above my vlog on ruup. In Thai "ruup" (รูป) is an image, a photo, a figure.... composure. In Muay Thai, "ruup" is your posture and composure, and it's incredibly important for fighters. When you break someone else's ruup, you are emphatically dominant. When your ruup is broken, it marks against you strongly. I've lost fights with broken ruup, as my opponents have won with better ruup.
What's important is training it. I've said thi...
2020-08-31 13:13:11 +0000 UTC
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Not only is this Patreon dedicated to documentary projects like the Muay Thai Library, interviews with legends, and the Kaimuay Diaries, it also shares my experience of all this documentary work and training, as a fighter. Every month I create Technique vlogs discussing my thoughts on techniques that are changing my Muay Thai, as a fighter, and may change yours as well. This is something new in that vien. It isn't a film study. It isn't a demo. It's not necessarily instructional, and it certa...
2020-08-25 16:54:59 +0000 UTC
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Finding Jaroensap was almost as wonderful an adventure as it was to be so surprised by his sweetness when we finally met face-to-face. His gym is tucked way in the back of a small community. The guards at the front entrance were sure there was a gym if I followed this road, and a lady running a small restaurant remembered there was a gym over there (pointing generally) but couldn't remember what street number. We had Jaroensap on the phone, but I couldn't tell him where I was and he couldn't ...
2020-08-23 14:54:18 +0000 UTC
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One of the more obscure histories in Muay Thai as it relates to the fighting styles around the world are early Muay Thai vs Kickboxing matches. This is just a gem of a find, sent to us by a great patron supporter. It's a 4 fight Dutch Kickboxing card from January of 1982. It gives us a real sense of this pioneering time, and it's a card that featured Rob Kaman's first televised fight in Thailand. - Kevin writing...
Thank you to all our patrons who send otherwise lost or s...
2020-08-19 10:28:28 +0000 UTC
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This post is open to the public, but it comes to everyone through the support of our patrons. We've begun paying a Thai to English translator to bring the commentary found on classic fights to life. This is the latest translation. - Kevin
Why Thongbai?
A huge part of the Muay Thai Library project is the idea of Preserve The Legacy. Sylvie and I are filming with legends and hidden krus in an attempt to document and archive not only the disappearing genius of Muay Thai...
2020-08-08 08:10:12 +0000 UTC
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Arjan Surat is an amazing figure in Thailand's Muay Thai. He has been a trainer, manager of fighters, since the Golden Age. You'll see him in the corner of Legends, wrapping Boonlai's hands, Karuhat apparently ran away from him after only 1 time hitting pads - and yet when Karuhat was cornering me for a fight in Bangkok and the decision went to my opponent in a result that left many scratching their heads, Karuhat ran directly to Arjan Surat in that instance as an authority ...
2020-08-06 15:01:12 +0000 UTC
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Kevin and I are calling this "closing the door," in the way that you might hear Kevin yelling at me in a fight to "pull her off the ropes!" It's a command, or a shorthand, a reminder. That phrase may sometimes be used to refer to a check hook in boxing, to nail your opponent as they're trying to come back after you, but we're using it to describe this technique of hitting the long guard hard after striking.
It's a way to feel protected, and actually be protected, so that I can ...
2020-07-25 09:31:53 +0000 UTC
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Arjan Pipa is a legend among trainers. He's responsible for training Femeu phenoms like Silapathai, Saenchai, Somrak and Lerdsila out of the Jocky Gym in Bangkok. He's turning 59 this year but is still just full of energy and playfulness. He tells me to "be the monkey" and he walks the talk, all the time, every movement. He's wonderful at explaining and expressing the importance of rhythm and timing for the Femeu style, but he also goes into the more general importance of having fun and playi...
2020-07-18 08:31:41 +0000 UTC
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The whole Muangsurin Gym was well-known for their heavy handed fighters, just hard as sh*t, tough, aggressive, Muay Maat experts. Some went on to have successful careers in Western Boxing as well. Samransak was a star of the gym. He's not very big and, in fact, in many of the photos of him during his heyday he's much smaller than his opponents, but the width of his back is just something that gives him an imposing quality that can't be ignored. At times in his fights he turns his bac...
2020-07-07 09:09:01 +0000 UTC
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Casting from our apartment in Pattaya episode 17 comes in more manageably at under two hours. We dive into a lot of the deeper focuses Sylvie is taking in her training in her 3.0 approach, the physical and mental differences that are often beneath techniques that don't always get a lot of attention. And we talk sparring big time. Throw in some discussion of the important role gamblers play in the Thailand of Muay Thai, and it's another awesome Muay Thai Bones podcast!
Apple &...
2020-06-21 10:50:21 +0000 UTC
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This is Luktum's second entry into the Muay Thai Library (watch the first on positioning and trips here), and I'm very happy every time I get to work with him. He's a classic Femeu Style, relaxed and evasive, but never running away. Rather, he stays within range of his opponent and has a kind of "Matador" quality of dodging and using his opponent's power and moves against them. I love this quality of Femeu fighting...
2020-06-14 12:52:20 +0000 UTC
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Rambaa's mascot is a bee. Well, it's a flexing bee with its tongue out, to be more specific, but all of those things are completely in line with Rambaa's style. He's showy, he's a little crazy ("Rambaa" is a nickname, Somdet was his fight name. The alias literally means "lunatic" and was fitting for his persona when a stadium fighter in Bangkok in the 90s), and he absolutely stings, and stings and stings, like a bee. This session, more so than any of his previous entries in the Muay Thai Libr...
2020-06-04 05:30:08 +0000 UTC
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My "technique vlogs" are not instructional, so much as investigative. It's something I'm working on as a fighter, that I'm thinking a lot about, so I make these videos to kind of think out loud about the technique, rather than teach it or instruct it or whatever. This one, however, I think is so massively important for any and all of Muay Thai, because at its base it's about balance. Balance will improve every single element of your Muay Thai, as well as your overall composure.
2020-06-01 12:41:54 +0000 UTC
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Occasionally we find little gems like this, going through older footage, and when they surface we put out a short piece as a bonus to our patrons. A little over a year ago, Dielsenoi came to my gym as part of our Legends in Residence project, and these Fairtex thigh pads had been brought in as a gift to another of our trainers, who was happy to let Dieselnoi try them on and see what he could do with them. He had never used anything like them before, but right away he got very excited, and spo...
2020-05-31 09:11:56 +0000 UTC
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Kru Manop is incredible. If you've watched his previous session in the Muay Thai Library, you know that he can dive into the minute details of a technique and is incredibly patient in working through each of the minutiae through high repetition. It's brilliant for learning technique remotely (meaning via video) and it's perfect for our "long form" format. That is especially so in this session, where Kru Manop works through some brilliant and impressive sweeps off of caught kicks.
...
2020-05-29 18:28:00 +0000 UTC
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This is a public post, so everyone can get access to this history.
Kevin and I like to watch movies. Lots of movies, old and new... everything. Kevin is older than I am, so often he has references to movies that I don't. A movie could have been groundbreaking at a time that now we take for granted, but even just knowing that context, even though it's from a different time, can make you watch the movie with different eyes. It's the same with art, knowing the political atmosphere or...
2020-05-28 15:43:51 +0000 UTC
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Above is our commentary audio podcast, discussing the awesome Wichannoi & Dieselnoi conversation I shared here, This is not the usual Library Coffee podcast, that often follows our filming with a legend, but rather is our special reaction to the translation project itself, our experience of many of the ideas brought up by two of the greatest who ever fought. Be sure to watch the actual conversation between thes...
2020-05-15 21:58:38 +0000 UTC
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Bonus material, be sure to turn on English subt
2020-05-14 15:21:56 +0000 UTC
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The Yodkhupon Intensive
First a little detour giving the context for this session. If you'd like you can skip to the next section and get right to. it. Above is a special entry into the Library. It's Yodkhunpon, who is always incredible and whose technique and style are just seemingly endless, and yet highly unique to him. So he's always wonderful to study. But this is a special session in that it's a glimpse into the "Intensive" series, which is a very in-depth look at the style and ...
2020-05-08 21:20:23 +0000 UTC
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Dieselnoi vs Samart was the "Fight of the Century," the fight that famed promoter OneSongchai said he never would have permitted himself (it was promoted by Klaew Sor. Tanikul). Two giants, two Legends, GOAT vs GOAT for who would be named Fighter of the Year in 1982. And there was no way to see it, until video surfaced, like finding the "Holy Grail of Muay Thai," and this discovery came from someone within this community, which makes it all the more miraculous and meaningful. Before ...
2020-05-01 04:42:55 +0000 UTC
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Thailand Pinsinchai is a powerful, finessed, all-around fighter. His technique is one of the cleanest, clearest taught styles in the entire Library. In his first session in the Muay Thai Library [ watch his first session here: Attacking Shell ] he takes me through a whole introduction to every part of Muay Thai. I enjoyed his economical style, I liked his technique, and also really I liked him. He's great at explai...
2020-04-22 04:39:06 +0000 UTC
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Another awesome Muay Thai Bones podcast comes your way, episode 16. There is no podcast like it on earth, focusing on all the ways Thailand's Muay Thai touches life, not only in daily ways - if you practice it, but on big ideas like those of Philosophy, Spirituality, Ideology too. Because Muay Thai is a way of life in Thailand, it touches our way of life, and the lives of people all over the world. This episode is from home. The Bones is usually on the road, but like everyone else we are on l...
2020-04-14 23:04:54 +0000 UTC
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This particular vlog is a two-for-one, in a way. I'm focusing on the Diamond Guard, which is a block/guard that came out of a number of influences (Kaensak, Archie Moore, Frazier, Muay Boran, Somrak... the list goes on) and that's the "technique" I'm playing with, but the second element is HOW I'm working on that technique, which is more or less taking something that I am interested in and making a whole "test kitchen" out of my experimentation with it.
To be clear: the "Diamond Guard" ...
2020-04-13 13:17:57 +0000 UTC
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The Patreon Muay Thai Library is a very special thing. Not only have we documented nearly 100 hours of the Muay Thai that is unique to Thailand, but the long-form instruction format allows viewers to really see these Legends, these incredible Krus, who they are and how they are. It has changed lives and allowed people who may never have met these Legends to feel like they know them, as well as inspiring those who can make the journey out to Thailand to come and train with so...
2020-04-08 04:52:20 +0000 UTC
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Get ready. Some people love super technical breakdowns. And some people love all the details of the teep. In this session you get both, and it's a real treat. Chanchai was a super accomplished Femeu style fighter of the Golden Age, perhaps one of the greatest teep specialists of all time. He was Lumpinee Champion at 118 lb and 126 lb, and in this session he dissects the teep in a way that I could never have imagined. There's a line in "Mean Girls," when Cady says, "I used to th...
2020-04-07 13:07:08 +0000 UTC
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Here is the much awaited Episode 15 of Muay Thai Bones. We film these usually while we are driving across country and having our epic conversations, but a change in Sylvie's fight locations, and then the Covid-19 lockdown gave us a bit of drought on Muay Thai Bones podcasts, but we really missed doing them, and plan to do them more frequently. We may have to not just have them in car rides. The good thing is that the audio is much better without road rumble, so all our patrons get a better au...
2020-03-28 08:17:05 +0000 UTC
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This Sylvie's Technique Vlog is shot at a time when most of us are experiencing "social distancing," "self isolating," or "shelter in place," depending on how it's called. But we're at home, quarantined to varying degrees, and largely locked out of our gyms. This technique vlog is perfect for these circumstances because it requires no equipment, no instruction, no sweat, no partners, and practically speaking no space at all. You can do this from bed. You can do this wh...
2020-03-25 13:09:27 +0000 UTC
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This is an archived podcast, the 4th of the Muay Thai Bones series that hadn't yet been entered into Patreon until now. At this point we are all the way up to episode #14, but we're back logging, adding older episodes so they will be available to Patreons who may have missed them before they were available by subscription. If you'd like to see all the Patr...
2020-03-23 07:54:45 +0000 UTC
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If you are new to my Patreon I try to put up one full length technique vlog, discussing vlog style (not demoing) techniques I'm working on. Because so many people are out of the gym right now I thought it would be best to switch it a little and talk about what one can do training oneself. Watch the video above.
You can't always get to the gym. Maybe you're traveling. Maybe you're schedule only allows you to go a few times per week or even month. Right now, due to Public H...
2020-03-16 12:41:46 +0000 UTC
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This is the 2nd Library session with Chamuakpet, watch the first session here.
Chamuakpet Hapalang is a recurring name on the "Top 5" All-Time Best Yodmuay, according to the great fighters of Thailand. He is as good a fighter as there ever was. He's complimented for being well-rounded, using all weapons and distances, but as well as being an incredible Muay Khao fighter. Legends praise his ability to fi...
2020-03-15 14:35:04 +0000 UTC
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