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Hey Francis, I'm not Sylvie but I'm sure soon. But I've spent a lot of time around Yodkhunpon and I have to say there is very little power in Yodkhunpon's elbow attack. In general the elbow in Golden Age Muay Thai is a cutting weapon, so looseness of movement and accuracy (bone on bone) is prized. It's not a strength or power strike. Everything Yodkhunpon teaches is about creating torso whip, a play in the shoulders. You can find much of this in the Muay Thai Library and Sylvie Study sessions. Things he's advocated for are like: throwing a 1,000 elbows a day, or hanging to open up the shoulders. You want fluidity of movement, not power.

Hi Sylvie, I've been following your videos and muay thai library for a long time. My favorite fighter of all time is Yodkhunpon Sittrapium. I love his relentless elbow style and have tried to learn his fighting skills. Could you suggest me some strength training methods that are specific to increasing elbow strikes power, and if possible, specific to Yodkhunpon's elbow style? I'd appreciate it very much.

Ah ok, no worries Yes, Sagat was talking about it when I met him last year. He wasn't happy with the judges decision, thought he clearly won the fight

I was just going to say that in class this past Wednesday we learned that elbows are not about power but rather to cut.

I commend you for your desire to be a worthy partner. I feel the same way about this. Majority of my pad holding experience is with a partner that weighs 40 lbs more than me. And whenever there's a bigger weight difference than that, I have to be really diligent with holding, no day dreaming. Here are some ideas that helped me: - turn your shoulder in to meet the punch as opposed to just moving your arm (similar to you throwing a cross at the same time). This was the big one for me to make sure I don't injured my shoulder. Also, it feels really solid and good for the person hitting. - stand with a solid base, like your fighting stance, with feet apart and knee bent - mirror the footwork of the combo. I mean, your partner would be taking a small step forward with every punch, so you would take a small step backwards while receiving each of those punches - tuck elbows into your body when holding for kicks and sink your weight down. If the kick is too hard and throws you back, don't be afraid of it. Just know that it's going to throw you back will make your feet move with it, so you won't fall. - breathe out as you receive the punch. I think it helps you generate more force to meet the punch/kick. The impact don't affect you as much. I guess a lot of these are the same for if you are hitting... Which makes sense, as the things you do when hitting, like breathing out, turning your shoulders, having a string base, are meant to put you in a strong position. I remember being really driven to hold well when I first found a partner to do pads with. I wanted to make sure it was worthwhile for my partner. Sometimes I meet training partners that are demanding of having good partners (always asking their partners for favours and help) but don't value the other side of it which is being a good partner. I think the effort you put in to holding pads is beneficial to both you and your partner. Your partner would get a good pad session to improve their skills, and you would get stronger as you regularly meet heavy punches. Your distancing and ability to see punches and react improves from holding pads too. It's awesome that you consider your pad holding skills.

He did gain quite a bit of weight, but fought Sagat as little as 8 years ago, don't know if you saw that:

We did, but I'm not sure if it is worthy of a translation. It was mostly just Dieselnoi hanging out with him, which was nice enough. Dieselnoi literally got on his knees to greet him, which is really extraordinary to see a Thai do. And on his knees when he went to leave as well.

Hello fellow forum dwellers, I am trying to figure out how to make the most progress with a limited amount of time. Any feedback is welcome. My situation: I currently spend about 6 hours per week on Muay thai. Some weeks this drops to 3-4 hours, but I've been training 6 hours per week quite consistently for about 6 months now. Most weeks my schedule looks like this: Monday or Tuesday: 1 hour on the heavy bag Thursday: 2 hours on the heavy bag Saturday morning: 1 hour of technical instruction (1v1 trying out different techniques with a trainer correcting us, controlled class environment) Sunday: 2 hours on the heavy bag Warm up before heavy bag session: 5 minutes of skipping & 5 minutes of shadow (no particular focus during shadow) Equipment available at home: Heavy bag, skipping rope, running shoes Some limiting factors are: I live in Belgium, not Thailand. So I can't just go to a Muay thai gym any time of the day. (Only scheduled classes) With winter arriving, outdoor temperatures get to about freezing point every night, so indoor training is preferred. Goal & alterations to schedule My overall goal is to become more skilled in muay thai (fitness is a bonus). I want to improve my ability to fight, although I don't currently plan to participate in any actual fights. In order to improve, I am trying to free up 30 minutes every morning before work to train as well (on top of the schedule above). Some other changes / improvements I could make at the moment are: Replace heavy bag session on thursdays with a sparring class. I haven't attended yet, but trainer says students go at about 50-70% power (shin guards, 16oz gloves, no headgear). replace monday/tuesday heavy bag session with private sessions with a trainer My questions to you What does your schedule look like? What alterations would you make to my schedule? If you could free up half an hour every morning for training, what would you do? (run / skip / shadow box / ...) Is it useful to incorporate sparring for casuals/beginners? If so, how often should you do it? I appreciate all input from both hobbyists and actual fighters.

Can only really comment on one thing here: Yes, sparring is useful at at least a certain point I think. It helps to show you where weak points in your technique are that you might not even notice otherwise. Shows you what are things to focus on in your non-sparring training.