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Hello everyone, Its been awhile since I've updated my experience with Sagat, and a lot has happened the past few months A basic recap: I contacted Sylvie in May, who put in touch with Sagat -Since then, I've trained with Sagat since mid may. During that time my stamina, technique, and overall fighting IQ have increased in ways I cannot begin describe. The amount of learning and mindset shift has been immense. Approaching Muay Thai with a scientific and academic and intensive perspective is how I'd describe my mindset In that time, I've trained with 5-6 days a week for 1-1.5 hours every day. Ive not trained with anyone else (up until last week), and I considered this first 6 months a kind of Foundation phase of fundamental skill building. Along with the sessions with Sagat, I do my own strength and conditioning, which is another 1.5 hours or so each day. (cardio and calisthenics and weights) Our training sessions are 100% technique focused, and the intensity has gradually increased. No breaks, no watching the clock, we go every day until Im in deep fatigue, and I don't stop until he tells me. Its only the two of us training, and I can honestly say I've gotten better every single day of the process. The one thing I've been unsure is how I compare to actual fighters, especially guys my size. The gym is always empty when we train, and while I watch tons of video and film, there is no way to objectively compare myself to anyone obviously SPARRING This entire time, weve not done any sparring. Only padwork, focus mitts, heavy bag, drills, and shadow boxing. I wanted to get a gauge on where my skill level was at, and as I wanted to take an island trip, I ended up staying in Koh Samui for a week, and I went to a gym called Super Pro. This is largely a foreigner gym, and I knew that larger fighters often train there. The difference in training was stark to say the least. Everything from how I punched to how I kicked to my footwork movements to shadowboxing, basically everything I did, the trainers were puzzled by and insistent that I needed to fix. It was almost comical, as I could hear Sagats voice in my head "Too many punch like THIS....No good. Kick like THIS...No Good. Why uppercut like this???? NO GOOD" I ended up skipping most of the morning sessions because I didnt want to have my technique changed at all. The afternoons were 10 rounds of sparring for monday-wednesday-friday. This was my first time sparring in over a year. Surprisingly, I held my own very well. My cardio was better than everyone I sparred with, and there were multiple foreigners my size (Im around 6'1 and 90kgs). I identified a lot to work on, but I was a bit shocked at how easily I gave people problems and how my the drilling with the Sagat carried over to the live experience. People were under the impression I was a Pro with fight experience already (Ive yet to have a fight) There is a lot that needs work, but overall it was gratifying that the Sagat Intensive had 10000% been worth it. WHERE WE TRAIN: I know Sagat was based at 13 Coins the past 3 years, but he decided recently he no longer wanted to train there anymore. The gym has not been maintained at all and while there are some young thai boys training there, the overall gym is in total disrepair. Sagat had some kind of friction with one the one trainer who still lives at the gym, and he told me we must change gyms. Ive realized he has something of a nomad personality and likes not being attached too much to any one place, so off to a new gym it was Currently we train at LKT Muay Thai, which is more centrally located in Bangkok, and is run by a former camp mate of his, Lukklongtan, who was a Rajadamnern flyweight champion https://lktmuaythai.com/ Sagat is fully open to doing privates with anyone, and he is an amazing teacher. If you want to get in contact with him, let me know and I can arrange it readily

This "to catch a kick" idea is just a ridiculous thing. I think Kenshin promulgated it? I can't recall. First of all you do NOT want to catch kicks in Thailand, you want to check them. When you catch a kick you have lost a point. You have been scored upon. At general best you can get the point back, but you've given up a point. Yeah, there can be a sweep or whatnot, but the idea that Thais are somehow adopting really terrible punching techniques in order to catch kicks easier is flatly ridiculous. Honestly, it's just habitual poor technique that has somehow become widespread in Thailand that people are making up reasons for. Yes, Thailand has the best fighters in the world, but training protocols and knowledge of optimal technique is constantly shifting, and sometimes in certain lines of gyms it actually devolves.