The Winner of the Muay Thai Library Favorite Session (Patreon)

A few months ago I asked everyone to vote and comment on what their favorite session was, and that I'd be giving away a signed pair of my favorite Thaismai gloves by random drawing (I used random.org for the drawing.) I want to thank everyone who participated, and we now have a winner! It is patron Reid Kho, who said his favorite session was with 2x Fighter of the Year Kaensak. Kaensak also happens a former trainer of mine in America, and is very seldom in Thailand I was really fortunate to capture this on film during one of his visits:

what he wrote:

This session is very unique among others.  It's about  defense - offensive defense.  I really appreciates this session because  it opens my eyes about the perspective in defense.  Most of the time we  learn about offense, combination, aggressive, but very few talks about  defense.  When we learn defense, mostly it's about the technique.  By  maintaining your ground and aggressiveness through defense, it's not  just effective, but also affects psychological level.  It makes your  opponents to hesitate with their weapons. 

I love this session, it opens my eyes to new perspective, and It makes the art really beautiful.  

 #24 Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit - Explosive Defense (55 min) watch it here  

You can  check out the voting and even contribute to the comments and thumbs up there still: Best Sessions of the Muay Thai Library  I'd love more input there. The idea is to give some kind of guide to new patrons on what sessions you just don't want to miss. There are so many to choose from already, and the Library project is growing. It's also a great way for older patrons to discover something they have have passed over, that they might want to go back to and study.

All the following sessions received votes for Favorite Session, in no particular order, you can read patron comments on why it was so good:

#39  Khorat Saknarin - Precise Tensions (97 min) watch it here  

Favorite Session: There are a lot of incredible krus in the library but  this one really spoke to me. Khorat has this intense samurai-like energy  that is reflected in his incredibly measured footwork and constant eye  contact. His bare essentials-gym is similar to the gym I train at here  in Sweden, and reminds of what I already know; you don't need a lot of  equipment to learn, just an experienced teacher and the will to improve! 

#14 Chatchai Sasakul - Perfecting Hands (106 min) watch it here  

Favourite session! Probably the one that's impacted on me -  and so many others, looking at this comment thread - more than any  other.

Two hours spent teaching pretty much three different punches.  Actually drilling the fundamental stuff - body mechanics, weight  transfer, balance - that you're mostly left to blindly figure out by  yourself. Proof that the "basics" are endlessly fascinating and rarely  taught well.

The most game-changing moment for me? His metaphor of a  motorboat - which loses all its power if its nose dips down and the  rotor at the back lifts out of water - to communicate why it's important  to keep weight on your back foot. I'd never heard it explained like  that before and it was a transformative moment for me. A concept that I  had long known in principle, but finally absorbed at a deeper level.  Thanks!

 Favorite session! This is the one I learned the most from, studied and  trained this for hours on end. This is one of the few that shows much  intricacy lies behind seemingly "simple" fundamentals.
Eventually went for a private with him per your recommendation.
He's an awesome guy, had a great talk with him afterward and he told me a bunch of stories from his fighting days...
Such an awesome thing to hear fighters talk about their golden days with  such enthusiasm - you can see their eyes light up as they relive the  memories and pass on their legacies.
Thanks to this one, I was able to witness this myself. Once in a  lifetime experience, thanks so much for this one Sylvie. Was a real game  changer for me and many others I'm sure! 

Really enjoyed this video for months,  studying each aspect in slowmo, and projecting myself in Chatchais  shoes before bed each night... until I got it and use them as my long  range punches in MT now. Then when I switched to Southpaw, I did it all  over after mirroring the video!! And it took three times as long to  learn and I have come close to being as relaxed as the other.

#40  Gen Hongthonglek - Muay Femeu Tactics & Mindset (70 min) watch it here  

I absolutely love his style. I see my self as a kick fighter  although a very incomplete one. It was eye opening seeing his style,  his set ups, how he kicks and how he thinks. I found my self nodding and  agreeing to every thing he says (as well as already practising some of  his concepts) !!! For example how he likes to nullify his opponents by  getting in there head. 

I loved this video as it gave me so many ideas and  techniques that I could adapt into my own training and style. From the  jumping kicks to just the small bounces before he kicks!! Most  importantly I can't wait to try out his timing!!!! 

 #15 Yodkhunpon "The Elbow Hunter" part 2 - Escapes  (48 min) watch it here  

 #36 General Tunwakom - Lertrit Military Muay (46 min) watch it here  

 The General's teachings is one of my favorites that I can't help, but  watch over and over. I love that this style has some many different  types of elbows and elbow blockes that all just flow from the hips.  Truly appreciate you bringing teachings from Master's that I could have  never dreamed of seeing or hearing, even if it's on my phone screen.  

 It’s really impossible to choose a favorite. They’re all my favorites  for different reasons. I love seeing the legends teach, see them move,  see their personalities. But I’m voting for this one because I loved the  generals style, but most importantly, I loved that you shared with us  something so rare and amazing. What people don’t typically see, is that  grandmasters like the general spend their entire lives dedicated to  their craft. They plant so many seeds of the art they steward. Some grow  and bloom, but most wither away. The art they’ve dedicated themselves  to is so often lost, never to be seen again. I’ve seen it before and  it’s very sad. So I’m very happy that you’ve documented the generals  Letrit style here. It may be the only documentation of this style in 20  years. That’s amazing to me. I absolutely love all the videos, but I  have to vote for this one. Thank you Sylvie.  

 #34 Samart Payakaroon - Balance, Balance, Balance! (81 min) watch it here   

 What I love about this video is that foundation is so important and  everything comes from your balance and footwork.  In our gym we train  kickboxing/ muay thai but over the past number of years I have  completely fallen in love with the art of muay thai and the grace,  beauty and balance of the sport.  Although I don't fight to me this  truly is a martial art and I practice it as an art form, when I have  trained in gyms upon visiting Thailand a number of times the importance  of balance that is put on you by your trainers and once you have  achieved what your trainers are telling you the amount of lessons that  become open to you.  Without the importance on basics and foundation  work you will find it harder to improve.  

 Love this, because although its great to see explanations and details on  a style, Samart actually outlines drills to improve key aspects of his  style. He has great hands. How do I train my hands? He outlined several  boxing drills. He has beautiful balance. He outline several drills to  work on the continuum of offense and defense. I loved this session so  much I transcribed all the drills to a google doc to refer to it to work  on specific transitions in shadow.  Love love love 

#10 The Clinch Techniques of Yodwicha - Session 2 (34 min) watch it here 

Favorite session - He's currently my favorite fighter and it was cool to see some of his personality and thoughts on Muay Thai.

 #38 Sagat Petchyindee (part 2) - Maximum Damage (61 min) watch it here  

 Favorite Session! I have to admit I haven't watched all sessions yet  (but I will eventually) and already it's difficult to decide but so far  the 2 Sagat sessions were pretty much my favorites. Basic enough so that  even a beginner like me can get a lot out of them and in depth enough  to give me stuff to work on for a long time. Also Sagat is a great guy  to do such sessions with! It's fun just watching him! 

 Favourite Session!! I've watched the 2 sessions of you with Sagat at  least 3 times now. And there is still lots I'm picking up each time.  Sagat has such energy and a sense of humour. Definitely one I'd love to  train with, if only he's not so intimidating! 

 This is my favorite session. It really helped me  alot in training for my last fight. It had pretty much all the tools I  needed to set up my entire game plan for my opponent. I also love  Sagat's energy, and how much fun he has during training. I would love to  get to Thailand and train with him some day. 

 #33 Kru San Sitmonchai - Control of Pace & Distance when Advancing  (56 min) watch it here  

 Favorite Session!! I love your videos that talk about small/seemingly  insignificant details or overlooked moments that make all the difference  in technique. These concepts or pace, control, and distance are things  that can be hard to get used to and often take the most patience for me  in my practice so it's nice to see that someone of your caliber is also  refining and learning these pointers too!  

 #19 Attachai Fairtex - Timing and IQ (72 min) watch it here  

 This is my favorite session because of how Attachai shows and teaches relaxation and looseness.  

 the session that is most fun to watch! 

 #41  Samson Isaan - The Art of Dern Fighting (64 min) watch it here  

 Samson Isaan's style left a huge impact on me, especially  for my sparring sessions. I'm still very new to sparring and usually  spar with my seniors that are more aggressive and experienced, which  ends up with me getting easily overwhelmed by punches and getting pushed  back against the ropes.

Adopting Samson's techniques, I could feel the confidence  once I raised my forearm forward, my hand on my head and chin  suffocating close to my chest. The exhilarating feeling of my sparring  partners punches seemingly deflect of my forearm, only motivated me even  more to walk them down and asking for more. Simply put, this session  bridged the gap I had between leisurely punching the bag to standing my  ground in sparring and unleashing a bit of "necessary violence" to get  the feeling of what they call a "fighter's heart"

 This is my favorite post! I felt the energy between you and Samson and  it seemed like you were both having a blast. I’ve been working on  becoming better at my forward fighting technique and this changed the  game for me. Thank you for all you do!  

 #23 Boraphet Pinsinchai - Muay Khao Mastery (64 min) watch it here 

Favorite session. Although I truely love every single session this one is the one I think  shows very thoroughly the different techniques. I learn from every  session, whether it shows a certain style or particular techniques.  However I consider those the best where you have very clear instructions  to a certain situation; how it's executed and the counters to it.  

#2 Joe Hongthong - Developing Muay Khao Style (87 min) - watch it here 

Favourite session! Joe's so cool and I love his Muay. I hope I can train at the twins gym some time soon 

 #29 Pornsanae Sitmonchai - The Power of Hooks & Low Kicks (74 min) watch it here  

Favorite session. This was a tough decision between this and Singdam's  fundamentals for similar reasons but I really appreciated the detail and  flow in these basic but devastating combinations. While other sessions  had amazing perspective into that Kru's style this combined Pornsanae's  lively character with heavy techniques that most can take something  from.

 #26 Sagat Petchyindee - Explosive Power (57 min) watch it here  

 Favorite Session. All of the sessions are so valuable, but I love  Sagat’s energy. I love the wild look in his eyes and how he lights up  when you get the technique right. It’s amazing how such subtle movements  can give you all of the “violence” and power you need. The “snake on  the limb” offers such a great visual to its technique. 

Favorite Session: One, because it’s Sagat. Two, because you  used Tiger to describe Sagat in the post of the video. 3, I love that  it’s always the minute details and variations of the same technique that  make every session unique. 

I think have natural power, not sure why. Maybe because of my body  type. So Sagat’s variations really helped me generate a little more  power while reducing some of my unnecessary movement I’ve been doing. 

Really all these sessions have been gold. Samarats balance  one whoooo boy. I learned some shit there.  It’s hard to choose  seriously. But I think I chose this as my fave session really because of Sagat.

Thank you to everyone! I appreciate the support, in this next year we are going to make the Muay Thai Library even better!