Ponsaknoi Sit Chang - Old School Jockygym (74 min) (Patreon)

Ponsaknoi is one of these trainers who has an absolutely incredible lineage of students to his name. As a trainer at the legendary Jocky Gym, he’s had a hand in shaping names like Somrak Sor. Khamsing (Olympic Gold in Boxing, legend of Muay Thai), Lerdsila, Saenchai, and Silapathai, just to name a few. He’s not as old as he comes off, so to speak, but aged masculinity is a medal of honor in Thailand, so the assumed mantle is one that’s fitting of his accomplishments. He’s had over 20 years as a trainer, but he also had a 20 year career as a fighter before that. Let that sink in: a 20 year fight career, in the Thai style. Not fighting once every 6 months, but the starting at 8 years old in Khon Kaen, becoming Isaan champion, coming to Bangkok at age 13, becoming champion at the stadium that feeds contenders to Lumpinee, and then becoming Lumpinee champion at 108 lbs – which is a very competitive weight class. Of all those impressive marks, Ponsaknoi seems most proud of becoming Isaan Champion. He explained that the best fighters in Thailand come from Isaan and the South, so to be champion of Isaan is a difficult feat. In the words of David Goggins, it’s “being exceptional among exceptional people.” He retired at 28 years old and started teaching right away, bringing up the next stable of champions.

This is an unusual session for the Library, mainly because of what kind of man Ponsaknoi is. He’s half giving lessons on the strategy of what makes Muay Thai beautiful, and half giving a lesson on the techniques that, in his day, were the highest scoring and most beautiful. In that way it's both a private session, and something of an interview at times. His main lesson, one that he drives home several times, is that you have to spend time in each movement in order to become accustomed to it. The repetition of movements and finding your balance in executing each one without having to think about it, in Thai the word for becoming used to something is “chin,” is what he’s aiming for in the countless hours of training that a fighter needs to become adroit. For him, shadowboxing is therefore the primary piece of a fighter’s training to make them smooth, beautiful, and dangerous. The techniques he focuses on in this session are practical, but they’re also “traditional,” in that you can feel how they harken to an older style that you don’t see as much in contemporary ring Muay Thai. Well, other than from Saenchai, I reckon.

Some things to look out for:

1. Ponsaknoi makes a big deal about the balance of weight being between your legs in your basic stance. He keeps his feet light and “spring-like” as he moves around, his back foot is in a Sprinter position, heel up.

2. He says there are three punches: straight, hook, and uppercut. He throws with his torso and legs and keeps his shoulders loose, his fists tight. His hooks are pretty long and he reaches far with his jabs.

3. Stepping outside your opponent’s front side, getting into their blind spot, and striking is a major focus, especially in mixed-stance match ups (Lefty vs Righty).

4. He’s not a fan of clinching and wants to get out of lock ups quickly. He has a wonderful guard, to keep the opponent from getting a good lock, and then he controls the arms and shoulders, constantly stepping in order to off-balance the opponent and disengage. Totally controlling the exchange rather than looking like he’s running from it.

5. His knees are interesting in that they don’t come straight – ever. He doesn’t even focus on hitting the center line of his opponent’s body, but rather his knees are executed just like kicks but at a shorter range. Same step, up on the ball of the foot, and hip open to come through the target with an inward-swing. His knee lands on the oblique area of the torso or into the ribs, maybe the liver. I had to practice this a lot on the bag to figure out how much to twist my standing foot and how much control to come back to starting position.

6. Coming back on balance and using rhythm and timing is a big priority. Just like Hippy Singmanee, who made me take as much time as I could between absolutely perfect and powerful kicks on the bag, Ponsaknoi wants me to knee, come back to rhythm and find the right timing and balance to throw the knee again instead of getting through as many, as quickly as possible. Rhythm, balance and timing. Always.

7. His spinning elbows are Old School, but not in a “this will never work,” way. The way he swings around from the step-over is so smooth, not rushed at all, and the three elbows you can land off of the same step is just awesome.

8. Ponsaknoi’s feet on a kick are pretty similar to what Karuhat teaches, in terms of “floating up” with the chest leading and getting onto the ball of the foot at the peak of the extension. He makes a point about not turning the foot first, on the step down, as is taught by Bas Rutten, because as Ponsaknoi demonstrates this takes power and length out of the kick. So you turn at the end, on the ball of your foot.

above, Ponsaknoi (photo right), in a 60,000 baht side bet fight in 1979

If you enjoyed this session, you might enjoy these that share some themes or styles:

 #37 Kongtoranee Payakaroon - Power In The Hands (89 min) watch it here  

 #28 Jaroenthong Kiatbanchong - Femeu Muay Thai Hands (50 min) watch it here  

 #22 Singdam Kiatmoo9 - Making the Basics Beautiful (71 min) watch it here  

Tip donations. If you are inspired or educated by Ponsaknoi's knowledge you can send him a tip or donation, just as an appreciation for the session. Just send the gift to PayPal address sylvie@8limbs.us and I'll forward it to him. Make sure in the note that you write "For Kru Ponsaknoi".