Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
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Posts posted by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
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Just as a part of history and reference, this was a published career fight record for Samart Payakaroon, photographed. You can see my translation of the years 1980-1982 available to the public, on my Patreon. These are hi-res photos so you should be able to zoom in. There are some errors in dates in this published version, I believe, maybe typos.
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There aren't a lot of books or films directly about Muay Thai, the mental game for Muay Thai, the fighter's journey or all that. There are more options for other sports that have either been around for longer (Golf, Tennis, Running), or that have an English-speaking target audience (ultra-running, rock climbing).
However, I find some sports very, very inspiring for Muay Thai and what the mental side of it feels like - to me anyway. Here's my running list of books and films:
Rock Climbing:
Free Solo:
Marathon Monks of Mt Hiei:
Momentum Generation
The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
A Wrestling Life: the Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable
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13 hours ago, Ramiro said:
Hi Sylvie, how are you? I was wondering if you know any high repetition method to train the roundhouse and the low kick,,, I love train that kind of methods that you share
I can't think of anything that would work really well without something to kick, either a bag or a pad. For a middle kick, just kicking all the way to a 180 turn, then another to get back to where you started. I do this in one of my live streams from my At Home workouts.
But with or without a pad/bag, the thing about high repetition is the high repetition. So anything you can do hundreds of would ultimately help with your balance and form, over the long run. You could prop your leg up on something that's the same height as your middle kick and then just practice the arms, twist and rise up on the foot, hundreds of times. Or put a pillow against the sofa and mimic the step over and kick of a low kick, steady and without power, hundreds of times.
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13 hours ago, Marija said:
Hey ho, so I had this thought and was thinking of sending a probably yet another private message to Sylvie asking 'hey can you recommend...etc.etc." but I learned through the home work out videos - use the forum! Anyways, I wonder if Sylvie, Kevin or anyone else would know of something like a PT online with some of the krus in Thailand? I imagine it would have to be someone speaking English as otherwise it would be the most random zoom or skype work out ( i did giggle to myself trying to imagine how that would work haha). Anyways any ideas are very welcome, I know it is not ideal, but I am doing all the drills and shadow and tbh i am not even sure if i am doing things correctly and getting quite bored and unmotivated by this solo routine. Thank you all! Marija
Thanks for watching the live streams and for using the forum, for exactly what it's for!
There are a few places offering online training. Por Promin in Hua Hin has been offering this and I imagine they'd have a pretty good method going by now; they have English, are used to training all levels, and already have the sessions going. Here's their FB: https://web.facebook.com/porpromin/
Santai has said that their offering PT, as well as free technique live videos on their FB periodically. Here's their FB, and you can ask about privates. I recommend Kru Ten. https://web.facebook.com/muay.thai.gym/
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On 4/21/2020 at 7:49 PM, SHELL28 said:
Woah.....
Thanks Kevin, just fascinating.
This reminds me too in Thailand that only Mahuts (elephant companions) are allowed to be male.
I was told this is because of female mensuration too but I wonder if it runs deeper?
The strength of the elephant being a sacred animal and having no place for a woman.
A bit like the Muay Thai ring.
Ha Even though most elephants in captivity are female!
I would imagine that most of the traditions and customs surrounding Mahouts and any kind of elephant care in Thailand comes from India as well, so likely the same source.
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Do you have links for any of these?
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21 hours ago, Richard said:
Hey, thanks for your input, any thoughts about leather or non-leather for home use?
Richard, you're in my hometown! I was going to suggest that if you get a standing bag, one that has a base, that you can fill it with water because then you can empty it and move it more easily than if it's sand. But because of all the snow and change in temperatures that Boulder experiences, the water might be a risky move. A hanging bag is preferable for all kinds of reasons, but obviously depends on budget and if you have somewhere to hang it from.
Leather cracks if you don't fill the bag properly at the beginning. Any slack, "bagginess" between the filling and the leather, if you hit it for a few weeks it will crack and break open. So make sure you really pack it and keep adding to it over the first couple weeks to make sure it's full, even as the filling starts to settle.
I'm looking at everyone's gyms and am jealous of these mats. Kevin and I are working on tile and it's very slippery when we start to drip from sweat and I think I hurt my foot by stomping around like a maniac on such a hard surface... I thought I was tougher, I guess.
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Ruup is literally the body as an object. Picture a doll, how it's posed, how it's positioned, posture, overall composure. It's physical.
Ning is something that can be expressed through posture, but it's not the posture itself. It's being unmoved, unbothered, unaffected.
If you get kneed in the guts and your body folds, your Ruup broke, but if you just carry on as if it doesn't matter and you keep coming, that's Ning.
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The benefit to the chest strap is that you can take the watch part off your wrist and just keep it close by for bagwork. Like, wrap it around the leg of a chair within range of it still reading your heart rate. If you have only the wristband, you have to keep it on your wrist under your glove for it to continue reading your heart during those workouts. I don't like that. Kevin doesn't seem to mind at all. Depends on your own preference but that's what I consider between the two.
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That looks very much like Staph. Allow it to get air (don't keep a bandaid on it when you're not training) and keep it dry. Warm compresses will help get all the gunk out, but don't squeeze it. Ever.
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I was about to bring up Ali in that first fight against Frazier as well. I don't know how Jiu Jitzu is judged, ultimately, so I can't say how looking tired would affect the impression you're giving to judges. In a 1-1 interaction with your opponent, maybe you can get the effect you're talking about that was in that Frazier/Ali fight, where he seemed to kind of dishearten Frazier a little bit by looking ready to go and then not being able to be knocked out... but I've never personally been one to be impressed in any sort of way by someone looking tired, even if they continue all through.
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I think this is especially tricky because of the complete disparity between importance and commonality of fighting between Thai gyms and western gyms. In the argument about grading systems in western gyms, which is a way to retain members and give people who aren't fighters a sense of accomplishment and progress, these methods are in place because gyms are not mainly fighter's gyms. Most members are there for fitness or passion, but most won't fight. There are "fight teams" within the gyms and the more fighters you have the more "authentic" you are, I guess. But in Thailand, a grading system would be ridiculous. You walk into a gym and just watch people and you know what "level" they are in experience. Fighters definitely have importance for financial reasons and giving "face" and esteem to the gym name, which is true in the West as well but to a very, very different degree. I'm not sure how that kind of "authenticity" could translate into such a different system in the West, with such different business models, customer breakdowns, opportunities, and most importantly a broad disparity in experience between Thai trainers/gyms and those anywhere else in the world.
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I asked Assist Thai Visa about insurance once and they sent me a list. I can't look at those things very well, I've never had insurance so understanding premiums and deductables and all that isn't something I'm familiar with. They're based in Chiang Mai, so you can go to their office when you move there (contact with them before is of course fine). We used them for our visa when we were in Chiang Mai, good group.
I've seen news about how pandemic insurance in Thailand is no longer offering lump-sum payments, but I don't know if these companies also insure non-Thais or not. I would assume they do, in order to have the news be available in English, but I don't know anything about what they are or whether having insurance on an "international" level is better.
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I wouldn't label him a clinch fighter, although he definitely wants to get his opponents to clinch with him so he can land elbows from that range and have them be busy while he times them. But his full nickname is the "Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches," and the "hunter" part to me is his style. He's a forward fighter, relentless even though not necessarily pressuring the way Samson did with his insane pace and forward movement. Yodkhunpon is, to me, a Muay Khao fighter with specialties of elbows.
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I suspect that the "turn your hip" as taught by western coaches is truly an "over-turn" situation. Western hips are by and large very inflexible and so the turn of the hip makes up for the relaxation of the kicking leg. If both the standing leg and kicking leg are tense, you get a punt. If you force a turn in the hip, you can at least whip the kicking leg a little bit. Yodkhunpon has criticized my kick so, so many times for turning too much. He laughs at me, his kind of quiet way, smiling to himself. "You do one, and then what? Finish already," he says. It's true. You do that much of a turn on your kick and you've fired your one shot, you're not ready to kick again.
That said, turning your hip isn't "wrong." A strong, cut-you-down kick turns the hip. But it doesn't ONLY turn the hip. It kind of cuts through like a baseball bat, still loose in the hip and the kicking leg is more or less relaxed. If you're Samart, you'll flex the leg on impact, kind of giving it a stick-hitting-a-gong effect. Others don't do that. If you're Silapathai, you're going to kick 8 million times per minute anyway, so the kicks are just fast as.
Different techniques, all kicking. The purpose of the 50 kick drills though is to build stamina and power. They're not truly "this is how you should kick" drills anymore than a 30 second "burnout" of one-two punches on a bag teach proper punching form. A speedbag isn't about technique. It's about coordination. It's about speed. It's about rhythm. That's what 50 kick, or 500 kick repeats are all about. So says me, anyway.
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Here's a rough film study we did on the "Golden Kick"
Keep in mind though that there is not ONE "Thai Kick." There are lots of variations and technique might not be "wrong." Honestly, if your kick is powerful and fast then you have a good kick. If it comes out readily in the rhythm of your other movements, it's a good kick.
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2 hours ago, Oliver said:
Hello people, hope alls well. Question to anybody else who's in Thailand at the moment - you guys heard anything or got any links with info about our Visa situation?
Mines a 6 month tourist visa, runs out late June. But this bullshit won't be over by then, no way. Don't wanna go back to Poland or UK as Corona is way way way worse there and will continue.
Will the Thai Gov allow us to overstay the visa without fines and jail etc, given the exceptional circumstances?
Appreciate any info ppl got, and if anyone out there is in the same situation as me hit up my DMs no prob.
Take care everybody
The current situation (who knows how soon it will change) is that overstays are still being fined as overstays, but you won't be punished by deportation or being barred from re-entering the country, as are the penalties for overstay in normal circumstances. The fine, as far as I know, is the same amount as it always is, 500 Baht per day of overstay. So, get to your Immigration Office before your visa runs out and go over what your options are for extensions.
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A reader asks a good question:
"I had a random question for you/Sylvie to regarding roundhouse kicks, if you don't mind? I know there are variations and I've read your thoughts on the golden kick. My question was more related to some confusion on my part when I see trainers/fighters teaching that a roundhouse kick should involve turning over of the hip to strike through your opponent. That's all fine and how I've always practised/taught a roundhouse kick. The confusion part is when I then see those same fighters doing 20-30 continuous kicks on pads, at which point their kicks have very little hip rotation and become almost a slightly angled in straight up kick. Is this bad technique on their part. Or is it a deliberately modified kick so they are able to throw fast repetitive kicks?"
I'll be jumping in here later to answer this
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9 hours ago, Asger said:
Hello everyone,
I believe I read somewhere in the vast archives of Kevin and Sylvie that the thai notion of self is primarily situated in the torso. Does anyone have any idea where I might read further about this, provided that is true? Thank you very much in advance.
''We cannot know his legendary head,
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso...''
I don't think this is correct. The self isn't "located" in the body, but Thai language and concepts put a lot of emphasis on the heart for qualities of a person. If they're good qualities, they generally have the word for "heart" as the prefix. If they are current states of emotion they have "heart" as the suffix. Bad characteristics and emotions also use this, but additionally a poor quality or characteristic can put "shit" as the prefix, interestingly.
What you read before might be Kevin's comments on how Thais emphasize the center of the body as a higher point of focus for scoring in Muay Thai, whereas in the west we like to head-hunt. In English we use the head for language the same way Thai uses the heart, for example "hot headed" or "cool headed" in English is directly "hot heart" or "cool heart" in Thai, which is the locative difference you've picked up on in your question. But I think it's important to make clear that the "Self" in Thai concepts, since it largely is a Buddhistic culture, isn't located anywhere. And is ultimately an illusion that causes pain, suffering and should be escaped.
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Anything you can hang from for pullups is awesome. Situps, planks, pushups, squats, burpees... all body weight exercises are awesome.
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Almost everything is shutting down in Thailand as well, depending on location as each province can make their own rules. But tomorrow the PM will be announcing the articles of a State of Emergency that will start on March 26 and extend at minimum to April 26th. I'm pretty anxious awaiting the details, honestly.
Gyms are closed, restaurants are take-out only, only groceries and "essential businesses" are open.
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I've filled this out, hope it's helpful.
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Thailand has varying responses. Some promotions are continuing and airing live on TV, but they don't allow spectators in to watch. There's a limit of 100 people (in some of these cases) including cameramen, cornermen, doctors, etc. Some places have stopped promoting completely and made big public displays of deep-cleaning and disinfecting the venues. Some places are carrying on as usual, no changes, other than seeing more people wearing masks. There are a few gyms that have stopped taking new clients (those who are already there and paid are continuing), some are closing entirely (this is highly unusual), and some that have international clients are requiring "health certificates" before accepting new students.
It's a huge problem in terms of affecting the livelihood of countless people in Thailand though. From fighters to promoters, gym owners, professional gamblers, etc. People have to eat. There's a lot of criticism of implementing these cancellations without also offering help to those who it affects the most.
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On 3/9/2020 at 4:44 PM, DrunkenMaster said:
Does anyone know a decent and cheap gym close to Patong area ? I don’t know if I can drive so I will look for a accommodation nearby.
PhuketKing Muay Thai Gym is good. Kru Pot is awesome.
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in Muay Thai Technique, Training and Fighting Questions
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Thanks for sharing this.