Pornsanae Sitmonchai - The Power of Hook and Low Kick | 74 min (Patreon)

Pornsanae is a very notable kind of man. He’s funny, he’s cheeky, he’s vain in this wonderful Thai nakmuay sort of way that goes along with pride and confindence, he has a kind of strut about him that you can only admire, and when he shows you something from his style you “get” it with a nice dosage of horror at the same time, because you can imagine what it feels like to experience the real thing, in real time, with real power. Do not want. Ultimately, for everyone at a high level, technique and persona come together to make a fighting "style".

He’s a low-kick and punch expert, which dictates that he’s a fairly close range fighter. But what’s really cool about how he manages all of that in his system is this extended front arm (his left arm), which acts as a battering ram, a stop-post, a kind of “feeler” antenna, and a way to hook around a charging opponent’s neck and off-balance and punish them. And while he’s close range, he’s not really “charging,” so much as just in your goddamn space all the time. He’s actually quite light and quick on his feet, cutting angles anytime he’s not punishing you right down the middle. His punching style probably invites opponents to be aggressive right back, which he has an answer for with his long front arm and sharp angles. You become the bull, he becomes the matador. Then he chops your legs out from under you or hooks your jaw into oblivion.

You’ll note fairly deep into the session I had a hard time with a step into Southpaw from my Orthodox stance, which is meant to cut an angle against an advancing opponent, and then you do his hop-over leg kick. I couldn’t hop over after the switch, although I can hop fine if I just start from Southpaw. The reason is that my weight, upon switching, goes to my front foot. So you have to shift your weight back and be able to lift your front leg and then you can hop. I explain it in the voiceover, but the point here is that my inability to be slick in this during this session allows you to see a lot of Pornsanae’s personality, teaching style, and his technique as he corrects me. All of those are really cool to see. So, you’re welcome for struggling with that so much, a big part of the Library is that long form sessions also teach us the teaching style and personalities of these great fighters and krus.

Things to look out for: 

1. That extended lead arm and tight rear guard. Protect yourself with your strong, back arm and duck into any exchanges, but use that extended front arm as a feeler, a battering ram, and a “stay there” stopper for an advancing opponent. You can push on their face (which is the first one Pi Nae shows me) or on their chest if they’re trying to knee you, which knocks them back and off-balance, which is a great set up for a leg kick. That front arm is everything. Watch how he hooks around an advancing opponent to stuff them, or even pull them in a forward dive as he steps to the side and lands knees or elbows or punches.
2. The slide skip: you basically just slide over to the side as your opponent is coming forward, like a skip step, and then you’re in their blind spot and you can mess them up. Pornsanae goes to his right, which is outside an Orthodox opponent’s jab and therefore right into their blind spot. He shows how to punch the head and body from here.
3. His body punch is with the fist facing upward so you have more extension in case the opponent moves. If you turn your fist like a normal hook to the face, you might miss. There’s no getting away from the angle Pornsanae favors.
4. His reverse stance for the right hook. You basically walk forward, but step out to the side and do this “monkey hammer” (my name; you’ll get it when you see it) behind your opponent’s guard. It’s beautiful and nasty. You have to step out though and bring that hook around kinda wide. If you just walk forward you stuff yourself, but if your opponent is backing up you can step forward and throw a straight instead.
5. Reversing the stance for a leg kick. Again, like a matador, this is when your opponent is coming forward and you just step from Orthodox into Southpaw (out to the side) and then hop on the leg kick. You have to bring your weight onto your back foot first, so you can hop forward with the now-front foot. 
6. His low kick in general requires a deep hop and bent knee. The more you bend the knee, the better. It brings your head offline, but don’t hunch forward. Control with your chest up and shoulder turn like a normal kick, but you don’t come up on your toe of the standing leg the way you do on a middle kick. Instead you hop over and land with your foot sideways and just cut your kicking leg right into your opponent’s IT Band.
7. And my personal favorite is this interruption of the opponent’s lead arm, you kind of hook it with your lead arm and pull it down or forward but then use your own lead arm - the one you just hooked their arm with - to land a little pop into the opponent’s face. It’s a distraction, it gets them flinching, it’s not powerful but try it out on a friend and see how annoying and affective it is. 

in the session Pornsanae gets excited when he sees his shirt. This is where you can get one. They are 1,200 baht (about $37) including shipping. Just message them.

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