Tyler Byers
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Posts
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Posts posted by Tyler Byers
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19 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:
For Burklerk this is really only a counter kick to the standing leg
That's super cool! I've not seen that before.
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^^^ This is actually very similar to how Dedduang throws his leg kick as well. He puts the rear shoulder over the front leg a little more I think (maybe it is this angle though) and it makes an excellent chopping motion that really sucks to get kicked by.
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That's an interesting idea, I've not heard of that before. Similar to putting tape on a heavy bag I would imagine.
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Shadow boxing for sure. Don't do it mindlessly though, look at and work on something specific. For example I have a bad habit of lifting a little bit when I throw my cross so I watch in the mirror to make sure my shoulders stay parallel to the floor. I look at my form and look where my weight is centered throughout different movements. Watch your legs/hips to make sure they are moving first and rotating properly to help generate power. The important thing to remember is that it is a tool and piece of training equipment not a regular mirror. Too many people just watch themselves instead of studying themselves. Ask your coaches or training partners to help you make corrections to your form and then practice the correct form in the mirror. You can also use it to practice maintaining eye contact while doing shadow close to the mirror, though I prefer to use a partner if someone is available.
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1 hour ago, LengLeng said:
Thailand feels very cheap, but at the same time you find yourself constantly spending money as you depend on others for daily services and food. Especially in Bangkok where you will be in and out of 7/11s most of the time.
This is so true. It's the little stuff that will chip away at your budget really quickly. 20 baht here and 20 baht there doesn't seem like much, but it adds up really quickly.
Supplements are another hidden expense to consider. Protien powder, BCAAs, vitamins, etc. cost an arm and a leg in Thailand. I'm not big on supplements, but some folks take them religiously so it is something to factor in while making your budget. A 5lb tub of quality protien will cost around 2,900 baht. That's about a one month supply if you are drinking a shake a day.
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8 hours ago, Snack Payback said:
Ajarn Peng. Senior coach at Sor Thanikul during the golden age. He was teaching at 96 Penang in Bangkok. Anyone know if he’s still there?
I can check with Barry or Vicky Norman and see if they know him. Barry may have been there during that time.
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2 hours ago, Gibu said:
Hi!
I've been perusing the muay thai library erratically, and I have noticed that a lot of trainers don't really cover lowkicks.
Pornsanae's the power of hooks and low kicks was amazing, are there other sessions in the library that are a must see on low kicks? What's your favorite one?
Also, as a side note, do Thai trainers always emphasize middle kicks in training?
All the best,
Gilles
Interested in this as well, that's a good observation. I'm really hoping that Dedduang Por Pongsawong will be able to do a session for the Muay Thai Library (keep an eye out), his low kicks are stupid hard. Lawrence Kenshin did a pretty cool video on Ernesto Hoost's low kick, you should be able to find it on YouTube.
Middle kicks in my experience are typically emphasized because they score highly in Thailand, they also set up shots to the head (either punches or kicks usually) to get a KO. It's also the basis for pretty much every other kicking technique taught for stadium fighting so a middle kick is a core fundamental.
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13 hours ago, Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu said:
They don't bend like a soccer or tennis player, they don't even bend like any other martial arts that I've seen, but they bend like a Golf swing.
That's actually exactly how he described it to us lol. I've really been trying to pay attention to the direction and lines that his knees go in as he moves, the economy of movement as a whole is incredible.
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8 hours ago, Oliver said:
Also factor in hospital money. You'll for sure get sick or injured, or both.
8 hours ago, Oliver said:Another thing that's worth doing is make up your own med kit. Gauze, pads, cotton balls, saline solution, voltaren, iodine, betadine, whatever you want.
This is great advice as well. I can and have taken care of all my injuries that are training related, but most people don't have the medical training to do that. That being said, I still ended up in the hospital after being bit by a mosquito and getting dengue fever twice lol. Luckily for me I was in Isaan and was able to keep costs on the lower end by staying in the local hospital, but that was a massive unexpected dent in my budget. Not to mention there aren't always doctors at fights, so if you get cut, guess who's paying for their own stitches (and probably didn't get paid enough from the fight to cover the hospital cost lol).
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Cost of living and training are HIGHLY variable. Thailand is a big country and different camps have different priorities (some are purely commercial, others are a little more traditional). Just living in different cities is going to skew your budget in large directions. I tell people that if you can't afford $1,200-$1,400 USD a month without including your airfare then don't bother to come long term. You can absolutely get by on less money, but life happens so it is better to be prepared.
Here's what I would suggest:
Figure out your exact time available to be in Thailand (i.e. 3 months/6 months/etc.), then look at the visa information available for South Africa and figure out which visa will work for you or if you will need to modify your trip time to match up with your visa (you might be able to afford a year here but your visa may only allow 3 months). Once you know how long you can legally stay in Thailand, figure out which area you would like to be in or if you would like to hop around.
If you are going to be in Chiang Mai, Phuket, or Isaan I would recommend living at the camp just to make things easy for yourself though this will likely be more expensive than finding housing yourself. If you are going to be in Bangkok then either stay at the camp or find housing nearby using renthub, facebook, craigslist, etc.
Food costs are going to vary depending if you eat street food, cook at home, or go to restaurants. Restaurants are typically about 3-4 times the price of street food in Bangkok and will likely be higher if you are in a touristy area like Phuket. That may be fine for a short term stay but will add up over time. You may be able to cook at home if you have a kitchen but I wouldn't count on that.
Here's my minimum cost guess if you are going to be in BKK (I do not recommend this, but will lay it out as a starting point just for reference):
Rent - 5,500 baht per month (you will also need 2 months deposit, 11,000 baht which you will likely never see again)
Electricity (no aircon) - 1,300 baht per month + 700 baht to buy a fan
Water - 300 baht per month
Food (eating only 40 baht noodles, assuming you find a noodle cart nearby) - 120 baht per day x 31 days = 3,720 baht per month
Drinking water (from street dispensers which require your own bottles) - 14 baht x 4 bottles for initial cost, then 4 baht a day to refill = 180 baht
Transportation - 80 baht roundtrip motorbike ride to top of the street for food x 31 days = 2,480 baht (this is a very low estimate, I would honestly account for 4,000 at a bare minimum)
Phone service - 499 baht a month (10gb data)
Training cost - 7,000 baht a month
Visa extension - 1,900 baht + 600 baht round trip taxi to immigration (assuming you don't need to have passport photos taken)
Total estimate - 23,479 baht per month or $765 not including initial "start up" costs for your deposit, buying a fan, etc.
Again, this is MINIMUM cost, I cannot stress that enough. I would not consider this a safe budget because things out of your control WILL come up (your gear might break/go missing, you'll get ripped off by a taxi driver, you can't find food for 40 baht, immigration will want some additional paperwork which means an extra trip, etc.) not to mention you'll be bored out of your mind after a month. Keep in mind that training cost is going to be a big part of this as well since most gyms charge 15,000-25,000 for a month of training.
I have lived off 28,000 baht a month for about a year and I was getting down to less than 600 baht by the end of the month almost every time. That was living at the gym and never really going out anywhere. I currently live off approximately 40,000 baht a month and its fairly tight though comfortable (costs have gone up in Bangkok and I live in a more affluent area now). I have some additional emergency reserve and budget 5k a month for unexpected costs which I always always run through in some way or another. I could bring that cost down with some better financial tracking or if I lived in a different area, but I would consider this to be near the minimum if you are going to be training daily, taking care of your body properly as an athlete, and don't want to survive off rice and water. I hope this helps
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12 hours ago, Tim Macias said:
This is my least favorite question, in any art. I don’t think I KNOW anything. I’ve seen a lot, and I’ve practiced a lot, but knowing is something different.
Love this thought chain.
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^^^ Hahahaha that is hilarious!
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I haven't seen this exact scenario, but I've seen more than a few guys leave the gym after a couple weeks. Almost always after they decide its a cool idea to spar hard and someone who actually knows what they are doing "learns them" with a liver shot lol. Tough doesn't translate to fighting if you aren't open to learning. You'll just get TKOed by someone more experienced or with better cardio. It is really funny to just watch them whiff shots as their partner uses footwork to get out of the way though.
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5 hours ago, SPACEDOODLE said:
Try to find someone that is either a bit above your skill level or at the same level. With a little bit of courage, ask them if they could do some pad work with you, go through some drills, or show you things they have learned and really like.
100% agree. I learned so much when I was first starting because the two guys I was sparring with regularly were A) much better than me and B) were friendly enough to show me when I made a mistake or how I could do something differently. Talking about that stuff during sparring turned into doing other drills outside of the ring and overall really helped me improve very quickly compared to if I had been left on my own. It also allowed us to turn things up a bit in sparring (occasional hard sparring sessions) without anyone getting emotional because we "knew" each other. Most of the times I have seen sparring get out of hand is when the two partners don't know each other outside of that setting. Someone feels like they get tagged too hard or starts to panic a bit and it just escalates. If you have talked socially while drilling together it typically removes some of the emotion.
I've found most people in the gym to be quite helpful and social (even if they don't outwardly appear to be). Don't be shy and remember, you've already got something in common that you can talk about, you both love Muay Thai!
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Like everything in BKK, enforcement is super hit or miss it seems. That's crazy that hotels have hopped on to AirBnB lol. We were staying in Asok so I'm not terribly surprised that they were doing things a little more "by the book" where we stayed. I'm sure on the outskirts no one would bat an eye. Money talks
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2 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:
You're not a fan of AirBnB
AirBnB might be a good option, but for 90 days I think it would get expensive since the rates are typically similar to nearby hotels. I've only used AirBnB a few times in BKK though so my experience is limited. The one thing I would caution about AirBnB in BKK is that it is technically illegal and you can have issues with the building jurisdiction. Last time I used AirBnB I stayed for two weeks while a friend was visiting and we basically had to sneak past the front desk every time we wanted to enter or leave the building. Security didn't care, but the management hassled us a lot even though we went with the owner of the room and told them we were friends with the owner and would be staying for a couple of weeks. My building rents rooms on a monthly basis for about 9,000 baht plus electricity/water but I'm in Thong Lor and pretty far from most of the gyms so it's probably not a great option. I'd check around On Nut area though, there are a lot of places close to the BTS that are renting for 5,500 and lower.
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Just a note on FA Group, one of my friends who was training there recently just left because he said there weren't many people training there at the moment. As has been mentioned, all gyms go through cycles so it can be tough to determine what it is like without physically going to see the gym. Accommodation is plentiful in BKK, though finding somewhere that will let you pay month to month can be a hurdle. Check on the BANGKOK EXPATS Facebook group, there are some real estate agents who might be able to find something for you. You can also try DDproperty and Renthub. Figure out your gym situation first, then find a more permanent housing situation. You definitely don't want to be traveling across town every day just to get to the gym.
Attachai's would likely be a good gym to check into though their prices are pretty high (22k a month last I looked). That area should have lots of cheap apartments/food around, and the gym (or Emma if she has time) might be able to help you find a room for a short term stay.
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Hi Tim
Don't get too anxious, just make it on that flight. You've got a battle buddy here now! I'm gonna be out there training with you and I've been living in Bangkok off and on for the last 4 years so. If you need anything at all please feel free to message me here, LINE (tylerbyers1 is my ID), or on Facebook and we'll get you sorted out. I went out last weekend and trained with the General during the seniors class, it was a total blast! Everyone there is super friendly and helpful. I had a bunch of older Thai folks coming around correcting my form as the General expects students to teach everything they have been learning. It's a wonderful philosophy for creating a good learning environment and I think we are going to have a lot of fun. I've taken the next month off school so I've got a lot of free time on my hands. Let me know where you are going to be staying and I can do some prep work to make sure you've got everything you need (i.e. mass travel info, where to get groceries/food, cheap massage, etc.).
I look forward to meeting you soon, have a safe flight.
- Tyler
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6 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:
Where is he located? Bangkok? Would love to have him.
He's teaching at a FitFac location in Bangkok I believe. I tried to figure out the exact location before so I could go visit, but I had a hard time with the translation. I'll send him a message and see if he can find a friend to help him with Google Maps.
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Can I add Dedduang Por Pongsawong to the list? He might be an interesting one because he is so short but made his style work against much larger fighters. He also was one of the first to start really blasting people with repeated low kicks from what I am told. Never won a championship, but highly respected by many fighters of that era. I can set things up if needed.
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Boon for gloves and Fairtex for shinguards
Top King and Fairtex for training equipment.
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Thaismai, Boon, or Super Export Shop are all great. I prefer Boon for gear (for both quality and price), and Thaismai will make custom shorts for a good price (around 700 baht) Skip Actionzone these days imo.
Edit: I should have mentioned that I would go to Boon for personal gear, and Super Export Shop for training equipment. Super Export Shop has a lot of Fairtex gear for really good prices and will carry several different models of Thai Pads and Belly Pads.
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Well said, and I totally agree it is a great review of a mixed experience. Really it may not sound like it from a what I have written thus far, but this sounds like a gym I would really enjoy. It wasn't my intention to shit on them in anyway, just worried they were turning into what so many other gyms here have turned into. This is actually the gym I had planned on going to when I came out initially for this trip. I also plan on being out here long term though, have put time into learning the language, don't mind being beaten on (dumped endlessly), or mentally killed via repetition. Everyone comes out for different reasons though and not everyone wants to learn the Thai way or about Thai culture (unfortunately). Master Toddy's was great for someone who had never stepped in a gym before (me) or who was brand new to Thailand (me), but I didn't really learn anything after about six months to be honest. It's not a gym I recommend to anyone serious about fighting. Definitely not a "Thai/Isaan" style gym.
On a random side note, I would like to again compliment your writing abilities lol. Fantastic and a pleasure to read as always. Both of you are quite talented with verbal imagery.
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Sparring Advice: Facing a Pressure Fighter
in Muay Thai Technique, Training and Fighting Questions
Posted · Edited by Tyler Byers
I like to do this too. Really I think it is good advice for any sparring session, always go in with the intention to work on something specific. I like to talk with my partner during the break too and let them know what they are doing well or ask how they are doing something specific that will teach me a little bit more about their style. I think that communication builds us all to be better fighters and it creates a social aspect to the gym.