The Korean coach’s (A Sol Kwon) demanding training philosophy is pushing Team Korea to its limits as the nation prepares for the Asian Games Traditional MMA competition.
If anyone was expecting Team Korea’s Asian Games camp to resemble a typical MMA training week, A Sol Kwon has a different idea.
In a recent behind-the-scenes video, the respected Korean coach opened the doors to one of the country’s most demanding training environments, revealing a schedule built around a simple belief: champions aren’t created by adding flashy techniques, they’re created by eliminating weaknesses.
For Team Korea, that means training up to five times a day.
A Day Built Around One Goal
The athletes’ routine begins before sunrise.
Morning roadwork is followed by functional strength and conditioning, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training, afternoon team practice, and an evening session reserved exclusively for competitive athletes.
It’s a schedule that leaves little room for anything besides eating, sleeping, recovering, and training again.
“We’re training full-time now,” A Sol Kwon explains. “I believe we should be doing at least three sessions a day.”
In reality, many of the athletes are completing four or even five.
The workload has already produced dramatic results.
According to Kwon, one athlete dropped roughly four kilograms shortly after arriving at camp, not because of an intentional weight cut, but simply from the intensity of training and adapting to life inside camp.
Building Fighters, Not Just Skills
Three weeks into camp, A Sol Kwon isn’t measuring success by how many new techniques his athletes have learned.
Instead, he’s focused on removing weaknesses.
“You can’t suddenly add a bunch of techniques overnight,” he explains. “Our goal is to fill in the areas they’re lacking so there are no gaps.”
That philosophy is visible throughout the entire session.
Rather than chasing highlight-reel throws or complicated submissions, Kwon repeatedly stops practice to refine fundamentals, head position, foot placement, balance, and pressure.
To an outside observer, it may look repetitive.
To Kwon, it’s championship preparation.
The Wrestling Lesson That Defines His Coaching Philosophy
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the session wasn’t the brutal schedule, it was how Kwon teaches wrestling.
Throughout the instructional portion of practice, he repeatedly emphasizes one concept:
Attack first.
Whether drilling clinch entries or double-leg takedowns, A Sol Kwon tells his athletes that success isn’t measured solely by completing the takedown.
Sometimes, simply initiating the attack is enough.
By forcing an opponent to defend, the attacker disrupts their timing, limits their offensive options, and gains control of the exchange.
“If you shoot first,” Kwon explains, “your opponent can’t shoot first.”
It’s a subtle concept, but one that reflects modern high-level MMA, where controlling tempo often matters just as much as controlling position.
Even unsuccessful takedown attempts can force reactions, open striking opportunities, and prevent opponents from launching their own offense.
Rather than waiting to counter, Kwon wants Team Korea dictating every exchange.
No Complaints, Just Commitment
The athletes openly admit the camp is far tougher than they expected.
One competitor laughs that he underestimated just how demanding it would be.
Another says the schedule is exhausting, but exactly what he came for.
“I wanted it to be this hard,” he says. “If it wasn’t, I probably would’ve found more training somewhere else.”
Living together near the gym has also helped the team recover between sessions, giving athletes more opportunities to sleep and prepare for the next workout instead of spending hours commuting.
The sacrifices are already becoming part of daily life.
More Than Conditioning
While the endless training sessions naturally stand out, Kwon makes it clear this isn’t simply about working harder than everyone else.
Every drill serves a purpose.
Every repetition reinforces a habit.
Every session aims to close another small gap before Team Korea steps onto the mats at the Asian Games.
It’s a philosophy built on consistency rather than shortcuts.
The Bigger Picture
The video offers one of the clearest looks yet at how seriously South Korea is approaching Traditional MMA ahead of the Asian Games.
Rather than focusing on spectacular knockouts or viral moments, Kwon is building competitors through discipline, repetition, and relentless attention to detail.
If Team Korea ultimately finds success on the international stage, the foundation won’t have been laid by one spectacular technique.
It will have been built through hundreds of ordinary repetitions, five workouts a day, and a coaching philosophy that values winning the smallest battles long before the competition begins.
A Sol Kwon’s approach reflects a growing trend across elite MMA: fundamentals are becoming the difference-maker.
As the sport evolves, the gap between good athletes continues to shrink. What separates champions is often not who knows the most techniques, but who executes the basics under pressure with greater consistency. By emphasizing first attacks, positional dominance, and technical precision over highlight-reel finishes, Kwon is preparing Team Korea for the realities of international competition—where a single well-timed takedown or clinch exchange can decide an entire match.
If this camp is any indication, Team Korea isn’t just training harder. It’s training smarter.
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