Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • 100+ Fights
  • Master K
  • Store
  • War Face
  • My Record
  • Best Posts
  • Phetjee Jaa
  • Overtraining
  • Gendered Exp
  • Sylvie's Tips
  • Sak Yant
  • Contact
  • Supporters
  • Donate
made withby essence labs
© 2015. All Rights Reserved.
March 12, 2016
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
Muay Thai

How I Won the Northern Championship Belt, A Belt No Westerner Can Hold

The Muay Siam 105 lb Northern Muay Thai Championship Belt-001

Becoming Northern Champion

A slight chill in the air hits my oiled skin and drenched clothing. I shiver and the yellow garlands around my neck shed a few petals, sticking to the Vaseline on my chest and arms like celebration confetti. My husband is trying to take a photo of me for the Petchrungruang gym wall of champions – I have two representative gyms in a sense, and neither is there with me, I’m on my own. Kevin can’t get a solo snap because men keep jumping into the frame and ordering their friends to take photos with their own phones: drunk audience fans, my cornermen (who I met about 45 minutes before the fight), and even a Muay Siam official (photo below). Muay Siam is a big deal because it’s a huge national magazine for Muay Thai, although it reads a bit like a female Muay Thai doughnut – covering mostly the North and Phuket with very little coverage in the center – and my opponent is someone they cover… and it’s Muay Siam who sanctions the regional titles of Northern, Isaan, Central and Southern champions – this is their belt. Everyone wants a picture because I just won the Muay Siam Northern 105 lbs championship belt, which is figuratively strapped around my waist. Everyone wants a picture with the new champ.

Muay Siam Official at the 105 lb Northern Champion Fight-001

me with a man I presume to be a Muay Siam official after the fight – he was excited

The physical belt actually is a stand-in belt, which is common enough for promotions, and you don’t get to keep it, so an official comes up to collect it back. “Have you taken a photo already?” he asks. I nod to the affirmative and point my chin toward the man on the other side of my mat who is holding the belt now; the official lets this man and a few others pretend to wear it for their own photos before taking the belt and disappearing back into the crowd. That’s championship right there: get a photo wearing the belt, then it’s gone and you wait for the announcements in the magazines and newspapers.

My title was then announced in the following days (in the same words) on the Muay Siam Facebook page, and in the magazine, it’s exciting times:

Announcement - Sylvie Northern Muay Thai Champion

Announcement - Sylvie Northern Muay Thai Champion - In Muay Siam

I’ve written about not chasing belts and titles. It’s just not my focus and, broadly speaking, it doesn’t drive me. But this one felt important to me. This one felt like a milestone. Part of it was fighting this opponent, Faa Chiangrai, who I’d faced three times in my second year in Thailand (2013), to a 1-1-1 result. My trainer at Lanna, Den, considered Faa to be the best fighter at my weight in the North, and probably in Thailand. He’s a fan of the muay femur style, the technical and evasive style, which she’s great in. I suspect he didn’t believe I could beat her back then – I mean, it was possible, but not likely. She had been a purposeful challenge. Den compared all other opponents I faced to Faa. She was the benchmark against which everyone else was ranked in his mind. And beating her in the last of our three matches was huge for me. Plus, I’m a fan of her as a fighter, so I follow her career and watched her fight a number of high-profile opponents and get absolutely robbed in the decisions. I cheer for her even against other fighters I like. So, fighting her for her title felt like a big deal. Not only because she’s a great fighter and has a style I sometimes can have great trouble against, but also because I knew she’d fight very hard. Unless there’s money or reputation on the line, fights can easily be labeled “just for fun.” If I was going to win this belt, I would have to take it.

Faa Chiangrai with the 105 lb Muay Siam Northern Belt-001

This is Faa Chiangrai wearing the belt on the left, with 2 other Northern Muay Siam Champions, Sud Siam (112 lbs) and Hong Tong (118 lbs).

What’s more though, and this is really my style, it just so happened through promoters and chance that I would have to fight Faa 3 times in 50 days, culminating in this title fight. The first match up forced me to cancel another fight in order to be able to come face her, which I normally hate doing. But booking her wasn’t easy, the promoter said, so trying to reschedule might risk losing the chance to fight her at all. She’s VIP; she’s the champ. Of our 3 fights I beat her first in January, decisively, in a really big match at the new Chiang Mai Boxing Stadium with a sizeable sidebet on the line. I was up 30-1 by odds going into the 5th round – it must have been a difficult loss for her; then it was easy to book her again because she wanted revenge. I like that about her. There’s no, “well, I lost, that’s it;” but instead it’s more like, “fuck that, you got lucky… let’s go again.” It wasn’t luck, of course, but I like her confidence!

I had to beat the reigning champion three (3) times in a row in less than two months.

So, as I mentioned, I had to beat the reigning champion three (3) times in a row in less than two months. Not in order to win the belt, but kind of. Mentally it was important to win all of these fights. Politically, too.  But let me backtrack, I’m getting ahead of myself, this is the way it all played out: I was cutting my teeth at the new stadium in Chiang Mai late in 2015. Even though I have fought over 70 fights in the Chiang Mai area, not all the promoters at the new stadium knew me (they have Bangkok-based promoters there as well), and how I fought, so I had to go through a proving ground with them. I beat the first girl they put me against pretty handily, then they had me face Nong Benz Sit Dobwod. This is what put me on the track for the belt. Faa Chiangrai had beaten Nong Benz for the title, so Nong Benz was considered the top challenger for the Northern belt, the 2nd best fighter at that weight. When fought her at the new stadium and knocked her out, the promoters at the stadium were really excited and immediately asked if I wanted to fight Faa Chiangrai; of course I did. Already I think there was a sense that I was possibly getting in line for the belt. They wanted to find someone who could fight Faa at her size and give her a good run. Both of us are more technically 100 lb fighters. So they arranged the first fight at the stadium against Faa, and I had a very decisive win. It was big.  I think it looked to everyone that I was going through the ranks to get to the belt and, in fact, they mentioned this over the loud speakers a few times as Faa Chiangrai and I did our Wai Kru in the ring for the championship fight. I beat the 1st challenger, then I demonstratively beat the champion in a non-title fight, but with a big sidebet on the line. The next obvious fight would be for the belt itself. This made sense from Faa’s perspective too, because if she wanted to save face and reclaim superiority, it would have to be on an even bigger stage. Let’s fight for the belt… but in her hometown. As it turns out, because she was traveling with her college, she and I even met up here in Pattaya, 3 days before our championship belt fight; a fight I also won.

The WMC no longer holds world title events (I’ve been told), and the WPMF operates without regular or accurate rankings.

This sense of ranks though is important because the Muay Siam regional belts – and the Northern belt in particular – are, in my opinion, very likely the highest achievement many female fighters can reach. Because the Bangkok National Stadia are closed off to women, these titles are perhaps the highest ranking for women in Thailand. It’s only recently that Muay Siam has begun ranking female fighters in the North, maybe the last few years I believe, and because that magazine focuses on northern fighters more than any other provinces, and there are so many female fighters in the north, the northern belt is a big deal. People in the west focus on World Title belts, but for women at least they really don’t function the way many assume. The WMC no longer holds world title events (I’ve been told), and the WPMF operates without regular or accurate rankings, at least in my weight classes (I simply haven’t tried to follow the other weights closely, so I don’t know about those). While the WPMF offers prestigious titles, they are more like high level “event” titles, as even unranked fighters suddenly have found themselves fighting for their World Title belt. They do have a ranking system, but it doesn’t always seem to be relevant to how the belts are fought for. Anecdotally, I’ve beaten a great number of their ranked fighters, including the standing 100 lb World champ, and I’ve never been ranked, while fighters who have been retired for years – or who are no longer able to make those weights – remain ranked. It’s just not well organized, and their belts do not often seem to reflect fighters climbing through a ranking system. This is not to disparage the champions or near champions that fight for these belts, it’s just that as female fighters we have to make do with what we have. The regional belts of Thailand, on the other hand, do seem organized through rank. What is amazing is that, although it wasn’t my intention from the start, I did end up fighting through the ranks of the Northern Belt, so to speak, in order to get a shot at the champ – to everyone involved it seemed that way. And I am no doubt grateful to have the chance. And in the process I had to take three shots at her after all, which to me is more exciting than any other part of it. I fought and beat the champ 3x, in three different kinds of fights, in three locations.

I’ve been fighting in the North for nearly 4 years now, of my 135 fights in Thailand, 70+ of them are in the North – possibly the most of any western fighter, man or woman

I’ve won belts before. I have maybe 6 titles from various stadia or events. Because you don’t get to keep the belts, I only physically own the two that mean the most to me: one was given by Master K, a title and honorific within his own “Suriyasak Team” of students, and one I had a copy made in Bangkok for me as a keepsake because it was the first belt I ever won – a landmark. This northern title felt like a huge achievement, another landmark moment. Because I’ve been fighting in the North for nearly 4 years now, of my 135 fights in Thailand, 70+ of them are in the North – possibly more than any western fighter, man or woman – I’ve made a mark there. Gamblers, promoters, referees and the heads of various gyms up there all recognize and know me as a northern fighter. I’ve fought pretty much everyone there is to fight in the north, many multiple times, including top fighters a few weight classes above me. To have the chance to fight the top fighter at my weight for a top title is for me acknowledgment of all that time and all those fights being a process in the same vein as what the Thai women I’m fighting are doing as well. We grow together.

I still don’t place a great deal of weight in belts or titles – it’s just not how I’m wired – but I feel proud of this one. Circumstances and events around this process and this achievement makes it feel like a catalyst, rather than a climax. My path in fighting has led me to be frequently fighting without my gym, being cornered by strangers – relying on the culture of Muay everywhere I go. And this fight felt special in that sense, especially because I had wanted Daeng (from Lanna) to corner for me as a kind of calming, centering element in a super “outsider” and hometown situation. But he couldn’t come. So instead I had these very enthusiastic men from Surin, who were excited to be presenting themselves as the corner for the challenger – the outsider – with complete faith that I’d win without ever seeing me before. And when I did win, it gave them face as well. After a win, people in the audience will touch the winning fighter as we exit the ring as a way to kind of  glean luck and esteem off of the fighter. It can be shared. And that’s what this belt was. It means something for everyone who touched the process, whether they were present or not.

Sylvie fighting for the Muay Siam Northern 105 lb belt-001

The poster for the fight announcing that I was fighting for the Muay Siam Northern Title

Being Stripped of the Belt – No Foreign Fighter Can Hold It

That’s why it doesn’t matter so much that this achievement – the tangible parts of the belt and title itself – are being taken away from me. A few days after the fight it was announced by an official that I can’t be Northern Champ, even though I fought and won in exactly the way one does to become that. They say I’m ineligible because I’m not Thai, I’m a westerner, and, to add a further technicality as if it was necessary, even though I still fight in the North under the Lanna name on a regular basis, my “contracted gym” isn’t in the North. They gave two reasons, just to be sure.  This second reason given is interesting in that as a western fighter I am not contracted at all, as many Thai fighters are. I technically am not contracted to any gym, so I’m not sure how they assess this. I for instance beat Faa Chiangrai in January as “Sylvie Lanna Boxing”, fighting under their banner with their trainers in my corner – I was ostensibly with Lanna Muay Thai, my northern gym. In a certain sense I fall into a legalistic gray area. Western fighters, even if we’ve been with a gym for a long time, don’t become registered and contracted in this same process, largely speaking. This point about contracted fighters really doesn’t matter in the end for the regional titles because it is stated by a top official that westerners are barred from fighting for or holding the belt, no matter what gym they are with. The funny thing is that everyone knew I was a westerner, it wasn’t a surprise at the end; it was a big part of the promotional excitement for the belt.

So, despite all the ways in which I am eligible and went through the process and won the fight – complete with officials present at the fights and even taking photos with me – turns out I have been stripped of this title on a technicality.

Below is about 3 minutes of video showing the scores being read. This was a tremendous moment. The gamblers were largely against me, this was her province, and for several years she was the most well known female star of Chiang Rai. You can see how uneasy I am. I knew I had won the fight, but would they give it to me?

I’ll say that I’m sure this rule against westerners holding the belt was already in existence, it wasn’t created to shut me out, but it is a bit like how Phetjee Jaa was fighting boys on TV for over a year before someone “remembered” the rule and decided to enforce it, barring her from doing so ever again. They didn’t really remember the rule, they just found motivation to enforce it. I won an unwinnable belt, which is really amazing. I won it on points in the hometown of my opponent, who was the defending champion; I was not Thai the whole time, it just only mattered after I’d already won. None of the things that made this title important have changed with these facts. And if she had won it would have been that she had proudly defended her title against a strong western fighter. This pride and achievement is still there for me. When I got back to Pattaya and was shadowboxing at Petchrungruang a few days after my fight, the Patriarch of the gym, my trainer’s father, walked in to the room grinning, repeating over and over again, “the champion returns… champ glap maa laew.” That kind of quiet, intimate pride can’t be stripped away by the politics. The fact that I beat the champ three times in two months doesn’t change. The announcements in the very same magazine publication that sanctions the belt and then said they had forgotten this rule… those announcements can’t be “unpublished,” they just will be corrected. The initial achievement of being the first ever westerner to win this title – even if it’s then negated – is still meaningful. And with the rules being remembered and enforced, I might be the last to win this belt as well. Which is the sad part. The only real injury in it all is that it closes a door to a precedent. To say “no” to allowing a westerner to even fight for the belt is one thing, but to say “no” and take away the belt after it’s already been fought for and won might mean having to double down on those restrictions in the future. In this small way, ironically the super-conservative Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok is less conservative than the regional female titles are, as the first westerner to hold a Lumpinee belt was Damian Alamos a few years ago.

I’m okay with the regional titles being reserved for only Thais, even if it sucks to be locked out because of that. It’s their belt, they want to celebrate Thai regional greatness among female fighters. This is not some huge injustice. I’m not one of those who complain how unfair Thais are to westerners, I understand that it’s politics, and people with more at stake in the game than me decide these things – as fighters all we can do is fight. But having been given the opportunity and experience to fight for it, to have won, to have gone through the whole process because enough people said, “yes,” even in error, feels monumental. It means that for all the years I’ve experienced this constant “outsider-ness,” there are these moments when enough people forget that otherness. The promoter, the men in my corner, the VIP’s on the stage, the referee and the Muay Siam officials present at the fight, they were all excited by the fact of what happened at this fight, the reality of the experience of seeing a belt change hands. I was very wary of this fight going into it, because there were so many ways in which I could be screwed over and kept from winning the belt at all: it was my opponent’s hometown and she’s the defending champ, so the referee or judges could have made it a situation where only a KO would get me a win. But that didn’t happen; I won on points – the scorecards were handed in after every round and tabulated at the end; they read the scores aloud on the microphone and the referee shook the scorecards at the crowd when local gamblers protested the decision (photo below); an official came and strapped the belt on me. Of all the ways I could have been prevented from winning this belt, it was an afterthought that ultimately halted it. I did everything by custom to win the belt, fighting the first contender and then the champion, according to rank. So, even if I don’t get to have my photo in the line-up of Northern champions in the magazine; even if Faa Chiangrai gets to keep the official title, I am the de facto Northern Champion at 105 lbs.  And that’s pretty fucking sweet.

Fight 144 - Northern Championship Belt - ref showing the scores to the gamblers-001

the referee adamantly shaking the official score cards at the gamblers who had all bet against me

 

If you enjoyed this post you may like these related posts:

My Everest Goal: 200 Fights in Thailand – Breaching the Impossible

The Romance of Being a Wandering Fighter – Thailand

You can support this content: Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu on Patreon

Related

Share this


Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

The Author Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

A 103 lb. (46 kg) female Muay Thai fighter. Originally I trained under Kumron Vaitayanon (Master K) and Kaensak sor. Ploenjit in New Jersey. I then moved to Thailand to train and fight full time in April of 2012, devoting myself to fighting 100 Thai fights, as well as blogging full time. Having surpassed 100 fights in 3 years here, my new goal is to fight an impossible 200 times in Thailand, as much as I possibly can, and to continue to write my experience.

4 Comments

  • Gaby
    March 15, 2016 4:20 am

    Congratulations!! Thank you again for the effort and inspiration.

  • Nick
    March 16, 2016 10:04 am

    You’re a fucking badass!

  • mark
    March 18, 2016 3:03 am

    Don’t mean to be ‘that guy’, but Mourad Sari was the first foreign Lumpinee champion, not Damian Alamos.

    Sorry about the situation, but an amazing experience… well done as always.

  • David
    May 27, 2016 8:24 pm

    I have followed you for a few years, and have always thought that you epitomize a fighting champion, belt or no belt. You embody what I love most love about boxing/muay thai, namely the character and fortitude to bring to bear all of your physical, emotional, and intellectual strength. That you have done so in a new culture so far from home is a high-wire act that reflects real courage and toughness. Champion fighter, indeed. Congratulations!

$35 – Symbolic Sylvie Shirt

Journalist of the Year – 2014

Fighter of the Year – 2015

Lessons from Legends – Pledge $5

connect with me here

Official Sponsor of 8limbs.Us

Official Sponsor of 8limbs.Us

No Tricks or Combos – Deep Techniques

Featured Posts

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - training Muay Thai

Why Your Muay Thai Dreams Might Not Come True in Thailand – The Two Great Fears for Fighting

(above) my video introduction the common fight fears of gassing out and shin pain, the video below shows Den talking about what to do for fight conditioning Some Tough Talk One of the advantages of training non-stop in Thailand for so long is a sense of perspective I’ve gained on people who come with Muay Thai dreams. I’ve met maybe 100 people over the past year and a half who have come through the gym with serious aspirations to fight. They arrive very enthused, but less than a quarter of them actually do fight and none of them – not

Boxing in a Mirror - Sparring Out of Control

Brain Science: Why Sparring Gets Out of Control – Neurology and Muay Thai

We all know the bro (or the female version) who says “Let’s go light” in sparring, and then whacks you. Or, when you get a hit in they suddenly step it up two notches in a way that seems inordinately ego-driven, like they’re trying to “win” at sparring. What’s up with these people? Don’t they know how to spar? It turns out that although there indeed may be all kinds of psychological reasons why people just hit back harder than they are hit – not understanding their own size, or just being a jerk – there also may be a

A Day of My Training - Love the Grind - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

short film – A Day of My Training – Love the Grind

above – our short film on a typical day of my training here in Pattaya (25 min) – วิดีโอซ้อมมวยกิจวัตรประจำวันค่ะ อยู่ที่พัทยาค่ะ We’ve been wanting to do this for a while, making a full day of training in video format. But things get pretty busy and shooting it all and editing just always got pushed back. At first we wanted to shoot it because I was training in an unusual way, back in February of this year, training both at Petchrungruang (2x) and once at WKO with Sakmongkol – training at two gyms in Thailand is rare and socially complicated, something I

Sataanmuanglek - high level Muay Thai clinch technique-w1400

Breaking Down Some Elements of Awesome Muay Thai Clinch Technique

Sataanmuanglek Numponthep – Magician A few days a go a clinch video swept across Facebook, featuring the young fighter Sataanmuanglek Numponthep just looking incredible in “man in the middle” training. This kind of training is very common in Thailand, and often can go for 40 minutes or more (rotating out the man who is in the middle) – it’s one of the reasons I moved to Pattaya to train at Petchrungruang, this kind of work. But Sataanmuanglek just looks spectacular in this clip. The very best clinch throw techniques are those where you almost can’t see where the trip came

the-secret-to-padwork-in-thailand

The Secret to Great Muay Thai Padwork in Thailand – Get the Most Out of It

What follows is not authoritative, it is just the things I’ve gleaned in my nearly 5 years of full time training at my various gyms, and in traveling around and taking privates from some of the best in Thailand. You can get access to my growing Muay Thai library with legends for a suggested pledge of $5. I read a rant on Reddit that, despite its intense language, does open up that some people do get frustrated training in Thailand, finding a lack of instruction and padwork that be repetitive. I do believe there is no better place in the

When are you ready to fight Muay Thai - sylvie

How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Fight Muay Thai?

A few months ago I wrote post titled Game Day: Why You Should Fight Muay Thai in Thailand.  This is a follow up or “part two” to that post on the subject of how you know when you’re ready to fight, in Thailand or otherwise. When Are You Ready? Not long ago a fellow who I met through my Facebook page and who made it out to Thailand to train at a gym that is also in Chiang Mai came by Lanna to train with us.  After a full session including sparring he started talking about how he expected to

Arjan Surat - Dejrat Gym in Bangkok - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Arjan Surat of Dejrat Gym – 1 Hour Private | Coach of the Thai National Team

Join and Study my Muay Thai Library of Legends This is a full video of a private I took with Arjan Surat, Head Coach of the Thai National Team, and owner of the esteemed (but lesser known to the west) Dejrat Gym in Bangkok. I did a short review of the gym when I interviewed female fighter Kaitlin Young, and it was then that I met Arjan Surat for the first time: an absolutely extraordinary teacher and life-force of Muay Thai. The man is Old School-Old School, telling me that he’s been holding pads longer than I’ve been alive (he’s

Saenchai vs Jongsana - Choosing a Muay Thai Style

The Art of Choosing Your Muay Thai Fighting Style – Some Jongsanan

there is a lot of GIF media in this post, so you may want to give it time to load.  Isolate any GIF by just clicking on it. The Post Last week I put up a Jongsanan Fairtex fight on Facebook I had found on YouTube that really seemed to demonstrate where I have been going in the evolution of my fighting style lately, counter to much of the direction many of my loved and respected teachers had been trying to get me to go in since the beginning, basically.  I have been blessed with great instruction by very special

Sarah Conner - Sacrifice - Body Muay Thai

Sarah Conner & My Egg Donation: The “Sacrifice” of Body For Muay Thai

In the world of athletics and motivational memes, the word “sacrifice” gets thrown around a lot.  All the things that one must sacrifice in the name of greatness, the hardships of waking up to train, missing out on nights of drinking with friends… whatever.  I know people use this word without truly dissecting the concept, it’s just part of sport-speak.  But I don’t use this word because it means a lot to me. When I think of the word “sacrifice” I think of giving up something of immense value – sacrifice is painful, not unfortunate or just hard.  Abraham willing

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Waiting Before the Fight - Muay Thai

What the First Year of Fighting Means – a Husband’s Point of View

this space is Sylvie’s space, where she writes her record. But with the first year of fighting completed I felt I wanted to add my thoughts, as a husband. In part because Sylvie is fighting for all of us, a family.    guest post, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu I’m a pretty quiet guy around the gym and at fights, so much so people tend to not get past the exterior. But when they do one of the things they ask me is “Do you ever get worried when Sylvie goes in there?” This is such a natural thing to ask a

The 80 Percent Fight - female Muay Thai in Thailand

The 80 Percent Fight – A Hidden Story Behind Western and Thai Match Ups

Any westerner fighting in Thailand has an interest in portraying their Thai opponents as being the best and fighting at the top of their capabilities.  And, to be fair, we assume and hope that this is true in our own minds.  We come here to train hard and fight hard, and from our understanding of fighting in the west we assume quite fairly that our opponents are doing the same.  But in Thailand, things are very often not what they seem; perhaps especially when gazing with western expectations. My experience of fighting in Thailand started over 5 years ago now

8limbs.Us Pages

  • A Short Bio – Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
  • Complete Fight Record – Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
  • Kumron Vaitayanon “Master K”
  • Legacy Blog – Read Chronologically
  • My 8limbs.us Supporters – Those Who Have Lifted Me and this Site Up
  • Reach Me Here
  • Sylvie Store
  • Women’s War Face: the Bloody Female Fighter Face – New Beauty
  • Youtube – Over 2000 Videos

Sylvie’s Tips – Muay Thai Techniques

thanadet and the shape of the Long Clinch-w1400

For Clinch Purists – The Technique of Tanadet’s Long Clinch and the 9th Limb

This post is in the spirit of this site, showing things in progress, as if passing reading notes so others can think along (and even train along) with me. I’ve thought a lot about this clinch since first witnessing it about 3 years ago. I’ve finally gotten myself to the position where I can teach it to myself. I first wrote about Tanadet (Poda) 2 years ago.  The extended film clip below Kevin made as a study film for me, so I could figure out just what it is that Tanadet was doing. If you want a very good sense

sylvies-tips-working-on-your-teep

Sylvie’s Tips – Working On Your Teep

We got a question on the Muay Thai Roundtable forum the other day that I reckon is a pretty common issue. When I first started taking Muay Thai from Master K, he described the teep as the “electric fence” around every other technique. Teep comes first, basically – the first line of defense and keeping your opponent out of your space until you want them there. And I sucked at teeping for a really long time. It’s only fairly recently, in the last 1.5 years maybe, that my teep has become a favorite technique, and it didn’t become that way because

Sylvie's Tips - Play Knees on the Bag - Pattaya Muay Thai

Sylvie’s Tips – How I Improved My Knee Bagwork | Rounds of Play Knees

“Play Knees” – Sylvie’s Tips video above The other day I put up a video of “play knees,” bagwork that Muay Thai legend Sakmongkol taught me at WKO, here in Pattaya. He was displeased with me merely doing counted, repetition knee drills, the traditional Muay Thai camp endless knees on the bag that everyone knows. (These are still good and useful, by the way, just for stamina.) He wanted me to do play knees, to move the bag around in fight simulation action and energy. It was something I’ve never seen before, but I did my best to adopt it.

Different Kinds of Muay Thai Knee Techniques - Sylvie's Tips

Sylvie’s Tips: Different Kinds of Muay Thai Knees

In my Dieselnoi Instruction post I made a video demonstrating some of the different sorts of knees used in Muay Thai. I’m not an expert in any of these, but I felt it might be good to just present an overview as a single, “proper” knee does not so much exist in Muay Thai, and there are many different techniques used for different purposes. Sometimes the focus is damage done, or accumulating points, or even just making sure the knee is clearly visible to the judges. As I say in the introduction to the video, these are all variations on knees and,

calling time

15 New Techniques That Will Improve Your Muay Thai – From My Training in Pattaya

I learned a ton training with Sakmongkol in Pattaya for 7 weeks, as well in my time at Petchrungruang Gym. You can see my daily blog posts of my time with Sakmongkol here if you want to dig into the evolution of my lessons, the posts are pretty detailed with lots of video. Below are the lessons I learned, in particular the lessons or techniques I’m going to consciously work into my training at Lanna, now that I’m back in Chiang Mai. I’ll try to tell you why they were important for me and maybe they could help you, too.

Muay Thai Kicking Form - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Kaensak

Sylvie’s Tips – Using the Wall to Correct Kicking Form

This is a quick Sylvie’s Tips on something I’ve rediscovered for my training. The main tip actually comes from when I trained with the great Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit at AMA in New Jersey several years ago. He would have me get close to and kick the wall, instead of a bag or a pad, in order to force my whole shin to line up in a parallel fashion (perpendicular to the extended kick angle some use striking the side of a target, and not the 45 degree landing angle that is common, instead flat against the target, knee bent). It

Jatukam showing the Matrix style Muay Thai

Sylvie’s Tips – Train the Matrix on the Bag – Jatukam Petchrungruang

  Just a little bagwork drill/game that I ran into in the gym by one of my favorite young fighters, Jatukam. Jatukam is 14 or 15 years old and just crushes his competition at Lumpinee and Rajadamnern.  He’s one of the best fighters at 40 kg (88 lbs) and has a really clever, muay femur style, which is the tricky and evasive style mostly associated in the west with Saenchai.  He’s Southpaw and has a nasty teep, but that doesn’t stop him from getting in close and smashing my face with solid left crosses when we spar.  He’ll smile the

How to Practice Muay Thai Knees on the Rope - Sylvie's Tips

Sylvie’s Tips: How to Practice Knees on the Rope: Goh Teaches His Daughter Bai

The real instruction doesn’t come until minute 1:40 but the thought to record Bai jumping in to practice knees with the boys was simply because it was pretty cute.  Then her dad came over to correct her form (she was imitating the boys, mostly one who is a few down in the row).  Bai is 9 years old and has a few fights; this drill is something all the kids do at the start of training as a warmup and conditioning drill.  I’m pretty sure they do a thousand repetitions.  As Bai first starts out, her father Goh (who is

Sylvie's Tips - Muay Thai Tips, Techniques and Helps from Thailand

Sylvie’s Tips – Muay Thai Tips, Techniques & Helps from Thailand

  This is a new feature I’m going to try my hand at. I’ve got a lot on my plate out here, but it feels like it would be a shame to waste some of the small technical Muay Thai know-hows I’ve run into, so I’m going to try to stop and film them in short segments when I come across a new one. Sometimes it will be something I’ve discovered in my own struggle to synthesize all the amazing technique that is surrounding me, but mostly I hope it is short pieces of instructions or help from those teaching

How to Crush the Head in the Thai Clinch - Crush the Head

Video Tip: The Hand Position in the Muay Thai Clinch Lock – Bank Petchrungruang

How to Crush the Head and Neck Kru Nu’s son Bank has a terribly strong squeeze in the clinch, and ends up just crushing me most of the time when we practice. He just turned 14 and earlier this year began his Lumpinee career. So today I asked him to show me the hand position he uses, and learned that all this time I’ve been doing it backwards, leveraging with the wrong arm, and wrongly using the face of my wrist instead of the blade of my forearm. You are basically crushing the opponent’s forehead into your own shoulder, with

Den's kick

Sylvie’s Tips: How to Cover Distance on Muay Thai Round Kick

After 45 minutes or so of sparring with Den yesterday he finally broke down for me what I was doing wrong with my attempts to land kicks on him.  (I landed maybe 5 in that time, although I was able to affect him with my punches when I charged in with flurries; I’m much more comfortable with punches because of my balance, I think.) Den has told me before to shorten my kick because the loping round kick is too slow and easy to see coming, so he just moves out of the way of the kick and then counters

Four Block

Sylvie’s Tips: Den Demonstrates the “4” Block for Muay Thai and Boxing

Den Shows the “4” Block  A Little Break Down of the “4” Block Den taught me this block a short while ago and it’s also very well utilized by Neung, who is a WBC boxing champion.  Basically you use your back arm and fold it across your chin, so your elbow is right at the center to protect your nose and chin and your glove is at the opposite side of your head, protecting your ear and jaw.  Then your front arm is the leg of the “4”, shooting straight out to jab or push on your opponent. Den isn’t

Sylvie's Tips Arm Position Angle on the Muay Thai Kick-w1400

Sylvie’s Tips – Arm Position on the Kick, A Different Arm Angle

a cross position and slash motion on the arm swing The Muay Thai Kick Arm Swing Angle One of the things you learn when you come to Thailand longer term is that there are many, many ways of doing something. You may have learned that there is “one” way, or been corrected away from a “wrong” way, and this is not necessarily a bad thing, but technique in Thailand is developed somewhat individually, over a long period of time, influenced by different styles and elements from trainers. It is not uncommon to be corrected in different directions by different trainers,

Some of My Best Posts

Violence in Muay Thai

The Importance of Violence in Muay Thai

I’ve written before about how Muay Thai and fighting, to me, isn’t “violence.” My argument was that I have experienced real violence, the above is the story of my rape as a child, and that the consent and preparation involved in fighting isn’t the same. There is, however, a flavor of violence in Muay Thai – it is, as my old boxing coach Ray Valez would say, “the hurt business” and ultimately any fighter pushing for the highest form of the art of Muay Thai has to embrace this. Yesterday there was a young woman at my gym, Petchrungruang, who

Capture2

The Fighter and Unconscious Tension – Recognize and Release

I just had to do my annual visa run, which requires sitting in a van full of total strangers for the 11 hour drive up to the border with Laos, an overnight stay, then the 11 hour drive back down to Pattaya. It’s grueling. Sitting in a car or a plane for this number of hours takes a toll on anyone. It’s astonishing how tired sitting on your ass makes you. I’m not very social, so I always put as many hours of podcasts and audio books as possible on my player so I can leave my headphones in the

Mental Training - People Pleasing and the Fighter

How Many Fucks? Zero. The People Pleaser and the Fighter

Apologies to my younger readers, this post is laced with profanity. Sometimes profanity has a special power to describe things in ways other words can’t. The plastic stool underneath me is too far out from the actual corner and my body kind of tips backwards as my cornermen lift my legs into their hands and rub icy cold water on my thighs and shins. I try to balance myself on the ropes but it’s more awkward and I reposition my forearms to the tops of my thighs; the cold water is going over my head now, which feels nice because

Chiang Mai Best Female Fighting in the World

Why Chiang Mai Has the Best Female Muay Thai Fighting in the World

This article is about the flourishing Muay Thai of Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, becoming the best female fight city in the country and very possibly in the entire world. No other city boasts such a complete native female Thai fight scene: it’s fed by side-bet (gambling) fights in the outlying provinces, stabilized by Sports Schools, hosted at a large number of local stadia (all of which allow women to fight in them) which hold fights every night of the week, and supported by the Thai Muay Siam media coverage. If you are a female Muay Thai fighter, this

interview-with-ifmas-stephan-fox

Interview with IFMA’s Stephan Fox | Muaythai in the Olympics and More

Stephan Fox is the General Secretary of the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) and the Vice-President of the World Muaythai Council (WMC).  He is a huge figure in the recognition and development of amateur Muaythai in Thailand, as well as international competition with both the IFMA and WMC. After 20 years of work, the International Olympic Committee has just given provisional recognition for possible inclusion in the Olympics – let me repeat that: 20 years of work for that, and Mr. Fox’s response is, “right on schedule.” above, the full 30 minute interview with Stephan Fox We cover a range of

the-secret-to-padwork-in-thailand

The Secret to Great Muay Thai Padwork in Thailand – Get the Most Out of It

What follows is not authoritative, it is just the things I’ve gleaned in my nearly 5 years of full time training at my various gyms, and in traveling around and taking privates from some of the best in Thailand. You can get access to my growing Muay Thai library with legends for a suggested pledge of $5. I read a rant on Reddit that, despite its intense language, does open up that some people do get frustrated training in Thailand, finding a lack of instruction and padwork that be repetitive. I do believe there is no better place in the

14601100_1330811343619659_1577492697585906845_n

“This Is Business” | The Imitation Game, Playing to the Gamblers

Alex and Note are standing on opposite corners of the ring, wearing shinguards and gloves, hanging out like they’re about to do anything other than sparring. They’re totally relaxed, laughing, joking. Kru Nu is pacing around and there’s a buzz around the circumference of the ring while the remainder of the boys all takes their positions along the ropes as spectators and Goh – one of the padmen for the kids – is hollering for Chicken Man. Kru Nu squats down with his hands on the top rope, peering under the staircase and out into the chicken farm, the most likely

fighting-above-weight-in-thailand

Female Fighters | Fighting Above Weight in Thailand & How to Win

First off, let me say it: weight, its not that big of a deal. There is a strong caveat to this, which is that it is a definite advantage, but so is height, or knowing the scoring system, or fighting since you were 10, or having a fight on your  home turf, and so many other things. So while weight is always a potential advantage, it is just one among many possible advantages. You can beat people who have the weight advantage over you, just like you can with any of those other advantages. I know that in the West

perfect-muay-thai-technique

Precision – A Basic Motivation Mistake in Some Western Training

read my guest post articles a Husband’s Point of View A Husband’s Point of View – Consider this a working theory. I’ve written about the uniqueness of Thai style training before, in The Slow Cook vs the Hack, and this article can be seen as something of an extension of that. But as Sylvie’s husband watching her progress through very earnest training and a hell of a lot of fighting, and seeing numerous westerners come through her Thai gyms, I’ve come upon something I think is pretty important. What led me to this is a very particular quality many serious

Guide to Muay Thai Gym Etiquette - Not Offend

Guide to Thailand Muay Thai Gym Etiquette – How to Be Polite

Below is meant to be a helpful guide, something that I wish I had when I first came to training Thailand. These are just things I’ve noticed in my 4 years of training and fighting here and are not hard and fast rules to follow. If you want to be polite in Thailand gyms, in a culture that is different than your own, these are just a few things to look for. There are of course a wide variety of gym experiences in Thailand, and things that are impolite in a small, family Thai-style gym might very well be common

Pitbull - Fear and Agression in Muay Thai

Fear of Escalation in Sparring and Training Aggression as a Skill

A lot of us feel that aggression comes with an “on/off” switch, and that we should be able to flick it back and forth based on context. Many of us who are learning Muay Thai struggle with aggression, perhaps because we don’t feel that we are “naturally aggressive,” and it’s frustrating to watch those who are seemingly naturally gifted with aggression succeed in ways that we don’t see in ourselves. But aggression isn’t natural, even if it does seem innate in some more than others. I contend that aggression feels natural to some due to having spent years cultivating it before they

Dracula Guard position - Muay Thai

Padwork with Daeng at Lanna – Dracula Guard (Long Guard Variation)

First a Little Bit About Daeng Daeng is one of the most fight-focused trainers I’ve trained with. When I was training at Lanna Muay Thai in Chiang Mai, it was Daeng who invested the most in diagnosing and fixing weaknesses in my fighting. He wasn’t my main trainer, but he’s a very good teacher and has a keen eye for finding how to improve on existing strengths and correct errors. I’d initially gotten a bit stuck with a technically brilliant but lazy and unmotivated trainer – that guy was a great trainer for some, just not for me – and Daeng

Arjan Surat - Dejrat Gym in Bangkok - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Arjan Surat of Dejrat Gym – 1 Hour Private | Coach of the Thai National Team

Join and Study my Muay Thai Library of Legends This is a full video of a private I took with Arjan Surat, Head Coach of the Thai National Team, and owner of the esteemed (but lesser known to the west) Dejrat Gym in Bangkok. I did a short review of the gym when I interviewed female fighter Kaitlin Young, and it was then that I met Arjan Surat for the first time: an absolutely extraordinary teacher and life-force of Muay Thai. The man is Old School-Old School, telling me that he’s been holding pads longer than I’ve been alive (he’s

The Gendered Experience

Man vs Woman Fight - What Does it Mean.

Man vs Woman Fight – What Does it Mean? | Interview with Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Guest Post – Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu This is my interview of Sylvie on what was an extraordinary event that happened this week as Tara, a student at the gym and an attendee of the Women’s Muay Khao Summit fought a male opponent. I wanted to get some perspective on what Sylvie thought about the fight as fights between the genders are rare, and almost symbolize something almost ineffable. As we mention in the interview we can only think of four other adult women who have fought men in an organized fashion (though there surely are many other such fights which

Angie Trans Man Sparrring Muay Thai - Pattaya-001

The Petchrungruang Fight Simulator – Transgender Fighter Angie vs. Mirko

At Petchrungruang, there is sparring going on at any given moment in the afternoons. The little kids fly around the smaller ring with abandon, sparring for hours until they get tired and just stop. The older kids will match themselves up and play for a few rounds, or if they’re getting ready for a fight the sparring might be a bit more serious. Occasionally, my trainer likes to match two fighters up and put them in the center of the ring for a “mock fight.” We wear shinguards and gloves, but someone is assigned to be time-keeper and they ring an

colorado field

Leaving Trails – Leadership and Following in Muay Thai

Growing up in Colorado had innumerate perks that I only came to appreciate long after I took them for granted.  City kids in New York and Philadelphia learn how to handle themselves on public transportation from an early age and kids like me in the wilds of mountains and deserts learned how to “pack out what you pack in” with equal diligence.  The first rule of backpacking in the mountains of Colorado and deserts of Utah is to leave no trace of yourself, the foremost lesson being to preserve the world you’re exploring. When I was maybe 12 years old

Clinch Technique with Phetsilaa Phettonpung - Sylvie

Passing Some Clinch Knowledge to 13-Year-Old Phetlilaa Pettonpung

I’m a big fan of the all-female Pettonpung gym in Mae Rim. I’ve fought a few women who trained there over the years I was in Chiang Mai, but it wasn’t until I went to visit them that I realized it is all female fighters. The trainer there, Khun Yai, appears to really like me. He remembers me from fighting one of his top fighters, Nong Ying, who is a beast – she now lives and fights in China – and he probably likes that I fight a lot, which his fighters do as well. When I dropped by after

Feminism and Thai Traditional Culture

Navigating Western Feminism, Traditional Thailand and Muay Thai

There is a natural division in western feminist thinking, and in some way this post is about that divide. But much more it is about the situational ethics, the principles we may want to protect and forward, when visiting or even living in a traditional culture like Thailand; when coming to a different culture as a western privileged woman. This post is a single-person deliberation about how to best do so in the context of Muay Thai and its unique traditions in Thailand, how I am attempting to do so. Hopefully this resonates with others. Not all women from the

Sarah Conner - Sacrifice - Body Muay Thai

Sarah Conner & My Egg Donation: The “Sacrifice” of Body For Muay Thai

In the world of athletics and motivational memes, the word “sacrifice” gets thrown around a lot.  All the things that one must sacrifice in the name of greatness, the hardships of waking up to train, missing out on nights of drinking with friends… whatever.  I know people use this word without truly dissecting the concept, it’s just part of sport-speak.  But I don’t use this word because it means a lot to me. When I think of the word “sacrifice” I think of giving up something of immense value – sacrifice is painful, not unfortunate or just hard.  Abraham willing

Sylvie and Robyn - Petchrungruang

Company in a Male Space – Training with a Friend

The afternoons at Petchrungruang have been crowded lately.  I’m sitting in a somewhat unusual spot between the two rings, rolling my wraps. I’m sitting here because my usual spot on a bench across the gym has already been usurped by a few Italians who train in the evenings; it’s a wrench in my routine, but a sublimely mild one. My friend Robyn is visiting from the US and will have a fight next week. She looks at me while we sit and adjust our wraps, “What do you want to work on today?” Robyn asks. I’m stumped. There are things

record book

Training At O. Meekhun Muay Thai Gym with Phetjee Jaa – Pattaya

I was very excited and shocked to learn that my Muay Thai hero, the 12-year-old phenomenon Phetjeejaa O. Meekhun, trains at her family gym just a 30 second walk through a chicken farm from where I’ve been training every day for the last month here in Pattaya.  I got to visit their gym and meet PJJ and her family a few days ago and got to actually go and train with the kids this past Monday. While en route on the big highway that runs through Pattaya and connects my two gyms, I was weaving between cars to sneak up

My Broken Nose - Beauty Self Esteem and Fighting

My Broken Nose – Beauty, Self-Esteem and Fighting

My hands are shaking as I loosen the laces of my gloves, my fingers pruned and pale from all my sweating. I unwrap and fold the wet strips of linen so that I can hang them up to dry for afternoon training. Normally, Pi Nu is deciding at this point whether we’re going to do some insanely difficult conditioning drill together or scrap it for the morning because he’s too lazy. I’m hoping for the latter. He comes and stands in front of me, kind of watching me silently in this way that he does sometimes, trying to read me…

DSC04294

Women’s Power in Muay Thai Families

Last week Kevin and I arrived at the gym at 8:00 PM, after evening training, in order to hitch a ride down to Wung’s fight at Kalare Stadium.  It was as it always is at that time: relaxed disorganization floating through a quiet, darkened gym.  After a long while of waiting it became clear that nobody else was coming to the fight and Wung even laughed and asked us why we wanted to come see.  “Because we love to watch you fight,” was the most direct and honest answer. With only Den, Wung, a student of Wung’s from Hill Camp

The Expense of Competition - Saya Ito, Phetjee Jaa and Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

The Expense of Competition – Training with Former Opponent Saya Ito

above: Saya Ito, me and Phetjee Jaa I’m standing outside the ring in the late evening, maybe around 7:30 PM, watching Japanese world champion Saya Ito crawl under the bottom rope to stand next to Phetjee Jaa.  I’ve got stitches in my head, so I’m not allowed to clinch yet but I’m staying to watch.  Saya has been training at the O. Meekhun Gym for a couple weeks now. It’s her second time at the gym since I’ve been training here and she’s gearing up for a WPMF title fight in Japan on April 5th (today!).  She’s not good at

Soidao and Jaeda - Rangsit Stadium - May 2000

Women in Lumpinee, Thai Female Fighters in the 1990s, Rangsit History

One of the more limiting things as a female Muay Thai fighter is that we have no real history, no archived past to attach ourselves to, to anchor our passion and propel us to greater achievements. We have the names and photos of western women with lots of belts, in recent times, and very few videos, but reach beyond a decade or so and the record of female Muay Thai just falls off into mist. And in terms of Thai female fighters, anything prior to 1998 is extremely obscure and subject to the dubious or incomplete aspects of oral accounts.

zipper head

Risking Your Beauty – Female Muay Thai, Brutality and the Beauty Aesthetic

Preface: I wanted to write on this topic right after reading the Lion Fight interview with Tiffany Van Soest prior to her fight with Caley Reece on the Lion Fight promotion.  It ended up taking me longer than I’d expected to make the time to actually sit down and write it.  Female fighter and blogger Natasha Sky also was inspired by this same interview (the question of risking beauty was also posed to Caley Reece, facing Van Soest on that card) and she wrote a piece on her blog, including questions to other female fighters on their opinions on this

Find My Posts by Date

February 2019
M T W T F S S
« Jan    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728  

Subscribe for Free