Joseph Arthur De Gonzo

Neck lock is very good for smaller people indeed.

Yes, I try to focus on me rather than my opponent/partner. Like Don't back up, don't let them take a breather if I take the momemtum etc.

Oh that's too bad, did not know.

Oh and at Hongthong, the morning session are very quiet. At least when I was there. I was usually alone or with one or two other guys. So you basically get a private for "free". But maybe no sparring or clinching depending.

Don't know Santai but I've been at Hongthong recently for a month and it's a great gym. It was pretty quiet when I was there, and I think it's busier now, so the attention you get might be a bit different. When I was there, there was 3 women regularly training. Never heard anything bad from anyone there and the group of regular falang fighters there are really good guys, not macho and very respectfull. One of the pad trainer is a little flirty but I haven't seen him do anything innapropriate or even flirt without reciprocity. I would say for sparring and clinching in some gym you just have to impose yourself. Sometimes they don't know and they assume you don't want to or something. So when they say clinching clinching and sparring sparring, just go in the ring. Don't wait for them to take you by the hand or look at you. If they say no, ask why. In the end, you're paying. I would say for attention. In my experience, like any other think in life, the front runners always get the most attention. After the talented, then the hard workers. So, I would suggest, don't cut corners when they say do a 100 of this or 200 of that. Always do little more if you can and push yourself as much as you can and they will see it after a few days, and they will give you the attention you deserve. If you want to go on the Islands, Yodyut in Ko Samui is great too.

Yes, in Muay Thai you can def. press your head against your opponent, no problem here. Of course you can't head butt like in Letwei, but you can def. get that position and crush the face. You can also put your hand on the face blocking the airway and pushing on the jaw etc.

Are you sure that's the case or are you justifying it? Not judging here, just asking for your sake. I think Sylvie's right. Start by not quiting while training. Prepare for a little more than you're use to and make sure you power through. Good thing for this is Sylvie's knees challenge. I think it started as a advice from Yodkhunpon to do 1000 skip knees on the bag everyday. 1000 might be too much or enough. But maybe try to set a goal of finishing every training with 500 or 1000 knees and keep to it. Also "I dont want much from life im prolly never gonna make it big. But i do want to atleast fight like the thai guys and have around a 100, 200 fights " I mean, maybe you want to start by setting more realistic goal. How about, I want 10 fights. Then reset another goal if you make it. Unless you go like 5 years in Thailand, you will never get 100 fights. It depends where you are, but if in north america or Europe, it's hard to fight more than 4 fights a year. Maybe six. At 5 fights a years, it will take you 20 years to fight 100, just saying. They are reason for this. 1- there are way less fights and tournaments. In Thailand you can basically fight twice a week if you're motivated and don't care about travelling a bit. 2- Besides the news 3 rounds shows and all, fights in Thailand are usually less damaging on the body than in the west. Reason being the scoring and the fight culture is different. In Thailand winning but looking like a fool throwing off balance bombs and trying to take the other guy's head off is not encouraged. Muay Thai is supposed to be about form, balance, domination etc. In the west, KOs are seeked, encouraged and seen as the "real" victory, does not matter how bad you look if the other guy is unconscious. So, at least, in my experience, fights in the west are more damaging, less technical and more injury prone. Also, how the hell did you broke a collar bone training? Supplexed ?

Attachai gym in Bangkok seems like the closest thing to a nice setting close to everything since it's in BK.

Thank you for the response @Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu That's too bad. I understand though, newsletters are a lot of work. It was really great and, like you said in a podcast, very different from any other stuff online about Muay Thai. I understand that the last week fight part and the what's coming next week was from a third person, is that person still publishing info about fight and links to fight and stuff?

Hello @Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu and @Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu I was receiving the newsletter by being subscribed to it, but for some reason I stopped receiving it and now I can't find it. Is that normal? I thought you had stop it, but I heard in one of your last podcast that you were still doing it, where can I subscribe again?

Yes Hongthong will book you fight if they can (depending on your size etc). Althougth, as of early March, there was still no fights in Chiang Mai. If you want to fight like now and often, you'd be better off in Phuket or Krabi.

If you want to train with tall guys in a remote place, you can try Nuengtrakan gym formely Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee muay thai which is the gym of the golden age awesome fighter Lamnmmoon. There are only two fighters training there on a permanent basic, two brit brothers, one is 6'7" and the other is like 6'5". Nueng is a great, old school a bit nuts trainer. To give you an idea, he's a muay thai trainer by day and fighting roosters trainer by night. Basically all he thinks about is fighting. Also, Lamnammoon does pass sometimes and train people. Nueng will find you a Ubon style fight if you want to fight. But he will only like you if you train hard, really hard. He wants nothing to do with "casual" people who train once a day type of thing ahahah. Anyway, let me know if you want to go, I can put you in contact with Nueng or the brothers.

I had the same thing as a kid. Slipped in public showers and hit my head and needed a few stiches.

It's hard to hit people. I always struggle to hit hard. Even when I am sparring assholes that cause super hard, I find it hard to throw back with the same bad intention. I am actually working on been meaner in sparring. Not in a douchy way, but just, not giving a break and say I am sorry every time I clip someone good. Anyway, one thing that helps. Is before the bell ring, try to take the habbit of like closing your eye, concentrate and decide on your intentions and mood for that round. Don't go chatting, not thinking about what you're about to do as if you were just hanging out with your best budd. Go within yourself, be mindful and punch them in the face. Like yoga, but with blood, sweat and tears....

I am 230lbs and 6'4" and I've been ragdolled by thais who where at most 165 and like 5'9". And I would always be the first to be tired. If you get exhausted it's because you're not relaxing enough and you're not framing enough. When you frame, meaning, you use your bones instead of your muscle to control the space between you and your partner, you should be able to relax. Now, throws and sweep will be very hard against someone with that type of size on you. Thais are never able to sweep or throw me in clinch, which is frustrating to them because Thais LOVE to sweep falangs. But they can crank my neck, bring me to the floor and ragdoll me accross the ring enough to make me cry. I guess you're partner is taller than you, if that's the case. Work on getting very close to him, getting to neck and cranking the shit out of it. Remember to hold the head high, not the neck, basically where the jewish yamulka is. And work on locking this position and the kind of triangle lock that Sylvie shows in some clips, this is hell for a tall guy. Now, if your parnet is a short, stocky, hyper muscular guy, I don't really have any advice.