Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

I think its best to treat it as a non-expiring code. If we ask them if it expires, they'll probably put a date on it!

Jen, do you already know which gyms you are looking at, or the area of Thailand you might want to stay long term?

Just read up on Alex Gong (in the video). What a tragedy. On August 1, 2003, after a hit and run driver crashed into Gong's parked car in the Fairtex Gym parking lot in San Francisco, Gong pursued the car on foot. Gong caught up and confronted the driver, who was still in his car at a nearby intersection. Witnesses say the driver then shot Gong at point blank range and fled in his vehicle. Gong was pronounced dead at the scene.

Very nice seeing young Jongsanan. And then there is the English speaking instructor knowing/showing less than his Thai demo guy. Always this gap between very good, western boiled-down, rationalized technique, and actual 150 fight technique.

There are many ways of generating power, spinning around is only one of them. Sakmongkol was one of the hardest kicking Thai, and he trains to not spin around. In fact you almost never see top Thais spinning around and they kick with great force. Think about if you were swinging an axe hard attempting to chop a tree down. Would you expect to spin around if you missed your target? If you were swinging a baseball bat, trying to hit the ball, would you say you only were swinging hard if you spun around in a circle? I believe that like the swing of a bat, not spinning around forces you to generate more of your power with your hips, and throws the force more forward, at and through the target.

Hi TZ22 - I've been working from Thailand online ever since Sylvie and I moved here, and it is really the only way we could have stayed. The problem with working from Thailand isn't really the connection issues - Sylvie wrote a detailed blog post on all the things you may face when trying to stay connected - but rather with having the job itself. I already was working online before we moved. I'm a Social Media marketing consultant and already had clients for several years. IF you can get dependable work online, it is definitely feasable technically. Thailand's digital infrastructure has really improved. There are of course things you can run into and may need to work around, but it can be done. I will say, working from Thailand, online, is just like working from anywhere else. It is not a vacation. I spend very long hours inside the apartment, sometimes not seeing much outside the walls for days or weeks. I could literally be anywhere, in any room. Plus, and this depends where you live, but generally if you are going to live here long term you will find a place to stay which is cheaper, which means that it will be a part of town that is not vacation-y at all. You live where Thais live. For us this is fantastic, because we love Thailand and the Thai culture. But it is not glamorous. For instance we live in Pattaya which is notorious for its tourism of various kinds, but we hardly see any of it. We are in Thai neighborhoods, or Sylvie is at the gym. That's the way we like it. Pattaya, for this reason, is actually more "Thai" than Chiang Mai was for us, despite having a tourist reputation. The division between tourist areas and Thai areas is pretty strong. Long term westerners have different reactions to the culture. It seems like many of them get frustrated with the Thai way. It is pretty common to hear westerners talk about "The Thais" with an eye-roll or what not. It's an ex-Pat thing to complain about Thailand. Sylvie and I don't get it. Even when we run into big difficulties, or systemic limitations, they feel okay. You learn to just roll with and appreciate everything for what it is. There is no place we'd rather be.

Don't know if you've seen this, but this is the classic Bas Rutten video on generating power with the out-turned foot. The Thai round kick is one of the most deceptively complicated techniques for westerns I think. Sylvie for years had serious trouble with it, despite lots and lots of kicking. It was never fluid or fast. But she eventually kicked herself to a powerful version through tons of work on the bag and pads. But then you see Thai kids kicking fluidly in almost no time. I think a lot of it has to do with the looseness and openness of the hips (culturally), and probably something to do with the Thai squat. But in the end there is no "Thai kick", there are thousands of Thai kicks. I've seen Thais open up and turn their standing foot very wide, sometimes even ending up with it pointed the other way. And I've seen Thais not turn or pivot on the foot at all and get great power.

There is no "right" answer on this. These are all just different kicking techniques, and there is a ton of variability in Muay Thai. It's become very common to drive the hip forward with the whip of the arm. 5 years ago Sean Wright explained the torque of the arm really nicely to Sylvie, likening it to how a runner swings their arms when they run. But it should be lose and easy, like that, like a runner. One would not tear their labrum running, for instance. You can't really catch the audio, but you can see it here: But yes, you can also generate torque by stepping across, or combining the two movements even. Or turning your stepping foot "out" to open and spring load the hip. But very differently old Boran fighters in the Muay Chaiya tradition, didn't even move their kicking arm at all, they just kept it in place by their face. This is how Kru Lek teaches the Chaiya kick in Bangkok now. It looks very "odd" to a modern eye, but it shows how much difference there can be in Muay Thai and it's history. The decision on which technique needs, in the west, to be made probably using two criteria: what is most comfortable or expressive of explosiveness, stability, fluidity for me? and: where am I going to get the best instruction continuity from my teachers? In Thailand most of the time there isn't much correction at all. Everyone finds their way, mimicking others, adopting some things, discarding others.

I agree that makes no sense from maybe an economic standpoint, but the country is in a difficult position politically. Don't want to move towards a political discussion, but we should remain sensitive. The country may find itself becoming insular for ideological reasons. I believe the Prime Minister recently off-handedly joked about removing westerners from the country. Just as other, western countries can have very strong political shifts against aliens, Thailand may too. It's a push-pull. The country wants to remain an international, multi-cultural hub of business and ideas, but it also must confirm its identity. Borders are one of the first places this is usually done. So complicated!

The Ughi fight is very difficult to watch. Not because of the beat down, but the uncomfortable stance and guard. I tried to rewatch that fight the other night. There are some amazing things about that fight, one of them being that despite being completely outclassed in the ring Chantal actually has a moment when she could have finished Jorina, she just wasn't committed to her clinch. She very nearly had a knee to Jorina's head. I'm not sure why she didn't just try to clinch up Jorina, continually. She actually may have won that fight because Jorina didn't seem to know how to clinch, and clinch is Chantal's one dependable attack. Maybe it was that Santai tried to change her fight style in training camp (a guess)? It's a mystery.

So interesting. So instead of taking a more friendly approach, they are trying to take a tougher approach? Geez. I mean, if you are going to stay for 6 months you probably are going to need around a $1,000 a month but for some the timing could be very problematic. Nobody can just save up and go?

wow Emma. So what are the current visa options? Only the 6 month visa?! With bank account proof?

The above is a pretty awesome recent fight between Thanonchai, famous for his never-say-die attitude, and Phet-U-Tong. What's pretty interesting to me about this fight, and Sylvie and I talked about this when watching it, is how Thanonchai responds to the common righty-lefty tactic Phet-U-Tong uses here. You see it from Yodsanklai (lefty), and Sittichai (lefty) used it against Roosmalen in his recent Glory fight - but it's available to righties too, when facing strong left hand punchers. Basically, lots of rear-leg high kicks pinning and punishing the power hand. Phet-U-Tong a few rounds in really starts trying to pin Thanonchai's power left cross, and Thanonchai just tries punching through it. The stubbornness of Thanonchai makes the fight really tense. The eventual result, once Phet-U-Tong starts to tire is dramatic.

It's a very strong story we've heard. There seems to be distinct nationalism behind a lot of Chinese promotions, basically they are there to show the superiority of Chinese fighters, so pretty much everything gets skewed to the Chinese fighter. Sometimes this is the size of the opponent, sometimes its the rules, the reffing, the accommodations. The whole experience ends up feeling like some kind of assault that fighters aren't quite ready for psychologically. Now, there are of course many promotions, and this is a very big generalization, but it also is a kind of theme we have heard across the board. Hell, I even know of a well-known persona who flew out there under the advice of a friend who saw it as a quick money grab, and had such a harsh experience she basically retired from fighting. I also remember the almost all Chinese card that was put on for the Queen's Birthday a year ago, which matched up Chinese fighters against Thai fighters (in Thailand), in a production that was beamed back to China. We watched this Thai girl put against a pretty big and tough Chinese fighter. She was rag-dolled all over the ring with illegal throws of every kind. It was pretty rough to see, and clearly the Thai girl had no idea what she was in for - in Thailand. The general picture that emerges is that these tend to be very pro-Chinese productions where the non-Chinese fighter is often at a disadvantage, sometimes disadvantages they don't expect. We've heard several western female fighters say: "Well, I'm not doing that again." Valentina seems to have that look on her face too. On the other hand Chinese promotions are really on the rise, there's a big money draw growing there. With the dramatic increase of Chinese tourism in Thailand, the growth of the Chinese economy and middle class, this is just going to expand. Lots of Thais are finding work there, both as fighters and as trainers.

No, the trouble in China isn't that the opponents are so good (though this fighter's awesome). It's more about how they are treated there, their experience of fighting, the stay, everything. Valentina looks really pissed, and very confused. We've heard from a lot of westerners who just had very bad Chinese fight experiences. Female western fighters are drawn there because there is very big money being offered, but almost all of them that we've talked to regret it.

Not sure what the rules are for Kunlun, but Valentina, who may be the best female Muay Thai fighter on the planet right now, is very confused by what seems to be a rule that you can't cross your hands, even briefly in the clinch. The ref seems to explain "no elbows" and "no clinch" before the fight. But fantastic action, fight starts at 5:24, as she tries to adjust on the fly to the rules and a very aggressive opponent. It's crazy how many female fighters seem to have negative experiences fighting in China.

Yeah, that's not quite it. That's a fake knee which has a different spacing and timing. But I'm sure everyone can get the idea. You set up with teeps, and then teep and miss to the side, but land quite deeply to that side of your opponent, and reverse elbow. The key to it all seems to be that the fake allows you to cross the distance really naturally, you kind of "fall" to the side of your opponent. The set up may keep them rigid, the miss may confuse them for a second. A big element of the reverse elbow as Sylvie learned it is getting your lead foot deep enough, to the side (or beyond) your opponent's foot. The teep miss accomplishes this in a great way. Many westerns attempt reverse elbows without any step depth, so they are inaccurate or lose power. Of course this is a once in a great while trick, but I love how sound in principle it is.

I'll ask Sylvie who taught her this and see if we can get video up. It's pretty cool.

Sylvie has really grown well beyond what she knew in that fight, in the last year or more, and in fact has really started focusing on clinch entry. Maybe she can do a video share of what she is working on. There are lots of things you can do - you can just pick one of course - but I think she's broken through to a new level of awareness on this. I'll see if I can get her to put something together.

Off the top of my head there are not only teep location variations (the thighs, the hip points - to interrupt kicks - low in the abdomen, mid stomach, solarplexis, face), but there are all styles of teeps. You can hit with the ball of the foot, the point of the toes (this is painful), the heel. You can teep short and stiff, or lean back and long. You can jump on the teep, or turn the teep into a side kick a little for power. And then there are tons of combinations off of teeps, including a cool one Sylvie recently learned where, after setting with teeps, you "miss the teep" on purpose and fall into a reverse elbow. The teep is its own world. It's a great way to attack the gas tank, change levels when fighters are too concerned with hands. Sylvie in fact just has added the teep to her comfort zone and it is making a huge difference in the last few fights.

Pretty cool you see this clearly. Not everyone does because Muay Thai in the west can come filtered through very narrow technical pathways, and it is natural to want to emulate your trainer. But in Thailand this is really a big truth. Sylvie's first trainer in Chiang Mai, a westerner Andy Thomson who has been training Thais for 20 years, told her "There is not 1 Muay Thai, there are 1,000s. Each person has their own Muay Thai." And Den, her Thai trainer some years later told Sylvie "Everyone learns the same Muay Thai, up to you to put it together". At Sylvie's current gym, Petchrungruang, the trainer has a very distinct style that he likes, but he is so open minded no Thai fighter comes out of the gym looking like any other. It's kind of amazing. His own son fights very unlike how he would like. Big clinch fighters, or very artful defensive fighters all come out of the gym. You can feel that the gym just feels that everyone has their Nature, and this nature just comes through. Once you figure out a kid's nature you try to find the techniques that compliment and express it. I know I'm just saying what you have said above, but this is a really exciting part of Muay Thai. And it is exactly as you say, it's because it's a fighting art, proven and evolving in 1,000s and 1,000s of fights all over the country every year.

I was thinking the same thing, in reverse. I can watch good clinch all day long. Hop in, hop out striking, unless at a really elite level, is boring. I will say though, I would like to see the Meksen KO fight of Iman Barlow. Iman's such a nice pressure fighter, that must of been something.

No, I mean I've never seen her in a fight that I've enjoyed. She's very athletic, very skilled. But not interesting to me. I feel guilty to admit it. Just me.

This is really a great breakdown of the rules of Glory and the Sittichai fight. I don't follow Kunlun, so I have no idea really. Maybe someone here does.

I know you are talking about energy and fitness levels here, but I see it in your fight style too. One of the more interesting questions facing a fighter in development is: how much to I go with what I feel is my "nature" and how much to I work very hard to change it? This can be really complicated when trainers have a vision with how you "should" fight based on either what has been successful for them, or on your body type (Sylvie had long struggles with this). Some things are worth changing through hard work, some things that really are you should be embraced, because ultimately fighting is an expression of you. It's the fighter's path to figure out which is which. In watching the fight I really could see your "slow and steady" nature, though it wasn't that slow at all, you had a nice pace. It was more that you had a uniformity to your striking, in terms of tempo and power. Something that might be very interesting for you is to really work on your teep with your length. Teep to the high torso, the low torso, the thighs. If you got good lean back on this it would make you very hard to deal with, and it would compliment your nice round kicks. But mostly why I recommend it is because a good stiff teep could compliment your "slow but steady" comfort level. It works like a great jab in boxing. It would allow your medium tempo, strike, strike, strike comfort, but because it is read as a defensive strike, it would make your more aggressive round kicks and combinations feel more explosive, in contrast. Anyone can have suggestions of course, but it is something I thought about during your rounds. Throwing it out there. :)