Leaderboard

Hi Sylvie , I couldnt find the topic in the roundtable , so going to ask again can you tell me how you felt / reacted the first time you got cut in a fight from a elbow? I was cut from an elbow training last week it was kind of unsettling because of the amount of blood , I wondered to myself when I fight would I have the stomach to keep fighting ! Is this something that just comes with time and training ? I follow you on patreon , learning alot from your videos and commentary ,love training getting ready for my first burner at my school ! Keep up the great work and fights thnaks

The very first time I definitely didn't even notice. It was a small one up in my hairline that got, like, two stitches after the fight. I was bothered that they cut my hair. But it didn't run into my eyes or anything. I do recall it felt like hot water on my brow. But the first significant cuts, those are somewhat well-known in that I got 28 stitches and they were pretty nasty on my forehead. I knew straight away on each of them that they were cuts, even though I'd not really experienced that before. There were droplets of blood all over the canvass, on my opponent, on my arms, on the gloves, etc. I don't remember being freaked out by it, I had a kind of uncanny "I know what that is," and I think it's similar to how shin clashes don't hurt during fights. The adrenaline is just soaring, which takes care of a lot. There's less stress in training, just because it's more familiar, so the adrenaline rarely gets to what it will be in a fight. So being freaked out in training doesn't necessarily mean you'd be freaked out in a fight, where shit just doesn't seem to matter (to me). That said, I know a very experienced fighter (Thai) who nearly fainted at the sight of her own blood on her glove in a fight the first time she was cut (near the end of her career, so deep into her experience) and she kind of freaked out about it for a full week afterward. People just have different reactions. My brother wanted to be a doctor until he discovered he can't handle the sight of blood. Nothing wrong with him in any way, he just handles it very differently than I do. I faint at the sight of clowns, so, you know... who knows? I suspect you'd handle it fine in a fight. I've rarely ever seen someone be very bothered by their own cuts in a fight.

Hi Sifu, I am curious to hear how others reacted to their first cut as well. I've only gotten two cuts and to be honest I didn't even notice them during the fight. They weren't very large though so I can imagine a cut that is bleeding profusely would possibly be more shocking. I can only give you some thoughts based on my limited experience, but typically you aren't losing nearly as much blood as you think you are. If it's not in your eyes I wouldn't worry about it too much (easier said than done I know ). Blood leaving your body usually has a large percentage of water so it is relatively thin in terms of viscosity. You've got around 5L in your body, and can safely lose up to 0.5L. Imagine dumping an entire 16oz/450ml bottle of water onto a tile floor and how far that will spread. There is a natural reaction of fear for most people when they start bleeding but in reality during a fight you aren't going to lose that much. I would be much more worried about the size, depth, and location of the cut. Hopefully this won't ninja your thread, but I'm also wondering what others think about rubbing open cuts in your opponents face during a clinch. Obviously this is going to be situationally dependent but I would think you could rub anything on the crown of your head into your opponents eyes to try and hinder their vision a bit.

Is the backwards fighting fighter Thai?

This is big to me. You have to teach them the how and why though, like Tyler said. Once you do, its not long before they get good at it and only a little longer than that til the benefits of it manifests in their drilling and sparring. I usually start by pairing an experienced person with a beginner. The experienced one holds first and gives reasons for why they do what they do, then the beginner gets to hold for the experienced. Can be a lesson in patience for the experienced student.

I completely agree. I didn't realize how important/helpful it is until I started learning to hold pads with my last Thai trainer. I used to go to a gym in the US that had us all holding pads for each other (only one coach for the gym unfortunately). I had really mixed feelings about that. The biggest problem was that no one really knew how to hold pads nor did it consistently. The coach would show people and try to make corrections where he could, but no one really understood why they were holding pads a certain way or how to watch whomever was striking. No one moved their feet, people didn't know how to catch shots, no one could mix in different strikes, etc. It was kind of a mess. I'm not very good at holding pads imo and people were blown away when I would hold freestyle. I usually ended up grabbing one of two younger kids (they were siblings) and had them hold for me because even though I couldn't use any power, they were very creative in deciding on combos for me to try. They gave my brain a workout at least. We always did pre-set combos like jab, cross, hook, knee, hook, kick. Good for a big group like that, but not really good as an individual fighter who has their own style. Freestyling pads will teach you the "tells" and what to look for when someone attacks. Super important for progression, especially if you are going to fight.

In some narrative frame it could be argued that German playwright and novelist Heinrich von Kleist is who made Sylvie a fighter, or in the sense of how Einstein theorizes about gravity, provided the enormously dense mass that distorted the fabric of space and time (the bowling ball on the blanket analogy), to make all things swing and sway "downhill" until it's a careening masterpiece of unparalleled fighting, alone in the sport. If you haven't read it, it's incredible. It's basically Sci-Fi written in the dawn of the19th century, a Science Fiction on Gender. You can find it in German here (Penthesilea, free download), and in English in a beautiful hardcover here (Penthesilea, Amazon). It really is High Art meets Marvel superhero. Nothing like it. It would be a pretty long and convoluted story to lay out the personal history between the play and Sylvie, and myself, diving down into German Literature (Sylvie studied German, and studied in Berlin), but it's enough to say that I do believe that the play positioned ourselves. It lay the course for this mad, incredibly romantic adventure. Silver Surfer, Wolverine. These fantasy images definitely set the course for the affective potentials of a human, but Penthesilea does incredibly more than that. It outlines a problematic between gender relations, and it does so as an accelerant. above, a Maurice Sendak illustration from the hardcover translation - ascending a chasm descending from space - Silver Surfer I'm really creating this post as a place holder for a potential conversation about the figure of Penthesilea, and how she relates to the frame of the contemporary female fighter ambition. There is so much to discuss here it is my hope that piecemeal elements of the puzzle can be jigsawed together. If you are interested in the subject I highly recommend you read the play - it's not easy to get in English, if anyone with a superior Google finger can find a PDF English translation link, that would be awesome. This was a really formitive play that as I look back on it now maybe 10 years after it's initial influence or so, it seems more true, or compass setting than ever. above, the Death of Achilles in the play It's hard to overstate the reach of this kind of examination. The myth of the Amazons - a parallel culture where women rule instead of men, bonded by a warrior code - has populated western consciousness for over 2000 years. Presently figures of martial power like Wonder Woman, drawn directly from that storytelling, symbolize real female power changes in the culture: growing voice, increased economic autonomies, self-determinations. Female fighters in the present day act out, in some sense, in the context of these images and storylines, and Penthesilea presents perhaps the acme of this kind of contestation, as female power to self-direct, take pride, self-own, wrestles against the idealized masculine form which symbolizes all of these things. The play traces the outline of the injunction which supposedly keeps the feminine from occupying the position of the masculine.

How to fight on Australian show a fighter who like to walk backwards and throw kicks and bes evasive? Everytime their opponents rush in with hands they get caught with body kicks.

Ever considered the chili pad? A mattress thing you can use to either cool bed down or make it warmer. Obviously expensive but might be worth the investment. Available on Amazon. I've been lucky to have worked with some great European sleep scientists and you might be familiar already, but only things that are scientifically proven (or where's there supporting evidence) to work longterm is either sleep reduction therapy (ideally combined with group CBT) and/or SSRIs. You need a proper health insurance for this though. And of course, best case scenario: sleep lab first to rule out any physical reasons for bad sleep like sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome etc. But sleep reduction therapy can be done alone without doc. It's about correcting circadian rhythms and increase sleep pressure and make sure time spent in bed is spent sleeping. Nothing needed but pen and paper and a lot of discipline. Hoping I'm not telling you things you already know now. Happy to provide links if needed.

Timing. If you come straight forward, you're walking into the strike like a punching bag. Cut angles, make them kick first (faking, timing) and then counter when they miss.

I'm like you, Tyler. I read your description of your sleep. I'd be lucky if my sleep totalled 4 hours. I sleepmpretty hot too, it's winter here, if you can call Queensland's winter a winter, but I still manage to sweat the bed out every night.

Have any video? Personally I'd walk forward while trying to catch the kick then hit them with an overhand shot (punch or elbow if you can reach) or repeatedly dump them on their ass to make them think twice about kicking. You can also use your hands to feint then teep aggressively to knock them off their base every time they go to kick.

Oh great! I'll try and find one tomorrow, thanks!

It doesn't make you hotter in my experience. Obviously feels warmer than just a sheet, but no different from a regular blanket. It can also be used while chilling and not sleeping. It calms me down somewhat, makes me feel grounded.

I actually have not tried these before, I only heard about them recently. I get super hot when I sleep so I'm afraid that will just make it worse. I might give it a shot though if I can find one for a decent price. I can probably buy one off Lazada. Hahaha you are definitely right though, I've tried pretty much everything. Insomnia is a serious pain in the ass.

Hey. No sleep I hear ya. It's hard to give advice to insomniacs because usually they tried everything (being one of them I know). I had people asking me: oh bad sleep did you try black out curtains and earplugs? And I'm like dude: you tried being up 40 hours feeling your brain fall apart and then crash only to find yourself wide awake after 4 hours? Obviously I tried everything. But here's one of those questions. Weighted blanket tried those? I have one, it's a budget version filled with pellets. But it helped me a bit so I'm considering investing in a gravity blanket.

I really like this philosophy. It's amazing how much more damage you can do by getting someone's weight loaded or getting them off balance. Good stuff!

One of my favorite low kick set ups as well. If done with perfect timing, its hard to stop. I also like a long lead arm uppercut to low kick as well. Either you tip their chin up so they dont see the low kick or they try and block by shelling and going heavy on their lead leg. I actually teach a system of punch set ups to low kicks each with the idea that the punches move the weight of the person firmly onto the leg you want to kick. The punches can even be more like hard slaps just for that effect.

Yeah I am orthodox then switch to southpaw as I step through. It works pretty well because it initially looks as if you are simply taking a deep step to the right to circle out (sometimes I'll slap the lead hand down and pass it to my left just prior to the step through as well) then you blast them with the kick. Its basically just some misdirection, it doesn't need to be that hard. It totally lawnchairs people though and is funny as hell to watch.

Do you pull the heel towards you when you do this? I always thought that was such a cool small detail lol. I like pretty much anything that sets people off balance like that though. For me my favorite technique is probably a switch stance liver kick on orthodox fighters while on the move (stepping outside their lead foot). I think it is the trapping aspect of it that I enjoy the most. It just completely switches their open side as they start to move with you and leaves them basically defenseless as you see them have an "oh shit" moment before they get blasted in the liver lol. Good times, good times indeed

Never been to Thailand but as it might be relevant here: I follow Hongthong and Joe and Gen on Facebook and as far as I know Gen is currently teaching, training and fighting in Australia. Has been for a few months already I think. I don't know what the plans are for him coming back. Joe does live streams during training on FB relatively often. Can't judge how much what you see there represents what it is like to actually be there but it seems people over all have a lot of fun.

Maybe I can add this too, as a point of detail. There are really two important factors in one's experience in a Thai gym in Thailand. There is the general culture of the gym, which is the overall vibe of what is happening all around. Are the trainers lazy and not into the work? Is there a general sense of "This is happening, dive in"? Do you feel included or excluded? What are the qualities being expressed by everyone, the Thais, the farang, etc. This is like the high or low tide of the ocean, it floats or sinks all boats. It's hard to get a feel for this at a distance. It's going to impact people different, but more so because the feeling in a gym changes all the time. It depends on how crowded it is, which trainers are there, how much time the "boss" spends in the gym. The energy in the gym might be great one month, but then a top trainer goes back to his village and the gym is overbooked...then, not so great. That's why you have to go and see. The second part is which trainer are you put with? By most of our experience longer term farang will usually end up paired with a particular trainer, at least somewhat. This has a huge impact on your experience. You can be in the shittiest gym in Thailand and if you connect with your trainer, and get a relationship where he wants to improve you, this can be an amazing experience. On the other hand, you can be in the best vibe gym in Thailand, but if you somehow find yourself regularly with a trainer who is reluctant or dismissive, or whatever, it doesn't make up for all the wonderfulness of the gym. You don't have a lot of control over this aspect of a gym. You can try and steer this, somewhat, but it's kind of a roll of the dice. That's why you want to be in gyms that generally have pretty good trainers all around. But, no matter the gym you find yourself in, working on your relationship with a regular kru or padman is the surest way of having a positive experience. You just need that one. That's why I mentioned Kru Daeng at Lanna. I know for sure this is a very fight oriented, excellent, fair trainer. If you go there, b-line to him, and tell him Sylvie suggested him. Budgeting a few privates with a trainer is also a good strategy if you see someone you really want be guided by. So, whatever gym you are talking about, spend 2 days there and just take the temperature of the space. Then when you pick one, work hard on your relationship with your kru or krus.

I agree with Kevin that you ought to just try both before committing to one or the other based off of a coin-toss. Hongthong is big, has two rings, has female fighters and lots of westerners. Joe and Gen are awesome, they have some other trainers working for them but I'm not sure how many now or who's there. They're fairly technical, in the sense that they drill things. It's largely a westerner focused gym. And it's outside of the city, though not far. Lanna (I assume you mean the one in the old location, under new ownership) is going to be largely Chinese, a few westerners, and some Thai kids. There are, indeed, two rings and women are only allowed in one of them. Daeng is the trainer to look for at Lanna, he's friendly and can help with any kind of technical instruction. They have some younger trainers, who are fun and playful, and as far as I've heard from their new structure, they are much more organized in their training than they used to be. They're right by the foothills of the mountains, near the university, you can walk to anything and get into the main part of the city in just a few minutes by a share-cab "song taew" truck. You don't know how is at either place until you're there. Whether you have clinching/sparring partners your size or not. If there are women there at that time or not. If you like the training at either one or not. Check them both out and trust your own judgement based on the experiences you have actually in the space.

Sylvie and I haven't been around either gym, in an active way, for a while, and never trained more than in a private session under the existing management at either. Maybe someone can hop on who has been around these gyms recently. Both seem to be supportive of female students, both have top notch head trainers (Joe Hongthong at Hongthong, Kru Daeng at Lanna), and both encourage fighting and are well connected. The right thing to do, to be honest, is to go and train at one for two or 3 days and just feel the vibe, and then go and train at the other for 2 or 3 days, and feel the same. A big part of all this, especially between two gyms that are thought to be somewhat comparable, is just the feeling of the space, the feeling you get off of the krus, how they conduct training. By our experience you can feel pretty quickly whether you want to spend a month or two in a place or not. And sometimes you can walk in a place and get a big "get me the hell out of here" inner voice. A mistake many people make is paying for gyms in in advance. I know that some gyms try to get this to happen, and there may even be gyms that require it, but it's just not a good long term strategy. You just have to go and feel your way. Even if you hear great reviews from people who are even IN the gym right now, they may be very different kinds of people than you. Nothing replaces intuition. We've sent a lot of people to both these gym, in a general sense, just because they have pretty nice reps, and support female fighters, but really it's how you feel when there. There is always the small chance that you wouldn't like either of them, for whatever reason. You could still pop over to Manop's gym, which is much smaller, or a more westernized gym. In Thailand it's almost always best to keep your options open.

Thanks for the replies all! I never got any scans or xrays because the pain was never sharp or piercing. I did a little digging around online and it was sounding like my rib was probably bruised, but even if it the xray told me it was cracked I knew nothing could really be done. However, I'm happy to announce I think I found a workable solution! A while back I started to get tennis elbow from typing at my job. I got an elbow compression sleeve that I wear while typing now and the pain went away. So I thought, why not try that on my ribs? I ordered this rib brace https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W963QT0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1from Amazon and I've been wearing it during practice for a week or so. It still hurts a tiny bit when I press on it, but most importantly it doesn't feel like the healing is regressing each practice. I think the brace helps stabilize the area and muscles around it. It also gives a bit of extra padding to the area. I'm still letting my sparring partners know about it though, as a direct hit probably still wouldn't be good. @jenseb99 I will DM you the link to the rib brace. If you end up trying it lemme know if it works!

I really enjoyed The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Mental toughness is a skill and as such it is something you can practice. It doesn't always have to be training related even. Where do you feel you are letting yourself down? Do you have a specific example?