Leaderboard

I'm so glad you enjoyed that session. I adore Kaensak so much and it was really a huge and meaningful thing for me personally to be able to get him in the library. He's kind of a bridge between Yodmuay and the West, because he was such a great fighter but has spent so much time teaching in the US by now that he has altered how he explains or teaches (or at least I imagine it's been hugely influenced), so it's digestible for us in this format.

Hi everyone, Hopefully this is alright for a first post, wanted to share my experiences training with Sagat over the next few weeks. I arrived in Thailand in Mid-march coming from Egypt, I was in a mad dash to make it somewhere calm before the lockdowns took full effect. Over 10 years ago I trained Muay Thai while in college, and had always wanted to go to Thailand (the usual Muay Thai dream), although I didnt expect to arrive under the circumstances. I got an apartment and I spent the past month trying to condition myself as best I could (lots and lots and lots of burpees), and I discovered 8Limbs while watching Lawrence Kenshin videos on youtube, and one thing led to another and I became a patron and here I am Anyways, I got into contact with Sylvie, and I was able to meet with Sagat, and told him I want to train daily with him the next few months. Side note-Im going to be living in Thailand for the foreseeable future long term, Currently we are two days in, and I cannot recommend Sagat enough. I'm basically a total novice, and I was uncertain if I would even be worth teaching for him, but he was incredibly excited He is very 1st principle based in everything, and his way of describing things, you realize there is both the technique he's showing you, and the technique behind the technique of how it fits into a larger contextual picture. He teaches on a continuum, and he talks about most students that come to him for 1on1, there's no way to people to learn more than 1 or 2 details, and that really acquiring the skill takes time, "organization" is a word of his, both in how you move, and how build techniques Should you ever come to Thailand, you must train with him --13 Coins does have active fighters, He introduced me to two of the younger ones that are actively fighting (they've won some junior titles). Right now its only a handful of younger kids training there, although i got the impression its normally much busier minus the lockdown situation. Sagat has an arrangement with the hotel next door if anyone wants to stay there and train. Its very far outside any tourist area.

Even though you mentioned his time in the US in your opening words, I did not make that connection while watching and digesting this session. But now that you point towards it, it makes perfect sense. Seems like, in some underlying, meta-level way, Kaensaks way of teaching is a lot more similar to what we are used to here in the West, compared to ... let's say... Karuhat's way of teaching. Maybe also because it is more about specific techniques here and their application. Whereas Karuhat (we started with the Intensives on Vimeo) is less about plain techniques and more about spacing, timing, feeling, pressure and rhythm, if that makes any sense. It's a bit harder to comprehend through the screen, but your voice-overs help a lot here. Yet, both Kaensak and Karuhat are so much fun to watch. On a side note: We watched the two Kaimuay Diary episodes with Dieselnoi at Petchrungruang yesterday and they are SO awesome too. I wrote it once and I write it again: following you and Kevin on all your channels and diving (almost daily) into the library is, imho, the closest thing to living and training in Thailand without actually being there. We love and enjoy every second of it! My personal Top-5 library "hidden gem" sessions so far: - Keansak - Kru Ali - Tak Cho. Nateetong - Jaroenthong Kiatbanchong - Kru Cha

Yeah, you're going to have to keep them as clean as possible, first and foremost. Floors are disgusting and feet are on them all the time. The advice I got from Andy Thomson when I first shredded the hell out of my feet in Thailand was to put Vaseline or coconut oil on the torn skin before bed, let it soak in and keep that skin soft. If it's rough, it'll get caught on things and keep tearing the softer skin at its edges. So keep that skin as soft as possible. And you can trim the flaps of skin to keep them from snagging. Taping the area can work, but you have to make sure you put something between the blister and the tape so that you're not ripping the skin off when you take the tape off. So always put some gauze or toilet paper or tissue, whatever, between the sticky tape and your skin. Blisters suck. But they're a totally normal part of training for a long time, and then after you build up callouses it's not as persistent, but it does arise.

I have no quick fixes for this but I get a lot of blisters and wounds on the soles of my feet and what I usually do to avoid bacteria and fungal infections is to wear socks and ankle protector to keep socks from coming off. I put antifungal antibacterial creme on at night together with baby powder. I also tell myself the burning pain is a good way to get used to pain. And it's annoying to train with socks but I tell myself it's a good way to practice balance and a slippery canvas.