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Beyond the Library - Interviews episode 1

I've wanted to start conducting interviews as a part of and expansion of the Preserve the Legacy Project, going beyond the Muay Thai Library. The aim is substantive interviews with the legends on the history of Muay Thai, the state of Muay Thai, and on their lives and careers. My Thai has finally gotten good enough that I can have at least basic back and forth conversations, and with the help of patrons who jumped in to help, I can get these interviews dependably translated. This is the first one of hopefully many, and as the debut interview it's very special to me, because Dieselnoi is my hero, my idol, and like a favorite uncle. Aside from this interview which runs 18 minutes, I also filmed maybe 30 minutes of Dieselnoi flipping through Muay Thai history, fighter by fighter (beginning with fighters who preceded him), telling the story of Muay Thai's evolution, from his perspective. I'm very excited about this dimension of the Preserve The Legacy project. It's time consuming, and I still get a little nervous talking to these greats with miscommunications and gaps in my Thai abilities, but the efforts really pay off. I'm a shy person at heart, but if anything is worth getting over your shyness it is this. I love this interview and, just seeing how Dieselnoi is as a man and how he performs his conversations... it just has to be captured.

Dieselnoi is an amazing man and energy. He is bursting with enthusiasm and intensity, and of everyone I've ever come in contact with in all of my Muay Thai interactions, I've met nobody who loves Muay Thai more than he does. When he trained me a few years ago he took a private moment and showed me his scars on his wrist, from where he tried to commit suicide because he had run out of opponents; his desperation was in not being able to fight, the one thing his heart rages after. It's a very personal thing to share and he did not know me well then either, so he is not shy about it. It's part of his intensity. A more happy note on something that makes Dieselnoi who he is, is his seemingly allergic reaction to wearing a shirt. The very instant he walks into a room he just has to pop his shirt off, he doesn't give any care at all to not being a young, chiseled fighter anymore - a fairly common point of shyness among other former fighters. He was the greatest knee fighter ever - that will never change, six pack be damned! I do plan to do more interviews with him, possibly covering his life in stages, and I'm also working with him to possibly get his biography published (if anyone wants to help with that, either through connections or with skills offered, message me). But to the English-speaking world, this interview stands a bit as a first introduction to the wonder that is Dieselnoi. And I'm happy to offer it to you my $10 patrons, because of the significance of your support. 

In the interview (there's a subtitle transcript you can browse below) he takes up a popular subject: How much contemporary Muay Thai has changed since the Golden Age, and why. He first talks about clinch, and about how much it has changed scoring. This is very interesting because previous translated criticisms of contemporary Muay Thai came from Samart and Saenchai, famously Femeu fighters who wanted nothing to do with clinch at all, as fighters. Femeu fighters want to show their techniques, so Muay Khao scoring is always something they disfavor. On the other hand, Dieselnoi was a powerful knee fighter, and very willing to clinch, so his perspective is perhaps a different critique. His complaint is not that there is too much clinch, per se, but rather the way in which fighters are clinching now. They apparently only clinch with power, not technique, and throw too readily, turning Muay Thai into a strength game. Fighters now just lock up and throw, occasionally landing knees that don't have the force and purity of the Golden Age, in Dieselnoi's eyes. It's just a strong man's sport (in a future segment he mentions that he's not a fan of Yodwicha, former co-Fighter of the Year, an expert at locking in the clinch. (I happen to be a big Yodwicha fan). He also gives added details in how promoters manipulate match-ups to bring out the strength advantage. Just to give you my view, in learning from and filming with these absolute legends of the Golden Age, the biggest thing that is missing from contemporary Muay Thai is Continuity. I talk about Golden Age Continuity here in my extended vlog. What I personally gather from what Dieselnoi is saying is that clinch now destroys continuity, it's a rudimentary and interrupted version of what in the Golden Age was a riveting conversation. In his time you had extremely continuous knee and clinch fighters like Langsuan (hopefully coming to the Muay Thai Library soon), or Lamnamoon (also in the works for the Library), or Dieselnoi. all of whom won Fighter of the Year. The clinch in this kind of knee fighting was used to gain competitive advantage, in the flow of more continuous attack. This is missing in today's Muay Thai. It's not only a minimization of vocabulary (simplified technique), but, to follow the language analogy, a lack of elocution in how you frame your ideas and arguments. 

He talks about the influence of gambling, which has been a complaint of both Dieselnoi's friend Samart, and from Saenchai, but Dieselnoi interprets the problem differently. According to Diesenoi, it isn't the gambling itself - there was more gambling in the past than there is now - but rather an effect of how power has changed. Dieselnoi's manager was Klaew Thanikul, reportedly one of the most powerful mafia bosses in all of Thailand, and one of the great early promoters of modern Muay Thai. There's an article on him here. I don't know enough about Muay Thai history and that era, but know that Dieselnoi is coming from that world.

above, Dieselnoi with his manager

In the interview he also talks about his famous catch-weight fight with Samart Payakaroon, the outcome was to establish who would be named Yodmuay (best fighter) for that year. He believes that to present times he still suffers from that weight cut, which pushed him down to 129.5 lbs. Samart was coming up in weight, and weighed in at 133 lbs. The victory went to Dieselnoi, a fight for which unfortunately no footage has surfaced. It's great to hear him talk about the fight, techniques in the fight, and the brutality of that weight cut.

There is much more coming from Dieselnoi in the future, and hopefully from many of the legends in the Library. I'd like to build a kind of oral history of the sport, as told through the voices of the fighters and krus I'm capturing in the Library. With the support of patrons and sponsors I can do that. (If you are a business and you would like to sponsor this series of interviews, and help make them happen, message me.)

Thank you for pledging substantively, helping to bring these kinds of projects forward!

If you are not familiar with closed captions on YouTube, you can turn on the English Language translation by simply hitting the "cc" button and allowing captions. You can see below:


A big and special thank you to patrons Prin and Pan, both of whom contributed to the translation, it could not have been done without them (and some help from their parents, I'm told, to help capture Dieselnoi's very fast, and unusual way of talking). And to the other patrons who also volunteered to help with the translation. If you are a fluent Thai speaker and think you can help refine the present interview, message me with suggestions. 


If you haven't watched the sessions, he is in the Muay Thai Library:

#3 Dieselnoi  Chor Thanasukarn  - The King of Knees (54 min) - watch it here 

 #30 Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn 2 - Muay Khao Craft  (42 min) watch it here  

And, he was part of the Four Legends Seminar, the video of which can be seen here:

4 Legends Seminar - Bangkok April 2018 (1 hr 20 min)

Muay Thai Library legends Karuhat, Chatchai, Namkabuan and Dieselnoi were in seminar on two days instructing students from around the world. This is an hour and twenty minute video edit of a first-of-its-kind seminar in Bangkok. watch it here 


The Subtitle Transcript

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Now,


2

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on the matter of points in muay thai,


3

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it's not like it was before


4

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why has it changed?


5

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It's changed due to the judges.


6

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Judges give points like *this*


7

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And so fighters adjust.


8

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Back in the day, they’d give points for demonstrating your weapons


9

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Whether you hit your target, if they damaged your opponent


10

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Now it's not like that anymore. Now they clinch up,


11

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take their opponent down, and the fighter on top gets the advantage.


12

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And so it is that


13

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it’s not anymore about how you demonstrate your skills


14

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it’s not anymore about how you demonstrate your skills or which weapons you display;


15

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if you’re a heavy handed muay mat, how you fight


16

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it's how you lift weights and how you use your weight, clinch, or whatever you have in order to take down your opponent


17

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Why have the judges changed their scoring, awarding points like this?


18

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The truth is,


19

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there's


20

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criteria/rules


21

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that the judges have to abide by, right?


22

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They give points according to this, like I'm telling you; demonstrate good technique clearly.


23

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But in practice, things are different. Judges aren't able to hold themselves to their own standards.


24

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Why?


25

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They decide taking into account situational factors.


26

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For example, when people boo, they get scared; they don't stand their ground


27

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In fact, if we're going to improve muay thai,


28

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In fact, if we're going to improve muay thai,


29

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however we are trained, we have to adhere to those principles of muay thai.


30

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as soon as you sit in the judge's chair, you declare your position and make clear the scoring criteria


31

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for example, how is your fighter going to win? your fighter may be strong, but is he accurate? right?


32

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right?


33

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describe in detail to the audience!


34

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so the audience understands from that point moving forwards.


35

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Nowadays, people don't know how to watch muay thai.


36

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They only look at one thing, “Oh he’s strong, he threw his opponent down a lot.”


37

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So now every gym,


38

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they invest in making their fighters (physically) strong , so they can better clinch and throw their opponents down.


39

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so they can better clinch and throw their opponents down, right?


40

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So it’s like that. If they were to demonstrate the technique of muay thai – is their muay beautiful?


41

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If they were to demonstrate the technique of muay thai,


42

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is their muay beautiful?


43

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Is their muay effective and damaging?  Which weapons hit where?


44

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Then the head trainer of the camp would have to train their fighters like that.


45

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So it will be more entertaining and so we can appreciate the technique of muay thai.


46

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Nowadays it's like this.


47

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Do you think muay thai trainers have changed their teaching as well?


48

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If you ask whether teachers of muay thai have changed as well, then yes they have changed.


49

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Frankly speaking, it's the promoters. I train fighters, I feed them a particular type of fighter.


50

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I feed them a particular type of fighter.


51

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You ask me for a match. For example, this pair of fighters, are exciting to watch, but I won't match them up.


52

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I want to promote, you want to promote, but we're not willing to compromise.


53

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We don't want to work cooperatively.


54

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So now we're at an impasse and we can't make the match happen.


55

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So let's pick a different fighter


56

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in the same camp, who's fought a couple of times


57

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in the same camp, who's fought a couple of times


58

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let's put him up a couple of weightclasses and now it's fighters matched by weight only


59

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so now the points are awarded by the judges to the fighter who's stronger


60

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So of course the fighter who's closer to his natural weight has the advantage


61

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and will take his opponent down and you'll decide that he won


62

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right?


63

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Nowadays, the phrase "muay pae tahng gan" (the hierarchy of muay thai styles)


64

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Do you understand the term "muay pae tahng gan"?


65

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You don't understand, right?


66

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It means that, for example, if you're muay mat,


67

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and I'm muay dtae, if you advance on me


68

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you can punch me as many times as you want, you're always going to lose


69

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right?


70

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You're not going to have that anymore.


71

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Because they don't give points like that anymore.


72

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You advance and I land good kicks, but then get I clinched and taken down and lose.


73

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You understand? So that's how it comes to be.


74

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Why? This is how promoters have thus contributed to the decline of muay thai.


75

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Not exciting.


76

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Because you don't have the appropriate fighters, you end up matching fighters by weight only,


77

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you pressure naturally lighter fighters to fight in order to have fights at all, If you really look deeply at it.


78

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When you're a referee in the stadium


79

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how do you like to referee?


80

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breaking the clinch or let it go?


81

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What do you mean?


82

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As a fighter in the past,


83

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and a referee in the present,


84

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do you referee like before?


85

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or do you change like today?


86

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Oh, if i were to judge, I would do it my own way; I wouldn't be interested in points


87

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I wouldn't be interested in modern factors.


88

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Before I judge,


89

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I will enter the ring and tell the audience


90

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I don't judge according to betting lines, I judge by the art of muay thai technique only


91

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Therefore, I look at how you show your weapons/demonstrate your skills


92

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Not just locking your opponent and falling on them to win! It's not like that!


93

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Because this is muay thai, not muay bplum (wrestling)!

[written screens summarizing a question]


94

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The reason it changed, as far as I can tell,


95

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we have to accept something, and that is Thailand,


96

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it's a small country.  And another thing, fighter's purses (kha dtua)


97

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The standard purse in Thailand is around 100-200,000 baht


98

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Currently.


99

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But when you fight foreign fighters


100

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you have to accept that foreign fighters don't like to clinch and throw, right


101

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right?


102

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because they can't fight like that,


103

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they pressure us, they pressure Thais, to not fight like that


104

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but why did Thais go along with this? because of money.


105

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Fighting with Thais, it's a long time between fights, and you only get 100,000 baht


106

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Fighting every 3-4 months


107

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But if you fight abroad, it's only 3 rounds, you get to fight in a foreign country,


108

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You fight without knees, you get 4-500,000 baht!


109

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So that's how that came to be.


110

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This is the meaning. Why?


111

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Because foreigners,


112

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They're going to favor their own, this is a fact of life.


113

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The muay thai that exists today, exists because of foreigners.


114

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The true art of muay thai,


115

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certain techniques of off balancing


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foreigners can't fight against this.


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Nowadays


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Foreigners come to Thailand,


119

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they can't clinch - they die! Right! They can do everything, but when they clinch...


120

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Back in the day


121

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Elbows are the same story.


122

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Foreigners didn't know how to use them. Afraid! Prohibited! Prohibited!


123

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But now they're not prohibited. You know why? They can use them now! You elbow, I elbow!


124

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From this point forwards, it won't be long.


125

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Once foreigners learn how to clinch, all those clinch techniques will come back


126

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Thai people will allow it. Why?


127

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Because right now, foreigners don't match up at that level of technique


128

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When they get up to that level and can use all the techniques, they'll be able to fight


129

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It's like that. I know already.


130

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Therefore, when you go fight


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when Thai fighters say...


132

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That's why Saenchai is not right when he says that


133

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Saenchai doesn't like to clinch


134

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Right!


135

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when he says it's not good


136

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Right, he'd usually lose to muay khao


137

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Now, don't forget, muay khao...


138

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All nak muay are like this...


139

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Muay mat (boxers),


140

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Muay dtae (kickers), muay khao (knee fighters), muay sok (elbow fighters)


141

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The muay style that uses the most energy/strength,


142

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out of all these styles, is muay khao.


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(Out of) everyone! They use a lot of energy/strength.


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Before you had muay khao and muay mat (that were contrasted),


145

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now it's muay khao and femur.


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All of them.


147

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When you go up and fight,


148

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muay khao is the most tiring. Why is this?


149

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One, the body has to be strong; you have to advance on your opponent and clinch them


150

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Stop, and you get kicked.


151

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And what's the easiest style? Muay femur.


152

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Your Samarts, your Saenchais, play femur and <makes dancing gesture>...


153

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And the muay


154

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that takes the most damage, gets famous the fastest, goes the fastest, is muay mat


155

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because muay mat, they have to invest


156

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and commit to getting inside and punching


157

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Get two or three knockouts, you get a big reaction - "OOOOH" - and now you're famous.


158

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But at the same time, you get kicked,


159

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you get kicked, bruised inside. Apidej (fighter famous for arm-breaking kicks)


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and


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why do you get famous quickly (as a muay mat)?


162

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Because muay mat, you don't have to practice that much to fight if you have heavy hands.


163

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They don't have the chance to get tired! You advance and punch, how do you get tired?


164

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It's not like muay khao, where you have to go and clinch


165

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Right? This is what I'm telling you.


166

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Ajarn, before, when you fought,


167

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what style did you fight with?


168

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Me? I walked ahead and stabbed knees.


169

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I walked ahead,


170

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left teeps, left kicks, stabbed knees, and grabbed and hit.


171

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You liked fighting with muay khao?


172

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Yes, I liked that. I liked fighting muay khao, muay mat,


173

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But I didn't really like fighting muay femur. They'd run and hide...I didn't like that.


174

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Boring, right?


175

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I'd get tired. But I liked fighting muay mat. You know why?


176

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There's a good quality of exchange between our styles. We'd advance and they'd advance in turn.


177

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Right, right.


178

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And Samart (Payakaroon), Pi Mat


179

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he says that, nowadays,


180

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Muay Thai is declining due to gamblers


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that have influence.


182

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There's gambling going on.


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Not related at all.


184

00:09:47,220 --> 00:09:47,840

Because,


185

00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:49,840

in the past, there was a lot of mafia, right?


186

00:09:50,660 --> 00:09:53,635

Gambling, for Thai people, it's been around a long time.


187

00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,400

Nowadays, it's even less than it was before!


188

00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,240

Right! Then why do Samart and other


189

00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,560

people say that gambling


190

00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,360

ruins everything


191

00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,060

I don't understand, because there's always been gambling.


192

00:10:07,380 --> 00:10:09,600

Yes, gambling's been around. But they say that because


193

00:10:10,420 --> 00:10:13,340

it's his feeling that judges...


194

00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,660

Samart looks at the judges and sees it this way because


195

00:10:17,665 --> 00:10:19,075

the judging criteria have changed!


196

00:10:20,175 --> 00:10:23,025

(he thinks) that this demonstrates that gamblers are using their money to influence things,


197

00:10:23,675 --> 00:10:25,675

and that there's corruption.


198

00:10:26,380 --> 00:10:29,060

And so that's why Samart says these things.


199

00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:33,560

In the past there used to be big Mafia figures, right? But now, this isn't actually corruption, right?


200

00:10:34,340 --> 00:10:37,560

Back in the day, the Mafia weren't part of the corruption.


201

00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:40,120

Klaew Thanikul (famous promoter)


202

00:10:40,620 --> 00:10:44,040

He was very straightforward. Whoever didn't perform well, he'd hire someone to take care of them for real.


203

00:10:44,180 --> 00:10:45,800

So people didn't dare.


204

00:10:46,540 --> 00:10:50,080

He was my boss.


205

00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:51,640

And so when he died,


206

00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,320

all the Mafia, they stopped being afraid.


207

00:10:55,140 --> 00:10:56,140

And so they...


208

00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,780

Klaew Thanikul, called me up.


209

00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:05,400

"Doi," he said,


210

00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,340

"if you don't have money, don't hesitate to call me."


211

00:11:08,780 --> 00:11:10,900

he was talking about if there was anyone who would pay me to take a dive


212

00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:12,960

"I'll open their mosquito netting and shoot them where they sleep."


213

00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:18,520

In the past, there were nak muay


214

00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:19,980

that were banned from fighting


215

00:11:20,220 --> 00:11:22,380

because they were accused of taking payoffs


216

00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:23,440

Sian (Karuhat) over here?


217

00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,180

Now they have it, right?


218

00:11:25,180 --> 00:11:26,160

Like what?


219

00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,780

Sometimes, I've seen fights where the referee stopped the fight.


220

00:11:29,785 --> 00:11:32,875

Yes, they've always done that! They did it just in the past two days!


221

00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,640

Two days ago, both of the fighters, they didn't fight.


222

00:11:36,740 --> 00:11:37,680

Tanadet, right?


223

00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:40,840

They'd stop the two fighters and give them a warning.


224

00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,240

Stop, warn, and then break them up altogether.


225

00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:45,520

They still do this now.


226

00:11:46,420 --> 00:11:48,100

But now,


227

00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:49,100

nak muay are prohibited


228

00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:50,740

when it's like this


229

00:11:50,740 --> 00:11:52,220

They don't let them fight, they take them out of commission (to pickle!)


230

00:11:52,220 --> 00:11:53,320

6 months? 1 year?


231

00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:54,320

In the past, they wouldn't let them fight for 6 months


232

00:11:55,660 --> 00:11:56,540

Nowadays,


233

00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,820

it's still 6 months, but it's hard to come back.


234

00:11:59,820 --> 00:12:02,740

Because people don't watch muay thai anymore, they gamble.


235

00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:04,860

They think they're going to be cheated.


236

00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:06,660

Few fighters that get kicked out like this can come back.


237

00:12:07,020 --> 00:12:08,860

Unless you were part of a famous camp.


238

00:12:12,340 --> 00:12:13,340

These days


239

00:12:13,740 --> 00:12:14,740

it's not the same, not the same


240

00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:16,460

when they're not even trying to fight


241

00:12:17,100 --> 00:12:17,680

Stop!


242

00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:21,160

have you ever done this yourself?


243

00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:26,760

I myself have never taken a dive,


244

00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,200

as the boss of the camp


245

00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,980

No, I mean as a referee


246

00:12:31,180 --> 00:12:32,520

Me? Yes.


247

00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,380

i was able to detect which fighters fixed their fights.


248

00:12:34,380 --> 00:12:36,380

They'd fight like this...


249

00:12:36,380 --> 00:12:39,320

So I'd remind them to fight - Hey! Fight!


250

00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:40,140

Stop!


251

00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:41,260

Separate the two of them.


252

00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,000

Why did they even enter the ring?


253

00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,240

Looking out, looking out, sometimes nak muay


254

00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,220

Sometimes you kick, and you receive it, and it's like...


255

00:12:50,740 --> 00:12:52,000

...you know,


256

00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:53,720

it's the exchange between the two of you.


257

00:12:54,185 --> 00:12:55,665

And Sylvie, you have to remember that


258

00:12:56,180 --> 00:12:58,000

when you get in the ring, Sylvie you remember


259

00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,380

you get in the ring and you fight, right?


260

00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:02,660

you trying to hurt me, right?


261

00:13:02,660 --> 00:13:04,400

as soon as you kick


262

00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,220

I'm going to kick you right back.


263

00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:07,200

so I have to repeat this, right?


264

00:13:07,380 --> 00:13:11,300

I run in, but don't land the kick (beuk!), you already backed out


265

00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:12,100

like sparring


266

00:13:13,220 --> 00:13:15,700

but in the past


267

00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:17,455

you had nak muay who were friends


268

00:13:17,780 --> 00:13:18,495

Karuhat


269

00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:19,500

Kaensak


270

00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:20,740

But they fought for real


271

00:13:20,740 --> 00:13:21,240

Right.


272

00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:22,860

Friends, but they fought for real.


273

00:13:23,100 --> 00:13:24,300

Do just as you would, fight for real


274

00:13:24,300 --> 00:13:26,500

But you also had Samart, Dieselnoi,


275

00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:27,780

friends, but,


276

00:13:27,780 --> 00:13:29,220

Oh... kill him


277

00:13:29,220 --> 00:13:32,260

But! We didn't use elbows on each other.


278

00:13:33,740 --> 00:13:34,700

We didn't use elbows.


279

00:13:35,460 --> 00:13:37,200

we only used the forearm (not to cut)


280

00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,360

And if our friend fell, we wouldn't follow up with a kick when they were on the ground.


281

00:13:39,460 --> 00:13:40,200

We wouldn't do that.


282

00:13:40,420 --> 00:13:42,760

But when you kneed Samart in the face...


283

00:13:49,580 --> 00:13:52,440

That knee to the face, I'm going to tell you the story of how that happened, Sylvie


284

00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:53,680

He was a good friend of mine


285

00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:55,940

And you know what he told me?


286

00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,260

"Doi, we're friends - when we fight, let's fight like we're sparring." I said OK.


287

00:13:59,820 --> 00:14:02,400

But when the ref brought us to the center of the ring,


288

00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,340

he said, "Doi, go ahead and use full force."


289

00:14:05,660 --> 00:14:07,100

Well, if you say full force, then I'm going to hit you full force!


290

00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:08,480

But when the fight's over,


291

00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,040

you're still friends, right?


292

00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,760

Usually, fighting full force, you hold your guard tight like this, right?


293

00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,540

So when I hit, it slid up and hit him in the face.


294

00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,260

"Maeng Daa" (slang for "pimp" or "asshole")


295

00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:27,500

[I ask him about the weight cut for his epic fight for Fighter of the Year against Samart Payakaroon]


296

00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:29,440

You cut a lot of weight, right?


297

00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,140

Twenty two and a half pounds! Twenty two and a half pounds!


298

00:14:32,140 --> 00:14:33,840

Like this? I don't understand!


299

00:14:34,140 --> 00:14:35,820

Fifteen days,


300

00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,260

I'd eat, a small amount like this.


301

00:14:38,260 --> 00:14:39,280

Fifteen days!


302

00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,300

Eat just this much, with hot water!


303

00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:43,780

In the day I'd put on a sweat jacket and in the afternoon I'd train.


304

00:14:43,780 --> 00:14:44,860

Eat and train.


305

00:14:44,860 --> 00:14:47,740

At the end of training, I'd be down seven pounds.


306

00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,000

Wipe off the sweat.


307

00:14:49,340 --> 00:14:52,160

Man, the weight would come off. I'd be really fatigued.


308

00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:53,920

The next day you're going to fight


309

00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,460

Tomorrow you weigh in, today you...


310

00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,600

Two o'clock in the morning, jump rope.


311

00:14:59,700 --> 00:15:01,240

Take medicine and apply it.


312

00:15:01,460 --> 00:15:02,720

Wipe the sweat off.


313

00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:04,320

Ten o'clock in the morning,


314

00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,980

Weigh yourself, another four pounds.


315

00:15:07,140 --> 00:15:09,180

Lunch time, eat just one spoonful,


316

00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,780

and then you'd take a plate,


317

00:15:12,340 --> 00:15:16,160

put salt on it. put some limes on it.


318

00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:17,840

a thermos of hot water.


319

00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,780

if you're thirsty, you touch the lime to the salt, and then squeeze it into your mouth


320

00:15:22,340 --> 00:15:24,680

put on three shirts, two pairs of pants


321

00:15:24,980 --> 00:15:28,040

two in the afternoon, you get in the chicken cage


322

00:15:28,140 --> 00:15:30,920

take an grill, water, and get under the cover of the cage


323

00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,720

wipe off the sweat and cry!


324

00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:35,360

crying, eh?


325

00:15:35,745 --> 00:15:37,425

crying helps to lose the weight


326

00:15:41,765 --> 00:15:43,825

The sweat would come off and you'd weigh yourself again and see another two pounds gone.


327

00:15:44,225 --> 00:15:45,295

Go in again.


328

00:15:45,795 --> 00:15:47,625

The sweat would come off, you weigh yourself again,


329

00:15:47,940 --> 00:15:49,200

another two pounds.


330

00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:51,440

By this point a lot would have come off. Now what?


331

00:15:51,900 --> 00:15:54,860

In the evening, you wouldn't eat anything at all.


332

00:15:54,860 --> 00:15:56,080

129 pounds, right?


333

00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:57,660

I was short 2 and half pounds.


334

00:16:00,755 --> 00:16:03,545

How would I sleep? I'd take sleeping pills.


335

00:16:04,835 --> 00:16:05,815

I'd sleep like this.


336

00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,420

I'd take a plastic bag, urinate like this,


337

00:16:14,740 --> 00:16:16,060

And sleep like this!


338

00:16:17,860 --> 00:16:18,860

It was torture.


339

00:16:20,420 --> 00:16:21,340

I couldn't bathe.


340

00:16:21,860 --> 00:16:24,700

I could only wipe myself down with hot towels.


341

00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:25,660

how many days?


342

00:16:25,660 --> 00:16:26,620

Seven days.


343

00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,440

Go weigh in that morning,


344

00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,500

133 pounds, Samart one pound (over)


345

00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,640

Dieselnoi 129 pounds and a half!


346

00:16:42,060 --> 00:16:43,140

I'd eat like this afterwards.


347

00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,000

Eat some more, drink some red drink (this is sugar, basically)


348

00:16:49,940 --> 00:16:53,340

My eyes were sunken, my tongue was messed up,


349

00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:56,100

I'd soak in water


350

00:16:59,660 --> 00:17:01,340

When the evening came,


351

00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:03,600

my body had gotten bigger by eight pounds.


352

00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,500

but my eyes were still sunken in, legs were <gestures>


353

00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:09,140

that day,


354

00:17:09,460 --> 00:17:13,280

when we finished fighting, Samart walked out of the ring like this, i walked out like this


355

00:17:15,060 --> 00:17:16,320

I had this sort of aching pain (lao)


356

00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:19,540

mai dai, mai dai (cannot)


357

00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,280

after your fight, how many days were you sick for?


358

00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:25,500

before I was revived?


359

00:17:26,325 --> 00:17:27,535

four to five days


360

00:17:29,460 --> 00:17:30,460

(inaudible)


361

00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,580

If I wasn't so depleted,  Samart would have been hurt


362

00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:37,860

Stab knees like this


363

00:17:38,580 --> 00:17:39,600

He's fast, right?


364

00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:43,720

If I knee left, he goes right, if I knee right right, he goes left.


365

00:17:43,940 --> 00:17:44,860

so now I know what to do.


366

00:17:44,860 --> 00:17:46,300

I'd walk and walk


367

00:17:46,300 --> 00:17:47,620

walk him into the corner


368

00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:48,960

he wouldn't be able to move out of it


369

00:17:49,460 --> 00:17:51,180

I'd adjust and stab a left knee, and he'd go right


370

00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:53,800

I'd throw a left knee, he'd move right, and then I'd catch him with a right knee


371

00:17:54,300 --> 00:17:56,760

I'd catch him and take the wind out of him


372

00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:06,240

Arjan hooked his arms, right?


373

00:18:06,580 --> 00:18:09,140

at the seminar you just did you showed this technique


374

00:18:09,180 --> 00:18:12,140

I watched you do this, I know this technique!



Files

Patreon Interview of Dieselnoi On the State of Muay Thai | Beyond The Library

Join and Study the Muay Thai Library documentary project: Preserve The Legacy: https://www.patreon.com/posts/muay-thai-uncut-7058199 suggested pledge $5 for in-depth On Demand videos: sylviestudy.com

Comments

Anonymous

This was awesome, I could watch Dieselnoi speak for hours. It was definitely way more interesting than any Joe Rogan guest I’ve ever listened to (many, haha). By the way, we need to get you on Rogan’s podcast somehow, I can only imagine how much that would help bring exposure to yourself and the golden age fighting you’re working to preserve

Anonymous

That sounds like a brutal weight cut and way of life. That's insane... Had no idea how grueling weight cutting could be in the past.

sylviemuay

He has a distinct and awesome manner of speaking. He can be really hard to understand, even for native speaking Thais, which I think is even better: you have to "speak Dieselnoi" hahaha

sylviemuay

Samart and Dieselnoi weren't properly the same size and they made Dieselnoi come down to below Samart's weigh in. Definitely not the norm.

Anonymous

He mentioned applying medicine during the weight cut, what is that referring to?

Anonymous

This is really priceless, hope to have more interview sessions like this in this project!

Anonymous

Great interview, what a wonderful man.