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Today the General took me over to a sport Muay Thai gym in Bangkok. This gym belong to one of his friends, a former Lumpini champion. The General was looking for two things: One to show me and discuss how other gyms teach compared to him. And two, to have me hit pads to check my technique and feel what it’s like to try and use Lertrit in a sporting setting. Full disclaimer, I was told this wasn’t a hard Muay Thai training camp, but placed emphasis the conditioning and health aspects of boxing. I still thought the pad holders here were very nice and did their jobs well. There was give and take with tonights session. On one hand, it was super fun to hit pads! It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to hit pads; as a coach, I spend most of my time holding pads for everyone else. To get to sit back and just do the strikes called for, was an extremely enjoyable experience. On the other hand however, I really wanted to display the General’s techniques. The main problem I was having, and the General was seeing, was my inability to consistently demonstrate the Lertrit basics we’ve been practicing. I’ve only been with the General for three weeks, this has not been enough time to get my body to absorb his teachings. In my head I’m thinking about all the things he wants me to do, and sometimes I think I’m doing them. But overall, I just wasn’t consistently able to show all the things I wanted to be able to show the General. The General was admit that I try and defend kicks with his signature elbow block. You can see the General demonstrates this to Sylvie in the video she did with him. After missing and not seeing the opportunity to do this technique, I was able to put it into use in later rounds. Mostly due to the limited time I have been practicing, I’m not able to properly turn my waist when I do this block. The waist turn in vital. Turning the waist while blocking this way is the element which adds power, dispersing the power in your opponents kick and damages their leg; rather than you damaging your elbow or arm. There is also a variation were I kick while blocking this way. I manage to do this relatively well, once. The General can be heard/ seen clapping and smiling. Overall, I am very happy with how tonights training went. I was slightly disappointed in not being able to show the General everything he wanted to see. But by no means do I think he was upset. It’s all learning and he is a very understanding man.

Tim's Vlog #7 - Day 16

The variant I described above is actually same side "block" but as I wrote elsewhere: if it works, it can't be "wrong" Its a manifestation of a basic principle of Kali as an art: They say its neither offensive nor defensive, but "counter-offensive". You don't really "block" in the traditional sense of the word but rather react to an attack with a direct counter-attack that's designed to at least neutralize the attack but ideally also causes damage to your opponent in the process.

All went well today. The youngsters (18-20 yr old) all had fun. Their were a couple of stand outs. One in particular, a young woman. I can't describe how naturally gifted she is. I hope this turns into something more of a permanent nature as I'd like to see how they all grow over an extended period of time. I have them for 3 months at the moment.

Hahaha this is another thing that the General is teaching us that seems to have an overlap with Kali. He has us using the cross block and either hitting their shin, knee, or inner thigh.

Tim's documentation in raw video capture continues: Day 14 Day 15

I have been approached to teach a group of around 10 mentally challenged young adults. I have never taught anyone who is mentally challenged. I would really appreciate any thoughts or considerations on how to conduct the classes. I have been speaking to the person involved in setting this up and the general consensus is they need a strict but vibrant session. The only way I know of to achieve this is to conduct them like a karate class. I have a few reservations with this. These being (1) I don't want to be called Sensei even though I hold that title and rank associated with it, I just don't get the idea. Never have, never will. (2) I hate unnecessary bowing and scraping, I consider myself to be very egalitarian. (3) I hate formality. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my karate rank, I've just never seen the point in being called a Japanese title when I'm not Japanese and my karate is not a traditional form. I much prefer being called Jeremy or Jezza. I guess it's an Aussie thing. I don't even let my Muay Thai students call me Kru. I'm not Thai, never trained in Thailand, my muay thai is Australian in intention and purpose and I have never pretended otherwise. Just a bit confused as how to approach the strictness thingy. Any help to solve my conundrum, would be most appreciated.

Don't know if he has been mentioned before but how about a session with Ajarn Gae? I don't really know where he teaches but he should be fairly easy to find. Not a big name fighter as his career was cut short by a serious injury but it seems he is a pretty high profile trainer nowadays. Pretty oldschool, tough as nails guy from what I can tell who really wants you to improve and push you to the peak of what you can do. EDIT: just watched Lawrence Kenshin's short documentary about him. It say he teaches out of Elite Fight Club in Bangkok

Thanks man

I love that Lowkick-destroyer "Block"... well actually more "Counter-Attack". It SO reminds me of Kali! We were taught to do something similar where while taking the low-kick in a kind of check you'd drop your knee on the kicking legs ankle. If you don't hit precisely the kick was still blocked, if you did.... lets just say a perfectly executed one with low-intensity execution in training (no padding) can fucking hurt and I guess at force it could actually break the ankle or at least give your opponent a moment of very insecure stance which gives you an opportunity to counter-attack. I've actually non-intentionally used a version of the lowkick-destroyer in sparring when I cross-blocked and hit the guy's shin right with the big, hard part of bone right below the knee. Not what you want to do to your sparring partners all the time but I can attest it is very effective!

That was so cool. I have to tell you, I've lived in Thailand for now maybe 7 years? I've read and heard a lot of western experiences and had my own as well. For some reason your entire description really moved me. Really, almost to the point of tears. (Ok, maybe a tear.) There is such sincerity that we all feel, but we just also feel like we are only going to do it wrong. But really all it takes is moving forward, taking the adventure a little, and opening yourself to chance. That you just went and did it, and how your driver helped you, and that you realized that these are just very human things, that a blessing in Thailand is not some fancy - better not blow it! - event, but it's conditioned by heart. Fuck, this is good stuff. You have a very blessed mongkol! This is the very best of Thailand. Pretty cool. (Would love to see a photo of your mongkol if you can post it.)

Thank you for all the help was able to get this done today. I was not sure what temple to go to so I just want to the one near my condo here in Jomtien and the ladies out front said they do not do it here and actually called the monk that was closest and wrote down the address (in Thai) for me to give to a motorbike taxi. I went and spoke to a motorbike taxi and he was happy to take me not yet knowing why I wanted to go to this temple. We got to the the temple (Wat Thong Phatthana Ram) And he asked if I wanted him to wait. I said sure and then explained why I was there and showed him the Mongkol. He offered to help me out after asking if I spoke Thai and I informed him not enough lol. We walked up the stairs of the first small building where the monk was and he was super happy and friendly especially after my taxi driver told him why I was there. I said I need to get an offering and the monk insisted I not worry about it. It seemed like there was no one else even at this temple. At first I was feeling bad and unprepared. He insisted I not worry and he said him and I were the same. I placed the Mongkol on the plate. and my driver retrieved an envelope that I put 100THb in and it was placed on the tray with the Mongkol. At this point I was instructed to sit with a few incense facing the buddha statue on the monks right side. I did the 3 wais to the buddha then I was told to repeat the chant the monk was saying and did so I believe 3 times . I placed the incense in the pot in front of the buddha ,Then 3 more wais and moved back in front of the monk. I now handed him the tray with the Mongkol. He retrieves a small bag with gold leaf and a small jar with white paste. He dotted the Mongkol with the paste and applied a gold leaf to it. He then places it onto my head and I wai to him as he recites a chant and sprinkles water over me. he removed the Mongkol handed it to me and had me place it back in the tray as I did the 3 wais to the monk. He made sure to remind me that it was not to touch the ground and must be kept up high. The monk was very friendly and laughing. I respect the Thai culture so much I am always afraid I will do something wrong in these situations but it seems I am alway over stressing them. It was a great experience. I will be making a video of the for my site soon. Thank you again for your help!

Can I add Dedduang Por Pongsawong to the list? He might be an interesting one because he is so short but made his style work against much larger fighters. He also was one of the first to start really blasting people with repeated low kicks from what I am told. Never won a championship, but highly respected by many fighters of that era. I can set things up if needed.