#110 Samson, Namkabuan, Dieselnoi & Karuhat! Muay Khao Summit Session (2 hrs)

This is a unique and remarkable entry for a number of reasons.  Our usual format for the Library is one Legend, long-form instruction for an hour, really getting into their own style and expression of Muay. This one is multiple Legends, riffing off of each other, one-upping each other, playing with each other, definitely teaching and demonstrating their own style but kind of all as an "Ode to Muay Khao." This footage comes from an incredible event we held, inviting women from all over the world to come learn directly from Legends in the style of Muay Khao. It was 9 days, included circuits and hard Muay Khao style training, as well as seminar style teaching, and culminated in an all-female fight card up in Chiang Mai. The Summit was in December of 2018 (titling on the video says 2019, which is incorrect). This is Day 7 and the morning of Day 8, including Namkabuan, Karuhat, Dieselnoi and Samson. You can see these days (all the days of the Summit with the different Legends) as individual, On Demand videos. Kevin and I voice those together, so the commentary is different from what you're seeing here, which is just me and more about digesting the instruction. Each of these Legends also have entries (some have multiple) in the Muay Thai Library and I highly recommend you check those out as well.

Here's something I want to say though and I simply cannot overstate how incredible it is to see these Legends together, playing with each other, teasing each other, one-upping and even kind of getting inspired by each other. It's incredible.

You can find the collection of videos documenting the 9 days of the Muay Khao Summit for purchase here: The Muay Khao Summit - 100% of the profit from the sale of these videos will be distributed between the Thai female yodmuay and the Golden Age legends who participated in the Summit. The Summit was 100% non-profit to us, and all of this is made possible through patron support!

What to Look Out For: 

1) Namkabuan's Clinch Throw: first off is a very classic, very accessible, very useful clinch escape taught by Namkabuan. The important elements are timing, as well as very small wiggles and lifts (wedging, almost) to break the opponent's frame and grip before the ultimate twist/rip that is the throw. The timing is about getting the shoulder inside before their grip gets too secure, as well as timing the knee so your opponent is one one leg and you can twist them for the throw without them being able to readjust and catch themselves.

2) The "Nongkhee Bounce" and Samson's "Pulse": both of these are what I call "ambient footwork" and they're a general way of covering distance and hiding your strikes. They shouldn't be predictable, but they should be very practiced in the sense that you never have to stop in order to strike, or pause after a strike to resume. 

3) Karuhat's Liquid vs Namkabuan's Solid: a lot of the contrast between Karuhat and Namkabuan's style is a matter of slipping and melting (Karuhat) versus force and power (Namkabuan). Both have a place in the Muay Khao style and the two play back and forth with techniques that are kind of variations on one another, the hard and then the soft.

4) Back Row Movements vs Confidential Movements: another contrast is between Namkabuan, who I call a "Back Row" style because you can see his every movement from the nosebleeds, they're so dynamic and crisp. Dieselnoi on the other hand is perfectly happy to have little moments that directly hurt or scare his opponent and nobody knows other than him and his foe; it's personal. Both have a place in Muay Khao. Namkabuan's version scores on a scorecard and the crowd yells; Dieselnoi's works in the overall magic of a fighter who intimidates and wears their opponent down and "only the bullfighter knows" kind of thing. It's narrative.

5) The Low Kick Destroyer: you can also see this in the Kru Noi session in the Muay Thai Library, but it's a fantastic way to not only discourage, but simply stop low kicks. Samson has an interesting twist on it in that he over-acts the affect of a leg kick to bait them, then sets up for the Low Kick Destroyer.

6) Flexibility in the Guard: as a Muay Khao fighter there are 2 certainties, 1) you come forward; and 2) you do not stop. You will definitely get hit with both of those factors and Dieselnoi makes a very big, very poignant deal about how your defense is what allows you to come forward and what allows you to persist. Good defense is what allows good offense. Both Samson and Dieselnoi teach and demonstrate the longer and shorter versions of a flexible, moving guard.

7) Counter Striking and Persistence Hunting: most people don't realize this, but Dieselnoi was an incredible counter-striker. He was so scary coming forward, only the most familiar or keen of eye would note that he's not striking first, but mostly baiting his opponent's strikes and then countering, but closing distance all the time so he kind of wears them out and drowns them at the same time. This is for the fact that a Muay Khao fighter uses so much energy and power, so he has found ways to keep his reserves while depleting both energy and confidence in his opponents. Samson did this in a different way, which is that he was so pressuring and relentless, his opponents simply wore themselves out and gave up heart at the sight of him still coming, even after a flurry of strikes or a knock down. Terminator style. Dieselnoi also drowned some of the most skilled evasive fighters of all time, because they simply couldn't get him off of them. 

Some of Kevin's stills from the session:

We truly miss Namkabuan. You can watch this interview I did with him a few months before he passed from cancer. It was one of his last sharings with the Muay Thai world:

watch it here 

You can watch sessions in the Library from each of these legends of the sport, linked here:

#41  Samson Isaan - The Art of Dern Fighting (64 min) watch it here

To "dern" in Thai is to "walk", which means basically to just come forward no matter what, to create a relentlessness. Voted Fighter of the Year in 1991, Samson Isaan was one of the great Dern Fighters of the Golden Age, and in this session he shows his forward pulsing techniques which are meant to just overwhelm his opponent. Also a great session for pressure Southpaw fighters.

#74 Samson Isaan 2 - Muay Khao & Western Boxing Excellence (59 min) watch it here

In 1991 there was no fighter more of a force than Samson Isaan, who took Fighter of the Year then. His relentless style combining Muay Maat punching aggression with Knee Fighting pressure and clinch made him a wrecking ball. In this session discover what made this little fighter so impossible to handle.

#6 Namkabuan Nongkipahuyut - Explosive Attack (28 min) watch it here

266 wins, 15 losses, 2 draws.  Namkabuan may be the best fighter I've ever seen, and it was an intense privledge to train with him. I can honestly say that it changed me as a fighter, inspiring to become more. He combines Muay Khao fighting with technical precision and explosive energy. The knee he teaches in this session is really like no other I've seen, like it is shot out of a cannon.

Dieselnoi 

#48 Dieselnoi Chor. Thanasukarn - Jam Session (80 min) watch it here  

#30 Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn 2 - Muay Khao Craft  (42 min) watch it here  

#3 Dieselnoi  Chor Thanasukarn  - The King of Knees (54 min) - watch it here 

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

Karuhat 

Bonus Session 1:  Karuhat Sor. Supawan | Advanced Switching Footwork | 60 min  - watch it here 

This is a beautiful session in which Karuhat expands on his switching  style, having moved me from standard to southpaw in a previous session.

#7 Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Be Like Sand (62 min) watch it here

2x Golden Age Lumpinee Champion (112 lb and 122 lbs), Karuhat is  considered elite among the elites. Mixing an explosive style with  constant off-balances, angling, and melting aways, he was nicknamed the  Ultimate Wizard. I can only describe the things he's teaching here as:  Be like sand. This is very subtle, advanced stuff, far above combo  techniques or specific defenses. It may take a few viewings to absorb  what he is teaching. Everytime I watch this I learn something new.

#11 Karuhat Sor. Supawan Session 2 - Float and Shock (82 min) watch it here

In this session one of the greatest fighters who ever lived really digs  into what must lie beneath techniques, a general state of relaxation  and rhythm, the thing that made him one of the most dynamic fighters  Lumpinee has ever seen.

#20 Karuhat Sor Supawan - Switching To Southpaw (144 min) watch it here

2x Lumpinee Champion Karuhat Sor. Supawan in this epic video posts  installs a limited Southpaw core which leads to developing high level  ideas found in his switching style: tracking and attacking the open  side, watching for and dictating weight transfer. This is the blueprint  of a legend's acclaimed fighting style.

#27 Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Tension & Kicking Dynamics (104 min) watch it here

Karuhat, a fighter with perhaps the slickest style of any Golden Age  great, shows the importance of tension, and patiently goes through  correcting the kick, making it quicker and much harder to read.

#50 Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Serpentine Knees & Flow  (62 min) watch it here

The legendary Karuhat teaches his winding, advancing style, a  culmination of many, many hours of our training together. You get a  glimpse into his advanced movements, and his philosophy on reading  opponents.

Bonus Session 7: Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Forward Check | 39 min - watch it here 

In this session Karuhat teaches his beautiful and unique Forward Check,  and the system of attacks that flow out of it in his fighting style.   You can read my detailed post in the Forward Check here.  This check, aggressively from Southpaw, versus Orthodox fighters eats  up space closes distance, effectively deal with one of the primary  weaknesses of Southpaw attack.