#3 Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn - The King of Knees & Training Ethic (54 min) (Patreon)

Dieselnoi is a legend among legends. On paper, it seems like this is because he was an undefeatable champion at his weight who had to retire because nobody would fight him - the King of Knees, the “Sky Piercer,” and just a towering man. And indeed, the first time I ever laid eyes on him up in Chiang Mai at one of my first big fights, I didn’t know who he was but just his bare swagger and energy and charm made it evident from 100 feet away, “this guy is somebody.” Like a celebrity aura. But off of paper, in real life, it’s a tragedy that Dieselnoi was forced to retire due to his success in the ring. It broke his heart. One of the things that sent me to Thailand in the first place was that my first teacher, Master K, who gave me my own heart for Muay Thai, had to undergo angioplasty to open the arteries of his heart and his mortality was staring us all in the face. At 70 years old Master K was like no other man I’d ever met; he’s still that way, although I see echoes of him in many Thai men now, or I see his Thainess now that I’ve lived here. Given that his arteries were 60% closed, it’s a testament to Master K’s fortitude that he was kicking the bags in his basement the way he was with a choked heart! That’s what I see in Dieselnoi. He had heart surgery last year and his heart was broken by Muay Thai, the art that I’ve never seen anyone love more than he does… to see Dieselnoi’s soul and heart despite those damages is just astonishing.

Actually meeting him in person is something else, getting to train with him a level beyond that. He’s incredibly charming and unbelievably generous. It’s no wonder that he’s as popular among the greats of the Golden Age of Muay Thai. It’s impossible not to like him. And he’s funny, probably even more so when it’s just the boys. I suspect he’s more gentlemanly when he’s dealing with me but he’s probably outstandingly hilarious among the “rat pack” of Muay Thai legends. When he sat me down next to him on the ring so I could look at photos from old magazines on his phone and he regaled me with stories from those fights, the detail with which he remembered was crystal clear. He’s relived those fights a million times because he never got to grow tired of fighting. He had to quit when he was still deeply in love with fighting… maybe he always would be, even if he’d burned out. One of the most recognizable names in Muay Thai is Samart Payakaroon - grown men swoon at the mention of his name, this triple-threat of fighter (and boxer), actor and singer; very handsome. Dieselnoi beat Samart back in the day, “he hits like a girl,” Dieselnoi teased as he leaned into me and kind of nudged me with his elbow. “It’s okay, he’s my friend,” he added. I swear to you, there is no other person on this entire planet who could say such a thing. I laugh every time I remember it. Or when he told me that when he fought Sagat, one of very few fighters to ever defeat Dieselnoi (before he went on his undefeated tear at Lumpinee), he’d stuck his thumb into Sagat’s throat to push him every time he used the long guard. “The referee didn’t see it,” Dieselnoi said, almost as a whisper between us. “But Sagat knows,” I added and Dieselnoi laughed and nodded. In both instances when I’ve had the opportunity to train with Dieselnoi he’s given me these gifts of sitting there and listening to his fight stories. They’re as precious to me as the techniques he shows me; and even then it’s his love for the movements and the knowledge of the art that he is passing on, rather than a “trick.” It’s an ethic that he’s instructing, it’s him that he’s giving.

In our first session together, which is on Nak Muay Nation, he really focused on the relentless energy with which a knee fighter must train and fight. He wanted me to really blast every single move, to pressure my imagined opponent (we were shadowing) into the ropes or the corner and then just destroy her. He prescribed me knee drills and teep drills to do every day. He taught me the ethic of how a Muay Khao fighter trains, lessons from the Muay Khao fighter of all time. The Godfather. I took that with me and his lessons sank in. I’ve heard it said before that a knee fighter cannot get tired, they’re marked by their relentlessness and fearlessness, otherwise you’re just a fighter who throws knees. In this our second session he built upon that, showing me more of how to control the ring and the strategic arc of a fight: use the first two rounds to just crowd your opponent and let her bring all her weapons out, just block and pressure and tire her out. Once the gazelle is showing fatigue, you turn to your own weapons and just catch that prey by the throat and turn your knees into a thresher. Dieselnoi’s knees are endless.

In this session it was the day before a really big fight for me. I drove out to an unfinished gym and met Dieselnoi for a session before heading to the weigh in for my fight, which he ended up in my corner for the next night. Honestly, he could have just said “hello” to me and not done any training at all and I would have felt it was worth it; just being around him feels like fight preparation. Maybe that’s why he emphasized strategy. But, again, watching him rip apart the bag with the kind of energy that he’s trying to relay to me, that he wants me to learn to use all the time, that he is incapable of not doing, is absolutely incredible. It’s what makes Dieselnoi a legend among legends.

You can read and see my breakdown of several elements of our first session together here, including details on Dieselnoi's unique type of knee and about 10 minutes of video. If you are a Nak Muay Nation member you can see that full session here.

In the session Dieselnoi sits down and shows me this famous padwork session on YouTube, which you can see here, if you haven't. It's incredible and illustrates the ferocity of his energy in training and in the ring. And he wants to show me Lawrence Kenshin's highlight video, which he really loves: watch that here.

I do apologize for the low image quality in this post. It was actually live streamed on my Facebook Page so this is the raw footage I had to work with. The Supporter Only content aspect is my commentary, hopefully shedding additional light on the session. We've recently purchased a new camera that should really bump up the quality of video I'm shooting in future Patreon posts, to help put you right there in the space.

Right now I rushing to put together a small library of awesomeness as a thank you to my supporters who already have been keeping my fighting and writing alive, to those editing/increasing their pledges, and so new supporters find something really good when they first join. The plan is, once a few of these posts build up, to regularly keep uploading videos like this a little less frequently, in high quality, so that it all becomes a lasting library of Muay Thai documentation, something my Patreon supporters have helped make possible and can continue to benefit from as well.