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Narongnoi Fujiwara - Fighter Feb 20, 1987.pdf above, the higher res PDF Maybe someone could (machine?) translate the article and post it. Just adding the article here for archive purposes. A long history of Japanese fighters pursuing the glory of Thai ring fighting excellence, this was a milestone fight in Thailand. Fujiwara would end up with a curious career record boasting an enormous number of knockouts mostly fighting in Japan. In March of 1978, not even a year before this fight, he had won the Rajadamnern title, fighting in Japan (a knockout somewhat by tackle). Would be interesting to read this piece to see how Thai media looked back on the Narongnoi fight almost a decade after.

Translation: (Continued from the previous edition (page?) … However, before being matched against Phadejsuk in the Royal Boxing program for His Majesty [Rama IX], The two had faced each other once before [in 1979]. At that time, a foreign boxer had already been booked to face Narongnoi, and the fight would happen regardless of who wins the fight between Narongnoi and Phadejsuk. … That foreign boxer was Toshio Fujiwara, a Japanese boxer who became a Muay Thai champion, the first foreign champion. He took the title from Monsawan Lukchiangmai in Tokyo, then he came to Thailand to defend the title against Sripae Kiatsompop and lost in a way that many Thai viewers saw that he shouldn’t have lost(?). Fujiwara therefore tried to prove himself again with any famous Nak Muay available. Mr. Montree Mongkolsawat, a promoter at Rajadamnern Stadium, decided to have Narongnoi Kiatbandit defeat the reckless Fujiwara on February 6, the following month. It was good then that Narongnoi had lost to Phadejsuk as it made him closer in form to the Japanese boxer. If he had beaten Phadejsuk, it would have been a lopsided matchup. The news of the clash between Narongnoi and Toshio Fujiawara, the great Samurai from Japan had been spread heavily through the media without any embellishments. The fight was naturally popular as the hit/punch(?) of that spirited Samurai made the hearts of Thai people itch(?). Is the first foreign Champion as skilled as they say? It was still up to debate as Fujiwara had defeated “The Golden Leg” Pudpadnoi Worawut by points beautifully at Lumpinee Stadium in 1978, and before that, he had already defeated Prayut Sittibunlert and knocked out Sripae Kaitsompop in Japan, so he became a hero that Japanese people admired, receiving compliments from fans one after another(?). Thus the fight became more than just about skills. It was (advertised as?) a battle between nations by the organizing team, consisting of promoter Montree Mongkolsawat, Somchai Sriwattanachai representing the “Daily Times(?),” Mahapet of “Muay Thai” magazine, and Palad of “Boxing” magazine were also present, and they named the show in a very cool(?) way, “The Battle of the Fierce Samurai.” Even “The Smiling Tiger of Ayothaya” Narongnoi who was never afraid or shaken was affected by the advertising, confessing to the media that he felt a little scared, unlike usual when he faced other Thai boxers like himself. “Why are you scared?” “Maybe because the opponent is a foreigner. There’s news that he is very talented.” “So you’re afraid that if you lose to him in our own home, it will give us a bad name and be very shameful for you.” “Yes! But my heart knows that I can’t lose because I am fighting in my own country. And in any case, he probably won’t/wouldn’t be better than our boxers. “But he has defeated many of our famous boxers such as Pudpadnoi-Prayut-Sripae. To tell the truth, he must be considered a top boxer in our country.” “Yes, I know” Narongnoi admitted, “but Pudpadnoi could not be considered to be in fresh form as he had been declining for many years and could only defeat Wangprai Rotchanasongkram the fight before(?). [Fujiwara] fought Prayut and Sripae in Japan. Once they stepped on stage there, they were already at a huge disadvantage. I trained especially well for this fight, so if I lose to Fujiwara, my name will be gone(?) as well.” “The Battle of the Fierce Samurai” was postponed from February 6 to February 12, but Thai boxing fans were still very excited about this matchup, wanting to see with their own eyes how good the spirited Japanese boxer was, and wanted to see Narongnoi declare the dignity(?) of Thai boxers decisively with a neck kick, or fold the Japanese fighter with a knee. Win in a way that will make Thai people feel satisfied. [Photo description] Narongnoi Kiatbandit used his strength to attack Fujiwara, a fake Muay Thai fighter until Fujiwara lost on points. Fujiwara flew to Bangkok 2-3 days before the fight. The organizers of the show had prepared an open workout for him at Rajadamnern Stadium for advertising purposes. Many press reporters and boxing fans crowded together to see Fujiwara. Their annoyance increased as all he did for three rounds was punch the air [shadowboxing], jump rope, and warm up with physical exercises. After finishing the first three rounds, he was asked to put on gloves and do two rounds of sparring with a person who was already dressed and waiting. However, Fujiwara’s doctor told him that it was unnecessary. This time he had come to defeat a Thai boxer, not to perform for the show. Photographers shook their heads and carried their empty cameras back to their printing houses, one after another. In addition to measuring the prestige of the two nations, the fight between Narongnoi and Fujiwara was also wagered on, with a budget of 1 million baht. Narongnoi was at 3-2 in odds, and someone had prepared money to bet on the Japanese underdog, almost a million baht. Only “Hia Lao” Klaew Thanikul, who had just entered the boxing world, would bet 500,000 baht alone, and the Japanese side would only bet a few hundred thousand. The only person who truly bet on Narongnoi’s side was Chu Chiap Te-Chabanjerd or Kwang Joker, the leader of the “Joker” group, supported by Sgt. Chai Phongsupa. The others could not bet because the Japanese side ran out of money to bet on. Narongnoi’s disadvantage would be that it would be the first time that he will fight at 134 lbs. However, he would have youth and strength on his side, as well as having trained Muay Thai in Thailand(?). Narongnoi was only 22 years old, while Fujiwara was already 33. His 33 years did not seem to be a concern in terms of strength as he had trained very well and never knew the word “exhaustion.” Fujiwara had an abundance of endurance, to the extent that the Japanese could trust him completely on this issue. Yes [krap], when the day came, Rajadamnern Stadium was packed with boxing fans of all ages. The entrance fee was set at 100-200 and 400 baht per person, and the total raised was over 900,000 baht, less than ten thousand baht short of reaching the million baht mark. This means that the number of viewers was more than double that of the special events (200-400 baht per person) nowadays. Even though it was more exciting than any other fight in the past, Narongnoi Kiatbandit, the 130 lbs champion, was able to completely extinguish Toshio Fujiwara by throwing his left leg to the ribs every now and then. This made “the Samurai” unable to turn the odds(?) in time because Narongnoi would always stifle him. Fujiwara could only rely on his physical fitness and endurance to stand and receive various strikes until his back and shoulders were red with kick marks. After 5 rounds, he lost by a landslide, with no chance to fight back at all. Most of the audience was pleased, but there were some who complained that Narongnoi should have won by knockout, which was not easy as Fujiwara had already established that he was the best in Tokyo. If it were any other Japanese boxer, it would be certain that he would not have survived. “Am BangOr” wrote in the “Circle of Thoughts" column(?) of the boxing newspaper at that time: “Then the truth came out to show that Toshio Fujiwara was not really that good at Muay Thai. He was beaten by Narongnoi Kiatbandit who only used his left leg. Fujiwara was frozen, bouncing back and forth with the force of his leg, and he lost by a landslide... The only thing worth admiring about this Sun Warrior is his endurance and excellent durability. For someone at the age of 33 like him to be able to stand and take Narongnoi's kicks like that, he must be considered quite strong. Why, then, did other Thai boxers lose to him? Monsawan-Sriprae-Pudpadnoi-Worawut have all helped strengthen this Japanese boxer. The answer is that their readiness was not enough(?). This victory of Narongnoi is considered to be the erasing of the old beliefs that were stuck in the hearts of Thais who were afraid that Japan would become the master of Thai boxing. It will probably be a long time and it will be difficult as long as Thai boxers can maintain our identity. But we cannot be complacent. If we are arrogant and think that the Japanese will not give up, we Thais may be hurt again because they will not give up. If we make a mistake today, he will have to find a way to make up for it tomorrow."

There is an embodied contradiction for many from the West who train in Muay Thai in Thailand. 1. You are told to relax, relax, relax, to train everything in a relaxed, flowing manner. 2. But when you are in the ring, you are quite stressed (even afraid) & trying to create movements out of states very different. The training is "correct" in that you want to move toward relaxed, flow-worthy conditions, but the real world states you fight in are very far from conditions of that practice. All those triggers amid balance and rhythm do not trigger when your body is in a very altered state. Thais train & fight from a young age, so much of that fear & stress is worked through at a much more fundamental level. For young Thais tamachat (natural) training prescriptions work quite well in extemporaneous play and basic repetitions, as you also learn to fight and dispel fear before you have grown into adulthood. In this sense Thai trainers who have developed in this longer path really don't understand the tension & fear of many adult Westerners, and usually find it quite humorous. Some of this Western tension is acculturated in how Westerners hold stresses and symbolically express themselves bodily, but much of it also comes from not entering those relaxed training states in early youth in the context of fighting. The challenge for the Westerner training in Thailand is to find triggers for all those relaxed flow actions also in very tensed states, if you wish to fight. (That's why memorized combos can work as a kind of hack, they mechanize the stress/fear.) But, if you want to get to genuine Thai fluency in the art, you need to find much more complex mappings from your quieter practice to your stressed and fearful states. "Why don't I fight how I train?" is answered in this gulf. And its not enough to just train in stressed conditions, for instance lots of hard sparring, or very physically stressed padwork, as fluency requires quiet and natural movements. Lots of hard sparring or excessive power training can also produce bad stress-reaction habits. Ease is key to the Thai style...and really its brilliance & efficacy. Some of this can be thought about and trained in terms of heart rates, purposely bridging heart rates, building awareness of shifts in zones of intensity and tension. Sylvie (with some co-authorship with me) wrote about this in There Ain't No Thing As Tough: Psycho-Physio Plateaus in Fight Stress which contained this graphic: A Western fighter in Thailand, especially one that comes to fighting as an adult but really any Western fighter who has already been trained in Western patterns of tension (for instance any bite-down types of aggression or strike making), has a burden of building this awareness on their own, because Thai traditional training can be designed to already assume certain capacities for ease and relaxation when under stress. Additionally, moving away from "precision chasing", a frequent motivation for Western fighters enamored with the beauty of Thai style striking, is also something which can help. Excessive precision, bio-mechanical tracing and fine-graining can build in different stress-to relaxation patterns than what is ideal and most effective in Thailand's Muay Thai. Some of that is written about here: Precision – A Basic Motivation Mistake in Some Western Training. The two patterns, Western and Thai, shown below: There is an overall challenge for the Western fighter in Thai training: How to train towards more and more relaxation and natural flow, but also to build in contexts of stress and agitation which are going to invade your body in fight contexts much more than your Thai counterpart. In a certain sense you have to train toward tension, all the while you are learning how to be less tense. It is a kind of scissors. When I say you can't train exactly like a Thai, I don't mean that Thai traditional training is deficient. It is only that it is developed to work with an affective-material (persons) often very different than you. The kaimuay practice actually contains all sorts of all sorts of lessons and micro-techniques that inform a proper path toward Thai style brilliance, everything from ways of breathing, to modes of relaxation during arduous struggle, ruup-forms of posture and display, hidden affect-techniques that will never been directly taught. It's just that as a different sort of fabric its best to keep in mind that all these lessons also have to be graphed onto bodily fight states that may not match a Thai fighter. Greater tension, greater stress, even greater fear. So thinking about this mapping and the states you will find yourself in can be of benefit.

Sylvie is collecting old Muay Siam and Fighter magazines, reading and studying them. She puts up some of what she finds (archiving articles in high quality JPEGs and PDFs) on the Muay Thai Library Instagram, but this sub forum is where we can post those archives much more thoroughly, and where others can also drop in articles and help with translation or commentary.

Hi all, thank you for making this resource available there is so much useful information available here. In September I have the opportunity to visit Thailand for 6 weeks to train. I have no experience with MT although I am a generally active male in my mid 20s. Would very much appreciate advice on training before the trip and gyms to visit during the trip. Firstly, training and conditioning beforehand. Work and other commitments make attending MT classes frequently problematic day to day. However, I run 3x per week for 30-40mins (occasionally longer) and strength train 2-3x per week. I have a background in endurance running and cycling. The plan for the next few months is to carry on this routine, perhaps with the inclusion of 5-10 minutes skipping before runs. Is there anything else I should focus on in order to arrive in Thailand ready to train? Secondly, on trip logistics and gym selection. The plan is to fly into Bangkok and take a combination of classes and privates, probably training only once per day while acclimatising to the heat, humidity and training. Have read good things about Petchindee, Sangmorakot and Watchara gyms. After 4-5 days in Bangkok, the plan is to head north to Chiang Mai to try a few gyms and eventually settle down for 2-3 weeks of training 2x/day. The main appeal of Chiang Mai is the density of gyms and affordability. Gyms on my list include Dang, Bear Fight Club, Manasak, Manop, Sereephap, Sit Thailand and Lanna. The objective of the trip is to pick up a solid foundation in MT, with an emphasis on sound technique and fundamentals (including the clinch). Absorbing local culture is also important of course. I view fitness gains as a byproduct of training rather than an end in itself. My questions are: -Are there any obvious gym options I am missing? Particularly for a beginner seeking technical instruction in the basics. -Is it a waste of valuable time to gym hop too much? Would it be more beneficial for my development to settle down sooner or head straight to a well regarded camp like Kem or Sitjaopho for 6 weeks. Any advice and thoughts on the above would be much appreciated. It will certainly be a great and instructive experience either way.

I've been to Watchara gym a few times for PT but haven't tried their group classes. Its more of a "casual" gym (its air conditioned (which is not a bad thing!), clientele are (mainly) non-fighters) but the trainers are knowledgeable/experienced. Honestly i've hopped around in BKK for a bit and i haven't come across objectively bad trainers - its more about finding one that has a personality/teaching style that fits you. The gym is used to foreigners (you book classes through Klook). If you do go for PTs I would recommend Em - he does focus on technique and speaks very good English. You can do privates with them on Sundays (most gyms close on Sundays). If you go gym hopping in BKK and want more training on Sunday, you could try them out for a Sunday PT session.

Quick summary (maybe others can contribute). With fighters like Sangtiennoi and Wanpadej fighting bigger there seems speculation that Dieselnoi could come back and fight after almost 3 years off. He says he would but that though he trains and is conditioned his skills have declined and even struggles clinching in training vs Hapalang's 108 lb Huaygaewnoi Sor. Karakod. This article comes out just after the owner of his gym Ngu (Ngao) Hapalang was assassinated at the ring in Lumpinee between rounds in the Chamuakpet vs Langsuan fight (a month before their rematch). The gym must have been in terrible turmoil. Also, this is the month before his good friend Samart returns to the ring during his FOTY comeback run, after a 4 month rest, to face Samransak. Yodthong had said that Samart had a hand fracture he was going to not get surgery for at the time. So,speculating (?) one imagines that Dieselnoi & Samart are out partying a bit, Samart (famously a reluctant trainer at the time) not fully on board with the comeback (?), and Dieselnoi being interviewed about coming back. Just some possible context setting, we'd have to ask him. The story about him struggling in clinch vs Huaygaewnoi in training is also interesting, though sounds extreme. Clinch is a very fast-eroding skill, perhaps the fastest eroding of all Muay Thai skills, and Dieselnoi in the very clinch heavy gym wasn't especially renown for his clinch skills by comparison. He told us that Chamuakpet would trip him all the time, and Chamuakpet has said it wasn't a Dieselnoi strength (when compared to him and Panomtuanlek, where were legends of clinch). Dieselnoi was more of a neck-blumb and kill knee fighter, so he really relied on that double collar lock to finish opponents. If it wasn't sharpened he might struggle?

Well, this is really interesting. We sent this little stub article to Dieselnoi and he said the whole thing is just made up (and that writers back then would make up a lot of things). He'd never seen this, and its very, very far from the truth. He mentioned that 2 years after retirement he went to help out Wanpadej in clinch (one of the fighters mentioned in the article) and Wanpadej definitely could not stand up to him at the time. And none of the other fighters mentioned as well. As to the 108 lb Hapalang fighter that he appears to praise here, he had a fight coming up in this magazine, so maybe this was a way of hyping him? In any case, even turning to the articles of the day there might be an entire additional layer of suspicion or interpretation necessary. Magazines themselves creating their own narratives.

Of note in the end of 1988 rankings, Somrak was ranked at #6 at 105 lb. Hippy was champion at 108 lb, Karuhat was ranked #2 at 108 at the same time that Wangchannoi had just become 122 lb champion. Karuhat does not get enough credit for how much he fought up in size. He didn't still weigh 108 when he became 122 lb champion, but he was properly a 115 lb fighter when he did. Wangchannoi and Karuhat are one year apart in age, they are just differently sized men. Rankings continued: of note, Jaroenthong was champion at 126 lb while Samart was ranked #1 behind him. And Sagat was 135 lb champion, with Gulapkaw (now head trainer at Jitmuangnon) was ranked #7 (he would later become champion).

Here is the fight vs Wangchannoi in January of 1994 Karuhat felt he won, on which the 1993 FOTY lay...Karuhat desperately wanted a quick rematch to get revenge, but Wangchannoi begged off, and wouldn't face him until after the FOTY was announced. Karuhat instead defended his Lumpinee belt vs Boonlai and then Chatchai.

My favorite photo illustrating this is them with their bowties at the pool hall. While Karuhat was fighting for the 1993 FOTY award at 122, defending his belt vs a monster roster of 122ers, an award he would lose to Wangchannoi (due to a razor close fight he felt he won in January of 1994), he was just a smaller sized person.

Hello all! Just like other users, I am looking at Sit Thailand, Manop, and Hongthong. I’ll be in Thailand for a 4 week training camp. Totally skippable background info: I learned about Muay Thai when I was a Peace Corps Thailand volunteer and now have racked up more than a dozen fights in about 2 years back stateside. I wouldn’t describe myself as highly skilled; just relentless. I plan to move to Thailand indefinitely but for now, I have a couple of opportunities coming up and may be fighting some VERY accomplished women (I fight at 118) and so I’m taking the opportunity to for a camp. Does anybody have suggestions with the following info in mind? •I’m female, fighting 118 •this is a camp for a specific fight •I don’t have an unlimited budget (which is why I’m not going to Kem haha); I’ve just been saving for years •I want to spar and clinch a lot •I like smaller more intimate training and really want to work on my technique •I’m not skilled enough to attribute myself with a certain style, but I would say I lean muay khao in my forwardness and love for clinch. My fight IQ is… coming along lol Hong Thong looks awesome, and I do like that it’s close to the center. I love their enthusiasm and there would be more sparring partners for me, I imagine, as it seems a bit larger, and I love the on site accommodation. I won’t be able to rent a bike. (I do speak Thai though so I’m not at all worried about navigating public transport and asking for help.) Manop sounds like a rad teacher, and he trains probably one of the the best women in the world at my weight, but I don’t even know if I’d get to spar her Sit… I just keep hearing good things! Thanks so much; I welcome any suggestions, and while I’m excited to be in the north (I lived in Korat so that’s why I was thinking Kem initially) I am open to other suggestions.

Yea, I think it just takes time to master this. You want to beat the guy your fighting and sparring but at the same time stay relaxed but it's that thought of 'i've gotta go harder than this guy' and you just go into feral mode and tire yourself out.

Sounds like you have a good approach, and a great trip. I think gym hopping is okay, but if you find a place you like it doesn't mean you have to leave. Maybe move around with the idea that if you find something good you can just stay and enjoy it. Kem or Sitjaopho for 6 weeks is a very different experience. Maybe the thing to do is once you get up to Chiang Mai see how you feel about moving around, and if it doesn't vibe with you and you haven't found a place you love consider changing it up and going to Kem's or Sitjaopho. The key to Thailand is being very flexible, discovering things that connect with you. It won't be like how you expect.

Yodkhunpon and the art of shadowboxing, above Yodkhunpon, show motion shadowboxing, above

I'm getting more and more into mental training and coming across resources in a way that's probably best to keep sorted. I'll try to keep compiling a list with this blog post, but if you all have favorite books, podcasts, audio files, movies, articles, quotes or videos - whatever - please use this thread to share those so we can all have a mental training library, so to speak. (Go to the link of the original blog post in order to have clickable links to all these references) I read a lot of mental training books, pretty much anything I can find. Much of the time it’s on Kindle, though sometimes its an audio book. Maximum Climbing: Mental Training for Peak Performance and Optimal Experience by Eric J. Horst I’m currently reading this one, so I can’t write an overall assessment. But climbing mentality has similarities to fighting mentality, so translating to our sport is easy. What’s unique about this book is that Horst separates out “brain training” from “mind training,” which is actual synapse reactions versus how we think, and refining how to train each of those things is invaluable. Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within by Chade-Meng Tan This one sounds real hokey-pokey but it’s not. The author does an incredible job of expressing concepts of meditation and mindset both with eloquence and remarkable accessibility. I’ve read a lot about meditation and it’s often just left me feeling like I’m not ready, or I’ll have to have some intermediate step before I can really start it. But Meng makes it immediately practical – immediately – and explains in words and concepts that I found really inspiring. I love this book and highly recommend it, for athletes and non-athletes equally. This isn’t just about meditation. It’s about becoming aware of how the mind thinks, and setting the best direction for it. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson The author takes a lot from Buddhism. In fact, he paraphrases the story of Prince Siddhartha in such a way as one might rattle it off sitting on a bar stool. But, he’s speaking to an audience who might not know anything of that story or of Buddhist teachings, so giving a groundwork in short-form is reasonable enough. Most of what he argues in this book is taken from Buddhist meditation practices, but it’s written in an incredibly informal and personable voice. Like if you read “Sermon on the Mount” or the teachings of the Buddha in a Maxim article or something. In short, we can only give a certain number of fucks in life and Manson argues that we ought to value those fucks and spend them on the things which really matter. How to stop caring about the things that don’t matter, which don’t express our values, is the hard bit and he walks us through that as well. I wrote about my own realizations and responses to learning how to not give a fuck in this blog post, which didn’t come from reading this book but coincided with reading this book. 21 Yaks and a Speedo: How to Achieve Your Impossible by Lewis Pugh I consider Lewis Pugh a personal hero. I don’t swim – at all – and his missions are very different from my own, but his methods and mindset is both similar to mine and more refined. I feel like I can learn a lot from him, even if it’s just nodding my head along to his words and saying, “yes, yes, so much so.” I wrote a blog post abut his commitment to achieving the impossible and have cited him in several other posts as well. He’s just amazing. This book is great because it’s 21 very short chapters, each dealing with a seemingly impossible situation and what it took to get through it. The stories are great, the writing is great, and the inspiration is intense. Achieving the Impossible: A Fearless Leader. A Fragile Earth. by Lewis Pugh I loved this book less than I loved 21 Yaks, but it’s still great. You can also watch his TED talk on swimming the North Pole. Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek There aren’t a lot of books written about or by fighters. A boxer here and there, maybe a super new book on an MMA fighter, but there’s no great books – either biographies on or from the minds of – from fighters. So we have to borrow from other sports. I’ve found that ultrarunners have challenges and mindsets that really speak to what I experience in Muay Thai. Scott Jurek is one of the most famous ultrarunners in the world and, thank God, he’s also a good writer. So this book reads well and has recipes and tolerable explanations on why he eats a vegan diet. He’s not preachy or overly praising of himself, either as a vegan or as a runner. It’s a good read and the endless, mind-bending nights of running speak to the path of a fighter. As a high-volume fighter, approaching 200 fights, I consider myself something of an Ultrarunner of fighters, so this book spoke to me. The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphs by Ryan Holiday This is basically an introduction and elaboration on how Stoicism can improve the lives of modern folks, as a meditation on Manliness (I believe that this does not belong solely to men, even though they’re in the name) and how to face adversity and challenge with calm, grace. Meeting challenges as the manner by which we shape and improve ourselves in an absolute must in strong mindsets. We can’t just endure everything, we also have to improve by those hardships. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell Not so much a Sport Psychology book but the concepts will get you pondering and it’s in line with what mental training is about. Plus, I really love reading Gladwell. The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self by Alex Lickerman I had completely forgotten about this book when first making this list, but some of the ideas presented by the author are still with me. A lot of Mental Toughness is about being keyed into your “animal instinct” and all this, but what’s lovely about this book is it presents the softer side of indestructibility. Think of a vase that breaks and when it’s glued back together it is on that seam, on the flaw, which is the strongest point. The mind is like this. The soul is like this. And as fighters, this is an invaluable lesson. Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson by Geoffrey C. Ward Biography of one of my favorite boxers/fighters, the first African-American Heavyweight Champion, Jack Johnson. Reading about men who have done incredible, seemingly impossible things, is a huge part of motivation and inspiration. Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover (I listened to this as an audio book but I’m listing it here as a book because I hated how the guy read it aloud; just rubbed me the wrong way. So, maybe listen to a sample and make the call for yourself.) Grover is a coach, both a physical training coach and a mental training coach, to some of the biggest names in sports. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade to name the best. Michael Jordan though… could just leave it at that. I don’t love how this book is written, or at least how it was read-as-written, as the author is way into himself and has been eating his own ego for a long time. That’s kind of okay because there’s a lot of truth to what he’s saying and there are results to his methods, but there’s also a lot of talk about “darkness” in these top athletes that he kind of alludes to being animal instinct but also keeps really vague in a way that feels bullshitty rather than truly indescribable. But he covers a lot of the differences between the three categories he breaks high level athletes into: Coolers, Cleaners, and Closers. Those are good, better and best in order. He tries to tell you how to be a closer but also argues that you’re more or less born to it. Some great concepts, some really great thoughts. My Fight/Your Fight by Ronda Rousey I didn’t love this book but there are elements in there that give light to ways of thinking that probably aren’t common, especially for women. I don’t regard Rousey as a mentally tough athlete, but she presents herself as such and, deep down, she absolutely had mental fortitude to push herself to all that she has achieved. I do feel that this book also illustrates the holes in her mental training, which is also useful. The Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting by Sam Sheridan One of the first books I read and at the time I really loved it. I still think it’s a great book for those first starting out, because that’s where the author speaks from. It doesn’t hold up for me anymore, but I’m at a very different place than where I started and Sheridan simply never got to the places full-time fighters spend all our time, so it’s just not written for those folks. The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game by Same Sheridan I read this right after The Fighter’s Heart and wasn’t as impressed by it, but it’s a good read and the author talks to some greats. The downside is that it’s a lot of “bar stool talk” from men who have lived in gyms, rather than giving practical exercises and ideas for how to actually approach your own mental training. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Wold That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain Emma recommended this book and, while it’s not about sports or mental training, it does offer a lot for those of us who are natural introverts. Especially in sports, the overarching rhetoric is that we’re supposed to be bold and outgoing, talking ourselves and our teammates up and loving to be seen. That’s not the case for many of us and hearing that this is okay, and a strength in many regards, makes a world of difference to those of us who are very consistently led to believe otherwise. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. This is more or less the book on mental training. It’s old and a lot of what we read now is derived from what Dweck wrote in this book, so this is kind of a primary source. There are books that are easier or more pleasurable to read that will offer much of the same ideas, but this is the O.G. source. The key point is the introduction of “growth mindset,” which is worth reading even if you don’t take in the whole book. Audio and Podcasts Because I run so often I listen to a lot of podcasts. It’s better than music for me. These are some of the mental training podcasts and audio that I’ve benefited from. Dr. Alan Goldberg “14 Steps to Mental Toughness” – I’ve gotten the most out of these audio chapters, partly because they were my first real step into practical mental training, but also because I re-listen to them so often. These are expensive, but for some reason they really clicked. I love his voice and his weird Jersey accent. Maybe not for everyone but definitely has been a great help to me. They are my go to when I get in a mental slump. Mental Training Expert Dr. Patrick Cohn – I listened to something of Dr. Cohn’s as an audio file, not sure if it was a book or one of his audio CDs I found, but he’s got a lot of experience and has worked with Miriam Nakamoto, which just means he has some degree of familiarity with fighters. A lot of what you find on Sport Psychology or Mental Training will have to do with specific sports like Tennis or Golf, with some carryover into business for CEO’s and suits climbing the corporate ladder. The ideas carry over just fine between sports and business, so they carry over between sports as well. You just have to do some legwork translating the sport-specific examples into fighting. Wrestling Mindset (Podcast) – Again, there’s not much of anything for fighters specifically. But wrestlers, man… they’re hardcore. My brother wrestled in high school and the mindset and fortitude required of wrestlers to get through their grueling training schedules is second to none. Even Joe Rogan, who loves to ask trainers about “overtraining,” always references wrestlers as being the most mentally tough dudes there are in the MMA game. This podcast isn’t high quality at all. It’s a guy on his computer, playing Eye of the Tiger through his shitty speakers to open every episode and there are long silences of dead-time when he’s inviting callers to ask questions. You just have to tolerate the informality of it. But the information and advice is solid, covering all range of topics from how to handle “off season”, training mentality versus competition mentality, how not to psych yourself out, how to handle the pressure of tournaments… there’s a lot here. The host also has a podcast on faith/spirituality for athletes (Christian), so if you’re into that you can check it out as well. Sports Motivation Podcast by I’m Not You (Niyi Sobo)- This is a really excellent podcast. Niyi Sobo was an NFL player who clearly benefited a lot and listened really well to his Sport Psychology training. He presents so much in each episode but, perhaps because he works with young athletes, the examples he gives are incredibly accessible. He has actual practical exercises as well as theoretical approaches. I recommend this podcast above all other resources on this list for immediate practicality, wealth of information, and direct approach to mental training. Episode #921 with Dominick Cruz by Joe Rogan Experience Joe Rogan is hit or miss but generally that depends on the guest. His podcasts are especially good for running because they’re crazy long (almost always more than 2 hours) and the conversations meander. So, if the guest is someone you don’t have interest in listening to, they suck; if it’s someone who is interesting, you wish they were 5 hours long. This episode with Dominick Cruz is the latter. I’ve always liked Cruz, but now I really like him. He talks a lot about his mental paths through his recent, really awful injuries in the last 3-4 years. Dealing with injury is something that most athletes will face at some point, hopefully not to the degree that Cruz did, but his notes on mentality are worthwhile for everybody. I really love this episode.

I love this about Muay Thai in Thailand - like fighting fish. Float, float, float, explosion of movement and then float, float float. So beautiful. My first ever teacher, who is Thai, wanted me to be very agile and hop around a lot, mostly because I'm small but also some older styles sometimes have more movement like this (SOME); but I really love this stand-in-your-space aesthetic. It's the baddest-ass pissing contest in the world!

This is a major difference between western boxing habits, and Muay Thai (at least the Muay Thai of Thailand). In boxing it is very common to protect the body with the elbows and forearms. You aren't protecting against elbows at closer range so your guard can be lower, for one thing, and a crouch can be advantageous in boxing for many reasons, both offensively and defensively. Lots of westerns come to Thailand and favor this habit. But in Muay Thai the body is mostly protected directly by the knees and shins, and the guard stays higher. It's a very different defensive posture. This is related to some degree also to the hips. One of the biggest challenges I think for a westerner in Thailand is learning how to push the hips forward as part of defensive maneuvers, especially, at closer range. This goes against a lot of western instincts which basically are inclined to pull the groin back (to safety) and to hunch. It can make a bad habit in Muay Thai. One of the concerns of training boxing is getting comfortable with an ass-back defense. There is a lot of variation in Muay Thai styles, so this isn't universal, but one of the biggest hurdles westerns have in Thailand is the orientation of the hips in both defense and attack. Thais learn early on that pushing the hips forward can be very advantageous and safe. Adding to the western bias towards the hunch is that Greco-Roman wrestling also can favor hip-back, ass-out positions (very different than most Thai clinch positions) so with western boxing and wrestling combined the tendency of the ass-back can get in the way of a lot of Thai Muay Thai techniques, at least at introductory levels. You need to be able to toggle the hips, out and in - you see Saenchai humorously do this in fights, and be prepared to use your shins defensively.