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Hi @MuayThaiPanda, I've been living and training in Bangkok for around 10 years and to be honest, I haven't found that the pollution bothers me when I'm running/training. Maybe I'm just used to it! It might also be because of the gym's I've been at. For the last few years, I've been at Attachai Gym (so if you're thinking of coming and need any info, feel free to ask).This gym has a particularly good location if you want to be in Bangkok without dealing with the smog. It's tucked away in a big green area with lots of banana trees, backed onto a lake. The humidity is the main thing, definitely something that you have to adapt to. But I think that goes for Thailand in general.

Hello! I am a senior student at a gym and have been running classes for new students while the head instructor is away. I am having difficulty getting some of the students over the natural inclination to not hit or be hit during basic defensive drills. All of the drills are done at low speed and minimal power. The issue presents by the students not standing close enough to come in contact with each other even if, for example, the punch is not parried/slipped/blocked. The head instructor said to give it time. However, I feel like this is more based in my inability to communicate to the students why it is important to make light contact or at least present the possibilty of contact. I am hoping to get some additional insights and or exercises that can help people get over this initial hurdle. Thanks Joel

Oh right, I totally forgot you guys are based in Pattaya. Well that's awesome to hear and thanks for you input Emma! Attachai gym seems quite appealing to me at the moment. We'll see how the stars align but I'm pretty hopeful I can go at the beginning of 2022. I wholeheartedly agree, the humidity is no joke and takes time to get used to. When I was last in Thailand about 4 years ago, I think it took me about a month or so to get used to it while training in Hua Hin. But Hua Hin is a beach city and seemed a bit cooler. Thanks for you input Emma, if you haven't noticed it really for the past 10 years that's quite something.

We live in Pattaya which has a pretty different weather pattern than Bangkok, despite being only 2 hrs away. It's on the sea. Maybe someone living or experienced in training Bangkok can answer?

I wrote a poem to Sylvie about Karuhat once: "Karuhat, The king of cats, He has a hat, full of clapping bats And lots of friends, in as many flats He's not a brat. But if you act, Like a twat, He will pat your back and you will fall, In a friendly pit full of hungry rats." And this has been my input, lol

So, the title of the forum thread kinda says it all "what makes karuhat special, like no other fighter" Well, it's just that, he is not like ANY other fighter that I have seen, met or fought. Back in 1993 I was in Thailand for the first time training and fighting as a wide eyed teenager, full of red bull and dreams of Lumpinee Stadium! Before I went to Thailand I had studied Samart, Chatchai and Kongtoranee so made my home in Sityotong, fighting on small shows in Pattaya. I had seen video of Karuhat before then but did not know his name or where he trained. I went to Lumpinee one night with the camp to watch Chatchai fight and was lucky enough to be back stage helping out with massage and bandages etc. Considering that there were so many quality fighters in the old Lumpinee warm up area as soon as one character entered all eyes fell on him, like a magnet drawing a hushed attention to him, "Karuhat had arrived" He quietly and methodically arranged his shorts (sans label of course) bandages, warm up shorts etc into a quiet little corner and made his preparations for battle. (I still did not know his name at all then) My Thai was poor and I did not know how to ask. For those who have never been the Old Lumpinee stadium was a strangely magical place, when empty, just an old shack with barely spinning fans and a dusty stink to it, but on fight night a magical place indeed! Chatchai had fought and lost a close decision as the main event was about to start, he, and the other fighters form all of the other gyms hurried to catch sight of the small mad entering the ring with a slight smile and more than a slight swagger about him. "Karuhat had arrived" I was dragged by Kru Yodatong to "watch, watch" and I watched as he explained with his hands as i could not understand him. He placed on hand horizontally at chest height "Boonliai, Chatchai, Dekkers, Numphon, Sangtienoi" then he took his other hand and placed it at his chin level, again horizontal "Karuhat"; he was explaining "there are levels to this" and he is above them all! There started my love affair with his style, grace, power, swagger, smile, style (yes I had replica shorts made up and even a side part in my hair). It was the timing, the bravado, the slickness and the speed that excited me and prompted me to try and copy him in every was at the start of my career. He stood out, he gave and received so much respect with ease. But for me the one thing that makes him stands out is when after winning at Lumpinee, was that I got to say hello to him and share a few moments. In true Thai style, it was less of what was said (very little apart form me prostrating and saying in a strong English accent "Sawadee Krup") He pulled me us and asked "nak Muay"? I nodded, he then did the ultimate Thai thing of squeezing my muscles on my arms, shoulders, and legs, he kind of looked me up and down, I was not muscular, I was not strong and he could see that but what he mimed next will stay with me forever "He spoke in Thai but I didn't understand - I did understand what he meant though" He gestured like a big strong fighter, he pushed his nose down like it was broken, made some clumsy punches in the air, then shook his head, waved his finger to say NO. Then the poined to himself, showed a couple of teeps, a couple of pivots and japs "bop,bop" he said, then he brushed his hand over his face as if to say how handsome he was and no scars "YES YES" and a thumbs up. He was telling me to fight smart because of my frame - then a little smile and he was whisked away for a press conference. So, that's why for ME he will always be so special, he made time for a farang kid in the middle of a room full of experienced amazing Thai fighters. So, I just want to thank him! Thanks for letting me rant and geek out over him for a while :)

S&S... Swagger & Smirk.

Yodsian! The superstar. You guys do a great job at highlighting what really blew me away about Karuhat, and that's his flow. His fights with Veeraphol are some of my favorite fights in any combat sport, ever. Like some stuff directly out of Dragon Ball Z. It's not just his technical prowess, which is incredible in its own right, but it's the speed at which he maintains it. I think calling him "The Fortress" makes a lot of sense, but more appropriately, in my opinion, he's like a floating castle in that while he's as imposing and impenetrable as a fortress, a fortress has more permanence, it's grounded and rooted and never moves while what makes Karuhat impenetrable is the opposite; his freedom of movement (and the LEVEL of that movement, importantly), his range of motion and the pace at which he uses them is hard to equal. Maybe impossible to equal when he's at his best. He's so comfortable doing such high level movements it has to be incredibly difficult for his opponent to stay focused and react appropriately. It's almost ironic in how imposing Karuhat can be, when he's often the smaller, more unassuming fighter. His prowess is evident in not just how fast he moves and reacts but in the moves he makes themselves: to be able to flow from one movement to another as effortlessly as Karuhat demonstrates how intelligent he really is, how efficiently his brain makes decisions and how practiced and measured he truly is. He forces opponents to match his pace, and that's quite a pace to match. If your brain isn't built like his you're basically doomed to play his game the whole fight, and odds are your brain is not built like his. Besides Karuhat the fighter, Karuhat the person is a treasure. I obviously do not know him personally, but his presence in the ring is so unique it's impossible to not gleam some insight into his character. So often you can freeze-frame and find Karuhat across from his opponent, hands all the way down by his side or on his hips, a half-smile on his face, making a pose that's almost like an invitation to his opponent. He'll nod his head and gesture toward his opponent with one arm, almost as if to ask "Are you enjoying this as much as I am?" And watching your sessions with him on the Muay Thai Library, his personality is still there. He's still that same superstar from his prime. The only thing that's changed about him is his age, the number itself. He's still as youthful as ever. I'm actually amazed at how young he looks. That's something that impresses me about Thai fighters in general is how YOUNG they all still are. Here in the west there's definitely a tendency to think of men in their 50s and over as "geriatrics", senior citizens. Seeing the way all these golden age nak muay move around still, there's nothing old about them. It really changed the misconceptions I had myself about the way humans age, and Karuhat in particular genuinely blows me away. I mean, looking at him from the back, you could mistake this man for a 20 year old. His youthfulness you can tell is more than just him being in shape and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, too. You can see his youthfulness in his face, in the way he smiles and in his eyes. His love for Muay Thai has kept him young, in each session with Sylvie you can see just how much fun he has doing it. You can pause the sessions randomly and look at his face, and it looks like he's posing for a school portrait! And again, I do not know him personally but you can just FEEL the warmth in his smile. Karuhat's energy is so absolutely unique, he really is a superstar in every way. You can just feel how genuine he is, and you can SEE how intelligent he is, in his eyes and in his body. No other fighter conveys the same dominant-but-friendly air that I feel when watching both his fights and his sessions with Sylvie. The gorgeous shorts aside, I just hope Karuhat and the other wonderful men you and Sylvie work with are aware of how much love they really have outside of their community in Thailand. If I could afford to I'd rather just buy these things in a heartbeat, buy a pair for my girlfriend, hell I'd buy a pair for each of my cats. These guys absolutely inspire me to be a better person, not just a better fighter. They've given so much to the art of muay Thai but the ways they've helped change me are much larger than any sport.