#137 Kem Sitsongpeenong 3 - Balance, Fakes, and Cool Heart (105 min) (Patreon)

This is our 3rd entry of Kem in the Muay Thai Library. The trilogy of them play in a beautiful development, so I do recommend reviewing the first two in order to get the most out of this one, but if you haven't seen it or don't have access to it, you can start here, too. Kem is a real gem of a teacher, not only because he has such keenness of sight in being able to assess what a fighter's strengths and weaknesses are, but he's also brilliant at explaining and demonstrating what he's teaching, so his methods are very accessible to both beginners and experienced fighters. His technique is gorgeous, but it's not fancy or full of flare. His basics are flawless and he gives space around each of his movements because of his cool heart, so he's very legible. What he teaches you, you can use pretty immediately.

His gym is up in the mountains of Khao Yai Tiang, at the gateway to Khorat. Kevin and I refer to it as the "Shaolin of Muay Thai," because you really are just transported to this kind of retreat; it's isolated in the sense that you can't just pop over to the 7-11 (compared to urban gyms, which you can count the 711s you run past on a 5 kg run) and there's really nothing else to do other than train. But everything is taken care of, Kem's wife cooks and takes care of everything you might need, and on rest days there are excursions to waterfalls or other sight-seeing in the area. But, like old school gyms, going to fights as a team is really the "event" of any given week or month; I, personally, love that.

What to Look For In This Session:

1) Balance: balance is the basis for everything, for power, for speed, for timing and spacing and ruup. Everything.

2) Controlling Distance: Kem is a big proponent of being in control of spacing all the time. This means being able to fill space when your opponent thinks they're about to have a rest, or stepping back or out to Matador the opponent when they choose to charge.

3) Faking to Close Distance: a lot of what Kem is using his fakes for is to close distance. He uses a long range weapon, then fakes it and has the opponent crash into his super short-range weapon. It's his method for kind of "bamf-ing" (the sound effect written in comics when Night Crawler poofs to another location) from one position to another in the ring.

4) Surround Sound Mind Games: Kem has an amazing tactic of using your cornermen in the mind games you play with your opponent. If they're calling for a strike or a tactic, your opponent can hear that, too. So you bank on them responding to knowing the game and you have a secondary move on top of it. This is an additional layer to the already clever tactic of letting your opponent's expectations of you cloud their vision as well. If they know you're Muay Mat, throw more leg kicks, for example.

5) The Snake Head Teep: this is using your toes to dig into your opponent. It means the teep isn't especially powerful, but it is long, very accurate and sharp, and you kind of let your opponent walk into it themselves. It hurts, and it gets them a little pissed off.

6) Teeps to Set Up for Elbows: the longest range weapon and the shortest range weapon, totally blindsiding your opponent's ability to predict spacing.

7) The Torso Twist, the Foot Compass: these oppose each other, but work together. All of Kem's power comes from his feet and legs, then the twist of his torso to generate length and power. But when he pivots, the feet go and the body goes all as one piece, if you twist your body and not your feet, you get tangled. Think of your legs as the legs of a compass (used in math), pivoting and maintaining equidistance.

8) Flexible Guard/ Hot Plate: Kem shows me how keeping your guard too stiff or having too much consistent pressure can work against you. You want a flexible guard and you want to touch for only a moment to feel what your opponent is doing, then do quick pulls or pushes to throw them off and hide your weapons.

9) Clinch Elbows: Kem mainly focuses in how to work elbows into clinching, but what I, as a Muay Khao fighter, found really wonderful about them were how the way he makes space for them is the same as how you make space for knees. So you can kind of create the "whack-a-mole" situation of elbows and knees without changing much about your rhythm or movements. But the arms and hands need to remain flexible, guard up but flexible, to be able to keep moving and advancing position.

Other Sessions Referenced:

#113 Arjan Yai Muangsupan - Golden Age Forms & Dynamics (119 min) watch it here

#104 Yodkhunpon Sittraipum 4 - The Art of Shadowboxing (64 min) watch

#111 The Karuhat Rosetta Stone 7 - The Secrets of the Matador (83 min)

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

#53 Kem Sitsonpeenong 2 - Mastering Everything In Between (80 min) watch it here

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

#82 Chanchai Sor. Tummarungsri - The King of Teeps (54 min) watch it here

#16 Thailand Pinsinchai 1 - Attacking Shell (62 min) watch it here

When Kem was at Sor. Ploenjit he fought with the name Singtong (golden lion), here with the Bangyai title at 35 kg (77 lbs)

Kem on the cover of a magazine, likely after he'd left to either Fairtex or Sitsongpeenong

During his reign at THAI FIGHT

2011 Isuzu Cup winner (this is a long-standing tournament with many big-name winners, the last decade or so have all transitioned to THAI FIGHT after winning the tournament)

At weigh in for an international fight, Buakaw was a co-promoter

From the 123 All-Time Greatest Fighters book

Some of Kevin's photos of our stay

If you enjoyed this session these are other session in the Library you might get a lot out of:

#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.

#53 Kem Sitsonpeenong 2 - Mastering Everything In Between (80 min) watch it here

With one of the great technique krus of Thailand, Kem Kem Muaythai Gym, in his gym in the mountains just below Khorat. A special session that details how to work on all the things in-between strikes. So much to learn in this 80 minutes. He's a special teacher.

#13 Kem Sitsongpeenong 1 - Building a System (52 min) watch it here

Kem, one of the best fighters of his generation, shows me building blocks of his system. He teaching a firm, defensive frame, and especially likes an upward elbow that explodes out of blocks, checks and fake teeps.

#16 Thailand Pinsinchai 1 - Attacking Shell (62 min) watch it here

Former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern champion Thailand Pinsinchai teaches the beautiful framework for his attacking, elbowing style. Lots of minute corrections, small vital details that turn working techniques into dominance. You get the entire picture of a Muay Buek fighter out of the legendary Pinsinchai gym .

#73  Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn 2 - Overcoming Distance (61 min) watch it here

The incredible Namsaknoi was one of the rare fighters who melded sheer physical power with femeu touch. In this session you learn how he exploited and explored angles, owned the edge, in a way that left him the king of Lumpinee at his weight in his day.

#72  YodPitak Cho. Nateetong 1 - Art of Femeu Interruptions and Balance (73 min) watch it here

One of the most difficult things is to teach Muay Femeu timing and distance control, but Kru Tak is one of the great femeu instructors in Thailand. In this beautiful session he opens up his technique of tricks, feints and shifting deceptions, even in the clinch.

#40 Gen Hongthonglek - Muay Femeu Tactics & Mindset (70 min) watch it here

The Muay Femeu (artful fighting) style is more than just a set of techniques, it's also a mindset and strategy of how to score, and how to score big. The warfare is not just in terms of damage, but of psychology, displaying dominance through skill and timing. Gen in this hour outlines how he likes to fight, and how he pulls off the biggest scores at the right time.

#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.

#82 Chanchai Sor. Tummarungsri - The King of Teeps (54 min) watch it here

Perhaps in all the Library there is no session more devoted to, and detailing of the art of the teep. Chanchai is a Golden Age legend known for his undefeatable teep, and clearly has spent many years dissecting all the small parts that make his teep so incredible, so students can learn it for themselves. Dive into the art of the teep in this one!