Samart's Attack and Control of the Groin vs Namphon | Kevin's Notes (made public, 30 min) (Patreon)

[Kevin writing, 30 min video above] - This isn't the usual Patreon fare, but as a bonus piece I'm always studying the Golden Age source material and occasionally come across something interesting worth really slowing down. A new channel has been posting remastered Golden Age fights, and one of these is the Samart vs Namphon rematch, showing the fight in full, which previously I had only seen in a highly edited version. I really wanted to take a look at this fight because from the edited version it was for me fairly mysterious to how Samart won, though it was clear from body language that he won going away. This is Samart's 3rd FOTY year, his rehabilitation year after coming off the repercussions of a bad loss in boxing which (according to at least one documentary) lead some people to accuse him of throwing the fight vs Jeff Fenech. (This is a common gossip when people lose money on a fight, but in Thailand where face is vital gossip hurts.) Samart had insisted it was a very bad weight cut that lead to his underperformance. In any case, his return to Muay Thai was a significant rebirth or at least reclamation of his reputation as the untouchable fighter of his generation. Beating Samart would take not beating the most skilled fighter of the Era, but also his aura. Namphon had just lost to Samart a month before this. His kru Arjan Pramot told us that the very famous blood face photo from that fight (below) was actually the result of Namphon getting cut in training in the week before the match. It was a photograph that would in some ways define Namphon, probably giving him, or at least added to his unfortunate nickname "Soft Faced [or, rotten faced] fighter", keeping in mind Samart's fight nickname was the "Jade Faced Tiger"

The photo above is practically a caricature of the "dumb" bull of a Muay Khao fighter all bloodied up, and the genius, untouchable cerebral femeu fighter, not a scratch on him. Surely it frustrated the Nongkipahayuth camp that that cut came from an already opened wound which had barely healed, at least by a story they tell to this day. Rematching only a month later Samart knew that Namphon would be coming hard, in true Muay Khao, right up the center, linear style...and he composed a perfect counter tactic. The video above is a slow motion appreciation of how he disabled Namphon, not only physically, but likely also psychologically, by attacking and controlling the groin, in many ways the center of a Muay Khao fighter's ruup. Great lessons, and beautiful technique to be learned. I also appreciated how Samart painted the line of, perhaps chippy fighting, again and again finding the outlines of the groin, all with the paint brushes of his knee and his shin. Unlike in other combat sports you can strike the groin in Muay Thai...with anything other than a direct knee. You can for instance teep the groin, even repeatedly (Dieselnoi has told Sylvie this is something to definitely do...with a bit of a smile), and even direct groin strikes do not result in 5 minute walk arounds as they do in other sports. It's play on. The groin, other than with direct point of knee strikes, is fair game...though "sportsmanship"  may sometimes control groin strikes when the rules do not. This can be a somewhat under-developed area of attack and defense.

Highlight Version

If you'd like to skim over the material in the 30 minute video, here's a 3 minute sped up edit of the graphic highlights over some music:

watch the highlight version here 

Some caps:

Things in the Library to Study

At the end of the slow motion video I've included clips of where legends Silapathai and Chamuakpet teach related techniques as those used by Samart. But you can see that Samart had an entire vocabulary of knee, shin and body angels to shield himself from Namphon's linear attack.

You can see those sessions here:

#47 Silapathai Jockygym - Master of Teep Distance (64 min) watch it here

One of the great femeu fighters of the Golden Age unlocks the secret of his teep oriented dominance which made him one of the most difficult fighters to face in his day. The lessons here are precious as he unfolds the details of how to use the teep and tempo to always put the fight where you want it

#81 Chamuakpet Hapalang 2 - Muay Khao Internal Attacks (65 min) watch it here

One of the all time greats gives his 2nd session of the Library. 9x Lumpinee and Rajadamnern champion, 1985 Fighter of the Year, a man who took belts from both Samart and his brother Kongtoranee, his Muay Thai has been lauded as one of the best that have ever been. In this session he teaches his rising KO out knee, straight up the center, his philosophy of grips, pulls and elbows in the clinch, and just in punching range. Not to be missed.

and Samart in the Library is here:

#34 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.

I mention in the commentary that the trajectory of Samart's knee has a kind of Old School curve to it. It starts a little wide, with the foot outside the knee, but circles in to become a center strike, almost with a heat seeking missile action. In the video you can really see the benefit of it's trajectory, as it evades shieldings or attacks and finds its home. This trajectory knee has been taught in the Library a bit by Dieselnoi, but also Yodkhunpon. But in both of those cases they teach not to lean back, because they are Muay Khao fighters. A femeu fighter like Samart on the other hand prefers a deep lean, and in the case of his fight vs Namphon, a profoundly deep lean back. In any case, here Is a post with GIFs featuring Yodkhunpon and something of this angled in circle trajectory:

Muay Thai Knee | Don’t Lean Back – Yodkhunpon The Elbow Hunter 

You can watch the full Samart vs Namphon fight on YouTube here:

Samart vs Namphon full fight 

Hope you enjoy the deep dive into the excellence of Samart's knee countering attack. Thank you for supporting!