernando Nogueira.
In the video, his students are seen lined up against a wall in single file, with their hands down, defenseless. One by one, they eat an onslaught of punches to the face from their instructor. One student is clearly seen wincing in pain, and is even dropped by the strikes.
The Criticism
This training drill is supposedly meant to harden the chin of the fighters and teach them how to take a punch. many observers question whether it went too far, or even holds any real validity as a training method at all.
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos condemned the method, calling it criminal: “A subject that has to be arrested!! Putting students’ lives at risk!”
Given the ever increasing knowledge around the dangers of head trauma, the training is not not rational, at all. However, in spite of all the backlash, Fernando Nogueria defended his method in an interview with UOL Esporte.
The Defense
“That kind of toughness training is not innovative, it is done in parts of our team, but is not often done," said the instructor. "It is for the fighters that are on track to enter into competition with about a month to fight. They know what’s inside of training standards and were able to do [it] or not.
“More than 60% did not. But the 40% who wanted to do, they did. Never had a problem with injured students, or something like that. It was a high level of training, but for an outsider can scare.”
