This was a surprisingly enjoyable, and instructional session for me. When I first got to the gym, Dieselnoi and Kongsamut were hanging out in their “grandpa chairs,” watching Lumpinee fights on TV. Dieselnoi is allergic to shirts, so he wasn’t wearing one, but Kong was expecting me and ready to start. When I asked him to teach me his style...
2018-07-18 12:27:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Above is a select 7 minutes out of a new feature we're bringing to Patreon, the full hour of analysis and discussion can be seen here for $15 patrons - if you'd like to see the entire Geek Out study it's simple to edit your pledge up. There is some very ...
2018-07-13 05:33:49 +0000 UTC View Post
This is something new and different for Patreon, that’s so “experimental” we have a working title that’s pending: “Slo-Mo Geek Out.” I dubbed it this because we take an excerpt from a long-form private with a legend and slow it down (“slow-mo”), then talk about it as we watch it together. When Kevin and I watch stuff like t...
2018-07-12 15:42:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Kru Ten is one of my favorite sessions, both times I’ve gone to see him - watch our first session together #23 here. There’s something about his disposition that really suits me: a man of few words, almost indistinguishable approval or disapproval by the minute ch...
2018-07-01 01:41:38 +0000 UTC View Post
If you are not a patron yet, it's easy to become one.
Vote and Tell Me What's Been Amazing
The Muay Thai Library project is developing into a powerful resource and archive, but to make it even better we need to hear feedback from you! I'm giving away a pair of brand new Thaismai 6 oz laceup gloves (my favorite tr...
2018-06-27 10:06:45 +0000 UTC View Post
I sat on the floor, facing Karuhat, who was seated in a chair, as he called another Legend of the Golden Age of Muay Thai on his cell phone. He got the daughter, as the legend was taking a nap, and so Karuhat told the girl to tell his father that “Pi Sian” had called. After he hung up he shook his head, laughing. He’s too old to be referri...
2018-06-17 00:01:16 +0000 UTC View Post
I’m trying something new and very different, which is slowly starting a video diary of life at Petchrungruang Gym in Pattaya. I just passed the 4 year anniversary of training and fighting out of this gym, and in that time I’ve watched these young boys grow into young men, and spent long enough there to see the slow patterns of a Thai kaimuay (f...
2018-06-14 02:55:21 +0000 UTC View Post
February 25, 2017 - Nongbuacoke, Isaan, Thailand
Watch the full fight with my commentary exclusively for patrons. You can also read all about this fight with this strong Isaan fighter who had about 13 lbs on me, watch the fight without commentary, and s...
2018-06-05 10:19:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Gen and Joe are twin brothers, both fighters from just after the Golden Age. They grew up watching the Legends of the Golden Age, live on TV every weekend. Then, like so many of their generation they’d imitate and mimic those fighters in the ring with each other at their father’s gym, deep in Isaan, to learn and grow into those techniques. I...
2018-05-29 01:31:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Watch the full fight with my commentary exclusively for patrons.
And you can read all about this fight with the 51 kg WPMF World Champion, watch the fight without commentary, and see my post fight video as well, on my 8...
2018-05-28 04:35:37 +0000 UTC View Post
The tape around my wraps is wet and the glue has melted in the heat of being inside the gloves, and my fingers shake as I try to pick at the ends enough to pull the strips away from my wrists, thumbs and hands. My back is to the warm-up area of the stadium and I’m facing a back gate, where cooler air from outside blows in from time to time. The t...
2018-05-24 10:32:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Video above. Originally published for patrons only, with the sad passing of Namkabuan the video of this seminar is made public for everyone. Enjoy the amazing Namkabuan, and the legends that were brought together
As written when published:
In early April 2018 we held the inaugural “4 Legends Seminar” at the Spor...
2018-05-14 09:10:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Kru Khorat’s out-of-the-way gym Suk Niwet Muay Thai (map link) is shaped like a shoebox and very small. There are yellow and black checkered mats on the ground, some mitts and pads hanging on the wall, and two free-standing bags. In the back is a single exercise bike, or ...
2018-05-11 11:56:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I hook my index finger around the string, which sounds a bell at the front of the bus to indicate to the driver that he should stop. There’s a long pause before the doors open and I have to kind of squeeze between three men to get down the stairs and onto the street, but then I’m there, standing on the pavement in Prinzlauer Berg, Berlin. I’v...
2018-05-08 10:43:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Sagat Petchyindee part II – the first part of this session is here.
3x Lumpinee Champion, 3x Rajadamnern Champion – inspiration for the Street Fighter character “Sagat”
Sagat is absolutely incredible. His energy ...
2018-04-26 07:45:07 +0000 UTC View Post
You can listen to a podcast version of this session here. iTune...
2018-04-10 06:51:10 +0000 UTC View Post
It's almost too much to talk about, but if you take a look at the new site sylviestudy.com you'll see what is going on. We've created an entirely new website just to host projects of very intensive learning, content far beyond what even the Muay Thai Library is archiving. The first...
2018-03-29 09:17:15 +0000 UTC View PostIf you can't get enough this material is in addition to and not replacing the already robust Muay Thai Library project. I will still be publishing at least two new Library sessions a month, and the patron only articles.
Read this Patreon post for details, but here is t...
2018-03-29 09:13:17 +0000 UTC View Post
You can also download this session as a podcast for free on Soundcloud. Subscribe on iTunes or listen 2018-03-26 13:16:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Unorthodox Insistence
“Sylvie,” Kru Nu calls to me from the gate that separates the weight room from the main area of the gym. The gate is aluminum and slides open to the side, where it tucks behind a makeshift “DJ Booth,” where you can hook up an MP3 player or mobile phone to play music through the ridiculous...
2018-03-18 10:25:25 +0000 UTC View Post
You can also listen to this session as a podcast on iTunes
Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai (Sityodtong) is from Sisaket province in Isaan and started fighting Muay Thai before he ever really had learned any of it. ...
2018-03-13 01:13:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Among Thai nakmuay, Arjan Surat is one of the most feared men in Thailand. And right now he’s drinking from a straw that sticks out from a pink My Little Pony thermal cup. He has a back brace the color of Band-Aids wrapped around his waist underneath his bellypad, which looks like it’s been chewed on by a Rottweiler and dragge...
2018-03-10 04:30:45 +0000 UTC View Post
There’s a looming feeling that comes from standing in front of huge, empty buildings. How many millions of people flock to the Colosseum in Rome, to stand in that architectural giant and feel the sheer awe of what it was. The spectre of spectators filling the stands. For me, it would be a nightmare. Kevin and I are outside of Chiang Mai’s bigge...
2018-03-04 02:59:59 +0000 UTC View Post
4x Lumpinee Champion, 3x Fighter of the Year, WBC jr. featherweight World Boxing Champion
You can also listen to this session as a podcast on iTunes
Samart is one of the biggest superstars of...
2018-02-24 00:51:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Kevin and I have been driving around for about an hour at night, looking for the venue of my fight. This promoter notoriously gives me vague directions to wherever I’m fighting, but that has become part of the adventure. We’ve wound through these completely pitch-black roads, guided only by the 10 feet of headlight in front of us, sometimes aid...
2018-02-20 12:42:49 +0000 UTC View PostIf you are getting email notifications because of my new Lens app posts you can quickly personalize how you would like to be notified, and by which kinds of posts here, including or excluding Lens posts as you like,...
2018-02-19 15:11:34 +0000 UTC View Post
This is my 175th fight, facing off with Yodying who I hadn't fought in a very long time, but who I faced a great deal in my first years at Lanna. She broke my nose in one of our early fights, so I always felt I kind of owed her, but not in a mean way really. I was excited to fight her, when I discovered she was a late replacement to Nong Benz who I...
2018-02-16 05:47:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I get out of the car and follow my trainer, Kru Nu, to the front steps of a small clinic on the side of a small road in Pattaya. To the left of the clinic is a tiny massage shop, the prices and names of the different massage options painted on the glass front windows. Kru Nu is kicking off his shoes and stepping into the cli...
2018-02-11 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I could never say enough about how much I loved training with Kru San. I wasn’t very familiar with him prior to this lesson, even though I’d met him at Sitmonchai before and probably seen him at a few fights. He has a larger-than-life kind of presence, not only because he’s actually so physically imposing but because his enormous smile and...
2018-02-10 05:27:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Karuhat Sor. Supawan
3x Lumpinee champion
Note: 1've written a companion piece on my public blog which goes into depth on the Forward Check and make a very good study guide to get the most out of what Karuhat is teaching in this session. 2018-01-27 02:06:54 +0000 UTC View Post