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I still get nervous in the last training sessions before any fight, because I think that how I "perform" there should be a copy of how I will perform in the ring. And I'm very often tired, sore, mentally fatigued, and hurt somewhere or many places. All of that comes with you into the ring, but you don't have to give it importance. To have doubt os very, VERY normal. You can fight against it, or you can fight with it there but it's not significant. Physical pain is the same. You can't "leave it at the door," as it will be in the ring with you, but you don't have to give it significance. "It hurts, but that doesn't MEAN anything." Remind her that she's already done the work. There's nothing more that needs to be done. Confidence is not first a feeling, it is first an action. If she's not feeling confident, fine - just ACT confident, whatever her version is, days and hours before climbing into the ring. Like putting on a coat. Those thoughts are just as real as her doubts; doubts, also, are only thoughts. They are no more real than self-belief. She has both, both can be real, but you have to breathe life into the one you want. Also, fights don't mean anything more than what happens during the minutes they are taking place. They do not determine ability, or worth. They determine if you like fighting or not.

I can't speak to this as a fighter, but maybe as someone who offers support, and who is close to these kinds of swings. There is nothing wrong, first off. The reason why people fight, I mean the real reason, is that they are processing, and at many times expressing something deeply personal to them. And with that comes real risk. If it is going to mean something, that also means that it involves real risk. And the risk isn't "losing" or getting hurt. It's that whole bundle of things that are involved in why she is fighting in the first place. What likely is happening is that she's just coming up against, and facing the shadow side of what that is all about. So, how you support her would be the same as supporting anyone facing their demons, or shadow beliefs. First of all, probably just letting her know you are there is a big deal. She might know you are there, in a practical sense, but hearing "I'm here" can make a difference. Something that I think is also important, is to get the fighter to see through the fight, which means that what the fighter is after isn't "in" the fight. It's not going to occur there. The fight itself is part of a larger process. Just like in Karate you punch "through" the wooden board, in fighting you punch through the fight. It's very hard to advise about this because I don't know your relationship to her, or the level of the kinds of things you discuss, but even making plans for progress that will happen beyond the fight, like "After the fight let's start working on body punches together, I really want to get my body shots going!" or, "Maybe it would be cool to book a private with [whatever trainer x that is respected] after the fight", anything that gets the gaze going past the fight, to the larger project of self-cultivation that is what fighting can be about.

I have a dear friend and training partner who has her 3d fight coming up in about a week. Two days ago i realized she lost all her confidence, is hurt/a bit injured , scared, sad and in panic. We tried to calm her down but she's having a real hard time with herself. Talking to the trainer is not an option for her and she has some trust issues that the trainer wouldn't care enough. What can we do to be the best support?

Now that we've totally revamped the Roundtable Forum, with new software that will be regularly updated with the latest latest stuff, I'm starting a new features thread. This software is so awesome we're still stumbling on very cool stuff built in. If you find something you like screenshot it and share it with others. The first thing is simple, but not completely intuitive. How to Quote someone when answering a topic or a comment. You just drag your cursor over the part of what they are saying and you'll see the quote option pop up next to the highlight. It looks like this: When you hit quote the entire highlight will be dropped down into the comment box, with a citation of who wrote the original and when. That way people know exactly the parts you may be referencing in your thoughts. The part that isn't super intuitive is that you can quote several parts of a single post, just by doing the same highlight again. You can in that way quote a part, respond to it, then quote another part of interest, respond to it, and so on. The new quote will just pop in wherever you left your cursor in the comment box. And, even better, you can quote from more than one person, in a single comment, in the same way. Just highlight the words of someone in the thread, hit "quote", and then scroll to another person in the thread, and do the same. It makes for a nice, neat way of ordering the conversation. This is on desktop, I'm not entirely sure how it works on mobile.

I'm curious what has happened in her first two fights, and the aftermath of both. Were you friends at that time?

I think this is an important thing to realise both before and after the fight. A lot of fighters I know feel fear before the fight not so much about being hurt but not performing in front of friends and family as well as they should. Thats a lot of pressure to take with you in there. Why did she start to compete, what was the motivation? That is the part that needs to still have importance, but not as pressure, as motivation. Fear cant be ignored but it can be used. Losses suck, no way around it, but they dont define and they also can be used (in fact often times they can be of more use than wins). The idea for me as a coach is to reduce pressure before a fight, to get them to harness what fears they have. Everything is a matter of perspective, its how you choose to see it.

Thank you kevin, that's really a big help! Since we're definitely close enough that we speak a lot on more metaphysical matters, the way to see through the fight might be a very sustainable way that I really didn't have in mind so far...

Thank you Kevin. I found the sections of the book you posted very informative and I agree the concept of do has been romanticized to fit within the ideals of a modern affluent world. I find in the above quote by Kano some relevance to the beginnings of my journey in the martial arts. My first art and love was Karate, I began training in a small rough mining town. Anyway, jump forward a bit and we're back in the back smoke and I wanted to continue my training. However believe it or not there wasn't much choice, the karate I'd been doing out west didn't exist in the city, This was in the eighties. There was a lot of as Kano put it, ill disciplined ryu around. I wanted to train at one of these ill disciplined ryu, as a lot of my mates did. My father didn't want me to train with these thugs as he put it, so I ended up at a kickboxing school that had it's roots in Taekwondo. So the point of my ramble is Karate at that time and place (at least a certain kind of karate) carried with it unfavourable association. With regards to the modern conceptualized ideal of do, there was none of this at my kickboxing school. We trained, and we trained hard and I like to think that training in a hard physical combat oriented environment by way of it's very nature reveals oneself to oneself, because in the end it's really only yourself you're fighting. I also think that training in the combat arts gives you a certain strength of character that pulls through persnal adversity like no other art form can.

In recent research on the history of Taekwando and Karate techniques recently I came across this argued historical point. The Karate round kick early on after the introduction of Karate to Japan evolved into a wide, circular power strike. It was meant as a single strike, and some of this came out of the lack of sparring, board-breaking and such. Taekwando, because it eventually took on very strong competition scoring point values which "scored" even lightly thrown kicks, completely took out that wide circular kick of original Karate, from which TKD derived, and created a very fast kicking style, with the upward knee action, and then a little flip, which chambered the kick. So you had a spectrum, in history. The big circular Karate power kick, and the super fast, but very lightly landing TKD kick. The Golden Kick is a really beautiful optimization of both of these. It removes the chambering of the kick (most often), but comes from the same very fast upward action. Because it's not flicking, but really ripping through with the hip or torso turn, it maintains a lot of the inner dynamics of the old circular power kick. There really is no "one" Golden Kick of course, it's a biomechanics tendency. Some of these great Golden Age kickers also have very subtle means of generating power through their kicks. You don't see the 1st stage, 2nd stage transition, but because of their high repetition training their bodies kind of swallow it, and turn it into a graceful transfer of power, like how an an elite western boxer can generate huge power on a hook without seeming to twist and load the punch. The speed and power seems to come out of nowhere, because it's not very visibly expressed. Rather the tendons and muscles in the body have learned how to generate the torque, subtly, and they might not even know how they are doing it. It just came out of 10s of 1000s of repetitions. Karuhat is an interesting example. He feels his power generation as a kind of chest-rising action. He feels like he's rising, or floating up, when he teaches it. But not many Thais even had his kick. It's particular to him. All this is to say is yeah, it could be that in the UK there was some Karate or TKD influence in technique, but my guess is that Wooten is doing the Golden Kick pretty good, but just hasn't reached the level of smoothness and expression that may have evolved if he kicked this kick 1000s of times since he was a kid. All that internal, personalized transition isn't quite there. Which doesn't mean that the kick isn't awesome as it is.

That's interesting. Is Karuhat's kick functionally more like a stereotypical muay thai kick then, but with a much narrower arc? That might be the distinction of why his comes up and over in a narrow arc rather than in a two step more karate like motion. There's a good chance that there is some karate influence in the UK kick, seeing as how karate kicks are chambered in a 1 - 2

Hi Jose, welcome to the forum! We're excited to have you here, to share interesting conversations and topics about Muay Thai. You're certainly not the only one here trying to balance Muay Thai with school

Hello! My name is Jose and I am from Antigua, Guatemala. Grew up in the states and started training Muay Thai about two years ago. Fell in love with the sport and how it helps me balance my school life. Planning a trip to Thailand after my exam is finished. Would love to make contacts and have good conversations. So excited to be here! -Jose

Thank you everyone! That’s great news. I don’t feel old, just a lot wiser and just think i’m getting old. Really i’m in the best shape I’ve been since graduating HS and never have felt as confident as i do now. I’m happy to hear that there’s people still fighting who aren’t in their 20’s anymore. That’s really all the motivation i need to pursue this possibility in the future.

I don't think 35 is too old at all! We've had people in their 40s join our team and fight for the first time and do really well. A lot of fighters stop by 35 because they've been doing it a long time and want something different or feel like they are slowing down. Part of that is the amount of wear and tear they have after training and fighting for more than 20 years though. They've been pounding on their body for decades. A vehicle made in 1983 with low miles will still run just fine

I've stopped thinking there's any such thing as being too old to do anything. Not out of my own experience obviously as I'm still only 28. But I keep seeing and hearing of people doing all kinds of incredible things at all kinds of ages. Here's Kru Rengrad (red short) one of my coach when I was at Lamnammoon's Muay Thai gym taking a fight in his 50s and smashing it (I don't remember exactly the date of that fight but it wasn't long ago): Also the oldest marathoner is, as far as we know, a man called Fauja Singh from East London who ran his last race at 101yo back in 2013 - and it appears that he didn't start young. (https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-21565970/oldest-marathon-runner-fauja-singh-s-final-race) I see no reason why you wouldn't shine.

Kali (Pekiti Tirsia to be more specific) is the only other martial art I have practiced for a significant time (about 8 years or so). It's a Filipino art that is not very "sportified" and is based on the use of blades and impact weapons (empty hands training is done, too though but its based on the same patterns and concepts as the blades). I found it really interesting how similarities between different arts pop up, especially with the more traditional styles. There is so much that sounded very much familiar to me in the Muay Lertrit sessions. Things that are either very much the same as I learned in Kali or at least follow the same principle. There is this thing about "let them try to strike you but make them pay every time" that we also did a lot. Directly counterattacking instead of blocking is a central concept there. Stuff like parrying a punch with a move that, if done well, is supposed to strike the opponent in the same move as it parries their punch. Or making someone who uses a leg kick on you pay by not only blocking with your own shin but dropping your knee on their ankle while doing so, very similarly to what the general demonstrates in that one session. Also I've watched the session with Gen Hongthonglek a few times and only the last time it suddenly occurred to me that the way he uses fakes, delayed timing and counters is actually very similar to how I used to do sparring with the stick in Kali when I was more experienced. I'd typically move back to keep range (I'm a very tall guy with long arms) and would constantly weave my stick in front of me or throw my opponent off with some weird position kind of like Gen does with his feet before he lands his big kicks. This kinda stuff is really fascinating to me. Sure there are differences between arts but often there are also overlaps or concepts that can be applied to other arts as well. Did you have similar experiences? PS: Of course there are differences, too: For example Kali teaches you to give not getting hit (at all if possible) top priority because an opponent could always carry a weapon even if you don't see it right away so every hit might be very dangerous. Thats something I have to practice to overcome a bit in Muay Thai where the opponent is guaranteed to not have a weapon and getting hit is not actually a mistake in principle.

So a good friend made this meme a while back and its always resonated with me. The idea being dont pass over the basics and fundamentals for fancy technique. This meme always becomes so relevant when someone in combat sports wins by spinning anything. Not because Im against spinning techniques, but because of how they always seem to jump the line so to speak past tried and true (possibly boring to students?) fundamental techniques with high percentages of landing. For context: (its not muay Thai I know, but it does effect me teaching muay Thai, so...) Raymond Daniels winning his fight in mma this last weekend. If you havent seen it, look up Bellator's social media. Curious to hear people's opinions, reactions, etc.

This part bothers me. Can I ask why? Did something happen? The reason it bothers me is the bond between a fighter and coach is serious, especially going into a fight. It shouldnt be on shaky ground. People have fought and won with their relationship with their coach on shaky terms, but its not ideal, ya?

It's not to far afield assessment. You can see it in general terms at a lot of clubs and gyms. The more genteel an environment a person comes from, the less comfortable they are with violence and the notion of getting hit, especially in the face. It's not always the case but from observations over the years it's an accurate one. Working class people generally don't react that way.The very notion of single shot death blows is far removed from reality and you can really only understand that viscerally if you come from a rough neighbourhood. Look at Alma Juniku for instance, she comes from Logan City. I don't know what suburb of Logan. I come from Logan. To most people from Logan, just merely existing is a daily fight. My point to that, is she feels it viscerally, instinctively that one shot does not make the kill. Such high and mighty deliberations on one shot kills can only ever be made by the rich, as they have the time to ponder such things. Here's a sad but funny anecdote on how people regard Logan City....... My son was out and about in Brisbane City. He starts up a conversation with a girl. She asks him where he comes from. He says Logan. The girl replies, don't people die in Logan?

My version do.

It doesn't elevate to the same degree that the Golden Kick that I see among the top fighters of Thailand does. His explanation of kicking "up" and then more or less twisting it in is what it looks like when they do it, but it's not two separate parts, which his is. It's like his has a joint and the Golden Kick doesn't... it kind of bends. When Karuhat does it, it's like his foot traces the line of the opponent's body, right up the side, before bashing inward. But you never see it take that turn toward the body. You can see that moment in the video demonstration, as well as the fight examples included therein. Almost like a word that can be pronounced as either one syllable or two.

There almost seems a dialectic (geez, I usually hate that word and concept) between the perceived but yearned for "rawness" or "reality" of the poor (visual artist, fighter?), as nearly a fantasy of the affluent, and the transcendence of social strata (or even human strata), from the disadvantaged artist/fighter, in response. The raw "talent" is taken up by the urban elite, polished (in a gym, in a gallery), and brought into the marketplace when suitable for it. On the other hand, of course, in writing, in music, and in many other aspects of the arts, you don't always have this high/low dichotomy.

(This is in reply to the discussion up the thread; didn’t manage a quote because I could not choose which one). In visual art there is most certainly an expectation that the poorer artist will be more “hungry”, “primitive”, “raw talent” & other patronizing terms. Add in race and you have Basquiat as the paradigmatic “poor genius” (meanwhile he was terrifically sophisticated & strategic). The rich artist on the other hand, is the “Sunday Painter” (the expression is an insult referring to dilettantism. It’s not that he only paints on Sunday because he works, quite the contrary, it’s that she only paints on Sunday cause she’s yachting & shopping the rest of the week). Because of mfa programs in the US, which are now legion & terrific money-makers for universities, art is now evermore a playground for the rich & it’s pretty disgusting. Columbia, where I taught a decade, costs @140k without housing etc. so you’re either rich, or your permanently in debt for an art degree. There are many interesting parallels with martial arts. The comfort with violence as a working class phenomenon has a relation to the common expectation that the artist be rough, drug addicted & possibly disturbed (like me as a kid lol). It’s a limiting thing, much like expecting a Thai fighter from the North to express him or herself in a non-intellectual (non-femeu) way.

Here's a long selection on the history of -do, you may find it interesting: Here is an amazing passage that lays the foundation of Judo, as an art, right along class lines, in the words of the founder himself, Kano:

Totally agree

There is in Muay Thai a definite -do dimension of Muay Thai, which Sylvie expressed some of in the quote below. It's in the scoring aesthetic, in the comportment of fighters and krus, probably buried in the agricultural roots of the fighting and its performance. But any Thai involved in the Muay Thai of fighting would think it strange if you tried to isolate it, or make a discipline of it, make a Dao of it. I think we in the west (affluent as we are), can be drawn to the Dao of Muay, partly because of our affluence, but also because we are outsiders to the culture of Muay Thai. I'm not saying it's without merit or worth to contemplate it, but sometimes the "It's all about respect" western stories of Muay Thai feel like ideological fantasies of our own privileged. I'm not sure about that, but it feels that way. Sylvie quote:

Yes, but we tend to think of the -do as somehow older, more traditional, or grounding. But, from the book on the history of Taekwando I am reading, which is really also a history of Karate (because TKD is basically Karate at root), it may have been the case that the -do movement is relatively modern, that that nomenclature came after the -jutsu. And, at least by that writer's account, the -do movement very well may have developed as part of the affluence of the new Karate students in Japan. I'm not educated in the history of Karate, but I do find it interesting that Okanawan Karate was basically imported to Japan principally in the abstraction of forms. Japan already had a history of sparring oriented martial arts (Kendo, Judo), but instead Karate took on a -do priority in philosophy or orientation, at least in its first decade or so. The non-fighting nature of Japanese Karate seems to meet up with affluence, at least to my ear. You get the same thing in the appeal of traditional martial arts to the west, at times, learning less-applicable abstractions (taught to the middle class), while projecting images (fantasy?) of lethality. Today I was just reading that one of the reasons why mid-century Japanese Karate did not have much "combination" fighting and concentrated on only single strikes was the belief in that a single strike would be deadly. There was no reason to throw and land more than one strike. One could see how a martial art developed both around - do (Dao) and one-death-strike, grows quite far from actually fighting prowess. Perhaps we go to far astray in this, but I find it interesting.

Muay Lertrit is a very interesting example, it's like no other branch of Muay Thai or Muay Boran because it actually has root influences from other traditional martial arts. As the General explained, it's inventor was a Navy man who traveled regularly, and very likely picked up aspects of traditional martial arts along the way, and wove them into the Muay Khorat style he was raised in. Add in that it was developed as a martial (meaning warefare) Art, and you get a very unique expression of Muay Thai in it. วิสิทธิ์_เลิศฤทธิ์ Ajarn Wisit Lertrit This is not very different than the kinds of inventive cross-sections between martial arts that were happening in the 1920-1950s. East and South East Asia seemed to be experiencing unique cross-pollination (Karate itself only coming to Japan in 1922). There is a story that all traditional martial art fighting systems flowed from Shaolin, in some form or others. But there is another sense in which many of them were in contact with each other in the early 20th century. There is no "pure" form. Arjan Wisit may have even come in contact with Filipino martial arts.

I love sparring with my coach the best, and consider it an honor. There is an eerie feeling of course when someone is so far ahead of you (I am a basic student and Muay Thai nerd). But that eerie feeling is magic. I just love that there are levels, forever.

I love clinching with Kru, as he maybe nearly 70 but he's so subtle and relaxed when he turns and trips you.

I agree the ego takes a back seat. Combat sports can teach you a lot of things. I am nearly 50 and started with Karate when I was 15. I had always been fit up until I was nearly 40 when I suffered a severe back injury, which has left my left leg somewhat compromised, I also suffered two heart attacks in quick succession. My point to that is, if I hadn't trained in Karate and Muay Thai, I don't think I would have come out the other end with confidence. You get used to training through adversity and this I believe helped me over come probably the most life changing event in my life (my back injury). Also, with regards to training (post back surgery), the best advice I've ever received was, you can still train, you just gotta do it differently.

I love sparring with my coach. It's my favorite. But I think that a lot of folks who have apprehensions about it do so because they fear having to "perform" with the coach far more than they do with another student at the gym. Like, wanting to please your coach at the same time as wanting to respect them and not be a dick is pretty complicated. Kru Nu is significantly bigger than I am, but he's got a bad knee and I worry about hurting him, even though I totally shouldn't. So, I don't kick him the same way I would kick a teammate, which just means I'm thinking way more about that than I am with someone else. But then, the reason I love sparring with Kru Nu more than anyone else is that I don't think I "should" win with him, whereas with a teammate it's way more competitive. Plus, he's got way more control than anyone else I spar, so the trust adds to the fun. Karuhat, too. I could spar him all day, every day.

Nice! My coach isnt much older than me but could still whup me lol but I really dont mind. Ive been told that its a lose lose to spar the coach either because you lose to them or you do well but then feel bad. I hold my own with my coach but really dont feel bad when I get whupped. I always learn from it. One of the aspects I love about combat sports is how the ego eventually takes a back seat to other aspects after years of getting dominated by others and not quitting. I feel like its one of the healthiest things one takes away from combat sports.

It's funny you mention it. I get to experience both ends. At my school, I'm like you, I may be the teacher but I don't consider myself the top of the mountain, I'm there to impart knowledge nothing else, however I know some students feel awry about sparring with me. But when I go to my home gym, where I learned the art and am still learning the art, I like sparring the young fighters as (1) I'm nearly twice their age and I find their energy contagious, (2) The fighters are the best to spar with as they can really help you out. Our Kru is nearly 70 and has been involved with Muay Thai since the early 80's and is a wealth of knowledge.

Anyone have some fun little stories to share that happened to them in or around Muay Thai? Here is one that happened to me: I filled up my car at a local gas station wearing a shirt from my gym with a big Muay Thai Label on the front and went inside to pay. The guy who runs the station is asian (from his looks he MIGHT actually be Thai, I really should have asked!) and very open and friendly to people. He looked at my shirt and beamed at me like "Aaaah Muay Thai! You have to loose lots of weight!" My answer (a little overwhelmed by the funny openness) was something like "haha yea I guess... I'm working on it" :P He went on the tell me about how he played some soccer when he was young and how they made shoes for that from cut up tires and that to play in the team you had to be tough like a fighter. He actually said when he asked to get into the team the leader body-punched him to see if he was tough enough. The best part was simply "Aaaah Muay Thai! You have to loose lots of weight!"

I stand out in Thailand. A lot. And for odd reasons. I'm "Thai sized," but because I'm not Thai, I stand out as a particularly small westerner. I'm muscled, tattooed, speak Thai in a way that surprises a lot of the folks who I'm speaking to for the first time, etc. In almost any situation where I'm getting gawked at, smiling and saying "nakmuay" is the only explanation necessary for every single person to burst into a smile and nod with a kind of, "oh, that makes sense." I love it.

Sylvie's work to preserve the legacy of Muay Thai legends is so important, and has been really cool to follow. Now, another female fighter, Angie Wong, is adding another outlet with her #MuayThaiStories project! She's been interviewing fighters like Sangtiennoi and Attachai and turning their stories into short documentaries. Here's a clip from her latest one. Follow her Facebook page and Instagram profile to see more content.

My favorite part was the young woman saying you have to show your work. Put it up before you're nice, so others see how you got there. So they think they can learn, too. Totally in my moral code.

I was able to witness that live in a K1 fight I watched. One guy was fighting this Russian fighter and right away in the first round the Russian landed a first lowkick flush on his opponents thigh with a loud resounding *SMACK*. A lot of people where like whoa! He obviously had prepared to make good use of this weapon and he went on to do so. More and more of his leg kicks started landing when he snuck them in all the time with good setups and ALL of them were damn hard. Needless to say, the damage racked up quickly and made his opponent very vary of the lowkick threat. Naturally that made him even more susceptible as the fear of more legkicks hitting just threw off the rest of his game. Not that I blame him.... that Russian took him clean of BOTH his legs one time (where mostly that only happens if a fighter is on only one leg). The fight ended with a KO through those legkicks. The man just was not able to get up on his own anymore and had to be supported by his trainer to leave the ring.

In my experience, the repetition of a strike is mental very quickly after it's physical, and that aspect of it sets up everything else. The anticipation of the strike can make you tense or flinch or miss the fact that it's a misdirection. The fear of it can get you to stay too far away. The emotional doubt of not being able to block it if it keeps landing. These can be strikes that aren't even that hard or physically effective, but emotionally they're killer. My current sparring partner is Southpaw and he lands this lead-hand uppercut, followed by cross, that just gets in my head. He only has to land it once and then I'm just looking for it the rest of the round. He sneaks that uppercut in, it's not even that hard, but it hits pretty clean even through a good guard and it casts doubt on the whole guard. It's interesting. You can always steal that kind of thing from your partners/opponents. What works against you certainly will work for you against others.

Ok I lied lol I gotta talk about the liver shot too. I have a current fighter who I specifically taught and teach body destruction to. He won his last fight by making his opponent quit in the third (tko) by repeated body attacks (finished by knees in the clinch). He has a nasty lead middle kick he targets the liver and dropped opponents with. I think with the liver, it has to be hit dead on to really get that ko effect. Obviously some people arent as susceptible, but with most I think its just slightly missing the target. The rest of the body takes time to get results, so if you miss the liver shot its just a regular body shot. Good but time investing. I teach that body shots are small money in the bank for later rounds, make as many deposits as you can to invest in your future. So if you miss the liver no big deal. Im gonna go on a limb and say the reason I think people dont target the body as much, especially in the US, is because of the need for an early ko and the practice of those techniques which can produce that. Its been lamented frequently by my peers and my betters about the lack of training to attack the body outside of western boxing. Having a boxing background Ive always seen the value of it not just as a target but in producing the head as a target again after an opponent shells up from past head attacks. Probably the most famous example is Mike Tyson and how he'd use body shots to open the guard of boxers for his nasty uppercuts. Theyd shell, he'd hit the shell amd dig the shell into their body opening the pillars of their guard, giving him a clean line up the middle to their chin. Body shots in general are as important as leg kicks. Both techniques have such a wide use tactically its really ignorant to not study the hell out've them. With that I give a shout out to Sitmonchai gym for specializing in leg attacks and the high low of body/head/leg tactics.

Do much info to talk about lol, Ill just talk about the low kick. Its one of my favorites and I tend to specialize in it. I do think some of why it might not be used as much as it should is the low hanging fruit idea, meaning its too easy. Let me tell you, its not. Besides needing buildup to take someone out, theres the simple check that not only stops the kick, it can damage a weapon you need to win. I was taught to check two different ways 1) with the knee cap turned out towards the ankle of the kick and 2) with the knee cap jammed towards the shin. The second one seems like a no no but it actually works well with minor damage to yourself but shuts down the kicker hard. These things make it so one has to be really smart in how they throw low kicks to make them effective, which means a lot of practice on a technique that may seem low in its effectiveness compared to body and head kicks. The thing is, again from experience, if you practice the set ups, timing, and tricks of the low kick, it is REALLY effective and doesnt need that much time in a fight to end it. One of my favorite fighters, not in muay Thai but kickboxing, Bazooka Joe Vallentini has a whole system behind how he low kicks, even with how he places the kicking leg in return based on his goals. He has tester kicks (probes on defense and over all reaction) that he throws a specific way vs damagers. He has specific set ups and counters. Its enlightening how much effort hes put into studying something that might be considered low percentage effective. Just shows that its a really good technique. And thats just one of what you brought up. I imagine theres a lot of similarity to the others too.

I've met folks that had their first fight when they were about 40-45 and their grit is insane! They keep saying to me things like, I've got so much to catch up on you younger kids (I'm 26 lol), etc. But to be perfectly honest and as cheesy as its sounds, age is just a number. Once you've put your heart, your mind and your soul into achieving that goal, it's never too late. Can't wait to see your progress! Best of luck to everything!

One of my coaches and I were just talking about this exact thing today. Older people who are just starting haven’t experienced the injuries and overuse issues. My body, after manufacturing and birthing 4 children in 7 years, needs a LOT of conditioning to get up to speed. But otherwise, I’m starting fairly fresh. There are lots of advantages of having a more mature perspective too.

I'm also 35, so I don't think that's too old at all. I plan on another 10 years or more, so long as I can keep doing what I'm doing with adjustments where they're needed. But I do think that as a caveat, you just have to consider what YOU think is enough. A guy at my gym the other day asked me whether I think someone could fight, training only one session per day. I said for sure, but you'd really have to put the work in during that one session. I think you could fight with NO training, but it's about what you want out of your fights and what you want out of your training. So, if you think you're to old, probably that's going to direct your mind a lot. If you think otherwise, you can go farther.

I might be the wrong person to answer this because I’m still a bit of a beginner, lol. But I’m 41 and started training last year and planning on fighting next year. I’ve done a sparring tournament but not full contact. It’s probably a bit more work as an older person but ask yourself if you would regret not giving it a shot. I’m guessing it would all depend too if you are talking about amateur vs professional, skill level, etc. But IMO, you are far from too old.

There is a really interesting specific history of this in the Spinning Elbow. I remember Arjan Surat teaching Sylvie several years ago and him laughing at the spinning elbow, "just for farang" he was laughing. Westerners love this move. What most don't realize is that this is a counter technique traditionally, used to catch an overly pursuing opponent. That's the usual use. Westerners use it completely "wrong". Now, here is where it gets interesting. Kronphet, who was once an Arjan Surat fighter, had fairly recently lost to the western fighter Gaston in a controversial decision [note: I'mgoing off my memory here and on mobile, I could be wrong]. We'll leave aside that Kronphet was already far removed from his prime, but Gaston is a fighter who completely uses the spinning elbow "wrong" (non traditionally) all fight long. He won that fight using it "wrong" (again, if I recall). Arjan Surat seemed to be laughing at the whole thing. I'm sure it looked ridiculous to him. But, it was somewhat effective against an aged, somewhat out of the circuit Thai. The big reason you can't use it like that is that you can be seriously countered vs elite competition, and in Thai style scoring you can't be off balance after scoring. Under western opponents, and now vs MMA opponents who just don't have the spatial awareness, the aggressive spinning elbow might very well work. Now, fast forward a few years. We filmed with Arjan Surat again and there he is teaching spinning shit to Sylvie. He teaches the spinning back fist that he says Wanchalerm (a fairly contemporary fighter) uses, and he teaches a whirling kick used by the old school legend Rotnarong (once Arjan's fighter) used. But, these are "moment" techniques, that fit within a context. They are used as counters or off of missed. I think that what happens is that they get taken out of their richer context, are used "wrong" against lesser opponent skill pools, or under different rule sets, and become popularized. And add Internet. It's cool in a way because it can create international enthusiasm for Thai techniques. And Thais themselves have moved away from many "fancy" techniques because of trying to be sure-footed with the gamblers, making stadium Muay Thai more and more vanilla. The misunderstanding and perhaps misuse of these techniques leads in a way toward their preservation, but we have to fight to retain some of the original fabric that created them, the deeper context of their success when used against elite competition.

Just wanted to share a kind of peaceful joy with everyone :smile: and also credit Sylvie with the idea... Several years ago, I did a sketch off of a photo of my coach from probably the 80s, but left it unfinished. Several months after starting the sketch, my sketchbook was stolen, so the sketch could never be completed. I did have a photo of the incomplete work. This weekend, I took inspiration from Sylvie making T-shirts of Karuhat: I stylized that photo of the original sketch and printed it on a t-shirt to gift to my coach for his 60th birthday. I am glad the incomplete sketch became complete in such an unexpected and meaningful way. Thanks for reading and Thank you Sylvie for the inspiration.

It depends on the overall situation... putting up a tight strong guard and waiting for an opportunity to hit back is good; so is stepping out and away (quarter out and you can immediately kick them); so is backing up (to give yourself room to react); maybe a nice pushkick (or even a knee if there's a gap); or you can attack back. In my admittedly limited experience I don't think there is an 'exact' way to react in this situation. I've used all of these reactions when my opponent is pummeling me vigorously. And same if it's me in the attack, and he has gone into a nice tight guard - how I continue depends on that particular moment in that particular session. Just keep on sparring, and practicing, and watching fights and training sessions (whether professional stuff or other people at your club or whatever), and gradually you'll feel more confident and your body will start to do the reacting for you (maybe you're over-thinking it a bit!) It's also very helpful to film your sparring sessions and to watch them, and see how it's all playing out. Main thing is to relax, smile, and have fun.

Hello everyone, I have started learning Muay Thai only few months ago, but I have been to Thailand many times and had always been fascinated by it (I just never had the courage to approach a gym before). I really enjoy Sylvie's videos... so that's how I landed here! Thank you!!!