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Question for Sylvie! When you made the transition to Southpaw….I’m assuming all of your orthodox combos and strikes had a natural flow to them because that was first for you. ..Im wondering how long it took to get a that natural flow in your Southpaw stance? Also, if you have any tips on the transition other constant practice in southpaw. Either way thank you for reading this. Have an amazing day! - Mike C.

You may find these sessions in the Library helpful: Session with Rambaa with his take on Karuhat's stance-switching Switching to southpaw with Karuhat

As with any pattern making, if you become predictable vulnerabilities arise. So look into switching things up. A big one to add is Yodkhunpon's galloping footwork. Here's a public video there is more in the Library: This footwork allows you to cross distance quickly, as with any closing pressure speed is an important factor. You can mix up the march with the gallop. Also, the hop in can also break patterns. Sylvie has that here: And lastly, a really good tool, seriously under-utilized by closing fighters is the teep. If you can mix teeps in in you advance it goes a long way to preventing your opponent from just timing you, and hiding your own rhythm. Mixing in the high-knee march, the hop in, the gallop and the hop in gives you a bunch of different looks. It's just up to you to make your own recipe. And, of course, once again, the speed of your advance is a big deal. Something that might get you swept at half speed might be untouchable at full speed.

I'm tired everywhere. And I have various old injuries and pains that come and go. My gym was in a bombing incident and my teachers arrested and gym confiscated by the army (I'm in Myanmar you might have heard of the coup here). So I'm training outside in a park. It's uncomfortable training with shoes. Training barefoot is better but the ground and small stones hurt and my feet sometimes bleed so I have to wear shoes. We don't have enough shin guards (coup situation) so sparring, even very light, can be painful. It's rainy season so lots of times it's raining. And plenty mosquitoes. Also people passing by giving unsolicited advice. I don't sleep well, I have nightmares. So the early mornings are tough. And it's uncomfortable. I still train as well as I can. Learning. Embracing adversity. When my morning run feels heavy I do a body scan. Are my toes ok? My feet? My ankles? My shins? My calves? Usually, it's only a small part of my body struggling. So why let that part dictate my general feeling? I love my training. And the fatigue and pain. Endurance training psychology told me: it's not how you feel physically. It's how you feel about how you feel physically. And endure discomfort. You might focus too much on this pain. Or you might need to increase strength and only a coach that meets you in person could give proper advice. But in short. Martial arts... it's hard and heavy and painful and you are almost always tired. But meaningful doesn't equal comfort. Just my 2 cents.