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

Arjan Yai was a trainer/padman at the famed and prestigious Sor. Ploenjit gym back in the Golden Age. He helped train 2x Fighter of the Year Kaensak (his session in the Library is linked at bottom), stadium champions and top fighters. Under his own admission, he says he was still learning back in those days but you can spot him in videos of fights, standing and hollering instructions ringside as Lumpinee crowds roar behind him. He has been a trainer and instructor for 4 decades now, raising both his sons to become champions of the sport and most recently in charge of Shadow, a contemporary Muay Khao star.

With so much experience and knowledge, Arjan Yai has a lot to teach, both physically and through explanation, throughout this 2 hour session. There is always strategy to why a technique is favored and Arjan is very keen to explain they why to each technique he teaches. He covers a lot in this session, so hopefully those looking for an "advanced" but fundamental session will find a lot here. It is both "basic" and "advanced". I've been training in Thailand for a long time and have trained with many legends, and I came out of this session with new focus on specifics I did not have before. 

What to Look Out For:

1) Angles, Power, and Long Punches: Arjan opens this session with talking about the difference between "farang punches" and "Thai punches." His assessment is that western punches are fast and straight but at the expense of power and unexpectedness. Thai punches, in contrast, start from a longer guard (Wangchannoi also talks about this) and have an advantage to being very hard to anticipate from a closer starting point. They are feckin hard though.

2) The Back Foot in the Stance: I'm not unusual in the angle my back foot takes in my stance, but for Arjan the "racer foot" as I call it is much more advantageous for speed and covering distance both forward and back. It's also more "natural" in that it's how your feet are aligned when just walking. This is a repeated point throughout the session.

3) Lean Back Knees: I can't stress this enough, if you learn one way and then a different way, neither is "wrong." It depends on context. If you first learned the word "rock" and then learn that there is the word "stone," they are neither wrong nor right but the context of speech patterns and knowledge of phrasing will make one preferable to the other in context. "Throwing rocks" and "throwing stones" mean the same, but one is more rugged sounding. The words mean the same thing, but being "rocked to death" isn't a thing while being "stoned to death" is. Techniques are like that. Arjan Yai is in the Morakot, Karuhat, Silapathai school of leaning back on longer, pendulous knees. We spend a lot of time on this.

4) Shin Bars: this is a classic Femeu fighter's go-to, but any style can benefit from it. It's a way of defending immediately after a kick, without dropping the leg, against an advancing fighter.

5) Angling Rather than "Nee": going backwards can be quite dangerous and look bad, depending on how the fight is going, but angling off while staying close (think a Matador) is always in style and is very helpful in continuing to pressure an opponent rather than give them space.

6) The Most Painful Leg Kick: Arjan is very keen on his leg kick and I see why. They are terribly painful. Similar to Arjan Metprik, the leg kick isn't "choppy" the way it is when it angles down or you hop across (Rambaa, Pornsanae) but is rather quite straight like a baseball bat.

7) Elbowing in the Clinch: Arjan shows how to get your opponent swimming for inside position, which is universally taught because it's a dominant position and more advantageous, and then use that window to land a nasty elbow, He also has som e advice to Sangmanee on how a fake kick to elbow is so much superior to just a fake kick to teep, which is embarrassing sure but wouldn't you rather hurt somebody?

Kevin's Stills from the Session:

you can see the rest of his photography from the session here 

If you enjoyed this documentary session these are other Library sessions with similar themes and approach:

#24 Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit - Explosive Defense (55 min) watch it here

Kaensak, the 2 time Fighter of the Year, teaches the keys to his explosive, defensive first style, showing how training timing and open side tracking can produce powerful counters. This is blueprint to one of the most unique and admired fighters of the Golden Age.

#78 Kru Ali Phet Kalim - Old School Forgotten Principles (64 min) watch it here

Kru is like a time capsule. He teaches the Muay Thai of a bygone era perched on a cliff edge in his gym in Phuket. He insists that fighters and teachers of today have forgotten important principles, and he show them in this prescious session. Unique blocks and clinch tactics from his generation.

#33 Kru San Sitmonchai - Control of Pace & Distance when Advancing  (56 min) watch it here

Kru San is a big man but has incredible muay, a lightness to his movement that he transforms into a jai yen advancing Muay Thai style. In this session it's all about. Creating pressure without rushing, using the teep to set up combinations to the body and head, raising ring awareness, and using weapons at the appropriate time in your opponent's fatigue.

#60 Sagat Petchindee Session 2 - All the Strikes Tuned and Dangerous (101 min) watch it here

One of the great, legendary names of Thailand, Sagat Petchyindee the inspiration for the Street Fighter character, goes through his entire striking philosophy with lots of technical correction and fine tuning. See the secret to his creation of smooth, efficient, explosive power, and witness the amazing man himself.

#90 Arjan Surat 2 - His Old School Tough & Defensive Style (94 min) watch it here

A legend of Bangkok and coach of the Thai National Team, Arjan Surat has a toughened, defense oriented, forward style. In this session he builds it from the ground up, starting with his old school arm swing on the kick (no swing, instead using it to simultaneously block), emphasizing balance and solid framing. Watch and learn!

#22 Singdam Kiatmoo9 - Making the Basics Beautiful (71 min) watch it here

Singdam provides perhaps the best progression through the basics I've yet filmed, the blueprint of his beautiful, effective style. This instruction is bottomless. Even after 5 years in Thailand there is a ton for me in this very close examination of powerful technique essentials.

browse all the Muay Thai Library here