Chatchai Sasakul #3 - Developing Rhythm & Precision (1 hr, 46 min)

Chatchai has by far the most commented on and appreciated sessions in the Library, so I'm really happy to be able to now include this video. He is has been a Golden Age Muay Thai stadium fighter, a WBC World Boxing Champion, and a Thailand Coach of the Year. He is the best teacher I have filmed with, in field of amazing instructors. This entry is a special session I filmed with Chatchai a few years ago, it shows two days of work and progress, correction, improvement, etc. revealing the inner mechanics of his beautiful boxing style. He is an incredibly patient teacher, but he also points out moments of improvement frequently and quickly so that his students have the chance to immediately record what the correct movement felt like, which allows for self-correction later on. For Chatchai, these principles apply to both Muay Thai and boxing equally. There is so much to learn. It's pure hands fundamentals that seldom get taught with such clarity.

At this point in my career I was fulltime Southpaw. I'm naturally Orthodox, but Karuhat changed my stance and I ended up actually fighting in Southpaw for about a year (took close to a year so that I could remain in the stance for a whole fight, then one year in Southpaw in the ring). So I'm Southpaw in these lessons and tying to figure out weight transfer, rotation, and balance in my unnatural stance. Chatchai is the absolute King of balance and efficiency, his weight transfer basics changed my Muay for all time and entirely for the better. A lot of that is in these two days, which I try to bring out in my voiceover of this session.

What To Look Out For:

1) Ambient Footwork: Chatchai has me working on what I call "ambient footwork," which is more or less the in-between of literally everything. How you get from one foot to the other, how you set up strikes, how you follow your opponent, how you wait. All of that. He likes to transfer his weight entirely from one foot to the other but he's not "hopping," more like how you bounce on a tire.

2) Cross Through the Opponent: each strike should have your foot stepping to the outside of your opponent, so your actual impact is more or less keeping them in the center and delivering maximum power as you slug through them.

3) Pin Your Elbows: this is a big deal for proper rotation, which improves power and speed. It's the same maximum efficiency that patrons who loved the Sagat sessions will recognize, no excess at all; pin the elbow to the ribs and rotate the punch out.

4) Rotation on the Fist: this is for full impact of a cross, but applies to any straight punch. There's a corkscrew at the very end of the punch so you hit with your front two knuckles, but the angle of the hand from the starting position will ultimately impact how much you are even able to turn. Chatchai corrects my stagnant or resting fist position to improve the overall impact of that twist.

5) Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast: he never actually says this but I know that saying and that's what his corrections amount to. Basically, never try to be fast or powerful, both come out of correct form. So just perfect your form and you will get both faster and stronger over time.

6) Don't Add Beats: each of your strikes, as they are rotating out of your torso, should be a continuation of the last movement. There's no 1...2 to a strike, but rather one rotation and execution that then comes back to the starting position as one single phrase.

Stills from the Session

Related Sessions in the Muay Thai Library - Boxing For Muay Thai

#64 Chatchai Sasakul #2 - Elements of Boxing (72 min) watch it here

Chatchai is not only a former WBC world champion, he also is the recipient of Thailand's Coach of the Year. He is one of the great striking coaches in the world, and in this session he breaks down all the basics from the footwork on up. Nobody has a more beautiful and potent hands foundation. Watch and learn from a master.

#14 Chatchai Sasakul #1 - Perfecting Hands (106 min) watch it here

Former WBC world boxing champion at Flyweight, and winner of Best Coach of the Year in Thailand, Chatchai in this nearly 2 hours of video makes micro adjustment after micro adjustment, honing in pristine technique in the basic strikes of boxing, for use in Muay Thai. It's all about weight transfer.

Bonus Session 5: Chatchai Sasakul Southpaw Hands | 52 min - watch it here

Chatchai's stance and striking system is not only ideal for boxing - he was  the WBC Flyweight World Champion in 1997 - it instills a basic weight transfer balance that can dramatically improve your Muay Thai. Watch it being installed on me for the first time from the Southpaw stance.

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

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

#38 Sagat Petchyindee (part 2) - Maximum Damage (61 min) watch it here

Such an anticipated session, part 2 of Sagat Petchyindee, the inspiration of the Sagat Street Fighter character. It's hard to believe, but he's even better in real life. In this session his continues to teach his "stay in your frame" method of bringing maximum efficiency and damage to striking.

#26 Sagat Petchyindee - Explosive Power (57 min) watch it here

One of the great fighters in the history of Thailand, and the inspiration of the "Street Fighter" video game character, Sagat is like no other. Here he teaches how power has to come out of the ribs, and your frame, taking the shortest distance to your target, making sure your feet are constantly "organized".

#37 Kongtoranee Payakaroon - Power In The Hands (89 min) watch it here

5x Lumpinee Champion, 2x Fighter of the Year, Kongtoranee teaches the fundamental grounding of strikes that made him one of the most feared heavy-handed fighters in Thailand. Such economy of movement expresses the true beauty in his style, quite different than - but no less admirable - that of his young brother Samart.

#88 Samransak Muangsurin - Muay Maat Legend Keys to Powerful Hands (61 min) watch it here

Samransak was nothing if not thunderous as a fighter in the Golden Age. He threw with serious, heavy hands and just brutalized his opponents. He teaches the basics of his Muay Maat style, how he brought boxing into the ring to massive effect. One of the all time legends of the sport.

#75 Lakhin Wasantasit - Boxing & Muay Thai Organized Destruction (76 min) watch it here

Lakhin was a beast, to stand in front of him was to invite disaster. Perhaps no fighter of the Golden Age was more feared for his hands. In this session he shows just what made him so intimidating, and how he developed a style predicated on inflicting maximum damage.

#71 Napapol Giatsakchokchai - Powerful Boxing For Muay Thai (81 min) watch it here

Nothing is a better match than world class boxing added to fundamentally sound Muay Thai. Napadol was one of the best western boxers in all of Thailand, a WBC champion, and he teaches a gorgeous, powerful boxer's technique that is easily married to Muay Thai.