WBC Champ "Eagle" Den Junlaphan - The Roots of His Boxing Movement (63 min) (Patreon)

Kru Den has a small gym, Eagle Gym in Pattaya. He's a 2x WBC World Champion at "Straw Weight" or "Minimum Weight", according to his Wikipedia entry, making him the 3rd WBC World Champion to be added to the Muay Thai Library.  (Chatchai Sasakul and Samart Payakaroon are the other 2, so far.)

If you're new to Patreon, a bit of clarification is that I'm a Muay Thai fighter and the Library is largely Muay Thai, but the goal is to archive the Muay of Thailand and all it has to offer. This means not just Legends, but Krus of all kinds, as well as active or recently active fighters. It's all part of the pedagogy of Thailand's fight culture and many of the greatest fighters of the Golden Age also had successful boxing careers. I've seen it written and have even used the phrase myself, "boxing for Muay Thai," but there isn't really such a thing. There's not a huge gap between how to move and punch in Western Boxing and how to move and punch in Muay Thai, historically in Thailand. Fighters like Samart, Samson Isaan, Kongthoranee, and Chatchai all demonstrate how seamlessly they can work together. While there are important difference, but the two do fit together.  Kru Den, or "Eagle," doesn't have a Muay Thai background that I know of, so he pointed out differences, but all the fighters I've worked with who fought in both styles always emphasize the similarities.

What to Look Out For: 

1) Feet: always, always watch a trainer's feet. It's the source of everything: their speed, their power, their movement, their balance. Everything. Kru Den's feet move all the time, the flex in his heels, ankles and knees is completely illustrative for how to do what he's doing.

2) Jang-wa and Relax: Kru Den talks a lot about rhythm and timing (Jang-wa) and how important it is for everything he's teaching.. You have to relax in order to have speed and Kru Den emphasizes speed over power in every aspect. Watching him, you can see why and how.

3) Ning: if you want to hear more about "ning" and how it pertains to both Buddhism and Muay Thai, you can watch Kevin and me talking about it in our Muay Thai Bones Podcast. In short, "ning" means to be undisturbed, unmoved, unaffected. Usually, in Muay Thai, this means not reacting to an opponent's movements or strikes, like not flinching or getting frustrated. But Kru Den seems to be implying it in his own movements, unconnected to whether there's an opponent or not. Interestingly, in this context it implies the continuity of his own movements in both speed and continuity. He can go faster or slower, forward or back, hit with more or less power, but it's all continuous. In the voiceover I say it's like how a babbling brook is one thing, even though it changes pace and current and flow as it moves.

4) Reserve Your Power: Kru Den makes a point about how boxing differers from Muay Thai in that boxers have to reserve their power much more, because they have so many more rounds in a fight. You have to learn to breathe in the rhythm of your movements. You have to preserve your power for the right moment, rather than firing lots of heavy shots. Even on the bag you don't work power shots, you focus on breathing, relaxation and speed. The power shots will just come, kind of naturally, through improvisation.

5) Head Position: head movement is one of the biggest distinguishing differences between boxing and Muay Thai. What's brilliant about the similarity between boxing and Muay Thai is illustrated in Kru Den's head position when he comes in close for body shots. He brings his head to a position where I'd bring it for clinch, to protect but also to close distance. Kru Den does this many times throughout the session, on the mounted bag and the double-ended bag, and you can really see how it preserves his balance, power, speed, and also protects him. He prefers to float in and out rather than hopping in and out, and a lot of that is possible because of this head position.

Edited photo stills from the session:

if you enjoyed this session there are lots of other sessions by world champion boxers, or very hand heavy Muay Thai greats. Check them out:

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

Atop the tower of Muay Thai legends probably stands Samart. 3x Fighter of the Year, 4x Lumpinee Champion and WBC World Boxing Champion, no fighter more brilliantly showed what femeu fighting could do. In this session he shows the foundations of how to build true balance, the ultimate key to his fighting style.  

#64 WBC Champion Chatchai Sasakul - Elements of Boxing (72 min) watch it here 

Chatchai is not only a former WBC world champion, he also is the recipient of Thailand's Coach of the Year. He is one of the great striking coaches in the world, and in this session he breaks down all the basics from the footwork on up. Nobody has a more beautiful and potent hands foundation. Watch and learn from a master.  

#71 WBC Asia Champion Napapol Giatsakchokchai - Powerful Boxing For Muay Thai (81 min) watch it here 

Nothing is a better match than world class boxing added to fundamentally sound Muay Thai. Napadol was one of the best western boxers in all of Thailand, a WBC champion, and he teaches a gorgeous, powerful boxer's technique that is easily married to Muay Thai.  

#75 Lakhin Wasantasit - Boxing & Muay Thai Organized Destruction (76 min) watch it here 

Lakhin was a beast, to stand in front of him was to invite disaster. Perhaps no fighter of the Golden Age was more feared for his hands. In this session he shows just what made him so intimidating, and how he developed a style predicated on inflicting maximum damage.

#74 WBF Champion Samson Isaan 2 - Muay Khao & Western Boxing Excellence (59 min) watch it here 

In 1991 there was no fighter more of a force than Samson Isaan, who took Fighter of the Year then. His relentless style combining Muay Maat punching aggression with Knee Fighting pressure and clinch made him a wrecking ball. In this session discover what made this little fighter so impossible to handle.

#69 Sagat Petchyindee 3 - Muay Maat Tigers & Snakes (67 min) watch it here 

Sagat details his ferocious, hands-heavy style in this session, teaching perfect balance and very aggressive spacing. The secrets to his power, how everything flows out of his core and his organized stance are on full display. Nobody like him.

#60 Sagat Petchindee Session 2 - All the Strikes Tuned and Dangerous (101 min) watch it here 

One of the great, legendary names of Thailand, Sagat Petchyindee the inspiration for the Street Fighter character, goes through his entire striking philosophy with lots of technical correction and fine tuning. See the secret to his creation of smooth, efficient, explosive power, and witness the amazing man himself.

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

To "dern" in Thai is to "walk", which means basically to just come forward no matter what, to create a relentlessness. Voted Fighter of the Year in 1991, Samson Isaan was one of the great Dern Fighters of the Golden Age, and in this session he shows his forward pulsing techniques which are meant to just overwhelm his opponent. Also a great session for pressure Southpaw fighters. 

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

Such an anticipated session, part 2 of Sagat Petchyindee, the inspiration of the Sagat Street Fighter character. It's hard to believe, but he's even better in real life. In this session his continues to teach his "stay in your frame" method of bringing maximum efficiency and damage to striking. 

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

5x Lumpinee Champion, 2x Fighter of the Year, Kongtoranee teaches the fundamental grounding of strikes that made him one of the most feared heavy-handed fighters in Thailand. Such economy of movement expresses the true beauty in his style, quite different than - but no less admirable - that of his young brother Samart. 

#35  WBA Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong - Southpaw Tactics & Power (86 min) watch it here 

One of the biggest Knock Out artists Thailand has ever produced (46 KOs in 57 boxing wins), PABA and WBA World Champion Yodsanan teaches both the secrets to his devastating hook and a slick Muay Thai style from the left side.

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

One of the great fighters in the history of Thailand, and the inspiration of the "Street Fighter" video game character, Sagat is like no other. Here he teaches how power has to come out of the ribs, and your frame, taking the shortest distance to your target, making sure your feet are constantly "organized".