Forget MMA — the most metal of martial arts has got to be Muay Thai. Yes, I know MMA can include Muay Thai, but you’ve never seen an MMA fighter prepare for a fight quite like this.

In a video posted to the subreddit r/TopTalent, an incredibly jacked fighter can be seen slamming his shins against various hard surfaces. Some of these surfaces include filled-up plastic bottles, banana plants — and oh yeah, straight-up pieces of metal, which the dude’s powerful shins bend with ease.

A Muay Thai practitioner's shin conditioning
by u/_ThatswhatXisaid_ in toptalent

So what exactly is going on here?

There are a few theories, but a primary one has to do with microfractures. Basically, when you fight Muay Thai, you will be hitting your shins. A lot. Because of this, you want your shins to be as hard as they can be — either so they hurt your opponent more or so they’ll hurt less when your opponent targets them. The idea in this case is that you microfracture your shins on purpose because the body will heal them stronger than before, eventually making them harder than a goddamn boulder.

Now, not everyone agrees with this theory (including the medical community). Also, if you’re just starting Muay Thai, you should save those metal bar kicks until you’ve progressed a little further along. Still, it’s cool as hell, as many Redditors in comments noted.

“Damn can you imagine catching one of those kicks to the head,” one marveled.

“There’s a muay thai fighter right now Tawanchai who kicks so hard his last 2 professional fights have ended when he broke his opponent's bones,” claimed a second. “One was a kick the opponent tried to block breaking his arm and the other a leg kick breaking his leg.”

The lesson here is simple: If you see someone kicking a concrete pole, stay away. Although, you should have probably known that already.