Bonus: Sparring Training With Yodkhunpon 10 Rounds - w/ commentary (Patreon)

Not only is this Patreon dedicated to documentary projects like the Muay Thai Library, interviews with legends, and the Kaimuay Diaries, it also shares my experience of all this documentary work and training, as a fighter. Every month I create Technique vlogs discussing my thoughts on techniques that are changing my Muay Thai, as a fighter, and may change yours as well. This is something new in that vien. It isn't a film study. It isn't a demo. It's not necessarily instructional, and it certainly isn't a highlight. Rather, this is just an honest look at my current process as I've reached to a new level of fighting which if you've been following me, I'm calling Sylvie 3.0. I'm sharing it out of enthusiasm, curiosity toward my own development, vulnerability in putting myself out there (to you all, who absolutely deserve my humility by your generosity in allowing me to do any and all of this - patrons make my fighting happen), and a glimpse at one way of doing things. In this near hour video Kevin and I voiced over a day of my sparring with the legend Yodkhupon, to give an idea of what I'm working on and what struggles I'm holding or facing. I don't need coaching or advice, I know I have a lot of coaches who are supportive patrons, I'm just putting it out there to give you a bigger keyhole into the process. I would hope that fighters could be more transparent, I'm making an effort toward that.

Something I've been working on as part of my new process toward "Sylvie 3.0": an unreal dedication to sparring. Every morning I have an hour with Yodkhunpon, "the Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches," in what Kevin and I kind of refer to as guided sparring. It's not 100% pure sparring because Yodkhunpon wears a bellypad, so that I can kick, knee and punch his body with full power, and he's also offering me advice and chastising me for backing up at times as we work, because in this sparring he's leading me into becoming a more effective Muay Khao pressure fighter. He's yodmuay, a champion of both Lumpinee and Rajadamnern (simultaneously) in the Golden Age, and he understands what I'm trying to do. So he'll use his own strategies to kind of guide me toward improvement, meaning how he chooses to strike or punish my distance is shaping me, rather than it being two peers sharpening each other. He is absolutely giving himself to me in this process, physically taking a lot in order to help guide me upward. If you want to know who Yodkhunpon is, here is a playlist of his fights. He is also in the Muay Thai Library several times, I'll provide links below.

If you enjoy this let me know in comments, or in private message. We could do more.

We film each morning with the GoPro, mainly to keep track of the process itself but also so we can review it once we get home. It is a mind trip how different it looks to me than how it felt. I'll be struggling and bitching through the whole session and then get home and it looks great. Or, Kevin will tell me I've wasted chunks the morning and I get really mad because I felt really good, then we go watch it and I was doing things I've been trying to get away from for months. Progress isn't linear. How things feel aren't necessarily how they are, and how things feel to you are maybe especially misleading. But that's good to know also. In sharing this with you, I'm sharing the very same mirror I look into each day, following 11 grueling rounds. I believe fighters should not be highlight reels. It's important to show our struggles, and all the in-between stuff, before we get to the excellence we are reaching for. 

The main points of focus for me in this work right now are: 

1. Distance, staying in the pocket; guard (both "closing the door"  and "Diamond Guard" - see my Sylvie's Technique Vlog on these.

2. Striking in 3s for continuity and rhythm, but not in memorized combinations.

3. Keeping my arm out on kicks (Arjan Surat and Pinsinchai style)

4. Joining my hands as quickly as possible in the clinch

5. Playing with angles of elbows which are part of the Diamond Guard, which involve a lot of Somrak elbows and reverse elbows; and kicking low from close range like Hell, something Dieselnoi taught me, and which we've found in film study of the legends Thongbai, Thongchai and Wichannoi.

Things to watch if you want more information on the material I'm working on:

 Sylvie's Technique Vlog - Closing the Door In Long Guard (11 min)  watch it here 

 #16 Sylvie's Technique Vlog - The Diamond Guard (20 min)  

 #11 Body Position First (11 min)  

 #9 Creating Power and Distance At Close Range (9 min)  

 #7 Evolving in the Long Guard (10 min)   

 #5 Dieselnoi's Lowkick in the Clinch (12 min)   

Much of what I'm doing here is also discussed in our Muay Thai Bones podcast, these episodes:

 Muay Thai Bones Podcast - #17 (Apple & Android) Heavy Sparring, 24/7 Ruup, Gamblers Make it Real, Thor (1 hrs, 46 min)  

 Muay Thai Bones Podcast - #16 (Apple & Android) High Rep Training, Diamond Guard, Sylvie 3.0, Muay Thai as Thai Male Maturity, Identity and Performance (2 hrs, 44 min) 

You can find all the Muay Thai Bones podcasts here.

Lots of Yodkhunpon in the Library:

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

Part 2 of my session with one of the most feared elbow fighters of the Golden Age, Yodkhunpon Sitraipom, The Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches. Lots of fine details in this one, escapes from clinch locks, turns and catches. Best is his floating, gentle style that also holds such violence.

#9 Yodkhunpon "The Elbow Hunter" pt 1  - Slicing Elbow (37 min) watch it here 

Simultaneous Raja and Luminee title holder at 118 lbs, Yodkhunpon was one of the most feared elbow fighters in Thailand, and in this session he teaches the looseness and spacing that made his lead elbow such a viscious weapon. He also shuns the traditional rocking chair knee, and instead teaches a powerful stand-in crossing, open-hipped knee that compliments his elbows up top.

Bonus Session 9: Yodkhupon Sittraipum - Lethal Smoothness (73 min) watch it here 

In this session Yodkhunpon really delves down into the smoothness of his style, with great emphasis on his galloping footwork towards the end. It's all about building a pressure style that does not strain, but rather exerts a constant music of forward attack.

Bonus Session 6: Yodkhunpon Sittraipum Front Side Attack | 77 min - watch it here 

Yodkhunpon is the Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches and in this session he shows a front side attack system, especially effective in standard vs standard, southpaw vs southpaw matchups, drilling the open side until your power side can finish. Lots of little elbow techniques also shown. 

And if you are still thirsty for him, there are over 7 hours of 7 straight days of working with him in the Sylvie Intensive series:

That same intensive series has over 30 hours of straight days training with Karuhat, check out the Sylvie Intensive here. These videos are a separate, deep dive collection, including both Karuhat and Yodkhunpon. And 100% of the net profits made from the online sale of these on demand videos goes to these legends. They get cash every week, so it's a great way to support these legends.