Singdam Kiatmoo9 - Precision in the Basics (71 min) (Patreon)

This is just an incredible session, mostly because it draws out how beautiful and important the basics are. Here I am opposite a man who has beat Saenchai more than once, won a Lumpinee belt three times, I’ve got nearly 200 fights and 5 years in Thailand and he’s going over the very, very basics of Muay Thai. While most of us might look for cool new tricks to add to our arsonel, or advanced tactics (there are plenty of videos in this Library with those), it was a real please to have his incredible eye on every detail of basic Muay Thai. No matter how advanced you might feel you are, you can improve, even dramatically, when pushed back into the basics. The very best fighters in the world spend a lot of time, still, in the basics. And each style, has different basics. These are the basics of Singdam’s fight style, how he was raised to fight the way he does. A beautiful session - bonus hint: pay attention to his knees which are unique in their variation.

Singdam runs me through each weapon of Muay Thai, piece by piece. We start with a super elementary footwork drill of just moving forward and backwards, then add punches, elbows, knees and kicks. Having a “good” knee or strong kicks, fast hands, whatever, is enough to win you fights. But the kind of tedious and deliberate repetition that’s gone into fighters like Singdam, Saenchai, Chatchai, Karuhat, Dieselnoi… these guys can’t do it wrong. Something that jumped out to me when rewatching this footage in order to do the voiceover was how Singdam’s insistence on my guard wasn’t just because it’s important to protect yourself, like the incessant warning that you’re open to a shot if it drops, but because that guard is part of the move for him. The kick or the knee requires the guard to be correct, to have the right trajectory, power and balance. It’s like mispronouncing a word and he keeps correcting me, not because it “sounds better” to be pronounced one way, but because it’s not actually a word otherwise. The way you move your hip, where you put your foot, the angle of an elbow or punch - all of those things are important. You know how I know how important they are? Singdam thinks they’re important. At his level they’re still important; they are literally the foundation of everything he does.

We’re the same age, me and Singdam. He started at a Muay Thai camp in Buriram at 9 years old, where for the first month he just marched forward and backward getting his guard and leg blocks down. Morning and night, only this. Then the next month he got to put his hands on his head and march with knees; for another month, only this. When he tells me about this you can hear his exasperation as he relives it, his face and countenance become that 9-year-old boy again. But you know what? His form is perfection. And he teaches it to me, because now he knows what it was for. It’s my favorite thing he taught me and it’s challenging. From the age of 9 to the age of 33, Singdam has 24 years of fight experience and over 400 fights. I’m his same age, but with 9 years of fighting experience and my 180-some fights are all within 5 years… I’m fighting at his rate as a kid, 13 or 14 years old. But we bonded over this and Singdam went off on a short tangent about the difference in time scales between Thais and westerners in Muay Thai. A 9 year old kid with no status marching up and down the mats to get his foundation strong makes sense; it’s fitting for a 5-year-old to have training wheels on his bike. But it’s just as important for westerners, it’s just odd because we’re already in our 20s doing this stuff. Nobody puts training wheels on a 20-year-old’s bike. But pumping the pedals, finding balance and falling over are the exact same process to learning to ride a bike, regardless of age. That’s why I think it’s beautiful that he made me learn these drills he suffered through for 2 months as a kid, and the fact that I found them valuable is the advantage I have as an adult looking at their importance, rather than a kid just being dutiful. Practice, practice, practice.

The things to look out for in this lesson are legion, but the bulletpoints for what you cannot miss are these:

1. Always look at Sindam’s head position. He has this beautiful frame where his head stays perfectly still and his shoulders provide the balance and control for every move. His hips drive the power on the knees and kicks, but his shoulders and head are the steering wheel, so to speak.
2. He shows me how to make my lead hand hook longer, which actually balances out the punch much better than how I was doing it. For Muay Thai the longer hook and uppercut are favored due to the difference in range from boxing; if you’re close enough to hook like that you’d likely throw an elbow instead.
3. His elbows have an angle right between the horizontal of Yodkhunpon and the rainbow arch of Karuhat. It’s angled enough to go around the guard, but still comes right out of the shoulder. The lead elbow is horizontal to act as an “opener” for the rear, angled elbow.
4. His knees are in the “don’t lean back” school of thought. They’re all one movement, driven by the hip, so they don’t come up and then in like a stabbing knee, but rather flow up. What was unique to Singdam’s knees are where he’s aiming. He pointed out that abs are strong, so striking in the middle is like hitting armor. He aims instead for the side of the stomach, a weak point in the armor, which is harder to defend and happens to be where your organs are more vulnerable as well. Brilliant. But keeping your head forward and chin tucked is the secret to the balance, as well as your opposite side guard.
5. He works with me for a long time on that step over for the kick. Mine is too big/long. It’s a tiny step, just a slight angle off from where you’d step for the knee or punches. He actually puts tape on the ground to track the distances and that’s super helpful. Again, keeping the head forward and driving from the shoulders is key. He likes a really long kick, so his kicking leg is pretty straight. With this kind of kick, leaning back just gets your shin directed into someone’s elbow, so the head and shoulder position is a major aspect of getting the right angle and power.

TIP BOX: if you are inspired by what you see and want to show added appreciation you can send gratuity directly to Singdam. Just message $5 or more via PayPal to the address sylvie@8limbs.us, please in the "add a note" section specify "for Singdam". I will transfer the funds.

KRU FUND: additionally, 5% of all Patreon pledges go into my Kru Fund, and is directed back to the Krus and ex-fighters who have helped make this documentary Library possible: http://8limbs.us/muay-thai-thailand/starting-the-kru-fund

If you are in Bangkok you can train with Singdam at the Yokkao Training Center, where privates are offered.