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When I was in Thailand I was using the Woody brand in size medium. I don't like it when shinguards go over my toes or over my knees so I choose a smaller fit on purpose. In France I don't use any.

As explained in earlier posts I study lethwei and through this experience I also get a deeper understanding of muay thai. Anyhow, I recently learned an interesting clinch technique where you - while holding each other controlling body etc - pull out your leg like a teep and bend your leg and hit your opponent's back thigh/back of knee with heel of foot. It's very effective and hurts a lot. Would anybody know if this is something done in muay thai?

There is a very prolific Muay Thai photographer who happens to be Thai, who has produced a very graphic effect with popping, electric colors, high definition pop, and lots of that Sweat Spay look catching dynamic moments of a fight. Here is a few squares from his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pap_muay_thai/ This isn't the only style he shoots in, but for fight photography he has really pushed and explored this look. Just scrolling through his feed you can see it develop subtly, which is cool. You get that graphic novel ripping muscle thing, truly luminant figures against black backgrounds. In general I really resist the Sweat Spray look, mostly because it hides all the deeper emotions and efforts in what fighting is all about. And because it tends to be produced by machine gunning the shutter and then just picking out the best "moment" (which in itself is a process, but not something that feels good to me). That being said, it is very difficult to shoot fights. You are usually locked into only one or two positions on the ring, and its hard to get expressiveness to action. Moving toward comic book cell aesthetics has its advantages, and going in that direction his look is pretty cool. I include this here because it occupies a space on the aesthetic spectrum of what fighting is, and how to communicate it. That it is coming out of a Thai sensibility in the history of aesthetics makes it all the more interesting.

Yes, Hippy taught this to me (it feckin' hurts) and Rambaa also does it in the clinch.

Sylvie was definitely taught this (if I'm picturing it right), by the legend Hippy Singmanee in one of his Muay Thai Library sessions. She plays with it humorously in clinch training as a one-ups-manship against bigger partners all the time.

Yes many low level and amateur even starter fights so with shinpads etc both boxing and Muay Thai ...in Phuket I’ve seen new people Fight but they start with no protection at all depends on what you prefer l. gyms are expensive anywhere in Bangkok you can find some for 4000-6000 ,Muay Thai academy is only 2000 a month even Chiangmai/ Phuket and most other places are 10000 a month for most gyms . If you can get down to 78kg even only for the weight in that’s mostly a day prior you will be fine to get fights and to be honest it doesn’t come that close a few kg give or take is fine I’ve seen it a lot here . ive had a lot of opportunities myself and I’m fighting around 78kg , it’s mostly about finding a trainer who cares and he will help you out I’m based in Bangkok myself but my trainer offered my fights everywhere , I think most of them are connected with promotors anyway from their past . But if you are alone I would definitely choose Bangkok more contact with other foreigners / more Thai that speak English and easy public transport (cheaper grab and taxis too in other city’s they can be way more expensive ,Chiangmai and Bangkok are the cheapest , Phuket and Pattaya really expensive) send me a pm if you want some specific info

I know that Kru Ten in the Muay Thai Library offered a solid counter to the Face Smush in clinch: #42 Boraphet Pinsinchai - Muay Khao Fighting Techniques (50 min) https://www.patreon.com/posts/19768793 #23 Boraphet Pinsinchai - Muay Khao Mastery (64 min) https://www.patreon.com/posts/14262395 I'm pretty sure it's in the first one we filmed #23, but above are links to both. You basically just reach across and over their outstretched arms, with your back hand, and pull the arms toward you and down, past the face. It's a pretty effective counter, as long as your own lead arm isn't too deep in, and over-turned. You want to also stand up straight with good Ruup when you do this. Also in training you can get really good at feeling the face smush coming, recognizing it, and driving your head in, through it, before it gets a good leverage point on your jaw.

Posting my Playlist here in the forum. It contains all the publicly published videos of my work in the Diamond Guard, a Playlist that will be added to as it developes: The Muay Thai Diamond Guard is an evolution of the old time Western Boxing Cross-Armed guard, as used by fighters like Gene Fullmer and Archie Moore (among others), but adopted to the ruleset of traditional Muay Thai. It was first taught to me by the legendary Thai fighter Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit, but I've started to work with it on my own as a side project. This playlist is a collection of some of that work and references.

@Kero Tide

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.