Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
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Posts posted by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
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On 8/6/2019 at 2:26 AM, MadelineGrace said:
Hi! I’m now getting close to 6 months of training Muay Thai
i go consistently 3x a week and don’t miss class!
I find myself wondering.... what should I do for shadow boxing - I typically just start throwing jabs and crosses ( Typical I guess) then I think - do a hook or upper cut. Then the more of the same same but I’ll throw in an elbow, a teep, a knee etc.
I just do all that over and over til the trainor yells ‘ time’. I don’t feel I’m getting all out of it that I should.
are there any ... guidelines to how to choose what strikes to throw for shadow boxing? I feel like I’m just winging it! Does everyone just wing it??
for that reason I don’t ‘ love’ shadow boxing But I can see that it’s important so I need to embrace it and get better!!
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i bought a free standing heavy bag. (I have no place to hang a heavy bag in my home) ( also I saw many of them in master K’s basement that Sylvie used to train on in her early years... if it worked for her I’ll certainly try it too)
I am opting to put TINY GRAVEL or pebbles in it rather than sand or water.
Water I can’t risk using Bc of potential to *leak* in my home. And sand I heard can get like ‘ cement’ if moisture gets in it???
My question is - Anyone have thoughts on filling with gravel?? Good idea or am I complicating things and should just use sand.
( on the off chance someone here used tiny gravel or pebbles to fill it, where did you get it ? a landscaping place? Im in the USA ) thx
Gravel is good. My first trainer, Master K, used gardening gravel in his heavy bags and that worked great.
As for shadow, it's awkward and limited and weird for a long time and then it just suddenly isn't anymore. It's like learning a language. At first you can only ask for the bathroom and say you are enjoying your food, over and over again. But gradually you start thinking, understanding, asking questions, etc. Just give it time. If you want to watch some fights and steal a few moves that you can throw in, that's going to be interesting, but it won't be "better" for you than just moving and letting the weapons come out of your own rhythm and flow. Better than coming up with "moves" or "combinations" for variety, is to get better at picturing an opponent and throwing weapons in response to whatever you're visualizing there. That's a much more useful skill.
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On 7/24/2019 at 11:00 PM, Malik said:
Hi everyone,
So we usually know thai fighters by their nicknames, or fighters names, but I was wondering how they actually call each other when they meet, or train, and sometimes live together.
The second part of my question is in regard to the teachers. I believe "Kru" means teacher in thai, and if I remember correctly "Pi" is a form of respect that one puts before the name of the person they are addressing. So how should one call his teacher in thailand, would it be "Kru X", or "Pi X". Also what if the teacher was a fighter. For example I've read online that Karuhat's real name was Suweet. If he was my teacher, should I call him "Kru Karuhat", "Pi Karuhat", "Kru Suweet" or "Pi Suweet"? Lastly just out of curiosity, I was wondering if "Kru Nu" was Sylvie's teacher name, his nickname?...Thanks a lot!!
Most people are called by their nicknames, or "play" name. School kids call their teachers by "Kru" and then the play name. "Real" names are very rarely used. Nobody calls anybody by their real name unless it's a legal document or something like the IFMA where you have to register with your legal name. For fighters, they're called by their fight name by fans and when being referred to as that fighter, but if someone knows them even as an acquaintance it's the play name. So, Dieselnoi will refer to Karuhat in the 3rd person but call him by his play name to his face or if he's talking to me, because I know him personally also. I occasionally call Dieselnoi by his play name, but mostly I use "Ajarn Dieselnoi" as a sign of respect, but Ajarn + his play name works just as well.
"Pi" is an older sibling, so it's appropriate if you are semi-familiar or familiar with someone who is your age or older. Pi Nu is "Pi" plus the play name (which in his case is just a shortening of his real name, like how westerners have nicknames that are just shorter versions of given-names, whereas many play names are completely different from given names. Example is Pi Nu's son: real name: Titee, play name: Bank, fight name: Tongchai) Dieselnoi is too much older than me for me to call him "Pi" unless I kind of forget. It's appropriate to call him "Lung", which is like an uncle, but "Arjan" feels more respectful to me. Karuhat is also old enough that I could call him "Lung Sian," but he'd be offended by that, like I was calling him old, so even though the age difference makes that appropriate, I use "Pi" for his ego, hahaha.
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22 hours ago, standbystandby said:
Hi,
Has anyone trained in Chiang Mai during the Smokey season? I notice a lot of the gyms are open aired and feel this would have a big effect. Do the gyms still run during this period? Smokey season is from Feb-april?
I'm looking to stay in Thailand and train for at 4-6 months, (awaiting authorisation of career break from my work) and trying to budget some costs, planning to train from Dec-May.
I'm also looking for a gym that has a good hilly running route as I am keen to improve my running as well as my Muay thai. I did have my eye on Kems muaythai gym but for 1 month training it is seems a bit high...Any recommendations of gyms with location similar to Kems but not too costly?
Has anyone had any experience of Meenayothin Gym? and also Diamond Muay Thai?
Not planning to fight!
If you want a location like Kem's, the price will be like Kem's. The accommodation and meals are included because it's so isolated, so it will be hard to find a cheaper version.
As for Burning Season, it's pretty awful. Yes, gyms still train and run, but some who can afford it and have the desire to do so skip the season all together and there's a bit of an "exodus" from Chiang Mai at that time. I stayed and trained completely as per usual in the 2+ years I was there (so, probably 3 Burning Seasons), so I wouldn't personally consider it to be debilitating. My husband doesn't remember it as being particularly bad, for what that's worth.
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19 hours ago, Cynical said:
Hi everyone,
Just became a patreon member because I've started to be really interested in Muay Thai. I've been doing basic techniques and exercises at my gym that has a heavy bag. My favorite fighter I've seen is Lerdsila, I really like his tricky and evasive style of fighting. So I've been trying to emulate some of his combos that consists of feints and tricky combos. I just wanted to maybe get some general information on what you think is the best way to start learning the Muay femur style of Muay Thai. Also a more specific question is I've been trying to learn the question mark kick that Lerdsila and Saenchai tend to use. With my rear leg I can manage doing the question mark kick decently, I can still use improvement. But when I try with my lead leg I seem to not have enough hip flexibility for it. What are some good hip dexterity and flexibility stretches or drills you can recommend to help my kicks.
This is my first post and I'm excited to be apart of this community.
Thanks
Hi, welcome to the community! For hip flexibility I have this recommendation:
However, I suspect it's less to do with flexibility in a general sense, but that your back foot isn't at the same width/position that your lead foot is when you throw the kick. When we switch our stance or do things opposite from our dominant side, we often don't position the body with symmetry. See where you put your lead foot in relation to your shoulder and hips, then see if it's the same on the other side. Likely, you're too narrow.
Learning Femeu style is 99% moving and feeling. This means lots and lots of shadowboxing and sparring. Experimenting, messing with your partners, seeing if you can trick and fool them, etc. Far more an "imitation game" of watching your favorite fighter and then impersonating them than it is a combination or set of particular "moves" to make you evasive. You can steal the techniques, but you have to just do them and do them forever until they look natural.
In the library, Namsaknoi, Karuhat, Silapathai, Attachai are all good for learning some of these techniques.
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16 hours ago, DzankoBosnia said:
Hey guys so I'm fairly new to the sport, I've been training for about a year now. Anyhow whenever we do sparring sessions i either focus hard on the boxing part or the leg-kick part, how can I be sure to chain these two together and learn to use them both to my advantage, I'm about 6 foot 2 and 170 lbs, and I would say that my kicks are way more powerful than the boxing part. Thanks in advance.
Shadowboxing. Lots and lots and lots of shadowboxing. That's what Yodkhunpon always tells me. You train the muscle memory of lower body working with the upperbody and landing off of kicks into upperbody techniques, etc. It's like dancing, but practicing the transitions between the upper and lower body as a way to create balance. If you go against a sparring partner who is pretty good at combining their punches and kicks, literally copy everything they do, strike for strike, for a couple of rounds. It's like the "repeat after me" game of learning a language in school. Worth a try.
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18 hours ago, T. Vitayanuvatti said:
I like to watch a lot of Muay Thai videos on YouTube like Lawrence Kenshin, Muay Thai scholar, and of course Sylvie’s training vlogs. I see a lot of Golden era fighters/fighters like Samart, Somrak, Sagat, Nokweed Devy, and Coban and I’m not 100% sure what they’re fighting styles are.
I think it would be cool to compile a list of famous fighters and they’re fighting styles. I think most of the ones I listed are Muay Femur stylists but if anybody knows and would like to share, I’m all ears.
Sagat and Coban are definitely not Femeu fighters. They're both punchers "Muay Mat". It's funny, talking to Golden Age fighters, they all say that fighters used to be more rounded back in the day. They were specialists, but they also had way more weapons at their disposal in order to fight any other kind of style. But you talk to contemporary fighters and they say the old fogies were all "too specialized" and nowdays everyone is more well-rounded. I tend to agree with the older generation, in that theri styles were more distinct but their vocabulary in arsenal was flexible. Contemporary Muay Thai is more "Jack of all trades but master of none," kind of deal.
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Teep always works nicely against "short range" and short stature opponents. I'm a shorty and I feckin' hate the teep. It also sets up for almost anything else, like the jab does.
But, honestly your approach to this opponent in your fight was very good anyway. She landed some heavy punches that could have been complicated by a teep, but a good guard is just as good.
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18 hours ago, Olaf said:
Hello everybody! I come here with this question: I'm trying to learn to play traditional muay thai music. Maybe one day I'll travel to Thailand, but for today's purpouses I trying to find some resources on the internet, or some contacts who are on this topic. I managed to buy a pi chawa (the thai oboe) from a friend who was travelling on thailand. But now I found that almost all content is on thai (written or spoken), so I'm asking if someone here has any contacts related to this topic, or any other helpful information that may be shared. Really thank you all!
Greetings from Argentina
Olaf
I'm hoping someone can direct you to some resources here. It's amazing how few resources we have in English, on tons of topics and elements of Muay Thai. It's one of the reasons I've tried to write and share as much as I do, because the library of information is just so limited. Good luck!
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2 hours ago, LengLeng said:
Her opponent's corner man you see in the video ended up wrapping my hands and helping me on with my gloves. He was very cool and calm and great to be around to calm fight nerves. And the cat was super cute.
Ah! That's cool that Jomkwan's corner helped you get ready. I arrived during her teammates fight, which I think was bout #2. I was setting up my mat and talking to the promoter, so I didn't really get to watch her in the ring but saw that she was dealing with some serious leg kicks afterward.
A few of your knees had both my husband and my cornerman going "oooiiii" as we watched from our mat
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5 minutes ago, Xestaro said:
Congrats Sylvie and Congrats LengLeng!
Jomkwan fought well and aggressive but I felt like beginning in round 3 the fight was beginning to take a somewhat visible toll on her. When she was down so long in the end I couldn't help but wonder if maybe one of her ribs had cracked or something. I once saw a fighter KOd with a broken rib which looked similar. Hope she recovers soon! I enjoyed watching her as well as Sylvie!
Those knees were the bomb once again! Well aimed, powerful snipershots
Thanks so much. Jomkwan is such a great fighter, I really wish I could see more of her... when not against me.
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On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 AM, MadelineGrace said:
I just watched the fight video with the voice over commentary. ( I saw it live too. I missed the 1st round live but saw it from 2nd round middle on)
congratulations!!
( no further comments Bc I’ve only been doing MT for 5 months so I have no real insight or in-depth knowledge. I just enjoy watching and listening. And learning if im
luck enough)
who is the other fighter that is on here that you said fought really well even though it was her 2nd fight only? Congrats to her also.
LengLeng, oh man... her knees and elbows were awesome. Her opponent was also very strong with punches and I heard a few of them even from far away from the ring. It wasn't close though, LengLeng blew the fight out. Awesome, awesome performance, really.
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Chatchai Sasakul in Bangkok. 100%: Chatchai is all about balance and weight transfer. Everything is the legs and feet, then not breaking the frame with your upper body. But man, the way he can generate power from such simple and minimal (economical) movement is just incredible. It doesn't require translation between the boxing movements and Muay Thai, and he was a very good Muay Thai fighter before he went into boxing, so he's able to bring it all together.
Manop in Chiang Mai: this is again a big point about balance. Manop is kind of rangy, but he understands and can articulate small details about footwork and leg/stance for balance and power. His English is pretty good as far as I have seen, but I mostly speak Thai with him so I'm not totally sure how he explains things in English. But he is able to articulate the nuances into words, so I imagine he does so in English as well. Detail-oriented, for sure.
Burklerk in Lampang: his technique is Old School, but it's absolutely useful to contemporary Muay Thai as well. He's really good at breaking down the minute differences between what you're doing and what he wants you to do, but it's not verbal. You have to watch and imitate. But he'll totally point out exactly where the difference is, so you don't have to play "guess what's wrong," you just have to pin-point the adjustment and he's very good at helping you see that. His balance is great, he's scary, and his distance is one that literally any sized fighter has an advantage fighting at.
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18 hours ago, Bartek94 said:
Hi!
In next 2 weeks I'm going to Thailand to train muay thai, I have 2 months there. I'm thinking about Lanna Muay Thai, but I've read some negative opinions about this gym after the management changed. Has anyone of you visited it recently? Ot maybe you recommend another place in Chiang Mai, like HongThong Muay Thai? I'm amateur fighter, I've been training for couple of years and have had some amateur fights.
P.S. Sorry for mistakes, I'm still learning english ;D
It's hard to say whether it's "worth it" to train there or not, as giving generalized gym advice is hard because every person is different, has different needs and expectations. I haven't trained at the new Lanna Muay Thai, so I can't give first-hand experience, but I've heard from people who are training there recently that it's crowded and more "class" structured. How busy a gym is changes ALL THE TIME, so I can't say whether that's the case at this moment or not - it's low season in Thailand. Kru Daeng is still there and he's always worth training with. He's fight-oriented, experienced, knowledgeable and a great guy. But you could always take a private with him if the gym itself is not what you're looking for.
Hongthong is another that I've never done regular training at. Both Gen and Joe are 100% worth taking private sessions with, but regular training is something that I can't comment on from experience. Both Lanna and Hongthong are gyms that can get you fights, if that's something you're interested in.
Manop's gym looks good and Manop is a great trainer. Looks like they have a good group of people training most of the time, so you have clinching and sparring. It's a bit out of town, so you'd need to get a motorbike or be happy staying put most of the time.
In general, I advise people to try more than one gym and make their longer-term plans based on their own experiences. None of these gyms are so far away from Chiang Mai that you can't take a few days to try each of them and make your decision from there. You'll know better than anyone what feels right to you, and there's no reason to commit before arrival.
You might find this thread helpful:
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Jaroentong is also a switching fighter. I'm not sure what you mean by drills for practicing the switch, as it seems you're trying to learn how to switch in the moment, rather than fighting out of both stances. I haven't been taught "how to switch," but rather Karuhat literally reversed my stance and I had to learn how to fight in Southpaw. When literally going from right handed to left handed or vice versa, in general it's just like walking into the opposite stance. Namsaknoi has a really nice galloping switch on a punch, but he doesn't stay in the opposite stance. He just switches on that punch. But I reckon you could use it as your switch and just stay in that other stance. Karuhat does the same thing, but from the opposite stance, which is meaningful because he's going from his "unnatural" stance into his natural stance for a power cross, whereas Namsaknoi's is the inverse of that, so you're landing into the non-dominant position.
Sifu's "when to switch" drills and philosophies are the only time switching is talked about conceptually by a teacher in the Library. Otherwise it's my own take on what the switches feel like or mean. The dangers of switching are being off-guard for a moment as you're switching and landing into a position where your "open side" is vulnerable. But you just have to be aware of that and guard or set up the switch by off-balancing your opponent first. In general, don't switch stance in kicking range. Either closer or farther out. I'd choose closer. Karuhat often uses a simple step back (again, same as walking) when reversing his stance and then his attack just flows directly out of that. Almost nobody switches and does nothing. They switch on an attack or on a defensive step that becomes an attack.
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Being in the middle of the ring in Thai scoring is not in and of itself an advantage in Thai scoring. Any time Dieselnoi has talked to me about strategy, he's focused on getting the opponent into the ropes before doing much of anything at all. Referees certainly shape fights in all kinds of ways; but being at the center of the ring is not what I'd call an advantage, certainly not so much as when and how the referee breaks the clinch being a much bigger deal in shaping the fight.
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This is going to be one of those things that I say and you go, "oh yeah, totally," and then go right back to thinking the way you already think. That's okay. What we think is a habit. But I'm going to say it and I want you to try to really understand it: you do not make your trainer feel any way at all. Not good. Not bad. He feels how he feels because of the thoughts he's having and, in a room full of students, he's not thinking only - or even primarily - about you.
Don't try to please him. Don't try to frustrate him. Neither are your responsibility. A few years ago my trainer was in this terrible mood. He walked through the room I was in, didn't acknowledge me at all, got in his car and left the gym. I was the only one there. He didn't train me. I had a fucking emotional breakdown, thinking I'd done something wrong and he was mad at me. I was obsessed with it and when I finally grew the courage to confront him about it, I realized it wasn't about me AT ALL. He was going through something very upsetting and instead of being compassionate, I was obsessing over myself. That taught me a lot.
It's a relief, honestly.
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On 7/18/2019 at 7:30 AM, Buska said:
Hi everyone,
I've been training Muay Thai for 4 weeks now. Came from a boxing background.
Falling in love with Muay Thai and the challenges it's bringing already
(very sore shins).
Great website and forum!
Welcome! I can't feel my shins anymore at all, haha.
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Sagat did exactly this yesterday. He stepped on my foot to pin me to the spot and then yanked me toward him and killed me.
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23 hours ago, Muaykhaofan said:
How to fight on Australian show a fighter who like to walk backwards and throw kicks and bes evasive? Everytime their opponents rush in with hands they get caught with body kicks.
Timing. If you come straight forward, you're walking into the strike like a punching bag. Cut angles, make them kick first (faking, timing) and then counter when they miss.
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18 hours ago, Sifu81 said:
Hi Sylvie , I couldnt find the topic in the roundtable , so going to ask again can you tell me how you felt / reacted the first time you got cut in a fight from a elbow? I was cut from an elbow training last week it was kind of unsettling because of the amount of blood , I wondered to myself when I fight would I have the stomach to keep fighting ! Is this something that just comes with time and training ?
The very first time I definitely didn't even notice. It was a small one up in my hairline that got, like, two stitches after the fight. I was bothered that they cut my hair. But it didn't run into my eyes or anything. I do recall it felt like hot water on my brow.
But the first significant cuts, those are somewhat well-known in that I got 28 stitches and they were pretty nasty on my forehead. I knew straight away on each of them that they were cuts, even though I'd not really experienced that before. There were droplets of blood all over the canvass, on my opponent, on my arms, on the gloves, etc. I don't remember being freaked out by it, I had a kind of uncanny "I know what that is," and I think it's similar to how shin clashes don't hurt during fights. The adrenaline is just soaring, which takes care of a lot. There's less stress in training, just because it's more familiar, so the adrenaline rarely gets to what it will be in a fight. So being freaked out in training doesn't necessarily mean you'd be freaked out in a fight, where shit just doesn't seem to matter (to me).
That said, I know a very experienced fighter (Thai) who nearly fainted at the sight of her own blood on her glove in a fight the first time she was cut (near the end of her career, so deep into her experience) and she kind of freaked out about it for a full week afterward. People just have different reactions. My brother wanted to be a doctor until he discovered he can't handle the sight of blood. Nothing wrong with him in any way, he just handles it very differently than I do. I faint at the sight of clowns, so, you know... who knows?
I suspect you'd handle it fine in a fight. I've rarely ever seen someone be very bothered by their own cuts in a fight.
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On 7/5/2019 at 9:36 AM, LengLeng said:
I have used epsom salt soaks a lot in the past due to sleep issues and trying to learn some wim hoff techniques. Where do you get epsom salt in Thailand?
There's a pharmacy in Pattaya that sells it, but it's CRAZY expensive. I think they intend it to be consumed for a laxative or something, given how tiny the portions are that they're selling. So I buy mine online. You can just google and find Lazada or iHerb or various other sources. Not too expensive, but definitely not the drug-store prices I'm used to in the States.
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On 7/5/2019 at 5:02 PM, Kero Tide said:
Otherwise yeah it's Dieselnoi to me for sure. Not a hardcore fan of Samart's singing and dancing hahaha not even sorry.
Hahaha, I have an affinity for it. Maybe like how well-adjusted people still like to watch Soap Operas. But I will admit that I wasn't much of a Samart fan until I trained with him for the library... and then I understood something that I didn't feel before. Whereas Dieselnoi... you can't not feel him, at any moment.
As for me... Jesus, Kero. Muhammad Ali did his own talking, he didn't wait for sports writers or anyone else to do it for him. I wish I had the bravery of Ali. To be what he was, WHEN he was, is nothing short of incredible. Maybe I'm a version of that, because I'm always kicking against the pricks. To be the greatest, I'm not sure if I am brave enough to aim for it... but to work hard so that I'm not the last in anything in which I was the first... well, that's something I'll shout at the moon for.
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8 hours ago, Jeremy Stewart said:
I think and I'm just putting this out there. Maybe other female fighters aren't as lucky as Sylvie. In the respect they don't have the support of a great husband. It would be awfully difficult, if not impossible to do what Sylvie has done without that kind of support.
100%
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2 hours ago, LengLeng said:
also constantly being told by trainers and fellow students to not get a thai massage more than 2/monthly. Because of toxins being released and so on. But massage has really helped me with my muscle issues. And it "feels" right.
Curious to hear other people's views.
I get oil massages regularly, sometimes opting for just foot/leg, and only occasionally get the Thai massages. But for the same reasons you get the Thai massage, which is that it "feels right" for me. A Thai massage makes me feel like I've been run over by a truck, but an oil massage (which I still prefer to be quite hard) can make me feel more loose the next day in my movements... or it can make me feel like I have the flu. So, I'm not sure if it's a frequency thing, a hormone thing, a release of toxins thing, or just chance on how I'll feel. I do them anyway. The sauna makes me exhausted the next day, but I also think it's really good for me.
I use meditation as part of my daily practice, but for me recovery is daily practice also, so I'll lump them together. Clearing out my mind absolutely makes huge differences in how my body feels. Or at least how I respond to how my body feels.
Dieselnoi advised me to soak my feet in warm salt water before sleep, so when I remember to do that I will. I don't feel huge differences, but I do think my sleep is a little bit more sound when I do that. I use blue light blocking glasses after sunset, to get my melatonin production regulated, also to help with sleep. Napping is amazing, if that's a possibility. Some days there's no time. Some days I just can't get to sleep in the middle of the day.
I heard this woman on a podcast and have just bought her book, you can check that out here: https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a26146682/good-to-go-science-behind-recovery/
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Muay Thai Bones #8 -Introverts, Goggins, Long Clinch, Fight City
in Open Topics - men and women - General Muay Thai Discussion and News
Posted
Kevin and I think of you often and you come up in conversation. I didn't realize you had this struggle, but knowing now makes me feel more connected - and in the most positive way possible, more responsible for the decisions I make. I'm glad to know you, even from afar, even in such a sliver.