Thailand Pinsinchai - The Beauty of Clinch (57 min) (Patreon)

Thailand Pinsinchai is a powerful, finessed, all-around fighter. His technique is one of the cleanest, clearest taught styles in the entire Library. In his first session in the Muay Thai Library [ watch his first session here: Attacking Shell ] he takes me through a whole introduction to every part of Muay Thai. I enjoyed his economical style, I liked his technique, and also really I liked him. He's great at explaining things, not only in the technical aspects but also maybe more importantly why he uses them, or why you would move to one tactic after another. In this second entry to the Library, upon walking into his new gym in Chiang Mai (he had just opened about 1 month before I went to see him, having left his long time stay with Santai Muay Thai were many may remember him)...he looked at me and said, "today I teach you clinch." Awesome.

Kru Thailand's focus is on body positions and turns. It seems simple enough, which is great because it's easy to see what he's teaching and easy to practice, the hardest part is just getting your miles in, so to speak. Kru Thailand says a few times that you have to do these things "every day, every day," to understand the feeling, timing, and make them automatic. You don't have time to think your way through these steps in a fight. You want them to be like dancing, or walking.

Things to Look Out For: 

1) Scooped Body Position: in two different examples, Kru Thailand emphasized this scooped-out position, keeping your chest off your opponent but still keeping your shoulders close and your hips more or less neutral. If your chest touches, you can be thrown because you don't have full control of your weight.

2) Outside the Opponent's Stance: when turning your opponent, it's really important to step outside their stance to avoid being kicked out/tripped, as well as getting maximum torque on your turn and creating space for your following strike to have power.

3) Lift and Pull: I love this. So, from a position of controlling your opponent from the inside of their elbows, you lift their arm up and get them to kind of resist you, then swing down really close to your own waist/hip and do a sharp pivot turn. Man, this is so effective and beautiful.

4) Body Lock Nutcracker: this is how you get out of a body lock or "low clinch" position. Again, scoop the chest and use a grip on your opponent's back ribs to "Nutrcracker" their arms as you break out, make space and either turn or knee (or both). The timing on this is key.

5) Top of the Head Clinch Escape: this one makes me so happy. It's an incredible little secret that the top of the head, like right where you'd support a baby's head, is a soft spot for even the strongest necks. Kru Thailand shows how to use this grip to get out of a "double plum" lock that is very often taught in the West.

6) Shoulders: shoulders are a secret of clinch. Karuhat knows all the secrets; Satanmuanglek is also amazing at the shoulder game. Kru Thailand breaks apart how to use the shoulders for defense, as well as offense in short-range and clinch positions. I love this stuff. I geek out over this stuff.

7) The Plow Killer: this is obsolete for the purposes of plowing, because it's illegal, but it works the same for any aggressively advancing opponent - just take a hop to the side and parry. It's beautiful. You can see how a single hop and a little parry changes the dynamic from 100% one person's control to 100% the other person's control. It's like grabbing a gun out of someone's hand.

Slow Motion of His Elbows

As part of the Preserve The Legacy Project we are also capturing elements of legends and great fighters in slow motion. From this session we took Kru Thailand's elbows. Here it is in a public YouTube we put up:

watch the slow motion version here 

You can find the playlist of all our slow motion documentations so far here. This is something we're continually working on.

Kevin's Edit of Stills from the Session

follow him on Instagram @kevinvonduuglasittu 

Study More!

If you enjoyed this clinch focused session, might like these Library sessions on similar themes:

All the Muay Thai Library clinch sessions can be browsed here, under the "Clinch" tag

#4 Yodwicha - Clinch and Muay Khao (Knee) Specialist (35 min) - watch it here 

Yodwich shared the Fighter of the Year award as only a 16 year old, and his success in the Lumpinee ring made him one of the most feared clinch fighters in Thailand. In this session he goes through his favorite Muay Khao techniques, shows why he prefers side-attack locks, and turns. 

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

This is my second session with Yodwicha, you can see the first further down below. This one really gets into the specifics of clinch technique and defense. One of the best clinch fighters in Thailand, co-Fighter of the Year, sharing his unique attack style.

#42  Boraphet Pinsinchai - Muay Khao Fighting Techniques (50 min) watch it here 

Kru Ten is probably the best Muay Khao (knee fighting) private in Thailand, and one of the best in the Muay Thai Library. He not only is expert at clearly illustrating techniques, he has a perfect energy pace in his instruction.

#21 Rambaa Somdet - Clinch Trips & Throws (34 min) watch it here 

Thailand's first MMA World Champion, and one of the most aggressive, stinging fighters to grace the ring shows his philosophy on how to handle the clinch, using quick attacks, lifts, body-weight shifts to upend an opponent often before they are set. Some of my favorite trips are in this.

#8 Sangtiennoi Sor Rungroj - Advanced Clinch (52 min) watch it here 

The Golden Age Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Champion, a legendary Muay Khao fighter who fought all the greats instructs on the finer points of clinch technique. Small differences that make big differences. Advanced tips on the swim-in and turn, and the importance of going from long distance techniques to short distance grab and lock.

#77  Kru Diesel F.A. Group - The Art of Knees (84 min) watch it here 

Perhaps no single kru has had more success teaching the Muay Khao style than Kru Diesel. From Fighter of the Year Yodwicha, to the most decorated fighter Petchboonchu, his students disabled the elite Muay Femeu tacticians with ease. In this special session you learn the secrets of his knees and clinch, in real time breakdowns and elucidation.

And check out the entire Muay Thai Library table of contents here: 

Preserve The Legacy