#120 Kaisuwit Nor Pattaya - Muay Maat and Centrifugal Power (64 min) (Patreon)

Kaisuwit, or Pi Pern, is a big part of the local Hua Hin Muay Thai community. He's been teaching and promoting fights for a long time and puts a lot of his heart and soul into giving opportunities to the young fighters in and around the Western Region. He's good friends with Kaensak and Karuhat, and grew up in the same "class" as that age of Yodmuay, training alongside some of the names we love; but he never got into big streams of Muay Thai stadia and had a much more active career in western boxing. In the Muay Thai Library, we aim to preserve the legacy of all the different Muay of Thailand, and Kaisuwit reminds me of a number of Legends in his technique, as well as using his session to emphasize the importance of strategy and conceptual applications to being a smart fighter.

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What to Look Out For:

1) The Bend vs The Crease: You want to scoop at the hips, creating a curve to the front side of your torso, but you don't want a sharp angle at the hips. The sharp angle cuts off your legs from being able to block or kick. Don't lean your head too far forward.

2) Plastic Slippers: This is a reference to the plasticity of your feet, having flex on the balls of your feet so your heels can elevate off the floor to give you extension, power, and control all through the entire trajectory of a strike.

3) Rotate the Shoulders: I refer to this as centrifugal force, throwing the one side of your body back to push power through the opposite side, which then sets up that side as the new "spring loaded" power side. Kaisuwit emphasizes this a lot, as does Kongsamut and Chatchai.

4) Pin the Back Foot, Stay Flexed on the Front Foot: Kaisuwit gets incredible reach on his strikes. When he's teaching me how to throw long body punches, or jabs, the back foot stays pinned in place whereas the front foot, which is delivering the striking limb to its target, has flex on the ball of the foot. That way you can return out of harm's way much faster and more balanced. Sagat does this.

5) Interactive Long Guard: I've talked about this before, but I'll always talk about it; as a short fighter, I never believed in the long guard. I thought it was for tall fighters. The long guard is for everybody and it's really important in Muay Thai, but one of the reasons it's hard to believe in it is that many of us learn it as a passive guard, whereas it really needs to have both flexibility and a job. The short arm is a solid block and can turn into a short range elbow; the long arm should be pushing, parrying, misdirecting... and you need to be able to flash into and out of it. Kaisuwit shows this a few times.

Some of Kevin's photographs from the session:

Be sure to read and see Kevin's photo essay on finding your Inner Grace in Muay Thai as it relates to this post.

read and see Kevin's essay on finding your Inner Grace in Muay Thai as it relates to this post. 

Other library sessions referenced in this entry:

#26 Sagat Petchyindee 1 - 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".

#43 Kongsamut Sor. Thanikul - Muay Mat Style (74 min) watch it here

This Lumpinee champion is perhaps most notable for when he lost a fight for the 102 lb Lumpinee belt, against famed Samart. Samart winning his first belt of many. Kongsamut has a beautiful Muay Mat (punchers) style that he mixes with low kicks, very differently than the Pornsanae style. He fights in close, and is constantly twisting, hitting high and low. Any Muay Thai puncher would benefit from the principles in his style.

#59 Satanmuanglek Numpornthep - Beautiful Clinch Throws (65 min) watch it here

This session is focused on clinch throws. Satanmuanglek Numpornthep is an active fighter, both in Muay Thai and – in recent years – Western Boxing (he boxes under the name Satanmuanglek CP Freshmart, and already has a boxing title to his name - note, you can take privates with him at Chatchai's world famous Sasakul Boxing Gym).

#64 Chatchai Sasakul 2 - 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.

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.