Sylvie's Technique Vlog #21 - Your Ambient Footwork (15 min) (Patreon)

This is a concept that I've only recently been working on, even though I've worked on elements that are kind of "adjacent" to it. I call this "Ambient Footwork" because it's how you move between everything else. It isn't the same as "Jang-wa", which I've also talked about in a Technique Vlog, but it is a required element to make your "Jang-wa" work. Ambient Footwork is one of the harder things to think about and train. The things you are doing between strikes. I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this and that they help you  as they are helping me.

Ambient Footwork

There are some absolutely crazy, or at the very least ignorant, people out there who say Muay Thai doesn't have footwork. This is ridiculous. Muay Thai doesn't have the same footwork as arts more familiar to the West, perhaps - it doesn't have Boxing's same footwork, for example - but true, high level Muay Thai is all footwork. That's where Ambient Footwork becomes really important. It's how you create your rhythms, your music, your flow. I say in the video and I'll reiterate it here: you already have Ambient Footwork, everyone does. But it might be kinda terrible, like mine has been. That's why you have to become conscious of it and start to work on it and shape it. My Ambient Footwork, up until now, has been flat footed and still between strikes. Neither blocks nor strikes come out of a stand-still very easily. "A body in motion, stays in motion," is more of the idea, that shifting your weight all the time and keeping your weight balanced between both legs allows you to strike and block, offense and defense, all working together.

Watch the Wangchannoi Sor Palanchai session (the first one) in the Muay Thai Library for how he shows me the methods of training Ambient Footwork on the bag and in shadow. Watch Part 2 (the second session with him) to see how it works with a sparring partner. The next session with HIppy Singmanee will also have elements of this, which I introduce in this video. Dieselnoi Chor. Thanasukarn and Karuhat Sor. Supawan in the Muay Thai Library (search the Library by keyword) also have very interesting Ambient Footwork, as well as Yodkhunpon Sitraipum's "gallop," as we call it.

The really, really important part of this is to imagine an opponent in front of you, whether that's in shadow or on the bag; then when you literally have one, like a padman or sparring partner (or in a fight), you can practice the same shifts between cutting off and corralling your opponent (offense) and angling off and escaping to set up counters (defense). 

Study in the Library:

The first Wangchannoi session << click to watch the bagwork late in the video:

Other sessions with Ambient Footwork in the Library:

#76 Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn 4 - How to Fight Tall (69 min) watch it here

There several sessions with the King of Knees in the Muay Thai Library, this is the fourth, but this is the first one where he gets the chance to teach a tall, long fighter like he was. If you are a tall fighter this is the session you don't want to miss. He is arguably the GOAT, an in this session he unfolds his entire fighting system of knee fighting pressure and distance control.

#84 Yodkhunpon Special Intensive - The Whole Elbow Style (70 min) watch it here

No other fighter in all of Thailand has developed so complete and pressuring a style based on the weapon of elbows. In this session the Elbow Hunter of 100 Stitches presents his whole galloping style, revealing how he opens up windows for his elbows, and uses those windows to then open up attack with other weapons.

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 7: Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Forward Check | 39 min - watch it here 

In this session Karuhat teaches his beautiful and unique Forward Check, and the system of attacks that flow out of it in his fighting style.  You can read my detailed post in the Forward Check here. This check, aggressively from Southpaw, versus Orthodox fighters eats up space closes distance, effectively deal with one of the primary weaknesses of Southpaw attack.

Inspirations

A big inspiration for me has been Karuhat, you can catch some of his ambient footwork in this highlight by Muay Thai Scholar: watch it here 

For me I was inspired by my own ambient footwork Kevin captured in his film of my sparring with Yodkhunpon from the waist down, 2 rounds linked here. A Diamond Guard round and a standard Muay round: watch it here 

All my Technique Vlogs for Patrons

If you enjoyed this technique vlog check out my other Patron-only technique vlogs:

#20 Sylvie's Technique Vlog - Jang-wa, Rhythm and Timing (15 min) 

#19  Training Ruup & Composure  (13 min)

#18   Closing the Door in Long Guar (11 min) 

#17  Static Block for Balance (9 min)

#16 The Diamond Guard (20 min)

#15 Mental Gym, Beginning to Advanced Visualization (19 min)

#14 Getting the Right Hand In (13 min)

#13 Rising on Techniques (6 min)

#12 Control of the Kick (6 min)

#11 Body Position First (11 min)

#10 All About How I Recover (12 min)

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

#8 Where Are Your Feet? Foot Position (9 min)

#7 Evolving in the Long Guard (10 min)  

#6 The Power of Eye Contact (10 min) 

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

#4 Air Knees in the Corner (8 min) 

#3 Acceleration at the End of Strikes (10 min)

#2 The Kem Pivot (12 min) 

#1 Dealing With Fear, How to Cut it Out (13 min)