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About Saray Medina, since Im Spanish lol. She is very experienced and her big achievement was an IFMA world championship silver medal but in 2014. She fights but just in Spain and not regularly. Actually, she is one of the Spanish team coaches, I consider her more a coach than a fighter. On the other hand, any thoughts about bantamweight and featherweight, Kevin? Dont know, Chomanee and Sawsing... 5 & 4 Thanks! P.D. Im glad for the ranking anyways! Lets hope it changes when fighters fight

With the help of Dave Jones who is helping us all with tech support and design, kind of sponsoring Sylvie through his efforts, we've been able to relaunch the Store on Sylvie's 8limbsus site, and have started filling it with some awesome stuff. You can find it here: Sylvie Store. You'll find not only Sylvie shirts and shorts (which help raise money for the Kru Fund, but also Karuhat merchandise that goes completely to supporting him, and other awesome stuff like the first documentary made on Sylvie. Time to check it out.

These rankings are really cool and inspiring to see! I've been trying to follow more female fighters and pay attention to those fight circuits, but being able to break them down by specific weight classes and a general top 6 is so helpful! It gives me something to work towards. I mean, I don't think I'd ever rank that high but just knowing which fighters are considered the top of my weight class is so awesome. Representation matters. Now there's this concrete thing in my head, like "if I want to be the best, I have to be [insert ranked fighter] good!" And although you've already mentioned it, Kevin, I had the same thoughts about Loma being #1 in her class. Your insight on the matter helped add perspective, and I do agree that she deserves to start there...but don't think she should stay. After reading your thoughts about the various fighters Sylvie has faced...do you think there should (or could) be a general, non-weight restrictive ranking? Or would that be too hard to quantify because of various weight, skill, and experience factors?

Wow, thanks for the fill in! Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Seems like they peppered in some notable names from the past in some of these divisions, which I suppose is to be expected when a ranking first begins. This is a hard division. Sofia is definitely a top fighter on anyone's P4P list. So yes. And I've mentioned my appreciation for Dokmaibaa and Alma. Zaza, honestly, is just a big name from the distant past. She hasn't beaten anyone top ranked, who actually weighs the same, in a very, very long time, as as I know. You can see in this fight between her in Alma 1.5 years ago the huge distance between them in skill and readiness (watch it here): Zaza is much more a "name" that derived from her attractiveness and her early World Title at the age of 14, a long time ago. It's just my opinion, she's a tough fighter, but isn't really a World Class fighter at this weight. She also lost to a much, much smaller Lisa Brierly who is ranked #3 at only 49 kg, several weight classes down. Hey, every ranking probably needs names and figures, and given that the rankings for this division have a vacant spot, maybe they were happy to put her on there. As to Chommanee? Oi. Literally one of the best female Muay Thai fighters in the world a few years ago, had mixed success in Glory kickboxing. But the real truth about her is that she probably hardly trains. I mean, she likely trains before fights, but I think she's just one of these very top Thais who really does not stay in regular training. It's one of the hardest things of ranking top Thai fighters. In terms of talent and skill, they are 9s or 10s. In terms of calluses and fight-shape, sometimes 3s or 4s. They've been fighting since they are like 8 years old, so it is in a way understandable that their drive into their mid-twenties just isn't the same. I mean, she deserves to be ranked, but who knows how much. I just don't know the European fighters high up on the Featherweight list. Sawsing is caught somewhat in the same boat as Chommanee. I means, she's much more fight ready since she's taken on the Superchamp promotion responsibilities in Thailand, and of course beautifully skilled from years of competition, but it's unclear if she's growing as a fighter. I'm ok with her at #4, though if she were fighting a lot, and in the gym all the time, I could see her beating anyone in her weight class in full rules Muay Thai, in the world. She really is an excellent fighter.

Howdy, In the West folks tend to do some padwork, maybe a total of 3 explosive and then relaxed sets. Not too much. In Thailand we don't do that at all, we just get the oil massage (with the Thai linament, it warms you up) and some light shadowboxing and maybe some stretching. I've seen studies that say that a kind of explosive, out-of-breath for a minute warmup about 10 minutes before a race (running) shows improved times for runners. So I kind of go hard in my shadow the fight before mine, then relax. I've never trained combos or anything before a fight. But I do visualize for myself, which is something you could maybe guide your fighters through or at least tell them to do for 5 minutes.

It has been a long and strange month. Travel took me away from the bag for a bit. Distractions did what they do. I've been thinking on an update here for a few days. The mental clarity and presence of mind to reflect finally found me today. First; a some bullet points: I simply don't hurt in the mornings any more. Aches in places? Sure. Have I missed a few days of the bag? Yes; but. Yes; but I have added some substantial shadowboxing to my day. The upper-middle back issue that I didn't even know about (5th rib, as mentioned in previous post) is worked more by punches vs big leg movements. I've completed my fastest 5k since 2011 (31 minutes.) I'm now running 5 miles a day. Also; two funnies: Pride: Getting your 6-year old to throw a legitimate knee at your arm is an awesome feeling. (I need to acquire some pads!) Shadowboxing while running/walking on a treadmill is actually kind of fun! However... adding an occasional knee into it didn't go so well. Our beat up old treadmill has these silly fan things below the hand bar. Striking one with your knee is sort of like hitting a cheese grater. I probably need another few days to heal a nasty gash (Sterri strip's were required. Glue didn't hold it very well.) Right leg-only knees aren't quite as fun as alternating. It's way harder to get to 200 when you can't switch off. Now the meat of the post. I've watched carefully Sylvie's discussion of "Ruup", across a few videos. The interesting notes from her actually start around fight 237. Her ability to perform "ruup management" is inspirational. I am a big fan of Miamoto Musashi's works; and the biggest take-away from his teachings as a whole, comes from his concept of taking the origin of a knowledge and applying it to a different context. The maintenance of Ruup, is as much a mental discipline as a physical one. I would argue easily that it is not just "mental or physical", it is "mental and physical". One can not maintain physical posture against all external forces without also maintaining mental posture. One can not maintain mental footing against adverse thoughts without having a solid breathing body beneath. But what of emotions? How does the concept, and how it fits into the narrative of a Thai fight, translate to every day life? What I have found in my month of ... not quite keeping to my goals... is exactly what I expected. My mental posture is, if anything, more deficient than my physical. Some might look to the question of which deficiency caused which. Did mental damage generate the physical? Did a physical injury open a rift in the mental posture? Perhaps most importantly; does it matter which came first? For me, this month will be about my mental posture. I will allow the work I have done physically to continue along its course. Knees and teeps in the morning, running at night. I will pull one more "origin" from Muay Thai to aid me: the corner ritual. As an external observer; if I had to guess where the Ruup Maintenance magic happens, it is in that corner. While I believe I do "okay" in the ring of life, I am beginning to be aware enough to tell myself that I absolutely suck while sitting in the corner between rounds. Until next time. -=fshalor