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I get oil massages regularly, sometimes opting for just foot/leg, and only occasionally get the Thai massages. But for the same reasons you get the Thai massage, which is that it "feels right" for me. A Thai massage makes me feel like I've been run over by a truck, but an oil massage (which I still prefer to be quite hard) can make me feel more loose the next day in my movements... or it can make me feel like I have the flu. So, I'm not sure if it's a frequency thing, a hormone thing, a release of toxins thing, or just chance on how I'll feel. I do them anyway. The sauna makes me exhausted the next day, but I also think it's really good for me. I use meditation as part of my daily practice, but for me recovery is daily practice also, so I'll lump them together. Clearing out my mind absolutely makes huge differences in how my body feels. Or at least how I respond to how my body feels. Dieselnoi advised me to soak my feet in warm salt water before sleep, so when I remember to do that I will. I don't feel huge differences, but I do think my sleep is a little bit more sound when I do that. I use blue light blocking glasses after sunset, to get my melatonin production regulated, also to help with sleep. Napping is amazing, if that's a possibility. Some days there's no time. Some days I just can't get to sleep in the middle of the day. I heard this woman on a podcast and have just bought her book, you can check that out here: https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a26146682/good-to-go-science-behind-recovery/

I'm curious to hear about what people do to recover. I believe in regular training and definitely into the "there is no overtraining only under recovery"-approach. However due to not getting proper recovery, mainly not enough sleep, I've struggled with all kinds of illness, fatigue and muscle strains. But to go to the gym 6 days a week even if I'm tired and fatigued has its wins and helps me to learn. And to battle my own mind. Sleep seems to be number one parallel to nutrition. Enough protein seems to be key for me. And warm showers after sessions. I can't say a particular supplement other than BCAA has done any magic trick. But I also do a lot of massage and have done regular chiropractic treatments in the past. I'm a yogic and used to do do a lot of yoga. When I stopped (because muay thai took over my life) my body felt it, getting stiffer more prone to injuries etc. and instead I opt for weekly thai massage and sauna. I've received the expert advice that body work (massage and the likes) is great for getting the muscles in order, the way they move under the skin etc. But I'm also constantly being told by trainers and fellow students to not get a thai massage more than 2/monthly. Because of toxins being released and so on. But massage has really helped me with my muscle issues. And it "feels" right. Curious to hear other people's views.

Absolutely, Haggery has been looking really good. Generally the best fighters are being put out by Keddles Gym, Double K and Bad Company Gym. There have been good fighters to come out of other gyms of course but those are the gyms that have beaten top Thai fighters at the top of their game without spending months to years training in Thailand to do it, that's the quality of the coaching in those gyms themselves.

I'm not sure I understand what you specifically mean by "organizations" but as far as promotions go, Lion Fight is probably the most recognizable one because they are on television nationally. Regionally, both coasts have solid promotions with Friday Night Fights and Warrior's Cup on the East and WCK, Triumphant, and Defiant being most prevalent in California as of late (to my knowledge, these are all pro-am mixed shows). I'm sure there are a bunch of other shows that I'm not aware of, but on the whole I'm told there aren't enough fights to keep everyone active enough to be as experienced as other countries. As far as amateur organizations are concerned, the big tournaments are run by TBA (Thai Boxing Association), USMTO (United States Muay Thai Organization), and IKF (International Kickboxing Federation; but the IKF has all kinds of different rule sets--including something called "point muay thai" which is apparently light contact with DQs for too much power on strikes). But, within the past few years, the USMF has been pushing to get some unity among the different orgs by trying to standardize the rule sets (IFMA style) and the reffing/judging. They are also the driving force behind youth development and making the push for the US Olympic Committee to include muay thai as an official olympic sport (fingers crossed for Los Angeles 2028).

I really like the way Tim put this, it is absolutely perfect. Recoil is the right word in so many ways. Each strike is like the bolt of a rifle sliding back as gas (breath) is expelled and then slamming forward again as another round is chambered. In regards to comparisons between Kung Fu and Muay Lertrit, I'd be curious to know what @Tim Macias thinks about your comment regarding breathing in the Muay Lertrit and the style being more defensive at its core. For example, is Kung Fu more aggressive in its roots due to the opposite breathing pattern, or as you mentioned, did the traditional martial arts simply move away from that as they were removed from combat settings? I also have no experience with traditional martial arts so I would like to know what Tim thinks. I also wonder if the breathing is simply rooted in a response to a sudden attack, similar to how we inhale sharply when startled or are about to be in a car accident?

With IFMA Worlds just a few months away, I've been thinking about the growth and proliferation of muay thai in America. It seems that for some time now, American muay thai has been perceived as behind the rest of the world. Even when compared to our neighbor to the north, Canada, I was always informed that we were just a step behind. However, it seems that the efforts of the USMF have really been proactively pushing for recognition by the USOC as well as creating more awareness, unification, and opportunity at the regional, state, national and international levels. Considering that the roundtable has a lot of international members, I'm curious what YOUR national muay thai scene is like. How popular is muay thai in your country among the general public? Is there a lot of government support and subsidy for travel and training for international tournaments like IFMA? Are there significant efforts on youth development? Is muay thai a potential profession in your country, or is it more of a passionate pursuit? Is there a large media presence with fights on television? How "Thai" is your country's muay thai (technique, scoring, philosophical approach)? Feel free to go beyond the questions, or add your own. I just listed those as a starting point.

I don't want to rain on any parades, but this is profoundly not the case. I know the IFMA groups do push this messaging, but no, no and nope - huge differences like how aggression is scored, backward fighting and narrative vs non-narrative (10 point must) put them in different universes. I think it's important to not blur these major differences, it's not necessary to the promotion of IFMA/Olympic Muaythai to claim it is like stadium scoring, though this is often stated.

I'm from Germany and while I'm not knowledgeable enough in the topic to give you the run down of organizations here my impression is that we are one or even a few steps more behind than you guys in the US. The name "Muay Thai" or "Thai Boxing" is used by some but quite often what is trained there is more kickboxing (light contact, K1, ...) than actual Muay Thai. We have a few notable fighters on the international level like Pascal Schroth or Enriko Kehl, both of which I think have trained outside of Germany quite a bit (Schroth actually lives in Thailand). Personally I guess I'm kind of lucky to be in a gym run by people who have at least fought and trained actual Muay Thai in addition to other forms of kickboxing and actually DO teach elbows, clinch, etc BUT even there the focus is more on K1-style Kickboxing as that is what has a much bigger scene here. In Kickboxing you can actually find fights here while this (from what I've seen so far) seems much more difficult in Muay Thai. As an example: My gym recently organized a "Fight Night" including a 4man tournament and about as many other fights. It was all Kickboxing (from kids with shinpads and headgear to adults with just 10oz gloves) and one boxing fight, no Muay Thai. This seems to be the common sight when it comes to those small shows. As far as I'm aware there is only one big kickboxing show on German TV and that is run by a promotion that seems to be largely regarded a corrupt joke by kickboxing fans outside of it. I think they even have "Thai Boxing" rules but as far as I heard even those are different from actual Muay Thai. Actually I watched it for the first time last weekend. Only saw 1 fight and was amazed that I, being a beginner who only has been into this kind of stuff for like 2 years or so, had a better grasp on the rules than the TV commentator who couldn't figure out why on of the fighters got "another warning, for what ever" when she actually got demoted a point for repeatedly catching her opponents leg which the ref had warned her about several times before. Needless to say... I was kind of unimpressed

As far as I know, IKF and WMC are international (WMC is based out of Koh Samui if I remember correctly--funny story I almost got matched with a fighter training there who turned out to be some Ukrainian killer amateur champ... long story short, after I changed my huggies, I made a hard pass on that one). IFMA is world wide and is essentially the de facto muay thai olympics What's scary is pros like Superbon fight in their A-class and dude is knocking guys out left and right with gear on. USMTO is mostly known for their two large tourneys (one in New York and another in Arizona I believe). Promotions work more with state athletic commissions. And I know, it IS confusing. As far as olympic inclusion, I think everyone is afraid that it'll be watered down. But, a lot of people believe that IFMA scoring is as close to stadium scoring minus the gambling influence. I can't speak on that with any real knowledge. But one can only hope for the best.

Timothy's Vlog: Day 5

Hahaha what? My view is that this is stupid advice lol. That's just my opinion though. If you are drinking lots of water, moving constantly, and sweating a lot then all that stuff should get flushed right out of your system anyway. Not to mention if you are getting massage done regularly, you won't get a build up of toxins in the first place. I will say that I think more than once a week may provide marginal results for physical recovery, but if its relaxing and you can afford it then why not? My body is a complete trainwreck, regular massage is the only thing that keeps it all together. (Edit: After reading Sylvie's post, I thought I should mention that I usually get 1 hour of foot massage, and then I do an hour Thai massage after that if my body is really banged up. I never get oil massage for a few different reasons. Typically its just my legs that get tight from Muay Thai and running though, if I take care of my feet/legs then everything else stays more relaxed.) I have mixed feelings on sauna being beneficial (dry sauna/steam room anyway, pools of water are different), but personally I like it. For me that helps release a bit of stress, and a little extra sweat never hurt anybody. I try and stretch in the steam room and then rub ice all over my body afterwards. Virgin Active has a pretty sweet ice room that I like to jump into between sauna sessions (I do hot for 10 min, then ice room for 5-10 min).

Really looking forward to Kevin's answer on this as I know his will be much more thought out and accurate than mine. Imo though, the 10 point must system is just easier to score and gives fans a clear cut/easier way to look at things. Even guys/gals who have fought out here for long periods of time don't understand the scoring because narrative is subjective when one fighter doesn't completely dominate the other. I suspect this is why Thais bet in between rounds and sometimes change the fighter they bet on as they fight progresses.

Definitely appreciate the contrasting viewpoint. And I'd venture to say that I side more with your perspective as my fear of IFMA/Olympic muay thai becoming something completely different altogether. All said, the prospect of muay thai inclusion into the Olympics is still an exciting proposition. The question is, at what cost? But, looking at things a layer deeper, WHY do you think IFMA scoring has taken the approach it has as opposed to just educating and spreading current (or even closer to Golden Age--fighting hard from 1st round to 5th round) scoring practices? Is there an element of giving non-Thais a "level" playing field? Or is it akin to what you and Sylvie have discussed with the changes you see with Maxx Muay Thai and other promotions like it? Lastly, do you feel that IFMA scoring is still better or "more Thai" than what we already see in the US and/or the West in general?

Hello, that fighters will be great to film : In Pattaya : -Saiyok Pumpanmuang :lumpini and thailand champion (elbow specialist) -Kaew fairtex : K1, lumpini champion ... -Manasak Sor Ploenjit : fews times champions ( in Chonburi)

Hello, that fighters will be great to film : In BKK : -Sangmanee Sor Tienpo fighter or the year in 2012 and 2015 -Muangthai PK Saenchai fighter of the year in 2014 ( elbow specialist ) -Jaroensap Kiatbanchong fighter of the year in 1992 -Srimuang Singhsuan Ngern (Anan Chantip) : kick specialist, owner of Kaewsamrit Gym -Norasing Lukbanyai : fighter of the year in 2006 - littewada Sitthikul : fimeu : lumpini champion -Panpayak Jitmuangnon : fighter of the year fews times, lumpini and Rajadamnern champion - Phadetsuek Pitsarnurachan : fighter of the year in 1979 I have them phone if you need

Very tough to talk about without people getting pissed off. Like....OK, let's do this another way. Ya know how disgusting coffee usually tastes outside Europe, especially outside Italy? Every single tiny shithole cafe on a back alley corner in Italy does gorgeous, smooth tasting espresso with a beautiful crema for 1 euro or something. Like pretty much everywhere. There are other European countries that do it to a similarly high level as there is such a thing as European coffee culture. But Britain and the US.... 80% of the time (and that's being generous) you're given burned, overpriced, liquid dog shit in a paper cup. A lot of people are even delusional enough to think they know and appreciate what good coffee is, because they're ordering from a menu of 200 flavoured options with 5 different sizes written in 3 different languages. Or some will say stuff like, "yeah but yeah but yeah but.....umm.... there's like this cafe in this town in X country that actually does it amazing and imports their coffee beans from Italy and the owner actually learned his roasting technique in Naples etc, so there..." - OK that's all fine and good...but.... as soon as people start saying that kind of shit to defend their country's coffee they lose all perspective and don't realise they're talking about the exception.

When my boys are a little older, I definitely want to do a European gym crawl. Starting in the UK, then over to France and ending in Holland.

Big fan of Liam Harrison. Also really like watching Jonathan Haggerty fight. I think he's the Brit young gun that I've been keeping tabs on.

@Tim Macias From the vlog above, I find this really interesting. "inhales before he strikes...then exhales on the recoil" I know nothing of kung fu and other traditional martial arts, but always got the sense that the exhale on the strike point was a moment of "release", that in some sense, even emotionally, when the breath comes out, energy is "coming out" or being transferred. To move from this basic pattern of storing energy (inhaling), and then releasing energy (on contact) would be profound, like learning an entirely different body map and rhythm, a very different music. On the other hand though, I wonder if this alternate breathing really points to the fundamentally profound difference in the General's art. In Boran styles, commonly, you will hear how important defense is, that the core of the art is somehow defensive, or at least "not offensive". It makes sense for a truly martial art to be oriented first towards self preservation. This is the compelling point. If "release" is on the point of attack, or is on the point of maybe we can call it "gathering". This seems like a very powerful emotional mapping difference. The release (exhale) is on return, because for the General everything is rooted in the return, never falling outside the frame -- if I can wager that thought. I also wonder if the development of breathing patterns on impact, of traditional martial arts, may have been guided by their gradual removal from live fighting and combat. A focus on delivering the blow, rather than within the gathering of the human forum <<< prospective thinking here

I'm in Britain, and we're pretty good at it. Not as good as France, but one of the best outside of Thailand. The biggest domestic fight in Britain for Muay Thai was Liam Harrison vs Charlie Peters. It was popular, but not outside the hardcore fight fans, there wasn't anyone really talking about it in the local bars. Liam Harrison is the biggest name for muay thai here and he spends a large amount of his time coaching, it's not really viable to make a living solely off of fighting in the UK. In terms of how 'Thai' the approach is, it looks more like Muay Thai than US-Muay Thai does. A lot of teeps and off balancing. Fights are scored the same way that boxing or MMA would be, in that the fighter who looks like they're landing more will win.

IFMA had to translate Muay Thai to the rest of the world. It's a very difficult mission, having the graft it onto basically kickboxing. I think they did an excellent job. Definitely the case. A major reason for this is that Muay Thai cannot be a definitively "Thai" sport and be accepted into the Olympics. Notice, they changed the name of the sport from "Muay Thai" to "Muaythai" de-emphasizing the Thai definition. It has to be a world sport. The rule sets are likely in part designed to create a kind of equity of wins. If the Thais were wiping out the rest of the world it would be very hard to win inclusion. I think this is a fair assessment. It has to be a world sport. The world has to understand what is going on when they watch the fights, and world participants have to win a fair share. I'm not super familiar with what goes on in the US, other than I've heard complaints about it being kind of brawly, and that the scoring criteria is very inconsistent. The USMF under the general direction of IFMA has probably made huge strides in both of these areas. It's not stadium style scoring at all, but stadium style scoring is very difficult to export because of its narrative structure. I think its been very good for everyone, speaking only from afar.

Wuttidet Lukprabath : champion of the year in 2007 live in Ayyuthaya Rungruanglek Lukprabath : champion of the year in 2009 live in Saraburi Lamnammon Sor Sumalee : champions du Lumpini (King of the knees) live in Ubon Ratchathani Fasai Taweechai :champion of the year in 1970 live in Ubon Vicharnoi Porntawee : champion of the year in 1977 : Sagat has his phone number Anantasak Panyuthapoom : fighter of the year in 1997 live in Chaiyapour Someone have the phone of: Seechang Sakornpitak champion of the year in 1971 Porsai Sittbunlert champion of the year in 1976 Nongkhai Sor Prapassorn champion of the year in 1980

^^^ Lol I'm not sure why, but this whole post cracked me up Oliver. Honestly I'm not entirely sure I even understood your point, but the whole thing was very entertaining to me. I think I understand what you were saying though and I like all the coffee references! This is such a massive difference that so many from the West can't seem to wrap their heads around. I actually wish more fights in all combat sports were judged using narrative or complete fight scoring. 10 point must totally changes how fighters approach things and it allows people to "steal" rounds.

That's always how I've taken it as well. I think that's where the idea of qi comes from that you hear a lot about, especially in Shaolin. When you hear them talking about the flow of qi at first you're like 'huh, okay qi isn't real' but then when you get past the apparent wizardry they are usually meaning the flow of kinetic energy. So when the punch comes and you hear that grunt and exhalation it's tensing the core and allowing that power to go through you and into the target. That's why styles with iron body/iron shirt conditioning are big on exhaling as you get punched to harden up and protect the organs.

If you want to go to Holland I'd definitely recommend Lucien Carbin, who's an acquaintance of mine! I've been meaning to go to his gym to train with him but I've been lazy! Mousid Gym is another great place to be! Just be aware that sparring in Holland is VERY hard. The British spar quite hard too but they're more likely to go at your pace - the Dutch smash really hard to the body and legs at all times. It'd be a great escapade though, you'll have a blast! If you ever get to do it I'd love to see you blog it!

Exhaling on striking is physiologically normal. Or actually you do it with any exertion. It has nothing to do with traditional martial arts moving away from actual combat. So no wonder you guys are struggling with it. It's not a natural thing to do. Just to clarify my thoughts here, I would like you to bear in my mind the exhalation on striking isn't just a release it also is defensive in nature, so you don't get winded in a counter strike scenario. We all know how much that hurts.

I just started watching him recently on the ONE shows. Seems to have some really good fight IQ. How about Damien Trainor? Is he fairly well known throughout the UK? I love his fight with Tawachai Budsadee.

Hahaha I may not know what I mean by "organizations" either I think I have seen random stuff/facebook posts by IFMA, USMTO, IKF, WMC, USMF, etc. So many acronyms, its hard to keep everything straight. Are these mostly regional or do they all have real representation across the US? Do they only work with specific promotions, or do they all just compete wherever they can? I'm really hoping they will include Muay Thai as an official Olympic sport, but I'm also terrified they are going to dumb it down and basically make it unrecognizable.

I don't know anything about IFMA or any of the other organizations actually. I'd be interested in learning more though. How many organizations are there in the US? Are some of them considered more "legitimate" than others? It just seems like there are a ton of small organizations these days and anyone can start one to try to prop up their gym or lend credibility to themselves as a coach. That might be a necessity though due to state laws/regulations making it difficult to have one governing body for the sport as a whole. I'm not sure about other states, but Washington state has some really weird regulations for both Muay Thai/Kickboxing and MMA. Is anyone going to IFMA Worlds? It would be cool to try and meet up if any of you are in BKK.

For me the difficult part of the straight punch is to not turning/corkscrewing my hand as I punch, not lifting my shoulders/chest, and also to not rotate my back foot when punching with the rear hand. Usually I would do about a 1/4 turn going from guard to full extension, but he wants us to have zero rotation on the hand/arm. None. And the fist needs to still end up in a traditional boxing position instead of what you would see in Karate or Taekwando with the thumb facing the ceiling. Everything comes from the hips so that there is literally a perfectly straight (and therefore efficient) movement. If done correctly the hips will move the fist into the correct position but also causes the elbow to flare a bit (remember it isn't stadium style so we aren't worried about losing on points due to being mid-kicked; he's also got some nasty counters for this that we just haven't got into yet). We're also stopping at the target (which from a scientific standpoint should cause a ripple effect as the energy disperses on the target and will cause a flash KO) and purposely not fully extending our arms to avoid potential arm locks. These small change ends up changing the angle of everything else and how weight transfers. On top of that, we've got to consider defensive positioning at the same time. It's MUCH harder than it sounds lol. I feel like I am reworking everything from day one like I've never thrown a punch before. And then also being asked to transition and do it from the opposite stance all in one streamlined movement. The amount of small details is seriously overwhelming but also really cool when you can see how effective it is. I spent a ton of time both in the gym and at home just looking at the movement of my fist while slowly trying to weight transfer and turn my waist. Overall I guess what I am trying to say is that what we are doing/showing in these videos isn't really "complete" yet as he doesn't really break things down into individual techniques as we would in Western boxing or Muay Thai (i.e. a jab, a hook, a teep, etc.) where you work off a specific technique or stance and then feel things out while trading attacks. It is more a complete system with a few fundamentals that flows one movement directly into another without a specific stance and must be perfected to maintain balance and power. With stadium Muay Thai you use strikes to pick apart your opponent, but typically you would throw at max 4-6 strikes in one combination. This style just keeps going. It is complete and utter domination of your opponent regardless of your current stance and situation. The first day he asked us "if you were fighting five opponents right now, who would you disable or kill first and who would you finish last?", and he was quite serious about that. He wanted us to walk him through the mental process of how that fight would play out and how we would survive that kind of encounter. The style is built around making sure you are never knocked to the ground and to injure your opponent with every movement whether defensive or offensive. 90% of it seems to be geared towards having a super strong defensive base to maintain balance as well as a clear sight picture of the fight, and then counterattacking whatever area is open (T-line of the face, sternum, groin, armpits, organs, joints, etc.). As a combat vet who has actually used hand to hand combat during hundreds of raids (I did over 600 raids my last deployment alone) I am actually really impressed with how well thought out the entire system is and how lethal its potential is. I'm really looking forward to perfecting the small stuff so it all feels smooth and can we worked into larger chains of attack. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast so much of this is reminiscent of learning to shoot from a supported base, then moving to individual 25m flat range, then to individual KD range, then to team movement drills, then to CQB/shoot houses, then to full scenarios with sim rounds, and eventually culminating in actual combat operations. Hahaha sorry that was a bit of a memory dump, I hope it makes sense. I did a bunch of mid-sentence editing so some of it may be incoherent. I enjoy this kind of discourse though, I wish we had time to do some commentary over the top of the video. It would be fun to explain what is going on mentally during some of this training so we can point out some of the small stuff we are working on or that he explains to us.

Said perfectly.

Thai system as in the twice a day, six day a week rota that most gyms operate off of. Not as in everyone learning muay thai in the same way or with the same mechanics

Absolute best attitude anyone can have in martial arts. Everyone has their approach to techniques and they all think that their way is the right way. I really like that you recognise that.

I've been meaning to ask if that was you in the video lol. Even though you're going through it all at an intensive rate, you are both doing great! I have no issues with inboxing you bits if I see you getting frustrated with yourself at anything. From what I've seen though, it's that "generating power from the hips" and the elbow tracking the hips which each person on the video struggled with. Practice practice practice keep up the good work guys !!

No, Kru Dam was in the per-cursor to the Muay Thai Library, work we were doing for Nak Muay Nation. Here was the public clip from that session: Kru Dam, of course, was the one who taught Pornsanae, who then made it his own style.

After re-watching the videos a couple of times I cannot say enough how much of this we are doing and how much of it doesn't really shine through in the videos! There are so many tiny adjustments that we are both having to make that are completely contrary to things we have been training for years. Literally everything from balance points, wrist alignment, hand rotation, weight transfer/foot rotation, rhythm of breathing, stopping points of a strike, and more are completely reversed from everything I have been taught over the last few years. I spent nearly the entire first day just trying to walk in a straight line correctly while breathing lol. It is a lot to focus on at one time. I've been training out here for a few years and never had to focus on so many aspects at one time. On top of that there is a bit of the "trying to drink from a fire-hose" effect going on just from the amount of technique we have been shown (at least for me personally) since General Tunkawom is trying to show Tim as much as possible in three weeks. The General's aide has come in a few times to watch and has mentioned how quickly General Tunkawom is moving us through different techniques. It is insanely mentally exhausting even though it is a total blast! Kevin has talked a few times about "hacking" Muay Thai, and to be honest and completely shameless, I'm pretty good at that lol. This is totally different though. There is no way to hack this, it is SOOOO much more precise than any of the stadium fighting styles. Exact and measured repetition of the fundamentals is the only way to make progress. That is part of the mentality of the style though. If you overextend or get off balance in the ring, you risk losing by KO. If you do that in actual hand to hand combat which this style is designed for, you are going home in a bag. Everything must be perfect EVERY time. Also, just for future, I don't mind if anyone comments on my technique (maybe PM me so we'll keep things from getting clusterfucked on the main forum). I like to analyze that kind of stuff. Fifty percent chance that I will either listen objectively or I'll tell you to shut your face lol. Either way though, I'll definitely take a look oftentimes people catch stuff that I don't and maybe it will help nail down some of the finer points of this style through discussion.

Hey, totally. I run into it all the time myself! I want to encourage and support, but then don't even know what is helpful. But yes, the project is above and beyond, and Tim is incredible for diving in. Nobody really posts this kind of raw footage and comment. Making history.

I think it's totally great to be offering support, but maybe, because Timothy is brave enough to be sharing video which will record things he feels are failures, by which we all can learn, it's best to not be giving too much "advice support" from the crowd. These kinds of comments are super well-meaning, but they very often don't help someone who already knows they aren't hitting the mark they want to hit, and putting it out there. Very few people post video of development. Sylvie gets lots of these on YouTube. We are all cheering Timothy on. Hey, just my two cents coming from my own perspective.

Thank you for your comments, notes and encouragement! I told the General yesterday, maybe in a few thousand reps all I'll get one correct. Then I'll need another thousand before the next one comes. I'm not looking to just get it right, I want to get to a point where I can't do it wrong.

Paruharlek Sittchunthong. 4x Lumpinee Champion. One of the only people to KO Samart. Also beat Hippy, Sangtiennoi and Wangchannoi. Siam fight mag reckons he’s a physical education officer in Mueang Pathum Thani and also works as a referee at different stadiums. Nungubon Sitlerchai. Fought and beat pretty much all the greats during the golden age, winning 3 Lumpinee belts. And then beat an in his prime Saenchai in 1999 to win his 4th Lumpinee belt. Runs a gym in Ubon Ratchathani: https://sitnungubon2002.wixsite.com/sitnungubongym The ones I’ve listed below might be getting on a bit now. But even if you couldn’t train with them, if you got the chance to do an interview with them, they would be nice additions to the library. The Golden Leg - Pupadnoi Warrawut. I was told he’s living in either Ayutthaya or Khon Kaen Vicharnnoi Porntawee. Lumpinee and Radja legend. Beat Pupadnoi and Dieselnoi (twice). Siam fight mag says he runs a business in Nonthaburi. Ajarn Peng. Senior coach at Sor Thanikul during the golden age. He was teaching at 96 Penang in Bangkok. Anyone know if he’s still there?

If you do check out Attachai's, let me know if you need any help! I moved to the area for the gym and checked out a lot of accommodation before landing on my place, so might be able to give you some tips with that. Best to message me on Facebook, though. Also, I second your woes about the current baht/pound exchange rate and Brexit. Ugh...

Minu, who was one of the first members on the forum, has been training with me at Master Toddy's! At first, she was doing private lessons, but after a few of those, she started joining the group classes and last week, we were able to do some sparring together. It's really awesome that we were able to meet up in this way. Hopefully, more of us will be able to get together as time goes on :smile:

Just exhale while striking. You don't have to count, just coordinate it with your punches the same way you do with pushups or whatever. Breathe in between strikes, breathe all your air out on a strike and don't hold your breath.

Always glad to hear it's not just me. I tend to feel like I've failed somehow when I get gassed while training, like I didn't prepare my cardio well enough. I have to remind myself that that's one of the main purposes of training. You have to push the boundaries if you want to move them.