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.
November 1, 2015
8Limbs.Us
Muay Thai

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

View from Everest - Setting Unreachable Goals - Muay Thai

above: the view from Everest, where mountains look like hills

My Goal of 200 fights in Thailand. Below is my total fight rate since moving to Thailand, projected out to 210 fights by September 2018 (210 because I’ve fought 10 times outside of Thailand). At face value this seems like just such an absurd number, but I will say that as a western female fighter my first goal of 50 also seemed so beyond possibility and imagining. I came to the idea from another woman who had accomplished 50 fights all together (Sylvie Charbonneau), so I knew it was conceivable, but was it possible for me? I worked and fought and found myself flying past 50. It shows you how something that looks crazy from one angle becomes quite achievable from another. I believe it’s important to set Everest style goals, and coming up to 100 fights and now beyond (116), I find myself no longer on western standards at all, but on Thai possibilities.

Before getting on a plane to move to Thailand, when I’d struggled to fight every few months and already was taking  weight disadvantages just to be able to get into the ring at all, the 50 fight measure seemed unknowable. But once I was in Thailand and had been adamant enough to convince my trainers that I really did want to fight all the time, the possibilities opened. Three layers what is possible, in stages: what is possible in the west (where I was), what is possible in Thailand (where I found myself), and then what’s indeed possible in the particular conditions I found myself in and then worked to make for myself (the reach). Not all, or most, Thai female fighters have 100 fights, or even 200 fights, but fights in the hundreds in Thailand are the signs of a “worker,” someone who just fights and fights. It’s not necessarily the sign of a champion, but someone fighting with frequency and interest GETS good.

The muay khao clinch style I’m pursuing is not an easy one – it requires learning clinch at a high level, and lots of defensive control of space. Very few female Thai fighters have it (for a variety of reasons), and it’s not for lack of effort that I’m not there yet, but I want to be. It’s a style that takes a lot of work and time to master. If I am so lucky to remain in Thailand long enough to achieve the proficiency I seek, I would measure that it would likely take me about 200 fights in the country. This becomes my Everest: 200 fights in Thailand by September 2018. And I chart it to know how far I am from my goal. Runners put in miles, fighters put in fights.

You can see my complete fight record and updated fight rate here.

Total Fight Rate Sylvie - 210 fights by September 2018 with Mod Ek

There are lots of things that may get in the way of this goal. Most pragmatically, money. If I can make 8limbs.Us sustainable, I can find a way to remain in the country and continue fighting every fight I can find, then it’s just a matter of time. The sponsorship of Nak Muay Nation through Sean Muay Thai Guy and Lawrence Lawrence Kenshin Striking Breakdowns, along with that of very generous readers on Patreon is the first real sign that I could possibly do this incredible thing. To remain here and work as a Muay Thai journalist for readers.

You can read about my first sponsorship by Nak Muay Nation here.

There also is the hurdle of consistently finding fights. My reputation has grown in the country and opponents my size are harder and harder to find. Even opponents several kilos larger than me avoid me. I had a harder time then usual finding fights in these last months, and it wasn’t until I had a few losses in a row that offers started coming in more frequently. Without large side bets as financial backing, it may be hard to tempt top fighters to fight me, with regularity. Saying this, I do think the opponent issue will solve itself. I’ll have enough losses fighting bigger opponents, or the occasional slip up, and I’ll just keep facing opponents over my weight class. It will happen.

There is also injury. I’m pretty tough with physical limitation, I’ve been fighting and training through a hand fracture for months, but things like cuts simply take fights off the board. I’ve lost out on maybe 7 fights in 2015 that had to be canceled due to cuts/stitches; fights I would love to have fought. The truth of the matter is, this is both avoidable and unavoidable. As a muay khao clinch fighter I am going to keep putting my face in harm’s way, and as the smaller fighter even a good guard isn’t a guarantee. This is one reason Thai women don’t fight in this style: it risks cuts. You fight like this and it’s going to happen. But I definitely have lots of work to do in my clinch entry techniques. Most of my cuts have not come from beautiful elbows thrown my way, but rather from my own lack of precision in entering clinch. It’s clumsiness and carelessness.

I’m about huge goals. Set an impossible goal. Force yourself to focus on imagining it, and it starts to tune your whole world and make things possible. The worth of the goal is simply this: It’s unimagineable. It changes the world not only for yourself, but for everyone else who witnesses and helps you do it.

For those who think 200 fights in Thailand is absurd, it is. However, Nong Ying is a Thai female fighter in Chiang Mai who fights regularly, and faces many westerners, she is said to have over 300 fights. I’ve met many men who achieved those numbers in their relative youth. It’s nothing special, other than in the doing. These men and this woman have met these impossible numbers over many years of fighting. For me, I don’t have any promise of years in front of me, so there’s an urgency to my task that at times seems mad to some. That I fight through a broken hand or with cuts not fully healed. But this is the thing about Everest: the mountain makes its own weather and the particular obstacles and impossibilities may change within a single climb; the mountain will not accommodate you. When the day presents itself and the weather is good, you climb. It may seem the humane thing to do to rest, but if you stop on that mountain to take a nap it may become your “forever nap.” You may get only one chance and so you fucking hustle. There is no time for “maybe later” or “I’ll get the next one,” on Everest; you don’t hesitate. I don’t hesitate. I climb. We climb.

You set your Everest goal too –

If you’d like to support me and come along for the journey of this impossible goal, please support my writing. You can pledge as little as $1 a month to keep it going:

Patreon.com/sylviemuay

 

 

You can support this content: 8Limbs.Us on Patreon

Related

Share this


The Author 8Limbs.Us

$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

Emma Thomas Female Muay Thai Fighter - Interview-w1400

My Interview With Female Muay Thai Fighter Emma Thomas

Surfing the Chaos I’ve known Emma for a few years now. We actually met through online communication and I forget that we didn’t actually meet each other in person until a little over a year ago. I really like Emma and recently I was scrolling through a feed of our private messages on Facebook in order to show something she’d sent me to my Thai friend and my friend remarked, “wow, you write so much! It’s like a book!” Yeah, we talk a lot. Which made me realize with surprise that I’ve not yet interviewed Emma. I’ve certainly thought to

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

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

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

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

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.

Treating shins for injury, bumps and bruises, swelling - Muay Thai Sylvie-w1200

Treating Shins For Recovery: Knots, Bruises, Bumps – and Training Injured – Muay Thai

above, my how to video for warm water massage for shins [update: for longer lasting shin swells you can try this] Subscribe to 8limb.us articles for free here Anyone who has kicked anything knows that the occasional bump, knot or “mouse” on the shin or foot is inevitable.  You can get them on your forehead or face from an elbow or punch and on your shins or feet from kicking knees, elbows, heads, etc.  They kind of feel like badges of awesomeness, but they can also keep you from training and that feels lame. I always have something that hurts,

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

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

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

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

How I Wrap My Hands for Muay Thai - Fight Wrap

Sylvie’s Tips: How I Wrap My Hands with Muay Thai Fight Wraps – Gauze Linen

The cloth training wraps that are so common in the West aren’t necessarily all over the place in Thailand. You can buy them at virtually any shop that sells equipment, sure, but they’re not used by all the Thais training at the camps. A lot of Thai boys don’t wrap their hands at all. Those who do, in my experience, often favor these cloth “fight” wraps that are more like gauze-linen and don’t have a thumb loop or Velcro. The western boxing style training cloth wraps we’re used to are expensive and, the more I’ve trained, the more they seem

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,

Low Kick Counter - Round Kick Counter - Dieselnoi

Sylvie’s Tips: 2 Wicked Dieselnoi Knee Counters to Muay Thai Kicks [GIFs]

The Sylvie’s Tips feature is a collection of techniques and tips I’ve picked up in my time in Thailand, from some of the best trainers in the world. I’ve never seen these exact counters before, and they come from the greatest knee fighter in history, Dieselnoi, during my filming of a nakmuaynation.com private. You can read about that private here. Unique Knee Counter to Round Kick I’ve actually been on the receiving end of this knee to the hamstring a number of times, but only from my trainer, Pi Nu, during padwork. He thinks it’s hilarious and usually calls out boran!

Sylvie's Tips - How to Drill Caught Kick Response-001

Sylvie’s Tips – How to Drill Caught Kick Response Without a Partner

I’ve never really had opponents catching my kicks in fights, but that’s partially because I don’t really mid-kick.  So, the reason I know that I suck at responding when my kick is caught is almost entirely through padwork, where I topple over like a kicked-over bicycle. Which is to say that I don’t really practice against this and only get reminded of how unpracticed I am when my trainer occasionally wants to mess with me. I do know how to handle the caught kick – I’ve been shown techniques from various sources – but I never drill them. When I visited

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.

Muay Thai Wrap with Padding - How to Wrap Hands

Sylvie’s Tips – How I Wrap My Hands – A Muay Thai Wrap With Padding

Above is a little video of how I wrap my hands. I think it’s good to experiment with different kinds of wrap techniques as they have different strengths. It took me a while to settle on this one. Hand size, punching style, the wrap material itself can make a difference – I’ve been liking the longer, softer wraps of Top King and Punish (an Australian company). This wrap technique incorporates an extra padded layer made of a fold of the wrap placed on the knuckles first (for torn up skin, I’ve actually added a cut kitchen sponge for a few

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

Sylvie's Tips - How to Close Distance - Hop In-w1400

Sylvie’s Tips – A Simple Way To Close Distance – Hop In | Muay Thai

This is a deceptively simple way to close distance. I get interesting communication from readers and fans. When it’s brief, I’ll answer directly. Mostly I try to get folks to post their questions on the Muay Thai Roundtable forum so it can help others who might have the same questions and more people can chime in to help with answers; but in this case the question was one I’ve not only worked hard to develop a strategy on, as a smaller fighter, but it’s also one that I’ve heard a few times. So it makes sense to do a Sylvie’s

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 - Improving Your Muay Thai Elbows Using a Wall

Sylvie’s Tips – Improve Your Muay Thai Elbows Using a Wall

Making Your Elbows (Hooks & Crosses) Fast, Direct and Accurate This is a pretty simple technique and you can find a wall anywhere, so we can mark this down as one of the most accessible tools there is. Basically, I have been alerted to the folly of how my arms launch away from my body when I throw strikes, which is detrimental to both power and control. Sagat is the one who really explained trajectory to me [<<watch that session to see what this philosophy of strking is about], showing how a wind-up is just wasted space, energy and time,

Sylvie's Tips - Training the Long Guard on the Bag

Sylvie’s Tips: Training Long Guard on the Bag | Firming Up

above, my short Sylvie’s Tips on how I’m practicing Long Guard on the bag lately Everything little thing we do on the bag is repetition, even unconscious things can be “trained” into you. Simply taking a time out and walking back from the bag to reset during your rounds is that kind of small element. The further I get in my Muay Thai journey, the more I’m examining my bagwork (and shadow) for unconscious elements that I’m accidentally, or even non-efficiently training. It’s about awareness, so that I can figure out how to get my training into the ring with me

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,

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

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

Female Muay Thai - Correspondence

A Letter of Correspondence – How Muay Thai Helps Us Through Struggles

I received this communication some time ago and I was moved by the excitement and passion this woman gets from and puts into her Muay Thai.  I asked her to write a bit more about how Muay Thai has affected her life and this is her beautiful response.  (This writer has asked to remain anonymous and I think she speaks from a place a lot of us can appreciate): Dear Sylvie, I just wanted to mention I went to the TBA Nationals last year and took second in my division. I came down from 211 lbs to fight at 165

Fight Like a Girl - Female Boxing Movie

Fight Like A Girl: My Review of Jill Morley’s Documentary on Female Boxers

This is something of a personal response review of Fight Like a Girl, written as a female fighter. Jill Morley’s film “Fight Like A Girl” opens with a bare-bulb lighting figures as they spar in a ring.  Their white gloves and headgear swing and bob out of the darkness as a voice-over initiates the thesis of the film: people always want to know why female fighters want to fight.  Throughout the rest of the documentary, Jill Morley points her camera at her training partners, her family and herself as they all shadowbox around that question.  Nobody ever seems to hit

Treated Like a Lady - Self-Defense Class - Female Only-w1400

Treated Like a “Lady” | The Benefits/Complications of Female Only Classes

This post is taken from a response I posted on the Women Only section of the Roundtable Forum – where confirmed female members discuss all things Muay Thai. If you are a female who trains in Muay Thai do join our group. The question was raised there by one of our members about the benefits and/or complications of female only classes. Her question specifically referenced “self defense” classes and women wanting to be prepared physically and mentally for an assault, and being disappointed that they were treated “ladylike” in those courses; but there are gyms that offer “women’s classes” that

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

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Mother - Patti Gassaway

My Mother’s Shadow – Why She Can’t Understand My Fighting

the above photo is of my mother and me laying on a mat for hours in the middle of Isaan, under the stars, waiting for my fight to come up on the card For two weeks at the end of October and beginning of November, my parents came out to Thailand for their second visit since I moved here.  The first visit was up in Chiang Mai last year and now they came to Pattaya, where we’ve lived since June of this year.  My parents loved Chiang Mai.  They had mixed feelings about Pattaya. Part of the timing of this

20-minutes-of-clinch-with-pettonpung-gym-mae-rim

Sharing Clinch Techniques | 20 Minutes Clinching with All-Female Gym [video]

In the video below some of the techniques being worked on: blade of the forearm lock to create leverage turns on the knee, waiting until on one foot small jerks to off balance, instead of continuous pressure moving forward and back to off balance inside thigh trip to turn and trip steering by the inside of the elbows the bounce to hide moves Spreading the Technique of Clinch This is a follow up post on my Passing Some Clinch Knowledge post on my visit to the Pettonpung gym about a month before this, where I showed my lock and a

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Gym Culture and Equality

The Mitt and the Joke: Illusions and Pitfalls of Equality in a Muay Thai Gym

Being treated equally isn’t always what it seems.  I’ll just come right out and say that I balk when I hear women claim they are treated completely the same as men are at their gyms in Thailand.  I find it so hard to believe that I quite frankly don’t believe it.  On the one hand, even if treated with kindness and respect on both sides of gender, men and women are rarely treated exactly equal anywhere in the world.  I wouldn’t claim this about how I’m treated in my own family or among my friends; and while I do feel

My Muay Thai Scars - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Losing Face – Beauty and Changing How My Stitches and Cuts Are Read

y stitch count stands at 51 stitches, most of which are in my face.  When looking in a mirror, I can see about five vertical lines along my hairline and forehead. I love them. I haven’t always, but I do now – they’re part of my story and in the context of what I love, where my heart has taken me, they’re something I have pride in. The other day I imagined what it would be like to go back to the US and work the job I had before, which was bartending. It’s a very image-conscious occupation and it

corner

Body Language – Clinch, Thailand and Gender

There are complications to being a woman - or more specifically, having a female body - in a male dominated sport.  As a fighter you are using your body to perform an art and you must use it, hard, on a daily basis in order to insure that it will take care of you in the ring.  There is no room for half-hearted efforts; it's just too frivolous when every mistake has so high a cost.

Interview with Frances Watthanaya by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Video Interview with Female Muay Thai Fighter Frances Watthanaya in Isaan

above is my 20 minute video Interview of Frances Watthanaya in Phutthaisong, Buriram – Isaan Read about my trip to Giatbundit Gym in Phutthaisong here. Read about and watch my fight for Giatbundit Gym in Buriram here. Talking with fighter, mother & wife Frances Watthanaya When I first “met” Frances online she was living in Canada and finishing up her degree.  She also is a mother to a young, intensely independent, little daughter named Parvati.  And she’s a Muay Thai fighter who is married to another Muay Thai fighter and now that she’s finished her degree and the family has

expectation

Motivation is 80% Expectation – Lessons in Attitude in Muay Thai

Afternoon training at Petchrungruang yesterday was a pendulum swinging between, “hey, that’s not so bad,” to “holy hell, I’m never going to make it through this.”  I didn’t feel well, mostly fatigued and feeling a little bit flu-ish in the sore muscle and fever department.  So of course, of course, as I’m pushing my way through bagwork I get called in to the ring to do sparring with this kid who has been kicking my ass in clinch the last couple days. So I sucked it up and got in the ring, focusing on just having the right kind of

The Bloodied Faces of Women - Women's War Face - New Beauty

Celebrating the Female Face – Bloody Face Photos from Female Fighters

Ladies, Send in Your Bloodied Face Fighter Photos This is a call for female fighters to send me photos of their own bloodied face, to join a wall of women who have had their faces bloodied in fights. This is really in answer to the absence of the bloodied female face in fight media, something which actively works to segregate women, aesthetically, as something less than “real” fighters. The bloodied male face is celebrated in media; it symbolizes male toughness, aggression, commitment. But to a large degree the female fighter face has been whitewashed in a sea of beauty shots

Apollonius - Boxer at Rest Toughnes

The Fragility of Western Masculinity

Some of the questions raised by this article were followed up here: Do Women have a Commitment Advantage in Muay Thai This post also lead to me writing about the Myth of Overtraining and how Endurance is a Skill. There’s a type of dude who frequently appears in the gym in Thailand, looking to fight in Muay Thai.  Usually these guys already have a few fights under their belts and are in close-to-fighting-shape.  I specify that they’re “close to” fighting shape because these guys rarely identify themselves as being already in shape, or where they would want to be to

Find My Posts by Date

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

Subscribe for Free