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As others have mentioned, sak yant aren't really "for" Muay Thai. In fact they are seldom prominent in most prominent Thai Muay Thai fighters. They are kind of from the under-class of Thailand, much as perhaps tattoos in general were in western countries for a very long time. And, some of that under class become fighters. But...mostly they are just symbolic representations of protection, or power, believed in an an animistic level. A sak yant of a tiger may just be summoning up "tiger energy", the ability to command, stalking forcefulness, etc. It could apply to anything in life. So...sak yant could just tap into or express the underfeelings of what Muay Thai has brought to you, without being some sort of "bro" appropriation. Your own attempt to get in touch with that thing, that meaningfulness. Or, maybe not. In either case, I would say to just get in touch with that thing that Muay Thai has done for you, brought to you, and then find some representation that speaks to that for you. Maybe its nothing that looks like its related to Muay Thai at all...but YOU know it's about Muay Thai. Or, perhaps, if there is a particular heroic fighter who inspires you, then perhaps something related to their image. As for words, Sylvie's discussed a series of Thai words that embody the spirit of Muay Thai, I'm sure she would double check the graphic for you before you got it tattoo'd. This was one: Ning: https://web.facebook.com/sylviemuaythai/photos/a.134623809905091/2636651226368991

Thanks for linking the thread @LengLeng. Definitely check that out for answers, but the shortest version is that I think concussions should be taken quite seriously and I've been lucky to not have experienced them (to my knowledge) frequently. I had one really bad one and took a full 10 days (I think... check the thread) rest. And I was recently concussed again and took less rest, but my diet is very different now and I think that makes a huge difference.

I want to get a Muay Thai tattoo because it changed who I am as a person, my world perspective, yadda, yadda. The thing is, I’m not “legit” enough for a Sak Yant. I haven’t trained in Thailand, am not closely tied to Thai culture outside of Muay Thai, don’t consider myself a Buddhist, and would definitely feel like a bit of a fraud getting one. I *do not* look at other people in a similar position the same way so this isn’t a criticism of anyone in a similar situation who has gotten one. The question is, are there any Muay Thai tattoos that aren’t Sak Yant that are not completely hokey or ridiculous? Or is this just best left alone and the idea scrapped entirely? Is it disrespectful to the tradition of the sport and would only serve to Westernize something not really meant for westerners outside of training? I’m not looking for an answer I want to hear on some of the cultural questions. Seriously seeking some thoughtful considerations.

Hey there everyone, just thought I would stop by and finally share my 2 week experience at FA group in November of 2019. I know, I'm a procrastinator lol. First off I will say it was the greatest experience of my life to say the least. I was so nervous about going, never travelled anywhere close to being that far away, I am from Chicago, IL. I had never been away from my wife and my dog for that long, had pretty much zero clinch experience. I am also 35years old so was a bit nervous about hanging with the young guys. Also wanted to challenge myself with the running every morning, which I did at my own pace, but i still did it lol. My main purpose for picking this gym was clinching, the little bit of clinching that is done at my gym is with people that have little experience and don't know what they are doing. most people just want to get two hands behind the head and pull down lol. I have always loved watching thais clinch and how beautiful it looks, and brutal of course lol. I will say my biggest surprise about the gym, which was a big shock to me, was there was no drilling. I have been doing muay thai for a few years now here in Chicago and did mma on and off for over 10 years and there has never been a class in which an instructor didn't go over drills to work on with a partner. With that being said, I couldn't have been happier with not having drills to work on. The way the gym operated was perfect for me. I didn't know that going in, but loved it immediately. We ran at 6am in Chatuchak park, came back to the gym around 7am, jumped rope for about 15min. I will also say i was shocked that all the jump ropes were weighted ones. I had never used a weighted one so needless to say, my shoulders and arms burnt out very quickly. After jumping rope, everybody walked into the ring. Kru Diesel was waiting there already and matches everyone up to clinch. We clinched for 30-45min. After clinching, we would do some thai pushups in the ring and then everyone would wrap up their hands and get ready for some pad work with the trainers. Everyone gets 2x 5min rounds. if your not picked first out of the 3-4 trainers then you just shadow box, stretch out, hit the bag, etc.. until your called upon. After your pad rounds are done, you start doing your 300 knees on the bag. After this first day I went back to my room and had no idea how i was going to continue because my neck was shredded from the first clinching session. I was matched up with a guy from Sweden who was taking full advantage of my lack of experience and just cranking on my neck. I was seriously worried about being able to continue for the afternoon session. 3pm came around and its the same routine except no running. Some guys would run a bit at the end though. Kru Diesel saw me struggling with getting my neck pushed down with the same Swedish guy again and he showed me a couple counters which helped big time. I learned very quickly how to defend that. I will say that by the last few days of training my shins were pretty much done. I think it was mainly from the running, I have never ran that much in my life. I can't say enough great things about this gym. Everybody was so friendly and generous. I truly was humbled by the generosity and friendliness of the people i met, as well as the instructors and fighters. I made some friends, hung out some nights to go see some fights, get some beers, eat some food, etc... I will say that my 2 week experience had helped my clinch game immensely at my gym back home. Its night and day compared to before I came to FA Group. I wasn't sure how much I had actually learned from being thrown into the fire immediately without drilling some clinching techniques. I am now the clinching guy at my gym lol. I have just made my reservations for returning in September. I will be 36 in July and plan to go back once a year as long as my body can handle it. It was a mental and physical struggle to train 2x a day in that heat, with only Sundays being an off day. I have never pushed my body to those limits. By the way, that picture of me with bruises was just one side of my body, and this was only after a couple days lol. Lastly I want to thank Silvie for having this platform to share my experience with you guys. Watching her videos on youtube also gave me a lot of motivation to pull the trigger and challenge myself like I never had before. Thanks Silvie.

Khun Gop at Three Brothers in Phanyotin bts tunnel is my guy. He's METICULOUS. Pricey but I leave super happy every time.

Something to add to the topic. Sylvie got head kicked (accidentally) in sparring by a big partner and definitely was concussed, not too long ago. We've become very serious about putting in much more sparring, now 10 rounds a day, which means also sparring with people who just are not ideal. For us this means that if this is going to happen head defense has to become a very serious priority. Padwork and bagwork can produce some seriously bad habits, unconscious relaxations after combos or single strikes. Yes, it's sparring that will take those relaxations out (you are just going to get hit, and that will correct things), but if you are going to spar a lot the truth is that you just can't expose yourself to that much impact. This means head defense HAS to become a priority. This is one reason why we're working in the Diamond Guard. I feel like this is the most secure "cage" of defense in the sport, and famously protected Archie Moore through well over 100 boxing fights. The point though really is, if you are going to spar, defense and head protection has to become a major focus, just in terms of longevity. You can't just rely on negative feedback to correct your defensive mistakes. You have to stop thinking about offense (which is what pretty much everything thinks about in sparring) and become defensively minded, especially in your guard.

Awesome little review. We had a great time filming with Kru Dieselnoi. One day I'd love to have Sylvie spend a few weeks working with him. He really seemed to get her strengths, and take to amplifying them in a beautiful way.

Thank you! More good info. I thought about the word in Thai thing but soooo much could go wrong there. Kinda like the Chinese symbols that people got in the 90s and 2000s that are supposed to say freedom but actually translate to chicken diarrhea or some such ridiculousness. I sure don’t want to be that asshole.

Love Karl Pilkington, legend! That's hilarious...brazen enough to use a famous person's photo! It's true, way more likely to get busted these days. The last guys to really get away with it probably came up in the 90s or something

Sounds like a job for 'Bullshit Man' If the guy is that loud mouthed, he's going to get found out eventually. People are going to look him up and find there's no evidence for his 'achievements'. I think Sylvie or Kevin posted last year about a Muay Thai gym owner in Mexico (I think it was Mexico, apologies if it wasn't, Mexicans) who claimed to have fought and beaten top level Muay Thai stadium fighters in Thailand, and had posted a picture from his fighting days in the ring as proof. The guy in the picture was Karuhat. People were pointing this out in the comments. 'That's not you, that's Karuhat Sor Supawan' Mexican gym owner: 'No, it's me' 'You're full of shit. Here's a video of the fight that picture's from. It's Karuhat' Mexican gym owner: 'No, it's 100% me' The truth always comes out, especially when you have access to the internet.

Awesome, thanks s lot dude

Tattoos are quite personal, so whatever brings you association to your experiences with Muay Thai is appropriate. You could chose a word written in Thai, or an image (the things to consider here are if you get a mongkol, for example, placement has to be high on your body).

The Bangkok location of Fairtex has been closed for a number of years now, they're only in Pattaya. Master Toddy's has a Muay Thai visa, WKO in Pattaya has one that can go for 5 years, The Camp in Chiang Mai offers one but it's technically an ED visa for Thai Language, but arranged through the gym.

there is a thread here where Sylvie and Kevin give a lot of good advice.

Hi SakYants Aren’t just for Muay Thai fighters, lots of people who aren’t fighters have Sak yants. It’s a tradition too that is based on animalism and Magic so it not just Buddhism:) But if Sak Yants don’t resonate how about finding a symbol that represents what Muay Thai means.... Like does training MT bring freedom? Maybe freedom written in Thai? Or something like that. I hope I’ve helped lol