Coach James Poidog

I think most people do. The "game face" as its called. I always wondered how deep people went though. In a fight, its pretty much kill mentality until the bell or your opponent is unconcious. How does one train that with control? What are the visual or auditory cues to get you to scale it back before you hurt a teammate? The reason I ask is because for everyone its different. Not the kill aspect but the control aspect. Also, we always hear about the different ways to condition our minds towards battle, but what about battle at the right time?

I was curious to hear how people train their killer mentality without actually taking it out on their training partners. I dont really subscribe to the barbarian/berserker mentality for my fighters as I feel it can make them sloppy and tend towards too much emotion in a fight. I do however put out the though of being more like what we imagine a serial killer to be like. Picture more Dexter vs Conan and youll get the idea. If you can get past the serial killer term, the idea is to be calm and collected while still maintaining that killer attitude. Why I think this works well is it becomes a dimmer switch in training, with my people being able to turn it up or down depending on what they are faced with. The hardest part is to figure how much or how little to apply in sparring. Even there though the attitude of being a serial killer still works and even allows for the person to scale it back. The part thats most important and the part even I still work on is the clinical detachment while maintaining the killer aspects. So how do you do it?

Right? Honestly, size difference is a real thing but it can be overcome. But it is funny when "they" say its no big deal but then go on to allow other similar limiters as serious problems. Many times I think the reason some of these limiters work is because people dont account for them in training. Ive been to many gyms that during sparring only have people of the same weight class match up. Coming from a traditional background, we never trained within weight classes, we just matched up with whoever, so we got to experience when techniques needed to be altered to account for your opponents size. A lot of techniques work on the surface, all things being equal, but fall short when used against a bigger opponent. Few then explore why. One of the things Ive always loved about the women that trained in the gyms I was at was their willingness and complete acceptance of training with consistently bigger/stronger partners. Funny thing is, it always made them better. Not just in general but specifically when they ended up with someone their own size and strength. It was kind of like weight training in that they adapted to the bigger/stronger and became something stronger themselves. I point out the women specifically because of the topic but also because there was never a complaint about it, it just was the way it was.

I genuinely believe it. How else can smaller people beat bigger stronger people? Its the real connector and cross over to traditional martial arts. Sport makes it about all things being even so size is a factor, you cant dismiss it...but you can deal with it. One of my fighters doesnt cut weight so hes always fighting bigger opponents. His last fight he actually cut weight and the dude he fought was still 10lbs over lol. Ended up 15 lbs heavier than my guy fight day. My guy beat him with technique and made dude quit in the third round (knees to the body after two rounds of making sure he kicked him in the body). Size is a factor not a determiner.

I think the weirdness, as far as adults goes, might come from sexuality and "sexual tension" between men and women. Thats just not something that happens with me but I have witnessed it between students when I pair them up to train. I try hard to make sure people understand that in the art we are equal. I tend to emphasize it due to how I teach the art which is less about power in general and more about technique which transcends physical power. Im not big on my students and fighters relying on power to win and more about being able to beat power with other aspects all people have.

No Im not suggesting that at all. Im saying what I said, what I notice in my experience. If I were to think of it, I didnt ever notice anything like that. If anything it could just be a hyper competitiveness to be better than or equal to the men. I just know in general they worked harder. I say in general because I had male students just as dedicated but I also had male students that were lackadaisical in there training, where as almost none of the female students were like this.

Ive tended to have maybe a little more male students than female in general. The only real difference Ive seen is that as a whole the female students are harder workers, put more attention into their training than men. Personally I love my female students because of this. Recent example is a youth students who just started 2months ago and is already the equal of males in her class that have been training twice as long. Honestly shes a joy to have in my class and because of it definitely geta extra attention from me (as any student like her, male or female, would). Some of my best students and fighters have been female.

And thats also a big issue. I can understand coaches "de-evolving" there style to fit customer demand. From a business perspective this makes some sense. But I also see it as treating the whole gym in a dishonest way. The thing I tell all who train with me is simply whether you want to fight or not (and I really dont care either way, no pressure) you will learn how to fight. Again, not against spinning or fancy techniques, just against them being the focus over the basics that will win fights. The term basic even has a deceptive ring to it. You need a lot of time on those to really understand the nuances of why they work. Skipping them, or placing their importance as less, makes it really hard to actually progress, even to the point where the fancy techniques you want to learn become less for it. Hope that makes sense. In the frand scheme of it, its a minor annoyance and more a slightly frustrated joke. Ive never actually turned away a student because of this. I just always looked at it as an opportunity to educate them. Usually that works well.

I love this part too: "You can win lots of fights without dealing much with your personal framework. This is why winning doesn't really matter to the value of fighting, and often works as a disservice. The point of fighting is to keep putting your hand in the Box, until you learn. You may never learn. It may feel like it's just a goddamn pain box. The lesson cannot be forced. But, if you keep putting your hand in there, and give it time, you will can something incredible." It really resonates.

Man Kevin, I always need so much time to read and just absorb what you write. Its not even the quantity of words but the quality thats so rich and needs digestion time. I love the analogy of the box being fighting. Even more I love this: "You think you understand what fighting is after 50 fights. After 100 you realize that you didn't really understand at 50, but now you know. Then at 150 you suddenly see things differently. Now at 240...well, you see where I am going. What is infinitely cool is that the vision you have at any one particular point, let's say that particular ledge on the mountain where you stand, overlooking a drop off and valley, that was earned by you, and you simply could not have had that view 300 meters down, or at basecamp." I see this as a good description of life and perception through the years (ie: your 20's, 30's, 40's and so on). Great write up as always man.

Pretty sure many striking coaches dont necessarily tell their fighter to run out and do a spinning attack either lol (well maybe Raymond Daniels' coach does ). I do know they get super frustrated like i do by similar requests to learn low percentage but spectacular moves. I used to teach at 10pl hq and know a bunch of the instructors under Eddie. Drives them nuts if a guy that cant avoid mount wants to learn a flying armbar lol.

Truth. And hilarious. Similar to commentators saying things like black belt in muay Thai to me.

Lol we need a laughter emoji added to the like selections. Rogan said that cause thats his fn background lol. Like muay Thai fighters cant spin .

To me, this is a great example of balance. Neither going too light but definitely not hard. Good back and forth, good flow, full speed but no where near full power, recognition of landed strikes, etc. victorsaravia_mtag_20190603084728.mp4

My first reaction was actually the same. Especially the first video where shes in a dress. It was just this one, seeing it a few times, seeing the damage from the leg kick, the kids face at the end of it. The more I watched the more it felt off. Not sure what I was responding to so I focused on the safety issues. Agreed that gear doesnt mean much, but its better than nothing.

This also could just be a misrepresentation of Liam lol. Ive seen the man live many times and hes never really been someone Id say goes light. I mean to him, hes probably going light, but he didnt look like that in the video lol. Dude is a savage.

And this is my only detractor to light sparring. Too light is an issue. Its like the punch in a demo that goes no where near the person's head. Ive had to tell more than a few people to actually make contact. Like anything else its balance. What is too hard and what is too light ends up depending on the person. Like I said in another post, Ive seen people get injured in light sparring because someone zigged when they should have zagged and a lightly thrown technique ended up being run into. At the end of the day, its combat. Theres a level of risk always. Find the balance.

My opinion originally was selfish, I want my fighter to be able to hear me or have the best opportunity to be able to hear me during the fight. But my opinion changed when a friend and peer said how about we train our fighter to have enough fight iq to handle themselves during the fight to where you only need to give them instructions between rounds, that way we keep the music as is. This made more sense to me, especially because lowering the volume wouldnt necessarily make it easier to hear the corner anyway (not to mention it makes a better fighter). Im more like Kevin in that I feel we've already lost so much that is distinct to muay Thai, like the ram muay (because of time and interest of the casual observer) that I dont want to lose much else. Theres so much that is enacted but barely understood but its there meaning we might get understanding later vs if it was gone. Btw, I kind of expected most people wouldnt even think of getting rid of it, but I was curious to see if there were any. Sylvie's answer was the type I was hoping for because it might be unexpected and its layered.

Excellent perspective. That was someone elses opinion on the forum too. Its about true authenticity. Dont even get me started on the ram muay lol.

This might seem like an odd question to bring up, but a peer posted in an American muay Thai forum about the traditional music being played during competition. He asked if people (coaches and fighters mostly) felt the music was too loud, specifically to hear the corner during the fight. In seeing the responses I thought, more for curiosity sake, it would be a good question to ask the international crowd. If asked, Ill put my feelings in a comment below.

There is definitely a place for it, as I said Ive had to use it and have also been on the recieving end with good learning coming from it. Just for me, 90% of the time, I cant be that guy because experience has taught me (as far as business goes) its more negative than positive in the states (specifically California lol). Ive even gotten to the point where I will only spar with specific people. If for some reason I need a hammer, Ill enlist one of my monster competitors and give them the green light. Thankfully thats rare. Most seem to get the concept of give what you want to receive and usually thats friendly competition not anger management lol.

Lol I think this is directly tied to how hard they go on you too. That lack of gas can be a coach's kryptonite. It can make some coach's egos fragile and prone to over compensation. Not talking smack about your coaches btw, just thinking about myself and possible failings for me if I were in that position.

And this aspect, as a coach, is one thats a primary focus for me. At no time do I want the people I teach to feel overwhelmed by me. Yes, I dont mind a small healthy amount of fear of me, but thats more self preservation 1) cause Im now old and dont want to incur more damage but also 2) it might lead to being bad for business. I want them leaving class feeling empowered. Very rarely have I felt it necessary to give them the fear of God and usually its because I feel they have the bully in them towards other students I feel responsible for "curing" before they hurt someone else. For most, I just want them to have fun and feel free to explore things they are working on.