Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

An "ontology of positions"

Simondon and the Infinite grammatical positions of Becoming from the same work I see some parallels in transition a fighter can make between gyms in Thailand, in years as they elapse, as a fighter you ARE your techniques (not of striking, but of training). Avatars of oneself unfold, in series of successions. In the passage below swap out "technology" with techniques-of-training, perhaps, to make the most sense of where I am heading.

Kem's Muay Thai in the Khaoyai Mountains below Korat would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for someone in your position I think.

Positioning the extraction of techniques from Thailand's trad Muay Thai, into a globalizing culture of technique bent toward expansion. Fredrico Campagna, Technique and Magic.

I have long thoughts on this, but I simply can't get myself to write them. The audience for this kind of information simply is crumbling in the face of waves of near-mindless, replicating "content". I sense the ability to even discuss these things is being lost on a slope of consumption.

More and more I am convinced. You fight exactly how you train...which does mean you execute the strikes you have trained.

Yesterday I was quite surprised to hear Chatchai Sasakul telling us that people problematically slowdown their punches, and lack the natural acceleration that is necessary at the end. The "shape" of their punches is all wrong. I was surprised because this validated what I wrote 2 years ago, exactly that. I got a lot of flack from internet authority types.

Regional Golden Age Muay Thai - Khon Kaen Hanging with Karuhat I asked him: Are there any more good fighters from Khon Kaen (where he is from and famous for very femeu fighters like Pudpadnoi, Himself, Somrak, etc)? He shook his head. No, there was a very big stadium there, like Lumpinee. They had a big card every Saturday, broadcast on channel 4 - which I take to be a local broadcast. The stadium was the focus of the region's entire scene of Muay Thai. The stadium closed maybe 20 years ago. He said he fought in the stadium maybe 4 times.

Two recent photos with the Blade Runner Aesthetic:

This thread relatedly expands on the cultural aspects and difficulties of shooting in Black and White in Thailand, and reflects on the history of Muay Thai photography in the country:

That looks like a good list. A very toured gym for clinch is FA Group in Bangkok, but you might just be clinching a lot with Westerners? There is a very heavy Western presence, lots of Westerners trying to learn clinch. Kru Diesel is the kru who made FA Group (before it became a destination gym), so if you are looking for the deeper theory of the clinch fighting style kru Diesel is the source. Kem is very good teaching clinch, maybe take a few privates with him for that focus? A lot of clinch is like surfing, you need to spend time in the waves...but (who are you clinching with) the waves also matter.

From Yodnaksu magazine 1985...

The Living Real. Goddess of warfare and wisdom. The goddess Pallas Athena was a divinity of both warfare and wisdom. Sylvie in her 285th fight, embodying both in the material world. The Greeks held ideas to float above us as inconcrete things...toward which we strive. I am inspired by my wife, as I would be by the ideas of Athena. She walks where no one else has and invites us to see. We learn from ideals. We learn from their examples. We learn as we all strive. I see this bloody photo in the corner between rounds, and I see the ideals of Athena, pressed through the mess of the human, the contorting real of bodies and wills clashing, in their techniques and arts (for we are all made of habits). Every Muay Thai fight opens with the embodiment of gods and divinities in the Ram Muay, some might say, quite literally. When fighters enter the ring they take on a role that is beyond the merely human. Athena always has been an anathema. She dictates the priorities of justice, rationality and even democracy, yet she wears the cult-like aegis which puts pure terror into enemies on the battle field. She was reportedly born virgin, from her father's thigh, is a maiden but stays the hand of Achilles with the scales of wisdom.

Making a Note. Need to write about this. How Fatigue and Time Travel relate.

Deleuze, Guattari and the Machinic The "combo" or even "the strike", as it lives in the Western conception, would benefit from understanding the machine from a D&G perspective...from the excellent chapter "What is the Body Without Organs? Machine and Organism in Deleuze and Guattari" by Dan Smith. found here: What is the body without organs_ Machine and organism in Deleuze and Guattari.pdf << pdf