Sagat Petchyindee - Keys to Explosive Power | 57 min (Patreon)

3x Lumpinee Champion, 3x Rajadamnern Champion

The first thing out of Sagat’s mouth when I walked out of the changing room with my bag slung over my shoulder, ready for our session, was, “I want to give you more power. End the fight more quickly.” Then he did this tight, but not tense, series of punches and elbows that looked like he was bleeding a man out in 1 minute flat. Then he looked at me and smiled in a way that you just have to see. It’s a confident smile, very charming, but he kind of tucks his chin down and looks up from under his eyebrows the way you would look through your guard, which out of context gives it this kind of sweet Grandpa quality. But this isn’t out of context, this is directly after he just demonstrated exactly how fast and seamless his strikes still are, so the smile reads more like, what you just saw is only a hint. And that’s true. The depth and spanse of Sagat’s Muay Thai knowledge is incredible. But his style, or his system, if I were to break it down is about maximum power and minimum movement.

The first time I trained with Sagat was maybe a year ago and he remembered things that I’d struggled with from that first session. I find that kind of incredible. His patented “Tiger Uppercut,” so named because of the videogame character he inspired in the original Nintendo game Street Fighter, was particularly difficult for me because the way you engage your hip is completely different from the way I normally engage my hip, which is with a turn of it. What’s brilliant about unlocking that particular movement is that I suspect it’s also the secret to unlocking his kind of “upward” kick. It comes almost straight up and then whips at the very last second. You can’t see it until it’s too late. It’s like it hurts by the time you realize you’re about to get it. Same hip movement as the punch, I think. But I have to keep working on it. The main thing about Sagat is that the “Tiger Uppercut,” as a signature move, is super cool but it’s way less interesting than the tiger energy that Sagat embodies in his person when he’s in that ring. It’s this promise of power and aggression that just moves at its own pace; even if a tiger is just kind of pacing around, you feel the power of that animal and it instills a kind of awe - a respectful fear - just being near it. Sagat has that, despite also having this very jovial demeanor. His voice squeals at times, it gets really high as he pulls out the vowels of a word: “how feeeeeeel?” But then he puts his elbows up into a helmet around his head and just starts walking forward with purpose and it’s scary as hell. But he’s still laughing and smiling; so was I, but it was kind of a nervous laughter. I’m not really afraid of him, he has total control and is a very nice man, but it’s that respectful fear. It’s that holy-shit-always-be-on-this-guy’s-good-side kind of thing.

My favorite thing about Sagat’s fighter style is that his dedication to maximum power and minimal effort feels totally in line with the ethic of Muay that first drew me to it. Every move is meant to end the fight. He sees that part of it as self-explanatory, like why would anyone not get that part. But he explains how to achieve that power really well, it’s all about this minimum movement. He makes fun of me for “winding up,” which is something I’m unaware that I do, but it’s also not nearly as dramatic as it used to be… but it’s still a waste of time and energy to him. All the punches and elbows come straight out from your ribs. All the kicks and knees come straight from the hip and then turn at the last second. You don’t break out of your frame at all. I practiced the straight-ness of his elbows and jabs from our first session by putting my shoulder against a wall and it helped loads. That’s what I mean by “coming out of your ribs.” You don’t break your frame. And the power and speed is awesome as a result. Sagat likes to joke that the punch should come from your rib to your opponent’s face, not from New York to your opponent’s face. By the time you land on the target, all the power is already used up. Instead, you start from your own body and waste no extra distance before landing on your target and then going through it. The power is on the other side of your opponent’s face, not right on the target.

The other main point he makes is about “organization,” which is always landing in a position that you can throw another (and preferably the same) strike from. This is balance, mainly, but it’s also that economy of movement thing. So, where your legs are at any given time is really important for combinations, evasion, and power. But you should be able to feel the increase in power or the ability to move or not move. You know a technique is right by it’s feel, which is why Sagat is always asking, “how feel?” You don’t need a mirror, you need to feel balance, power and economic movement.

Some things to look out for:

1. Sticking your elbow to your ribs and coming straight out for jabs, crosses and hooks.
2. Attention to your back foot in strikes for “organization,” to set up for combinations and evasive movements.
3. Stinging low kicks and jabs to interrupt your opponent. You sting them high and low to confuse them and set up for power strikes. Sagat emphasized hitting the thigh with my foot and not my shin, to make it more of a smack/stinging thing.
4. Parrying for elbows. Stay close, just smack that jab or guard out of the way and close in with the elbow. The way Sagat comes across for the fan sok elbow (crossing), you have to watch his shoulder blade to really see how he doesn’t wind up for it at all. For upward and stabbing elbows, he comes in more than up.
5. The “elbow cage helmet,” as I’m calling it, which is just guarding with your elbows and marching in. I’ve been using this in my Kard Chuek fights and goddamn… it’s awesome.
6. Using the corner of the ring to practice repetition of your cross. He would shove my shoulder blade (on the same side as the cross) every so often to get me to feel the loose, relaxed, kind of lurching of that punch. Watch his foot positions for it as well.
7. The upward-angled knee vs. the stabby knee. One is a single movement coming up and in at an angle, almost like an uppercut to the body; the other comes straight in and down, like running your knuckles (knee) down someone’s face (body).
8. The “Tiger Uppercut,” which is actually the same as the body punch in execution, but different heights. The uppercut is quite long, which I struggle with becuase I keep trying to come “up” but it’s really coming “out”. The hips for the body punch are tricky. Sagat steps over with his stance to execute it straight into the gut, I keep overturning.
9. He works with me briefly on the kick, which he returns to later, but he’s trying to get the kick to come up first, then over. It’s the same thing about not breaking out of your frame, so the kick doesn’t come so wide and in. It accelerates at the end, just like his punches.

There is another hour to this session, which will be published in a couple months. He works with me more on the upward kick and shows me a fantastic drill for practicing the power and execution of the cross on the corner of the ring, among many other important things. 

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

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