Tyler Byers

Have any video? Personally I'd walk forward while trying to catch the kick then hit them with an overhand shot (punch or elbow if you can reach) or repeatedly dump them on their ass to make them think twice about kicking. You can also use your hands to feint then teep aggressively to knock them off their base every time they go to kick.

Hi Sifu, I am curious to hear how others reacted to their first cut as well. I've only gotten two cuts and to be honest I didn't even notice them during the fight. They weren't very large though so I can imagine a cut that is bleeding profusely would possibly be more shocking. I can only give you some thoughts based on my limited experience, but typically you aren't losing nearly as much blood as you think you are. If it's not in your eyes I wouldn't worry about it too much (easier said than done I know ). Blood leaving your body usually has a large percentage of water so it is relatively thin in terms of viscosity. You've got around 5L in your body, and can safely lose up to 0.5L. Imagine dumping an entire 16oz/450ml bottle of water onto a tile floor and how far that will spread. There is a natural reaction of fear for most people when they start bleeding but in reality during a fight you aren't going to lose that much. I would be much more worried about the size, depth, and location of the cut. Hopefully this won't ninja your thread, but I'm also wondering what others think about rubbing open cuts in your opponents face during a clinch. Obviously this is going to be situationally dependent but I would think you could rub anything on the crown of your head into your opponents eyes to try and hinder their vision a bit.

This is actually exactly what happened with the two kids I would work with. They started getting really good at sparring with other kids their size. For me it was a good opportunity to pass knowledge on a little bit and learn how to be a better teacher. I don't know if either kid will ever fight (they were like 12 and 14 which is pretty young to fight in WA), but you could see they had been bit by the bug. Their dad was really supportive and they were competitive with each other so I'm hoping they continued after I moved back to BKK. Experienced students can be get frustrated but they also need to remember that they can use those opportunities to work very specific parts of their skill set when they are working with a beginner. For example, if you want to work on your lead hook, it can be more difficult while sparring or working with someone who is your same level. When you have someone new, you can auto-pilot a little bit while hyper focusing on blocking or moving to set up the shot or look for an opening in their guard.

Oh great! I'll try and find one tomorrow, thanks!

I actually have not tried these before, I only heard about them recently. I get super hot when I sleep so I'm afraid that will just make it worse. I might give it a shot though if I can find one for a decent price. I can probably buy one off Lazada. Hahaha you are definitely right though, I've tried pretty much everything. Insomnia is a serious pain in the ass.

I completely agree. I didn't realize how important/helpful it is until I started learning to hold pads with my last Thai trainer. I used to go to a gym in the US that had us all holding pads for each other (only one coach for the gym unfortunately). I had really mixed feelings about that. The biggest problem was that no one really knew how to hold pads nor did it consistently. The coach would show people and try to make corrections where he could, but no one really understood why they were holding pads a certain way or how to watch whomever was striking. No one moved their feet, people didn't know how to catch shots, no one could mix in different strikes, etc. It was kind of a mess. I'm not very good at holding pads imo and people were blown away when I would hold freestyle. I usually ended up grabbing one of two younger kids (they were siblings) and had them hold for me because even though I couldn't use any power, they were very creative in deciding on combos for me to try. They gave my brain a workout at least. We always did pre-set combos like jab, cross, hook, knee, hook, kick. Good for a big group like that, but not really good as an individual fighter who has their own style. Freestyling pads will teach you the "tells" and what to look for when someone attacks. Super important for progression, especially if you are going to fight.

There is another video you guys have posted in the past talking about how his footwork is almost more like a trot/shuffle (I forget the exact wording), and at the time I thought about how similar it was to my old footwork. I kind of dismissed it as random coincidence at the time because as you mentioned it is very unique and not many people move like that. Namsaknoi is another one who I have always really paid attention to because his footwork is so well balanced and he has a similar kind of shuffling when he circles out. Watching General Tunkawom move you can see how it would translate to a ring setting. I think it's not popular because it does take a little longer to check kicks or throw your own kicks, but it is incredibly easy to walk people down and keep them moving backwards. It's also incredibly easy to throw elbows while moving like that. I don't think it's a coincidence that Yodkhunpon is known for his elbows and that Muay Lertit has 24 unique elbows. There is absolutely some overlap there. If I can ever get some money together I would love to come work with Yodkhunpon. I've actually wanted to come work with him for a couple of years because he was the only one I saw with that similar footwork style. I've really struggled to get my movement back after trainers tried to change my style to something "prettier" and more stadium friendly. No one seems to understand what I am trying to do and will continually insist it is wrong (which I am almost 100% sure is because of the kicking/checking aspect). Korat kind of got it, but still insisted on me having a deeper stance traditional stance than I was comfortable with. I will say that the stance change definitely helped develop power in my kicks, but I want my movement back.

In case anyone is curious what this should sort of look like in practice (in a ring setting), this session with Yodkhunpon reflects the consistent violation of your opponents space and the constant stance switching this style uses. When done effectively it will keep your opponent from being able to regain their base as you batter them with different attacks which come from unconventional angles and sides. The overarching idea is to initially utilize defense to see an opening and then counter, continuing to flow through attacks which will in turn create new openings until you have neutralized/shutdown your opponent. The stance switching really changes the relationship to range because you cover so much more space by being able to step or attack off either side with no reset period.

I love this. It's something that isn't thought about nearly as much as it should be. People don't realize how long it takes to set things up when you are off your base or recover from overextending. It mentally flusters people and they can't keep up once you start finding the gaps. I don't think people realize how much time/efficiency is lost with a lot of their strikes due to the angle or from "having fat" on their technique. That's actually a lot of what I like about this Muay Lertit style I started doing. Everything is built around never losing your balance so you can always be prepared to counter with short shots, flow through even if you miss with your intended strike (turning a missed uppercut/hook into an elbow, missed knee into a kick, etc.), and interrupting your target and knocking them off base so you create openings. I still really suck at it and am adapting (or re-adapting since it is similar to my original style), but you can 100% see how easy it would be to absolutely steamroll people once you are comfortable with it. It aint pretty, but I'll be goddamned if it isn't effective lol.

This is something I feel more people should be teaching in general. I haven't been training that long, but haven't seen hardly any coaches talking about fight theory or strategy (what queues to look for when an opponent is about to use a specific technique, or how to manage fighters with different styles) with their fighters the way I think they should. It's largely left to the fighter to kind of figure out alone later down the road.

I'm watching the day 6 videos and wishing someone would beat the Western boxing out of me lol. Things that were great for that style are totally tripping me up with Muay Lertrit. We'll get there though, we'll get there. I feel like a lot came out of our discussions today, it was nice to be able to break things down a bit on a conceptual level. Kind of feeling our way around in the dark a bit. Hoping this will lead to some more "ah hah" moments next week during training. Wooooo go me for finally figuring out that elbow block at around 39:30ish lol. Only took me 8 days Now I just gotta add back in the details like tucking my chin so I can put it to use.

I really like this philosophy. It's amazing how much more damage you can do by getting someone's weight loaded or getting them off balance. Good stuff!

Yeah I am orthodox then switch to southpaw as I step through. It works pretty well because it initially looks as if you are simply taking a deep step to the right to circle out (sometimes I'll slap the lead hand down and pass it to my left just prior to the step through as well) then you blast them with the kick. Its basically just some misdirection, it doesn't need to be that hard. It totally lawnchairs people though and is funny as hell to watch.

This is very true. My first fight got canceled 4-5 times and then I got one the next evening. Fight arrangements are generally a total shit show for everyone out here lol. Another option here might just be to straight up lie about your fight experience lol. Just tell them you have like 5-10 fights and go with it. That might help motivate a trainer or gym to find you a fight as it is typically a little more work for them to find someone in your weight class who is very inexperienced or brand new. I don't know if that is good or bad advice lol, but it's an idea!

Do you pull the heel towards you when you do this? I always thought that was such a cool small detail lol. I like pretty much anything that sets people off balance like that though. For me my favorite technique is probably a switch stance liver kick on orthodox fighters while on the move (stepping outside their lead foot). I think it is the trapping aspect of it that I enjoy the most. It just completely switches their open side as they start to move with you and leaves them basically defenseless as you see them have an "oh shit" moment before they get blasted in the liver lol. Good times, good times indeed

So here is my theory on the breathing thing... I think it doesn't matter if you are inhaling or exhaling as a defensive mechanism, either way you are essentially holding your breath on the pause (either inward or outward) to contract your core and protect your organs. Where I think things differ with the sharp inhale just prior to being struck is that it allows you to keep your core steady like a barrel full of water which helps with balance upon contact. Think about how power-lifters inhale and hold just prior to doing a heavy squat. It helps protect your core and keeps everything contracted. Also according to them it allows you to lift more weight because of that stability or in our scenario exert more force on the counter strike which is really what you are waiting for. This style heavily relies on defensive counter striking and ideally you aren't doing five three minute rounds, so long term endurance isn't really that big of an issue from a conceptual standpoint. It really is a case of same same but different. I think it is dependent on the situation. I'm actually finding that a lot of this training is taking me back to my old style (which I am quite happy about), and to be honest I didn't really have any endurance issues with it back then even though it was constant movement and counter attacking. I think your body just gets used to it all and becomes more efficient at using energy. I kind of think of the inhale vs exhale thing in a similar manner to aerobic vs anaerobic training. They are just different. For example you wouldn't train all aerobic activity if you were planning on swimming competitively. You would still likely be in great shape, but you are going to get tired more quickly because your breathing rhythm has to change while swimming and your body isn't used to it.

Can you go into a little more detail regarding bad experiences/losing money? You don't have to name gyms or people, I'm just trying to understand the situation more clearly. Like are you paying for training somewhere wanting to fight and they aren't finding you fights? What is your experience level and how old are you? What area do you want to fight in and what weight do you fight at? Are you living in Thailand or just coming to train and fight when you can? I ask so many questions because sometimes it is just difficult to find matchups for certain people and the trainers or gym will simply give up without telling you (for a variety of reasons). I for example struggle to make 70 kg and only have 3 fights. This makes it difficult to find Thais for me to fight because a lot the ones over 70 kg are typically older and much more experienced than I am since they have basically retired and gotten fat lol. However my trainers are very adamant about me only fighting Thais and won't even bother looking for other foreigners for me to fight. A lot of promoters also see my age and just brush me off without even looking at training videos because by Thai standards I am ancient.

I didn't have a chance to read through it earlier, but I'll try and give it a shot if I have some time this weekend. I can always use more info on anything regarding sleep or depression. My sleep has gotten a lot better over the last decade, but I still only make it about 60-75 min at a time without waking up. Lol I've mostly given up at this point, but it would be nice to see what true recovery sleep would feel like.

What are they charging for a month of training? And what area is it in?

Hahaha this makes things so nutty in a Thai gym. Things can get real awkward real fast when you've got two trainers with opposing styles. Everything you do becomes wrong and everyone involved gets frustrated. Something I really like about the General is that he is big on talking about everything. While he definitely believes how he does things is the "correct" way, we always have discussion and bring different stuff to the table. Its really fun to have discourse about the training and helps break things down a bit easier.

I can only add what I have heard on the Thai side of things... and a lot of them seem to feel that Dieselnoi simply had an unfair (and insurmountable) advantage due to his frame. He wasn't just slightly longer/taller than others, he was MUCH longer and taller. I'd be curious to know his reach advantage in fights, but its got to be anywhere from 8-12 inches depending on the opponent. They definitely do not seem to give credit his "engine" and drive to fight. I think they simply dismiss him from the talk because of that. Samart on the other hand was in much more "competitive" fights and that created much more of that story type narrative that gamblers and those born on the countryside relish in. He became a folk hero of sorts. I kind of think of it in a pro-wrestling frame of reference simply due to the story telling aspect of it and how information traveled during that time period. In one guy you have this complete destroyer who everyone pretty much "knows" is going to walk through his opponents. In the other you have a seemingly normal human who the crowd relates to. It's kind of like having a heel vs babyface matchup. I think the fact that Samart went on to do movies and sing cemented that feeling of being someone who Thais could relate to (you know how big singing is here). Personally, I love me some Dieselnoi. I've only been around him in short bursts, but he is really fun to be around. His energy is infectious!

Vicky said this is his son, it's probably the best way to get in contact with him as I don't think Ajarn Peng has his own FB page.

The VA uses this to treat melatonin regulation and also depression so there probably has been some clinical research done on this. They make special lamps for indoor use too in case you don't have access to regular sunlight. I used to have one but couldn't really tell you if I noticed a difference or not. I was also taking 10,000 IBU of Vitamin D a day and handfuls of SSRIs/Antipsychotics so my brain was pretty much soup at that point lol. I like the Wim Hoff techniques. Anecdotal but I feel like they help make you stronger mentally if you are using them in conjunction with freezing cold water. Forcing yourself to overcome uncomfortable situations can mentally take you a long way.