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Tried this gym for couple of days last week. Owner is a good dude, and trainer held pads amazingly. Especially for lefties that's a big deal. But... no Thai fighters training in there - the place is a Farang Farm. So for sparring and clinch you don't get a Thai partner. (And half of them spar with you like they just saw you run over their dog.) Just saying as this 2nd point is something that never gets mentioned by ppl online.

There is a loose theory floating out there, to which both Sylvie and I subscribe, which is that the arrival of shin guards has really changed the level of fighting even in Thailand. In the Golden Age, and certainly before, there was no such thing. We reason, and I think Karuhat helped support this if I recall, that the absence of shin guards produce far more control and balance in Thai fighters, across the board. Just something to keep in mind.

Many thanks Stefan, I hadn't considered swimming and will now do so

Cool! Let us know how it goes.

Hi Kevin this is gold! Thank you so much. It's this kind of advice that is like 'yeah of course it's like that/why on earth I didn't consider it yet it's so obvious'. Game changer advice. Use your legs as you use your hands (duh) with control. Makes 1000 percent sense to me and I'll try it immediately.

Great work again, Kevin! I couldn't find any footage at all of Paruhatlek on youtube when I've searched for him before, but just had a look and some of his fights have been uploaded in recent months. That's tonight's viewing sorted I've spoken to Thais who rate him very highly (he ko'd Samart). It would be great if you could get him in the library

All lead side. Endless jabs, front leg teeps, lead leg kicks into the open side. Max protects, and beautiful slip outs. Karuhat vs Paruhatlek

You could perhaps swim? Forceful swimming develops cardio and muscles at least as much as running and some weights lifting. But goes easier on your body. Its no traditional Muay extra training but as long you dont train in a Thailand gym this is no problem....

You say it right, you "catch" the kick, which means you pick a spot on the shin you want to catch it with, and you meet it up, like you are using a glove and catching a ball. As to how high you bring it up depends on how high the kick is. I'm not super experienced with this myself, but I did start doing it in padwork when I had a banged up shin, and the train was fond of whacking me back with a kick. I just started catching the kick just below the kneecap, or even with the point of the knee, gently. For me, I'd fold the leg a bit to give the knee support. It is very hard when bent. There are some really good things about it. The first is that you are practicing accuracy. People don't think of blocks needing accuracy, but they do. It's usually just "Get your block up!", but all the greats were super accurate with their checks. They aren't using the whole shin. Trying to catch it in a specific part of the shin is super productive, and will give you confidence in your checks over time. As to hurting your partner, well, they are hurting you. Not intentionally, but yeah, it's hurting you. The whole point of sparring without shin guards, or the whole benefit, is that it teaches you control and feeling. If you are catching kicks up on the thick high part of your shin, or catching with the point (a little), they just have to pull their kicks, gain control. It's sparring, not whacking. You don't have to spear them with the knee, just catch it. I'm not even saying you could/should do this. But there are some good ideas why it might make sense in your situation. And it could be fun. In terms of Muay Thai you don't want to be catching kicks all day, in the long term.

I remember Natasha Sky, who was at Sinbi at the time, said her trainers did Apple Cider Vinegar, cinnamon or cayenne pepper, and salt, then wrapped it in plastic wrap with that concoction under it. Never done that myself, but there it is. The work you're doing should be all you need to condition them for more of what you're doing, but I don't know that there's any way to "hack" the process. Obviously not recovering between is just going to be sore shins all the time, but stopping and starting is the same. Maybe use the bottom of your feet to "kick" for a bit.

What often happens to fighters who enjoy the idea of switching stance is that their offense will improve, but their defense will suffer. A lot of this happens simply because you aren't used to seeing things reversed, so you don't pick up strikes as quickly. One piece of advice we've seen when fighting someone who switches back and forth in a fight is to just rush them when they move into their unnatural side, because their defense is probably suspect. But this isn't such a huge problem, you just have to work more on your defense than you might think. Focus on it. The biggest aid in this for Southpaws is learning the "forward check", which is a feigning left leg (rear leg) raise, that closes off the Southpaw's biggest weakness to Orthodox fighters. This is a really, really big tool. Karuhat teaches it to Sylvie in the Muay Thai Library session where he turns her from Orthodox to Southpaw. There is a whole vocabulary of the forward check that is really special, both defensively and offensively, for Muay Thai. Maybe check that video out.

He's actually really shy about the camera, and we've hardly filmed him because of it. We definitely want him in the archive, because it's a historic record, but it would have to be done differently than any other entry, simply because he works so much with Sylvie, and 99% of it is just grinding, very slow cook But, thank you for the suggestion, it's good to be reminded. Maybe instead of one hour session, we could maybe film small segments over time and put them all together.

It's a great thing to get used to if you AND your partner have good control. There's not a lot of shin-to-shin contact without shinguards in Thailand. Trainers and folks sparring will kind of use the bottom of their foot to "kick" on the leg, if it's blocked, rather than go shin to shin. But kicking the arms, legs, and sides of the body with control and bare shins is totally fun and much more realistic to what kicks will feel like in a fight that doesn't have pads. You'll often see one pair of shinguards split between 2 people, so your blocking leg has a guard and your kicking leg doesn't, but in a same-stance pair it's the opposite, so their blocking leg also has a guard and their kicking leg doesn't.

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

Yes, he's been around our filming several times, and we definitely would like to film with him. He was there at our 4 Legend's seminar just watching it all, and he's close with Dieselnoi, Karuhat, etc. He seems hesitant, maybe because he has not trained for a very long time, but we are slowly working on getting him in the Library. He has a wonderful gentlemanliness about him.

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.