Yodkhunpon Sittraipum - The Art of Shadowboxing (64 min)

It is absolutely incredible that Yodkhunpon, one of the most vicious fighters of the Golden Age, who claims 500 fights to his name and was simultaneous Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Champion at 118 lb in the Golden Age, basically carved himself out of marble using mostly the tool of shadowboxing. He was nearly 20 years old by the time he entered the Bangkok fight scene, having trained on a dirt-floor gym in rural Roi Et with practically no equipment or trainers to speak of. The first time he walked into a professional gym, at around 20 years of age, his eyes grew wide and he thought, "this is real training," as he'd never seen how the stadium fighters trained with heavy bags, mitts, pads, etc. This is incredible until you watch him shadowbox, and then you understand how he was able to do that. He's literally fighting an invisible opponent, but throwing with the same violent intentions that you see his opponents suffer in the ring against him. He's the "Green Lantern" of Golden Age fighters, having imagined an entire gym and training program through shadowboxing. In this session I learn shadowboxing from one of the great shadowboxers ever. Learn with me.

I first came to glimpse Yodkhunpon's emphasis toward shadowboxing in a kind of peripheral way some years ago. I was stiff, slow, tight, and too linear. "Play with air," he told me, in English, "everyday, 20 minutes." Shadowboxing even one round is hard, 20 minutes seemed like the kind of command that comes from a more or less typical Thai tendency to choose round numbers: 50 kicks; 100 pullups; 500 situps. That kind of thing. It felt like an exaggeration. I heard him when he told me 20 minutes, I did increase my shadowboxing like you do when told to do something that is good for you, but I didn't understand exactly what he meant by it, so it kind of fell away. I'd shadowbox sometimes hard or with purpose, but I didn't really understand what to do. Because you're building feeling and you want to build feeling in every direction, every pace, from every body position you have to do it forcefully but with freedom. With concentration, but with play. Over the years I never quite got it. I would do combinations. I would practice my balance and work up a sweat. But it wasn't what Yodkhunpon had in mind. 

This session is a lesson in how to shadowbox your way to greatness. It's one of the best sessions we've ever filmed for the Library, just in terms of how much a single video can impact your training and fighting.  It's when I finally learned what he meant by shadowboxing. And you'll see me learn it in real time. Watch him, watch me. They say "iron sharpens iron," and in this case it's a your iron mind and iron body sharpening each other. No partner required. No gym required. No equipment. Just focus. I remember Master K telling me in his basement, way back in the day, how he would punch flowers hanging from trees when he was growing up; practice his headkick by snapping them off the branch with a kick. Yodkhunpon did the same with elbows, punches and kicks. Walking to and from school, any flower or branch low enough was game. You can feel this in how he moves. You can see it. The full session is above, but we also documented his shadowboxing in slow motion below, so you can feel what it has become for him.

In this session you will also learn his style of kick, and more importantly his style of kneeing. This is a pressure fighting, Muay Khao style of fighting where your strikes are part of advancing and keeping things in front of you. And because he was the greatest Muay Sok (elbow fighter) in history, they are about always being able to elbow. 

Watch the session above, and then check out the slow motion video documentation below, and also the Q & A we did with Yodkhunpon after, answering some questions people asked about shadowboxing on my Instagram and on Reddit.

I love this session. It was hard. But it has also had an immediate impact and influence on the way I train.... and who I will be. I think shadowboxing is misunderstood, underrepresented, and undervalued. This addresses all of those things.

Things to Look For:

1) Strike Hard and Fast, then Float: Yodkhunpon is not an advocate of light, slow, easy shadowboxing. He wants you to "fight with air," as he's sometimes called it, which is more accurate than his alternate phrase, "play with air." He is playing, that's the brilliant part, but he's striking full speed, full power, but his footwork is all relaxed and soft.

2) Control After Explosion: he shows how to control the kick after the acceleration on the end of it, to be able to throw the next strike. This is why he uses "burn" or repeated strikes to calibrate balance and trajectory of strikes.

3) "Ooo": this is the Thai word for taking a breath without stopping. This is hard to learn when you're shadowboxing this hard, so it's extra important to focus on it and do not stop during your round to recover. Recover within the movements. If your rounds are 2 minutes, great, do it within that time. If your rounds are 10 minutes, do it many times within that round.

4) See Your Opponent: this should actually be number 1 in terms of importance. Yodkhunpon's shadowboxing is a full body effort, but it's a mind gym. Learning to visualize and honing that skill is the actual purpose and prize of this practice.

5) Watch Out for Blisters: this is not on the test, this is like, personal advice. Any time you increase something, you will get super small, super annoying repetitive use injuries. You might be constantly rebalancing yourself in ways you aren't used to, which could lead to sore ankles, knees, muscles... whatever. I got nasty blisters on the balls of my feet from this session - just from filming this session. Continuing my commitment of 20 minutes of shadow each day just made those blisters bigger and squishier. I put carboard over the actual blister and then taped over it (so the tape wouldn't stick to the skin and rip it open when I took it off). Just watch out for stuff like that and deal with it as it comes. This kind of intense shadow also made me so, so tired and sore in ways I wasn't anticipating. 

Edited Stills from the Session

The Art of Shadowboxing - Yodkhunpon in Slow Motion

We have made it a mission of capturing legends of the sport in slow motion. Slow motion video serves as a parallel to the Muay Thai Library itself, preserving the small details and weight shifts you can only see when it is slowed down. There is an entire Playlist of these captures made possible through your patron support. This slow motion is incredibly beautiful, because you can see what all those years of shadowboxing in his style have brought about. Yodkhunpon is in his 50s now, but still as light as air. Thank you for the patron support for the increase in camera quality and Kevin's improving ninja skills with the camera:

Watch this slow motion capture of Yodkhunpon's shadowboxing here. True Art.

Q and A with Yodkhunpon on Shadowboxing

Before filming this session I fielded questions on my Instagram and on Reddit to see what things people needed help with in shadowboxing. Check out the Q & A we did with Yodkhunpon after I filmed the Muay Thai Library session, answering many of those questions, and talking about shadowboxing as he sees it:

watch the Q & A here on YouTube 

There are many session in the Library you can draw footwork inspiration from. Every fighter has different rhythms and a personal style. This above was Yodkhunpon's style, but in the sessions below you can find other sessions with emphasis on footwork or ring control, things you can bring into your own shadowboxing:

#28 Jaroenthong Kiatbanchong - Femeu Muay Thai Hands (50 min) watch it here

Super slick, 3x Lumpinee Champion Jaroenthong is considered one of the Yodmuay of the Golden Age, often pictured with Samart and Somrak as killers from that day. In this session he teaches how he marries great boxing hands with femeu footwork.

#33 Kru San Sitmonchai - Control of Pace & Distance when Advancing  (56 min) watch it here

Kru San is a big man but has incredible muay, a lightness to his movement that he transforms into a jai yen advancing Muay Thai style. In this session it's all about. Creating pressure without rushing, using the teep to set up combinations to the body and head, raising ring awareness, and using weapons at the appropriate time in your opponent's fatigue.

#53 Kem Kem Muaythai Gym - Mastering Everything In Between (80 min) watch it here

With one of the great technique krus of Thailand, Kem Kem Muaythai Gym, in his gym in the mountains just below Khorat. A special session that details how to work on all the things in-between strikes. So much to learn in this 80 minutes. He's a special teacher.

#65 Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn - Sharking The Angles (67 min) watch it here

The Emperor. Fighter of the Year in 1996 and 6 years undefeated as Lumpinee Champion, one of the greatest fighters ever teaches his incredible edge-attacking style. He shows how he is always one step ahead of his opponent, setting them up in a constantly evolving attack.

More Shadow

You can also check out this slow motion of Sagat's shadowboxing for inspiration:

watch the slow motion capture of Sagat Petchyindee's shadowboxing here 

If you'd like to learn more about Yodkhunon's Elbow Fighting style do check out his sessions in the Muay Thai Library, so far:

watch it here 

#9 Yodkhunpon "The Elbow Hunter" pt 1  - Slicing Elbow (37 min) watch it here

Simultaneous Raja and Luminee title holder at 118 lbs, Yodkhunpon was one of the most feared elbow fighters in Thailand, and in this session he teaches the looseness and spacing that made his lead elbow such a viscious weapon. He also shuns the traditional rocking chair knee, and instead teaches a powerful stand-in crossing, open-hipped knee that compliments his elbows up top.

Bonus Session 9: Yodkhupon Sittraipum - Lethal Smoothness (73 min) watch it here

In this session Yodkhunpon really delves down into the smoothness of his style, with great emphasis on his galloping footwork towards the end. It's all about building a pressure style that does not strain, but rather exerts a constant music of forward attack.

If you really want to take a deep dive into Yodkhunpon's legendary elbow style, there are 7 hours of commentary video in the Intensive series. Patrons get a discount, all profit goes the legends.

Get the Shirt!

You can also support Yodkhunpon as a person by purchasing his Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches Shirt. 100% of the earned profits go to him, which always helps. You buy a shirt and within a day I'm sending him the profit:

shop the shirt in many colors, shipping all over the world