30 days of 1on1 with Sagat at 13 Coins

[Alexander C.]

Hi everyone, 

 

Hopefully this is alright for a first post, wanted to share my experiences training with Sagat over the next few weeks. 

I arrived in Thailand in Mid-march coming from Egypt, I was in a mad dash to make it somewhere calm before the lockdowns took full effect. 

Over 10 years ago I trained Muay Thai while in college, and had always wanted to go to Thailand (the usual Muay Thai dream), although I didnt expect to arrive under the circumstances. 

I got an apartment and I spent the past month trying to condition myself as best I could (lots and lots and lots of burpees), and I discovered 8Limbs while watching Lawrence Kenshin videos on youtube, and one thing led to another and I became a patron and here I am 

Anyways, I got into contact with Sylvie, and I was able to meet with Sagat, and told him I want to train daily with him the next few months. 

Side note-Im going to be living in Thailand for the foreseeable future long term, 
Currently we are two days in, and I cannot recommend Sagat enough. 

I'm basically a total novice, and I was uncertain if I would even be worth teaching for him, but he was incredibly excited

He is very 1st principle based in everything, and his way of describing things, you realize there is both the technique he's showing you, and the technique behind the technique of how it fits into a larger contextual picture. He teaches on a continuum, and he talks about most students that come to him for 1on1, there's no way to people to learn more than 1 or 2 details, and that really acquiring the skill takes time, "organization" is a word of his, both in how you move, and how build techniques 

Should you ever come to Thailand, you must train with him 

 

--13 Coins does have active fighters, He introduced me to two of the younger ones that are actively fighting (they've won some junior titles). Right now its only a handful of younger kids training there, although i got the impression its normally much busier minus the lockdown situation. Sagat has an arrangement with the hotel next door if anyone wants to stay there and train. Its very far outside any tourist area.

[Tyler Byers]

Is the gym open right now? I assumed they would be closed. I'm actually not too far from there and was planning on going to check the gym out after lockdown was ended. 

[Alexander C.]

10 hours ago, Tyler Byers said:

Is the gym open right now? I assumed they would be closed. I'm actually not too far from there and was planning on going to check the gym out after lockdown was ended. 

Its still officially closed, although I THINK the few younger fighters that live there are training

By the looks of it I dont think any farang train out of there, Thais only. Ive only been doing privates, and cannot attest to what the normal training is like. 

The gym itself has a lot of charm, but its definitely NOT catering to foreigners. Shower facility is a faucet on a wall, lots of broken equipment everywhere, and no changing rooms other than a toilet inside a shed next to the shower 

 

[Tyler Byers]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:38 AM, Alexander C. said:

Its still officially closed, although I THINK the few younger fighters that live there are training

By the looks of it I dont think any farang train out of there, Thais only. Ive only been doing privates, and cannot attest to what the normal training is like. 

The gym itself has a lot of charm, but its definitely NOT catering to foreigners. Shower facility is a faucet on a wall, lots of broken equipment everywhere, and no changing rooms other than a toilet inside a shed next to the shower 

 

Cool, that's good info to have. Thanks for the heads up. Any idea if Toto is still over there? I wish Lad Prao or Rama 3 was easier for me to get to. I'm in Thong Lor so kind of far from any decent gyms. 

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

On 5/16/2020 at 9:03 PM, Alexander C. said:

Should you ever come to Thailand, you must train with him 

We've seen so many great trainers, he is kind of unparalleled in how and what he teaches, Thanks for sharing your experiences! He is a special Muay Thai mind.

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

On 5/16/2020 at 9:03 PM, Alexander C. said:

Sagat has an arrangement with the hotel next door if anyone wants to stay there and train. Its very far outside any tourist area.

Can you find out the cost of a month of 1on1's plus hotel, with Sagat. It would be great to know. Is there a package price?

[Alexander C.]

On 5/21/2020 at 10:39 AM, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Can you find out the cost of a month of 1on1's plus hotel, with Sagat. It would be great to know. Is there a package price?

Sagat has said he has an arrangement with the hotel for 500 baht a night, which would be 45,000 baht for a full month of 1on1s + accommodation 

[Alexander C.]

On 5/18/2020 at 6:22 PM, Tyler Byers said:

Cool, that's good info to have. Thanks for the heads up. Any idea if Toto is still over there? I wish Lad Prao or Rama 3 was easier for me to get to. I'm in Thong Lor so kind of far from any decent gyms. 

I dont think he is. 
 

Sagat and a few of the younger boys seem to be the only ones there right now 

According to Sagat the gym might be changing locations soon as well...Im not certain on the story, but he relayed that the owner (Mr. Coke), since he died a few years ago, his widow has wanted to close the gym, and no one has been paying rent on the gym to the landowner for a year, and the gym might move soon 

 

[515]

On 5/31/2020 at 1:32 PM, Alexander C. said:

According to Sagat the gym might be changing locations soon as well...Im not certain on the story, but he relayed that the owner (Mr. Coke), since he died a few years ago, his widow has wanted to close the gym, and no one has been paying rent on the gym to the landowner for a year, and the gym might move soon 

 

I even think this happend more recently than a few years ago. A few months ago?
I hope the gym still keeps existing and in the same setting 

[Alexander C.]

Hello everyone, 

Its been 30 days now, this coming week will be the start of another 60 days

I had to take a week off in the middle of last month after I got really really bad food poisoning (could not eat anything for 7 days without getting ill), but overall the past 6 weeks have been fantastic. 

I started from 0, and the improvements have been linear every lesson. 

Sagat is a master of teaching fundamentals. Ive watched as many of his pasts fights as possible, and his effectiveness I've realized comes from how skilled he was in the basics; punching and kicking technique, footwork, movement economy, maintaining ring generalship. 

His striking technique really stands out to me, he keeps everything incredibly tight and emphasizes power and placement over any kind of flashiness. 

He's very big on always being "organized" in every movement, never being off balance or out of place in any way. 

I paid him for another 2 months of training (60 lessons of 1on1s) 

Update with the gym-13 Coins is basically closed

The issue is that there are no active fighters at the gym right now, and only two boys that occasionally come by that used to train there when it was open. 

Sagat is wanting to reopen the gym as "Street Fighter Gym". He's taken money and put it into trying to renovate the gym a bit. He's asked me to help him, but trying to start a Muay Thai Gym business is not something I want to be invested in and trying to manage. 

Its an unusual situation. I'd love to keep training with Sagat long term and build technique base, but training solo with him obviously is not going to prepare me to fight in the ring. 

My plan is to try out some gyms this month, and find a place that resonates and make that the home gym eventually as summer comes to an end. 

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Thank you for the awesome update on your adventure with Sagat. So cool that you are zoning in on his beautiful principles and technique. After training with him (Sylvie) I can just shake my head and see how often people just don't know how to punch. You don't have to punch exactly like him, but the principles he teaches are probably sewn into almost all good hands.

[iiaks]

"Sagat is wanting to reopen the gym as "Street Fighter Gym". He's taken money and put it into trying to renovate the gym a bit. He's asked me to help him, but trying to start a Muay Thai Gym business is not something I want to be invested in and trying to manage. "

 

Is this something that we could help him with? Is is a question of finances only? Also, thanks for sharing your experiences! 

[Alexander C.]

On 7/8/2020 at 12:41 PM, iiaks said:

"Sagat is wanting to reopen the gym as "Street Fighter Gym". He's taken money and put it into trying to renovate the gym a bit. He's asked me to help him, but trying to start a Muay Thai Gym business is not something I want to be invested in and trying to manage. "

 

Is this something that we could help him with? Is is a question of finances only? Also, thanks for sharing your experiences! 

Its largely a question of finances 

As I found out this week, there ARE in fact boys still training at the gym (about 8 of them, ages 10-19) 

The property the gym sits on is essentially abandoned, apparently the gym property is open for sale as well 

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

14 minutes ago, Alexander C. said:

The property the gym sits on is essentially abandoned, apparently the gym property is open for sale as well 

Is that the same for the Hotel? All of the property there?

[Alexander C.]

9 minutes ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Is that the same for the Hotel? All of the property there?

It appears so. Its hard to get exact details from Sagat, but the clearest facts I've been able to establish

1. 13 Coins and the 13 Coins hotel resort are the same piece of property 

2. The owner (Mr Coke) since passing, his widow did not pay utilities to keep either the hotel or gym running

3. The entire hotel itself has been gutted and is in a state of disrepair

4. While the property is not openly advertised as being for sale, Sagat has relayed the Widow has no interest in it and if someone made an offer it could be purchased (its quite a large piece of land, at least 3-4 acres from what I can tell) 

4. The gym is still existing in limbo, and Sagat has mentioned the possibility of buying the land the gym sits on, and renovating the gym into a rebranded "Street Fighter" gym 


 

[Randolph]

Hi , 

My name is Randolph and I live in bombay India . I would like to train with master Sagat. Iam a novice to Muay Thai . Please Lemme know the contact info of the  gym  in which master Sagat teaches. Appreciate this. Thank u and kind regards . Randolph .