Slow-Mo Geek Out - Rambaa Clinch Discussion (1 hr) (Patreon)

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 this – fights, techniques, movements, the training videos – we totally geek out over how beautiful, economical, slick, continuous and efficient these legends are. One of the things that I feel really lucky to have learned early on, because of the way I trained with Master K in his basement, was how to look at a teacher when being shown something. Muay Thai isn’t really a verbal art form. Even though being able to explain a technique is awesome, and having someone put it in context is a great way to create greater understanding around the technique as part of a whole system, being able to see the movement is the greatest way to learn. In the book, The Inner Game of Tennis, the author uses the term “feelmages,” blending the notion of an image with how it feels in the body. That’s what makes me geek out while watching these fighters/trainers/legends move. It’s a feast of “feelmages.”

In this debut segment, we pulled out 5 minutes from a wonderful clinch private with Rambaa Somdet M16 slowed it down so you can see how all his movements flow and to get more time to digest each technique, and we periodically stop the video to focus on a point or draw over the screenshot to highlight a body position, angles, weight distribution, etc. The entire original session video is available on Patreon, at regular speed and with my original voiceover to help explain the techniques, the session, etc. In this 5 minute excerpt you still learn a number of different clinch throws/trips and off-balances because Rambaa really worked through them pretty steadily in this session, but the breakdown in slow-motion really allows you to see all the movements that go into making all this work together. And we talk about other legends who have similar technique or strategies, kind of pulling from our knowledge from the library as a whole to thread together “clinch strategy and technique” within the context of this excerpt. This experiment is all about trying to draw out the huge amount of deep knowledge buried in every single one of the Library sessions, making it more accessible for you.

You can also listen to the entire discussion as a podcast here.

Below are a few stills from the video discussion:

I had a lot of fun recording this first “Geek Out,” so I’m excited about the idea of doing more. It’s a new idea, so your feedback is absolutely welcome for what you like, who you would like to see in future segments, etc. Hope you guys like it, and thank you to all my patrons who make this content possible.